The N series from Nokia includes a number of very high end, all singing, all dancing phones. The N79 is a little more sedate than that, with a solid set of specifications which don't quite approach the current high end of things, and a candybar design that doesn't pay much attention to offering more than a standard range of buttons.

The N79 comes in at 97g and measures a pocket-friendly 110mm tall, 49mm wide and 15mm thick. Its screen measures 2.4 inches across diagonal corners and it offers 320 x 240 pixels. There is an accelerometer which allows the screen to pivot when you turn the N79 in your hands.

The relatively large screen means that the number pad is a little on the small side and the bottom row of numbers is really squeezed up against the bottom edge of the phone. If you have large hands you may want to try before you buy.

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Between the screen and keyboard is the usual array of softkeys comprising Call and End keys, navi button, Nokia menu and clear keys. There is also, on the far left of this bank, Nokia's Multimedia Key. Press this and you are taken to a menu of multimedia features such as music, photos, the Internet and gaming. It is just a subset of what is available from the main menu.

The navi button is very wide and the central select button looks a bit lost. The navi button itself can be used in the usual way for left, right, up and down actions and also as a scroller, iPod style. We found this a little lacking in responsiveness. If you don't like the idea it is easy to disable.

The N79 comes with three backplates in brown, blue and green. When you snap one on, the handset theme changes to match thanks to a set of connectors on the backplate that tell the phone which one you are using. It is simple and clever, and we'd like to see it in other phones.

The camera is a 5-megapixel Carl Zeiss affair and benefits from a dual LED flash, autofocus and a good macro mode.

This is a 3G handset with HSDPA supporting download speeds to 3.6Mbps. There is Wi-Fi and a sniffer sits on the main screen telling you when you are near connections. There is 50MB of built-in memory and a microSD card slot for adding more. The phone supports A-GPS and there is a copy of Nokia Maps pre-installed for navigation use. There is music playback, of course, and an FM radio.

The N79 has TV-out capability but sadly Nokia does not provide the cable you need to take advantage of it.

There is a lot packed into the N79 and it is encased in a neat and tidy phone that is easy to carry around. If you don't want the latest touchscreen technology, then the N79 has a lot to offer.