Disqus
Nokia N96
I had my hands on an N96 the other day for five minutes, and below you can find out what I thought of it (actually it was a little more than five minutes, but the 17-minute fiddle doesn’t sound as good…)
The point of this mini-mini-review is that users who try a device out immediately pre-/post-buying will have only had the same time as me to make a decision on if the device is for them or not. Given I’ve played with most every major mobile platform/device out there, I figure I might be able to shed some light on the killer points/faults of the N96 – so let’s get to it:
- build quality – yurgh, not great – feels light, and the back panel, is, er….lame! Very thin and flimsy!. I bet the whole device creaks after 3 months usage
- key layout – sucks – who on earth thought of whacking all those (multi-function) buttons on the facia needs a stern talking to! People’s fingers are not styluses – remember this!
- slide mechanism – nice
- S60 familiarity – good – if you’ve owned another S60 device, this one should be workable – some menus have changed though
- option-finding complexity – very high – some options are buried under 7 layers of menus – come on Nokia, learn the Apple lesson!
- Speed – um, not great – this device feels slower than the N95-8GB – and if I remember correctly, DOES have a slower processor. Hmm.
- video playback – awesome – excellent quality and media handling
So in summary, would I buy one? Well I happen to know the battery is about the same size (in mAh) as the original N95, and smaller than N95-8GB – so on that count, it’s a no. On the basis of the screen, video handling, and slide mechanism, yes. Overall, if you’ve got another S60 device, you might find it hard to justify paying about £450 (SIM free). If you are coming from a feature-phone into S60 for the first time, I think this is (just about) the best device out there for that…
Overall rating: ambivalent – I could take it or leave it
Grade: B- (could do better)
About The Author
Ben Robinson
Ben is a 10+ year veteran of the Mobile industry – starting his career when SMS was a still a relatively new concept for most people (!), he has now consulted on everything from bleeding-edge Mobile content, to the next-gen accessories you might view it on. As a result he has a broad and deep knowledge in numerous areas of Mobile – from network operators to device vendors, to infrastructure and middleware vendors (not to mention content delivery) – and has worked for companies in all of these areas! He is based in the UK, a hotbed of activity for mobile, and recently became a father for the second time – as oppose to in his younger years when he was happy spend time tweaking all manner of mobile devices to 'nth' degree, he now looks for services and hardware that provide the most efficient, compact, and reliable improvements to his already manic life! It’s his opinion that Mobile solutions should be there to help to make your life better – if a particular solution (be it service or device) isn’t doing this, he believes you need to ask the very important question of why you continue to use it... His focus at IntoMobile is mainly on Mobile content, services, and infrastructure, particularly as regards the UK market – and with the occasional look at devices. Additionally, using his extensive experience in the industry, he will provide commentary on the industry at large, with regular (and hopefully thought-provoking) articles.
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