Screen

The QD's LCD display is a 4096 color 176 x 208 px, making it a vertical screen. The orientation of the screen is a deviation from the classic horizontal orientation of most hand-held game decks.

Compared to the N-Gage, the screen is virtually the same, with the exception of the QD's screen being slightly brighter and sharper. But both the N-Gage and the QD has a TFT screen for fast refresh rates needed for gaming.

LCDs come in two forms, and TFT, as opposed to STN, has the circuit transistors placed on the glass at the pixel location instead of the need to scan the pixel location. This results in greatly increasing the response time and allows for very fast refresh rates, which is needed for fast paced games with high refresh rates.

Audio

Thus far we have mentioned how the new N-Gage QD outperforms the N-Gage. However where the QD is lacking is in the audio capabilities. Unlike its predecessor, the QD does not have either a MP3 player or a built-in FM radio. However, QD owners can still purchase music software to install on the console. But the QD doesn't support stereo audio output.

Nokia's reasoning behind stripping down the QD's capabilities was to avoid the premium price tag that the N-Gage had. This was a major discouragement for potential consumers, so the QD's production costs were cut down in order to keep its price competitive. Another reason was that Nokia had attempted to pack in too much. The N-Gage was meant to be a game console. Although including MP3 players and FM radios is great, it was not vital.

The QD can assign either WAV or MIDI files as ring tones making it much more versatile than classic phones, allowing users to record their own voice, or anything from an audio output to play when the phone rings. Additionally an internal speakerphone is present for times of driving.

Messaging

SMS, MMS, and chat are supported. However due to the layout of the keypad, text messaging is more difficult on the one-sided N-Gage QD. Multimedia messaging (MMS) allows users to send messages containing images, text, and sound, as well as play audio, insert multimedia content, and save images as wallpapers.

External email accounts are supported with POP3, IMAP4, SMTP, and MIME2 protocols, allowing users to setup email accounts and check their mail when they're away from the computer.

Limited instant messaging and chat room features are supported through Nokia's N-Gage Arena. The N-Gage Arena is new to the QD, and not previously offered on the N-Gage. It is a software application that comes preinstalled on the game deck to allow users to access to the N-Gage Arena community. Once launched, the application connects via GPRS to allowing members to access chat rooms to communicate with one another.

< Prev Next >

This article is Copyright 2002-2009 Mobiledia Corp. and the review in part or in whole may NOT be reproduced in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from Mobiledia. For information on reproducing any part of this review (or any images) please contact us.