The Nokia N97 is undoubtedly the new king of Nokia (NYSE: NOK)’s Nseries-hill. With a feature set that boasts a 5-megapixel Carl Zeiss camera (with dual-LED flash), GPS, WiFi, 3.5-inch touchscreen, and 32GB of on-board storage, it’s clear that the Nokia N97 reigns over its Nseries brethren with confidence. And, after putting hands on the device at Nokia’s booth in Hall 8 of the Fira de Barcelona, we’re convinced that Nokia’s push into the touchscreen segment is going quite well (but it could be better… more on that in a bit)
From work to play, the Nokia N97 performs beautifully. Whether you’re taking pictures, surfing the web, or just tapping out an email, the Nokia N97 ensures that you have all the features you’ll need in a smartphone. The Nokia N97’s build-quality was superb – nothing like the Nokia N86’s incredibly solid construction and high-end material quality, but nonetheless impressive. The tilt-slide mechanism struck us as a little unrefined and somewhat awkward, but the sliding action was smooth and decisive. The Nokia N97 isn’t going to win any awards for slick industrial design, but if it’s a power-packed QWERTY smartphone you want, the Nokia N97 delivers in spades.
Unfortunately, Nokia’s insistence on using resistive-based touchscreens hurts the Nokia N97’s chances of blowing away the touchscreen competition. The squishy-type touchscreen was somewhat slow to respond, leaving us wondering if we had indeed pressed a particular button. On the up-side, the QWERTY keyboard was good enough to compete with the likes of QWERTY smartphone-maker HTC – and given HTC’s experience in making full-QWERTY smartphones, that’s saying a lot.
We didn’t really test out the Nokia N97’s software because of time limitations, but expect the S60 5th Edition OS to get the job done decently well. If you’ve had any experience with the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, you’ll have a good idea of how the Nokia N97 operates on the software-front.
Check out our Nokia N97 hands-on gallery and video below!
Nothing compares to actually putting hands on a new handset. No matter how much you read about a new piece of mobile hardware, there’s just no substitute for getting up close and personal with a new device. At a Nokia (NYSE: NOK) press conference held this morn, the Finnish cellphone maker unveiled their new Nokia N86 8-megapixel cameraphone to a small group of tech-enthusiasts – and we had a chance to play with the new Nseries multimedia slider.
As Dusan already pointed out, the Nokia N86 packs in an 8megapixel camera with dual-LED flash and Carl Zeiss Tessar optis, a crystal-clear 2.6-inch OLED QVGA screen, HSPA, GPS, WiFi, TV-out, compass, 8 GB of internal memory storage, and a microSD expansion slot. But, what the spec-sheet doesn’t convey is the quality of finish and build that we see in the Nokia N86.
The Nokia N86 resembles its slightly downrange sibling, the Nokia N85, with a dual-slider form-factor to slides up to reveal a keypad and down to reveal media controls (playback and whatnot). But, where the Nokia N85’s slider mechanism tends to feel a little loose and wobbly at times, the Nokia N86’s slider is rock solid and smooth. There’s absolutely no jiggle, no wiggle, not even a hint of play in the sliding mechanism. And, then there’s the tasteful metallic accents that highlight the handset’s place as a high-end Nseries handset. Combine all that with a build quality that’s unrivalled by any other handset (even from Nokia’s own product portfolio), and you’ve got a seriously badass cameraphone.
Nokia says that the 8-megapixel camera has been (and still is, as it undergoes continued refinement prior to launch) optimized to make the best use of the Carl Zeiss Tessar lens. Low-lighting conditions are no problem for the Nokia N86, as evidenced by a couple poster-sized night-shots that Nokia so proudly showed off at the press conference. The trick to making a great cameraphone isn’t just about pixel density, but overall camera performance (light sensitivity, shot-to-shot time, shutter lag, etc.) and Nokia takes that philosophy to heart.
Enjoy our Nokia N86 picture gallery and hands-on video!
Nokia (NYSE: NOK)’s WOM World was kind enough to lend me the Nokia N96 so I could carry it with myself to the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The device is super slick and looks much, much better than its predecessor, Nokia N95 8GB (if that is its predecessor at all). It fits in the hand nicely and it’s quite responsive. I must add here that I still have to install some apps on it and then to evaluate its speed, but if its working like the E71, it shouldn’t be a problem.
Even though it’s a media centric device, I miss the full QWERTY keyboard. That being said, I can’t hide my enthusiasm for the Nokia N97, the first QWERTY keyboard equipped NSeries device.
Back to the N96. As I said, it’s supper slick and its large screen rocks. Too bad it’s only QVGA, as there’s certainly room for higher resolution. HTC Touch Diamond has a VGA resolution on the same-sized screen (2.8-inches).
Anyhow, the idea is not to compare it with the Diamond as it’s a different kind of device, which was released after the N96. Rather, I’ll try to write my daily endeavors with it. In that sense it will be much like my “A week with the Nokia E71″ series. This time the main role goes to the N96.
Finally, before I let you go – if you have any questions about the device, don’t hesitate to drop them in the comments form. I’ll try to address all of them. Thanks!
