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Like all autofocus lens camera phones on the market (there aren't many), the N73 focuses when you press the shutter half way down and on-screen indicators turn from red to green when focus is achieved. This takes about 1 second and then you can press the shutter button all the way down (or press it all the way down to start and wait for the camera to focus before it shoots). Unlike the N80, there is no shutter lag and the image is taken when you hear the shutter sound. However, each manages to take a shot in about the same amount of time (wait 1 to 2 seconds for the N80's shutter to trip or wait a second or two for the N73 to focus then take the shot). This means that the N73 isn't an action photographer's dream— a fast moving subject might have passed the ideal point by the time the N73 captures it. The camera has sequence mode to help: it will take several shots in a row so one of them might capture the perfect moment of action. The camera's ergonomics and on-screen active menus are perfect for the serious shutterbug. Slide open the active lens cover to launch the camera application and rotate the screen to landscape orientation. The shutter button falls naturally to the top right and the zoom rocker is on the left top so you feel like you're using a camera rather than a phone. The on-screen active menus quickly and intuitively take you to settings to switch between photo and video mode, change scene type (auto, user defined, macro, portrait, landscape, sports and night with default at auto), flash mode (on, off, auto or red-eye reduction), self timer, switch between single shot and sequence, EV settings, white balance, color tone and ISO. In short, a photographer's dream. Compared to the 3MP autofocus Samsung a990 on Verizon, this camera is a dream to use, and the settings are even easier to manage than the solid N80's. Image quality beats the competition and gives the Sony Ericsson K790i / K800i a run for its money (though the SE may win by a very modest margin, especially in low light thanks to its Xenon flash). Video quality is also excellent by camera phone standards. The N73 can take videos at a maximum 352 x 288 resolution with audio at 15fps in MPEG4 format (high quality). It can also take "normal" and MMS sized video in 3GP format. Video is sharper thanks to the autofocus lens and colors are well represented with little of the typical camera phone's blockiness and only moderate noise (less than moderate by camera phone standards). Digital zoom will introduce some blockiness, so use it only when you must if you want the best quality. The camera has a video stabilization feature which does reduce handheld jerkiness but as with the N80, also gives the image a bit of an over-smoothed look. Audio and video are in sync in all quality settings and audio is clear and loud. The camcorder is definitely good enough to capture and save those special moments when a dedicated camcorder isn't handy. While the N73's camcorder can't beat the VGA camcorder in the N93, it's very good and beats the Sony Ericsson K790 / K800i. Sample Photo Gallery These sample photos were taken at the highest resolution. Unedited other than resizing for use here (and the Crossfire SRT6's license plate was obliterated). The third row are low light photos. Click on a photo to see a larger version (1000 x 750 pixels) in a new window.
Software and Syncing Nokia's software bundle is very similar across S60 v3 phones, so you'll notice similarity between our reviews in this section. Since it's s smartphone, you can add 3rd party software made for S60 3rd Edition. Though 3rd Edition is still new and the software selection isn't yet broad, but thankfully Nokia includes most everything you need such as strong PIM applications, Quickoffice to read MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint files (you can purchase a version that both reads and writes these files if need be), media players, image editors, a world clock, and more. S60 PIM applications are excellent. Contacts has support for pretty much every field found in MS Outlook and groups, while the calendar has alarms, repeat events, day, week and month views. S60 also has notes and Tasks both of which sync to MS Outlook. For fun, the phone comes with Nokia's LifeBlog which helps organize your photos and videos chronologically, like a diary or blog. You can add comments, delete photos that you don't want and sync them to LifeBlog on Windows (sadly there's no Mac version of this cool desktop application). Flickr support is built-in and works well, so you can add photos to your Flickr page no matter where you are. Speeds over EDGE are usable and I uploaded 500k images in 20 seconds each. Visit Flickr's alternative upload methods web page to get your LifeBlog/ Nokia phone login and password (it's not the same as your regular Flickr login and password). The N73 comes with a software CD containing PC Suite 8.6 and LifeBlog 2. Always check for the latest versions of those applications, which you can download for free from Nokia's web site. PC Suite is an impressive one-stop application these days, and it far surpasses MS ActiveSync for Windows Mobile and even Palm Desktop. You'll use it to sync your