Nokia N95 review

While the flagship phone from the hottest mobile company is bizarrely only being offered in Iran at the moment, its release across Europe seems only weeks away, making this the perfect time for a Nokia N95 review.

As much a computer as a cell phone, the Nokia N95 features a unique dual slider, with one side a normal keypad and another layer devoted to music controls. Aside from being MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, and WMA music compatible; it also features a .5mm headphone jack. Other entertainment perks include a 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss digital camera, with a 640 x 480 video resolution and 30 frames per second speed, usable for recording, playback or video calling.

And of course you can’t do a Nokia N95 review without touching on the plethora of connecting options, including, infrared, Mini USB, WLAN Wi-Fi, UPnP, Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0, and possibly even Jake 2.0; running on both 3G GPRS and EDGE. The internet is soundly integrated into the smart phone, with a feature that supports maps of over a 100 countries and Excel, PowerPoint, and Word are also included, making sending and opening business e-mails easy.

The internal memory is generous with 160MB of internal memory and a microSD card slot for which a 128MB card is included. The screen size is 2.6 inches and with the weight a reasonable 120g, it seems like they found the perfect balance between size and features. Aside from battery issues, while 6 and a half hours of talk time is promise, it’s always a concern what that translates to when using other features; the phone looks like a winner and this Nokia N95 review gives it a passing grade.

Of course by passing, that could also mean passing as the Nokia N95 is yet the latest top-of-the-line smart phone that won’t be offered in the United States; though fans can still ship $700 overseas for an unlocked version.

Nokia Now With YouTube!

What’s all this, then? Nokia’s new Video Center offers RSS video feeds along with content directly from YouTube, no browser needed. Initially available on the N95, Nokia’s fattie media phone, it will be available for S60 phones including the N93i down the line. How is it integrated? Well, the Video Center looks sort of like Apple’s Front Row and offers YouTube video through one of the rotating selectors. They kind of glossed over it in the meeting, so let’s just say it exists and leave it at that.

T Mobile on the iPhone, Nokia N95 and HSDPA

Robin O’Kelly, head of communications for mobile phone network T Mobile, has been discussing voice roaming and data pricing this week.

T Mobile has introduced flat rate data pricing in the UK but admits it needs to do more to match the new service from 3 that offers surcharge free access.

The UK’s fastest growing network are keen to focus on the mobile internet during 2007 having successfully introduced a new concept of bill with the Flext tariff in 2006.

Interestingly T Mobile also mentioned a dislike for the term HSDPA, preferring “mobile broadband” instead. With consumers already aware of how broadband has improved their internet surfing at home it will be far easier to sell mobile broadband without having to explain what HSDPA actually is.

O’Kelly hopes that T Mobiles internet speeds will reach 3.6 Mbps this year allowing a real comparison with home broadband. 3G coverage will also increase in the UK from 70 to 80 percent.

There was also scepticism for mobile TV with O’Kelly stating that the technology was not ready to allow T to take off in the mainstream.

When asked whether T Mobile would consider carrying the iPhone O’Kelly said they had a “strong interest” but wanted to know how Apple would be distributing it in Europe. As we might have expected T Mobile wanted a 3G version of the iPhone, stating “Are they going to have a 3G version for Europe? It would be handicapping itself if it turned up as 2.5G," and pointing out that the forthcoming Nokia N95 would be stiff competition.

With operators making a lot of their income from 3G and data access it’s not hard to see why T Mobile would be keen on a 3G iPhone. No doubt if a 3G version was made available it would attract much larger subsidy’s from the networks as well.

Hands-On the Most Fabulous Jewel In The Smartphones World

As you may already know I was invited as a guest on the big Nokia lunch event in New York City a few months ago and I am proud to say that I was lucky enough to see the N95 and to be one of the first to get hands on the proto model which has been introduced to a closed group of bloggers and forumers one day before the official release.

Now, a few months later, I am proud, happy and honored to say that I've just get N95 and that I am lucky enough to leave my fingerprints on the this beauty again, before its official shipment and to be among the first in the world who will test it out.

So, what to say after a few minutes? Nothing besides that I am completely speechless, I just cannot find right words or sentences to describe how excited I am at the moment. Putting my impressions on paper under such conditions sounds as the “mission impossible” but I will try to give my best anyway because I know that you are expecting something from Mr. Apoc; so here it is, a short preview of upcoming Nokia beast.

First of all I have to say that this not going to be a regular review, not even hands on preview and I am not going to write one long piece, this is going to be something like various impressions of a power user.