Just when we reported that the minor firmware upgrade has been released for the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, the Finnish giant released a new update, this time much larger. Although there is no official change log, AllAboutSymbian’s Rafe Blandford and Steve Litchfield managed to identify some of the changes:
Geo-tagging information is now available in Camera
New applications added: Dictionary (as seen on E66 and E71) and App. update for updating individual Nokia (NYSE: NOK) apps outside of firmware upgrades (as seen on N85 and N79)
Overall performance is improved – screen rotations are faster and apps run smoother, most notable example is Gallery
Flash playback is faster with less hickups in S60 Browser
Standby “Search” is updated to search for both phone content and the Internet
Aside from the visible changes mentioned above, Nokia also fixed some of the known bugs to make the device as stable as possible. The update should be already available, although firmware availability usually varies by market and variant. The easiest way to proceed is via over-the-air update on a WiFi connection. Before doing so, we advise you to backup the device despite the fact the Tube supports UDP.
Nokia (NYSE: NOK) has released a new firmware update for its all-touchscreen smartphone, Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. Once the phone is updated, firmware version goes from 11.0.008 to 11.0.009, proving this is a truly minor upgrade.
Unfortunately we haven’t caught the change log, but some reports suggest the phone is snappier after the update. As usual, we suspect some of the known bugs have been fixed, some apps updated and as a result, overall stability is improved. If someone caught something specific after the update, we’re eager to learn about it. Comments form is all yours…
Finally, before I let you go, even though Nokia 5800 XpressMusic supports UDP, it is advisable to backup your device prior to hitting the “Update” button.
Nokia (NYSE: NOK) prepared a cool video to promote its N79 Active handset. As you’re probably already familiar, it’s a special version of the smartphone designed for more active individuals. The Finnish giant partnered with Polar to bundle their heart monitor in the package. The end result is a perfect companion for health fanatics…
Looks like Nokia (NYSE: NOK)’s on a handset updating bender today. The Nokia N82 isn’t the only S60 smartphone lucky enough to be graced by a firmware update, it seems the Nokia N78 has had its very own encounter with Nokia’s update-stick.
The Nokia N78 is now officially down with firmware v20.149.051.1, and should be all kinds of stable at this point. The v20.149.051.1 firmware updates your Nokia Maps to v2.0, boosts overall system speeds, and tweaks some menu transitions for the better. The full changelog is a monster, so if you want the nitty gritty, head on over to DailyMobile and peep their exhaustive change-list.
The iPhone and iPhone 3G aren’t the only smartphones to get hit with the update-stick today. The venerable Nokia N82 has apparently been given a nice little firmware update with the newly released v31.0.016 firmware. Nokia (NYSE: NOK) wasn’t too revealing with the changes they’ve made in this latest firmware build, but we do know that User Data Preservation (UDP) is now part of the package. UDP allows users to update their S60 smartphone while preserving user data, but user beware, it’s always a good idea to backup critical data before flashing to a new firmware.
You can grab the v31.0.016 firmware for your Nokia N82 through the Nokia Sofware Updater (NSU) application. Excuse us while we test the UDP feature’s reliability. Feel free to chime in on your UDP experience!
Nokia (NYSE: NOK) has recently released firmware updates for two of its NSeries smartphones – N78 and N82. The N78 firmware has reached version 20.149.051.1 and among notable things updates Nokia Maps to version 2.0 and makes user interface more responsive. This includes faster transitions between screens… Full change can be found on DailyMobile.se website.
As for the N82, firmware version 31.0.016 adds UDP (User Data Preservation), as well as an update to Nokia Maps, which in turn is more stable after the update. AllAboutSymbian has more details on this one.
Apart from the highlights mentioned above, new firmware versions also make sure overall stability is improved, as many of the known bugs have been fixed. Naturally, it is advised that you backup your device prior to hitting the “Update” button…
Your eyes do not deceive you. What you see here is an all-black variant of Nokia (NYSE: NOK)’s flagship Nseries handset, the Nokia N96. The reigning Nseries king has been around for a good while, and has even been offered for free when purchased with a new 18-month contract from UK carrier O2 (NYSE: TEF). But, news of an exclusive full-black Nokia N96 being sold by Carphone Warehouse is definitely worthy of a second look.
Carphone Warehouse was apparently the only source of the Gun-Barrel Black variant of the European Nokia N95 (the Nokia N95-1, for the initiated) back in the day, and it seems that Nokia has blessed the mobile phone retail giant with a new exclusive N96 offering.
Like we said, Full Black Nokia N96 for free on contract. Find it here.
The Nokia N97 is undoubtedly the new king of Nokia (NYSE: NOK)’s Nseries-hill. With a feature set that boasts a 5-megapixel Carl Zeiss camera (with dual-LED flash), GPS, WiFi, 3.5-inch touchscreen, and 32GB of on-board storage, it’s clear that the Nokia N97 reigns over its Nseries brethren with confidence. And, after putting hands on the device at Nokia’s booth in Hall 8 of the Fira de Barcelona, we’re convinced that Nokia’s push into the touchscreen segment is going quite well (but it could be better… more on that in a bit)
Nothing compares to actually putting hands on a new handset. No matter how much you read about a new piece of mobile hardware, there’s just no substitute for getting up close and personal with a new device. At a Nokia (
to slides up to reveal a keypad and down to reveal media controls (playback and whatnot). But, where the Nokia N85’s slider mechanism tends to feel a little loose and wobbly at times, the Nokia N86’s slider is rock solid and smooth. There’s absolutely no jiggle, no wiggle, not even a hint of play in the sliding mechanism. And, then there’s the tasteful metallic accents that highlight the handset’s place as a high-end Nseries handset. Combine all that with a build quality that’s unrivalled by any other handset (even from Nokia’s own product portfolio), and you’ve got a seriously badass cameraphone.
Looks like Nokia (