Calendar, Contacts, Notes and Tasks to and from Outlook, browse the phone, send multimedia files, use the phone as a wireless modem and more. It supports connection over the included CA-53 USB 2.0 cable and Bluetooth. The phone supports four different USB modes: Media Player, PC Suite, Data Transfer (the phone acts as a mass storage device like a USB drive) and PictBridge for printing to PictBridge enabled printers over USB. Mac users: Apple hasn't yet updated iSync to add the most recent Nokia S60 phones but you can download the free mactomster iSync plugin for iSync 2.3 on Mac OS 10.7.4 here (iSync 2.2 on OS X 10.4.6 also available). The fellow who wrote the plugin is German so the instructions won't be easy on English speakers. Here's the quick version: put the plugin folder in /applications/iSync.app/Contents/PlugIns/ApplePhoneConduit.syncdevice/Contents/Plugins. You'll need to right click on iSync (or option click) and select "Show Package Contents" to navigate to the directories listed. The plugin supports the N80, N73, E61 and quite a few other devices. If that all sounds too overwhelming, there are pay-for plugins too. But really, it's easy and I've had no problem syncing the N73, N80 and E61 to my Mac for Contacts, Calendar and Tasks. Bluetooth The N73 has Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR which is a real treat when transferring files to another computer with 2.0 + EDR (Enhanced Data Rate). When transferring files to a Mac PowerBook and the Sony Vaio UX180P micro PC, both with 2.0 + EDR, transfer speeds were 2x faster than the Nokia N80 (90KB/s vs 45KB/s) and other Bluetooth 1.2 phones. DUN (dial up networking) also benefits and Bluetooth is no longer the bottleneck when using the phone as a wireless modem for data connections. The N73 supports most every common protocol except A2DP (for Bluetooth stereo headphones). It has the headset, handsfree, FTP, object push, HID (primarily for keyboards), basic printing profile and SIM access profile (used primarily so your car's handsfree kit can download phone numbers stored on the SIM card). Nokia phones generally play well with most Bluetooth headsets on the market, and the N73 is no exception; we got good range, volume and clarity with the Bluetooth headsets and car kits we tested including popular offerings from Plantronics, Cardo and Motorola. Battery Life A large-screened phone with Bluetooth, high speed data capabilities, a 3 megapixel camera with flash and video playback capabilities faces challenges in the battery life department. Even more so when it's a smartphone with a faster CPU, multitasking and a good deal of memory. Happily, Nokia put a large capacity battery in the N73, their 1100 mAh BBP-6M Lithium Ion battery. Our phone easily made 3 days on a charge with high to moderate use: playing videos for 30 minutes, listening to MP3s for 45 minutes, surfing the web over EDGE for 45 minutes, using the PIM apps and Quickoffice several times per day, checking email manually 8 times per day, taking lots of photos and talking for 20 minutes (all figures are per day). If you're in the US or in an area with no UMTS service, save battery power by changing the phone's setting to GSM only (rather than automatic switching between networks). If you are in a UMTS area, we hear that 3G reduces battery life by a bit, so you might expect 10% less runtime. Nokia estimates talk time at 3.75 hours on GSM networks with over 6 days of standby and that seems a bit cautious as ours did a bit better. Conclusion If you're a smartphone user and love to take photos, this phone is a godsend! No more deciding between a useful business phone and one that's fun to use and can take simply wonderful photos. The N73 has one of the best cameras of any phone on the market, with only Nokia's own N93 and the Sony Ericsson K790 / K800i competing. If you don't need smartphone features, then the Sony Ericsson offers serious competition but it can't compete with the Nokia on syncing, powerful PIM applications, Office viewers, PDF viewer and 3rd party software. The phone has excellent reception and call quality with fast data rates over EDGE and good ergonomics (though the straightforward design might seem boring it does make for an easy to use phone). Bluetooth is fast which is a plus when transferring those big photos and videos. The screen is gorgeous! Battery life is good and the smartphone is responsive in all tasks. Pro: Powerful smartphone, best in class 3.2MP autofocus camera, fantastic display, easy to use, great software bundle, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, secondary VGA camera with video conferencing is handy for 3G markets, compact by smartphone standards, well built, miniSD expansion slot. Con: No WiFi. Look to the Nokia N80 if you need that. Web site: www.nokia.com Estimated price in the US: $550 from importers but the price will likely drop since the device is so new Comparison Shopping: Where to Buy
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). The flash helps at close range but an LED flash can only do so much (and more powerful flashes eat batteries fast). See the photo of Sammy the cat, taken indoors with very poor lighting and flash to get an idea what the camera can do in dim locations. 