If you have been living in a cave for the last few months you should know that Nokia N95 is the most awesome device which pretends to be a flagship-Nokia-phone for some time, at least until the real N93(i) successor will be released. If you do not believe me, read the specifications overview. It will be enough to realize that.

OK, honestly, some features and solutions are not so innovative and will definitely cause a very well known déjà-vu effect, but from the other hand there are some undoubtedly great new features and innovative solutions, stuff like new kind of form factor, actually it is an improved N80 sliding design, with innovative 2-way slide movement; also it is the first Nokia phone that supports HSDPA (also known as 3.5G or TURBO 3G among freaks) with impressive download speeds up to 3.6 Mbps as well as the full GPS support with downloadable maps (free of charge) and last but not least a pretty large 2,6” screen, although its QVGA (240*320) resolution is not as impressive nowadays as it used to be once.

Furthermore, it contains an impressive 5.0 MPixel camera supported with Carl Zeiss optics, auto focus, mechanical shutter and DVD-like quality video recording. Of course, it features WLAN, 3D stereo speakers, mini-USB connector, 3.5mm mini-jack connector, dedicated music/video buttons as well as dedicated camera buttons, 160 MB of internal storage memory, 64 MB of RAM and a not so impressive BL-5F Battery.
*click to enlarge

It also includes a wide range of connectivity support: Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR support, uPnP, infrared, UMTS, GPRS, EDGE and SIP support. All these are becoming even more impressive considering that all mentioned features are packed into relatively small and compact body with size of 99 mm x 20 mm x 53 mm and weight of just 120g. Pretty respectable is not it?

I have to say that a few of my worst fears appear to be true, the screen resolution as well as the battery life are not suitable for such an undoubtedly powerful and superior smartphone, and these two things just do not follow other specifications.

You see, putting the BL-5F (950 mAh) Li-Ion battery is not a very clever move from Nokia in my personal opinion, especially considering all features packed into the N95, GPS, wi-fi, 2,6” screen, HSDPA and all the other features that require a lot of energy!? Actually, I just have to say that battery is one of the crucial downsides of this undoubtedly great phone, it just is not suitable for power users who use this phone on a higher level, such as wi-fi connectivity, web surfing, music, imaging and last but not least GPS.

Battery life will be a big bottleneck, putting such a weak battery in such a powerful smartphone with GPS capabilities is a joke. Nobody likes a device which you have to charge few times a day! You should not plan to use the GPS on a long trip without the car charger or 2nd battery in your pocket!! Although, from another side, I have to be honest and say that it is hard to put a better battery in such a relatively small and compact phone among all the other impressive hardware components which we can find under the cover. But it is not an excuse for Nokia, 1500 mAH is a must have!
The second but not less important issue is the screens pixel density. You see, if you have been here for long enough then you should be well aware of my love for phones that use high resolution screens and accept that I am maybe a little bit tooo subjective but it does not mean that I have to hide my disappointment with this screen.

As you might already know, screen is enlarged to the 2.6". It is a TFT active color display with incredible good viewing angle of 160°. Out of this it follows that the display is undeniably great, large, really large and it causes this very well known “wow-effect” at first sight, which will remain for a quite long time. But the most important thing is the fact that the resolution remains the same, causing the situation with pixel density to be even worse than on the N93.
I am truly disappointed with the N95 resolution and pixel density; even more than I was with the Nokia N93, QVGA (320x240) just is not enough for such a large screen and such an impressive hardware.

The N95 is based on the same hardware platform as the N93: Texas’s OMAP 2420 chipset with a possibly little bit faster processor than in N93. The mentioned chipset supports resolutions up to VGA as well as the S60 platform 3rd edition FP1 which also brings support for HVGA and VGA screen resolutions. So all conditions for VGA screen (except the battery) are there but we still have to wait a little bit more for first Nokia phone with a higher resolution. How long Nokia!?
However, from another point of view there is no doubt that average phone user would be completely satisfied and impressed with this huge screen; especially owners of the some older phones with lower resolution screens.

First impressions of the production quality are pretty good and acceptable, definitely better than with the N93. Although, as usual, the cover is made of plastic materials. Because of the very good production quality and chromed keys it does not look very plastic at all and leaves feeling of a pretty strong phone anyway.
As I have already mentioned above, the phone features an improved N80 form factor with 2-way sliding movement, which was improved and seems much better implemented than on N80 or 6280. Manipulation is very easy and not as wobbly as on some other models, movement is smooth with more than noticeable click sound in lock position. But "spring" that pulls phone in the end position isn't as strong as it should be, it acts only when slide almost completely reach the end position!

