Nokia N77: Digital TV in your Pocket

When I was offered to get my hands on an N77, I was excited to finally be able to try Smart myTV and see if it lives up to the hype. Like any of the new N-Series phones, the Nokia N77 runs on the improved S60 3rd Edition platform — clean, fast and feature-packed.

Of course, the main feature that makes this model different from most Nokia handheld units is the mobile TV feature. Only this one and the N92 are able to receive digital TV signals over the air which is being widely marketed by Smart for their myTV service.

Since it’s 3G capable, the large screen makes for better mobile browsing. You can likewise switch the viewing from vertical to horizontal (wide screen). At the right hand side, there’s a dedicated TV button beside the camera button. If not for the size, the N77 is almost a half-brother to the N73. Perhaps, the extra girth (18.8mm) is due to the added digital TV functionality. Which brings me to the only biggest drawback — the size makes it a little harder to handle the phone that sometimes texting can be a little bit awkward. It would really have been a killer if a slimmer version of this comes out in the next iteration.

Nevertheless, the screen is big (2.4″, QVGA, 16M colors) and bright. Display quality is excellent as well as TV reception. Response is a little slow when turning on the TV and changing channels. Sometimes, it feels like contents are streamed (much like IPTV, Joost, etc.); moreso that it launches Real Player to display the programming. I guess that’s how digital TV (DVB-H) really works (haven’t compared it to regular digital TVs).

Viewing experience is great if you have good signal in your location (at least 40% signal strength) but when moving around (commuting or driving) the signal is choppy and which can be frustrating especially when you are in a middle of a game or a punchline. However, this could be attributed more to the coverage of Smart myTV rather than the phone itself.

Nokia N77 Smart myTV

I know, watching TV while driving can be hazardous especially when you’re driving 80km/hr in EDSA but I just had to try if that’s possible. Effective viewing distance is about 2 feet. Anything farther than that and you’re just like listening to radio.

Sound quality is great and loud (read somewhere it’s 3 watts, rms). The headphone that comes with it uses a 3.5mm stereo jack which comes with an attached TV remote control. That also mean you can hook it up to external speakers.

By the way, Smart myTV is still free until today. This has got to do with the lack of NTC guidelines and approval for digital TV broadcast. You can grab an N77 for about Php18k but Smart gives it away for free with Plan1800.

P.S.
Thanks to WOMWorld UK for lending me the unit.

Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

https://www.yugatech.com

22 Comments

jonathan loresto says:

12 years ago

how to use my mob.tv on my n77??
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Collin Ramos says:

13 years ago

magkano na po ang n77 ngaun ? ung hindi naka plan sa smart ? i just want to know
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Femi says:

14 years ago

Pls can I connect my nokia n77 to an external t.v and how
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Cameron Goffinet says:

15 years ago

Well written post, looks brilliant on my iPhone as well.
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Thomas Jackson says:

15 years ago

What an alluring comment about SEO. I’m honestly incredibly dumfounded that this hasn’t really been pronounced earlier to such a great length.
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aminu catey says:

15 years ago

i will like to no if is possible connecting my n77 mobile tv with my pc and watch tv on pc?
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jhayzon says:

15 years ago

di po ako nka subcribe sa plan 1800

mgkanu po kaya ang per hour if manunuod aq,, or lagi po bang my carge ang smart if i watch my tv??
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raymond says:

17 years ago

how much it is?
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David Jonata says:

17 years ago

Wow. Cool. I love Nokia.
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liang says:

17 years ago

Nokia n77 is a phone you need to buy it has great features and functions
i got mine for $300 us dollars and its is amazing you wanna know much about it and buy then contact via
liac****@****.***
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Macnerdzcare says:

17 years ago

ok na cellphone yan :)
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prokopyo says:

17 years ago

kelan raw po mgkakameron d2 s pinas ng nokia e51?
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Ordnacin says:

17 years ago

People still watch TV ?!? :) Me I just encode a bunch of TV shows on my phones for viewing when stuck waiting somewhere – much faster, better graphics, no gnashing of your teeth when you have a low signal and free…
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Chris says:

17 years ago

Oh and btw, when I submit comments with the captcha verification I get this error:

Warning: Cannot modify header information – headers already sent by (output started at /home/yugatech/public_html/blog/wp-content/plugins/SK2/sk2_second_chance.php:2) in /home/yugatech/public_html/blog/wp-content/plugins/polls/polls.php on line 1088

You should remove the header call on that plugin and maybe put an auto-redirect so it goes back to the blog after it’s submitted…

Just a suggestion yuga…
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Chris says:

17 years ago

Or you can try getting the china imitation 3G phones one, they run better with myTV and the screens are really big, I’m not a fan boy of china/hongkong electronics, but it seems their build quality is improving…
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ricochet says:

17 years ago

wow, this is a great gadget… well having a tv on that small will be surely handy. being on a travel daily would surely keep you out of the news on tv.

nokia surely gets everything to be done on their handsets… what could ever be the next big thing!!
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BrianB says:

17 years ago

Yeah I was going to buy one (just to keep up with the news, you know) until I got my hands on it. When I was blogging about it I just assumed it was as big as the N73.
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jhay says:

17 years ago

So it’s an N73 with Ditigal TV capability. ;)

How’s the battery life?

Either way, it’s one nice item to be in one’s Christmas wishlist. Not mine though, I’m wishing for a K850i.
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MiGs says:

17 years ago

Oh… ang bilis nila pinadala..

Di pa nila kinukuha yung sakin.. sana wag ng kunin.. xmas gift!

next phone.. n82?

=p

MiGs
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