Dedicated multimedia keys are very well implemented, positioned, useful and accessible only when you need it by sliding the phone into music/video player landscape mode. Due to the overall size and slider form factor, the main keypad is a little bit too small for my taste, definitely larger and better than on N80 but still not very suitable for large male thumbs.

After few months with a N93 in my pocket and its great and more than comfortable keypad, I definitely need some time to get used to it. Main navigation keys are very well arranged and easily accessible in portrait as well as in the landscape mode, what is great.
Music aspects of this phone have improved a lot; even in comparison with mighty N91, the phone has the standard 3,5mm audio jack (there is some really good and interesting technology behind this connecter, will be elaborated it the upcoming review), 3D stereo speakers, mini-USB connector for faster music transfer, Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR support and expandable memory with microSD cards, supporting up to 2GB.
Let me say that I usually enjoy listening to music in my car and sometimes in my home as well, and the main reason why I need an MP3 player is that I can carry my favorite tracks to keep me occupied while walking outside or to gain motivation with some nice tracks when I hit up the gym.

Therefore, I am perfectly satisfied with this player, playlists, equalizer, great stereo speakers, supplied stereo headset, DRM 2.0 support, stereo FM radio as well as the storage, which can be bottleneck for the real music freaks, as the phone does not support cards larger than 2GB.

Oh my god, two pages of poor text already, I have so much to say about this piece of hardware, but I just have to stop at this point, this is becoming more like a review and this supposed to be just a short Hands-On preview. So that is all for now, give me some time for detailed testing and review. I know there was nothing related to the soft but its hard to write something about it after just a few hours.

Anyway, in the mean time I will be ready to answer one every single question, so PLEASE do not hesitate to ask anything, I am going to be available at our forum section 24/7, yeah 24/7 I am not going to waste my time on sleeping during the testing period :-D
Do not be ashamed even if your English is not as good, keep in mind one thing: Who is ashamed of asking is ashamed of Learning; it is the rule No1 on the Symbian Freak! Our team of experts, Admin and Moderators are always glad and ready to help and answer on all questions.

 

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Nokia's N95 gets FCC approval

The lovingly gracious FCC has yet again spoiled the secret party on another handset, as we spied the Nokia N95 with all its technical and RF detail at the FCC website. This means, umm, the N95 will probably be here in the U.S. by maybe June (or not). With the average delays we see from FCC approval to hitting carrier shelves being months (many months sometimes), the N95 should wash ashore by early summer -- and maybe late Spring. With the N95 being such a high-end handset, though, maybe Nokia is planning to sell it directly from its new retail storefront(s) instead of going straight to a carrier. Both T-Mobile and Cingular (err, at&t) are not that known for carrying manufacturer flagships (and the N95 may be that in some form), so will Nokia shun the carriers this time around with this UMTS / HSDPA unit? Most likely, yes.

Nokia N95 Review

Nokia N95: Smartphone of 2007?

The new year is shaping up to be a good one for smartphones. Not only do we have Apple's long awaited Jesus phone coming in June, but we also have Nokia's do-it-all N95. All About Symbian got some solid playtime with the sexy slider and from their first impressions, it looks like the J-phone ain't the only smartphone capable of performing a few miracles.

For starters, they praise the phone's....




small size. It looks big, but feels light and comfortable in the hand. Buttons are well spaced out and the device's screen shines like a lighthouse in the middle of the night. Spec freaks can expect to find a 5MP camera (Carl Zeiss optics) with VGA video (there's 150MB of memory with microSD support) USB, Infrared, Bluetooth, HSDPA, WLAN, GSM, and integrated GPS.

The N95 has also been fitted with built-in stereo speakers and a 3.5mm audio jack (which apparently doubles as TV out). A new Map app lets you plan out routes in 2D or 3D. If you want turn-by-turn voice instructions, you'll have to pay up for premium service, otherwise basic route planning and street addresses are free.

So overall, there was nothing negative to be said about the N95. We're still curious about its battery life, but otherwise the only thing we can ding it for is not being in our hands yet

Nokia N95 gets fully peeped from top to bottom

Although this review of the new Nokia N95 is labeled as a first impression, all the scuttlebutt was fleshed out (well, most of it) and the N95's guts were examined with clarity and precision. Thinking of picking one up? Take a look over at AllAboutSymbian. The nerdy details on the N95 are pretty decent -- but is it a smartphone? A digicam? A DAP? A....keypad? Just what is this thing, or is it everything? Well, we know it's a Symbian S60 (3rd Ed.) smartphone that sports dual-slider action (keyboard and music controls) and looks pretty chunky svelte for what's under the hood; but Nokia, what is up with those apparently-stringy earbuds? Is that rubber casing on the wires? We prefer the non-gangy set o'phones please. Let's hit up the good based on AAS's touchy-feely on the N95 -- very good-sounding stereo speakers built into the sides, a diet form factor compared to previous N-series units, every wire-free connectivity option you could ever need, and a 5 Megapixel cam with Zeiss optics and even VGA video capture -- what's not to love? AAS's overall impression of this unit is very good -- all the way to how the keypad looks and feels (ridgy and tactile). Need we say more?

Nokia's N95 smartphone goes legit

We're still struggling with a spat of fainting fits across the Engadget HQ, but that Nokia N95 pre-release info leak last night wasn't no hearsay. Nokia just dropped their complete fanboy specsheet of a S60 phone in the Nokia N95 today, including a 5 megapixel camera, integrated GPS, 802.11g WiFi, HSDPA, microSD, 150MB of internal memory and pretty much any other spec you could ever care to have stuffed into your phone by a Finnish "multimedia computer" manufacturer. The 2.6-inch QVGA screen should provide plenty of room to partake in all this specification glory, and there's a full-on 3.5mm audio jack to enjoy your multimedia in a convenient manner. Of course, that 550 euro pricetag ($700 US) wasn't no joke neither, but luckily we have until Q1 '07 -- that's when they're busting this thing out in Europe -- to get all practiced up on our petty thievery. Keep reading for the pr0n.

Nokia N95

It's what computers have become - the new Nokia N95

Nokia Open Studio 2006, New York, US - Nokia today introduced the Nokia N95, an all-in-one multimedia computer with a pioneering 2-way slide concept, integrated GPS functionality, a 5 megapixel camera and support for high-speed mobile networks, making it easier to watch and record videos, listen to songs, take high-quality photos, browse the internet, or catch up on email while on the move.

"The Nokia N95 brings a range of multimedia ingredients together, such as a fantastic display, outstanding photo and video capability and high-speed connectivity, making it the ultimate multimedia computer," said Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President, Multimedia, Nokia. "This single device - which fits easily in your pocket - can replace stand-alone devices that you no longer need, whether it's your music player, your digital camera, PDA or navigation device. Most importantly, the Nokia N95 is with you and connected when you want to use it."

The innovative 2-way slide concept makes it easy to switch between different modes, going from reading maps to watching a video with a simple slide. A numeric keypad slides out from one end of the device while dedicated media keys slide out from the opposite direction, converting the display into full screen landscape mode. With powerful 3D graphics, the Nokia N95 has a stunning user interface that makes it intuitive to find the features and services you want.

With its integrated GPS at your fingertips, finding your way just got easier. The Maps application includes maps for more than 100 countries, enabling users to explore the world, find specific routes or locate services such as restaurants and hotels and covering more than 15 million points of interest. You can also purchase additional features, such as city guides and voice guided navigation.

With the Carl Zeiss optics on the 5 megapixel camera, you can capture print quality photos and DVD-like quality video clips. Photos and video clips can be enjoyed on a compatible television thanks to the device's TV out feature and support for Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) technology.

Designed for High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) networks and with support for WLAN, EDGE and WCDMA networks, the Nokia N95 provides excellent coverage and speeds wherever you may be. In HSDPA networks, browsing the internet, reading email, streaming video and downloading large files can be carried out up to 10 times faster than with 3G.

The Nokia N95 also offers a first class entertainment experience with the combination of a large 2.6" QVGA 16 million color display, impressive 3D graphics, built-in stereo speakers offering a 3D stereo effect, standard 3.5 mm audio jack, support for compatible microSD cards and mini USB for convenient data transfer. Browsing the internet on the Nokia N95 is a pleasure using the Nokia Web Browser with Mini Map, with new features such as a floating toolbar, password manager and auto complete, as well as web feeds with support for Atom and auto update.

The Nokia N95 is based on the world's leading S60 software on Symbian OS, enabling you to personalize your device from a wide choice of compatible applications that can be downloaded to the Nokia N95, including games, navigation, entertainment, productivity and creativity. The Nokia N95 comes out of the box ready to create, connect, consume and interact with some of the internet's most popular services. Use Yahoo! Search to search for and find most anything on the web, scroll though a book with Amazon's MobiPocket Reader or snap a photo and send it directly to your Flickr site.