I recently purchased the Nokia N95 I have now had it for about two weeks, I haven't had a chance to use all the features, but have used quite a few and had a play around. So thought I would write a review and then update it as I try more and more of the features.
The N95 is packed with features and this review could last for days if I explained them all. I'm going to concentrate on the most used and interesting features.
Lets start with the look and the screen size:
I like Nokias and am a fan and I haven't been disappointed with the look and feel of the N95. My other half has a Nokia N73 and when they are side by side the phones look very similar the difference and in my opinion the benefit of the N95 is the screen size. The screen is large for such a compact phone, it is 2.6 inch all the technical specifications can be found on Nokia's website so I won't bore you: http://www.nokia.co.uk/A4344017
What makes the phone compact is the way it slides open. It slides up to reveal the number
keys and the picture on screen is vertical it and it slides down to reveal 4 buttons (play. Stop forward and back) for the music player, when you select this the picture on screen changes direction and is wider than it is tall, the best option if watching TV on your phone. What I do like about it is that the mouse pad button alters it use with the change in picture so it matches up with the direction of the screen. I also like that when you slide it open it unlocks the phone and when its shut it is locked so no messing around pressing the astrix button and no accidentally ringing people e because you forgot to lock it.
It is a very elegant and stylish looking phone in my opinion and the slide mechanism is smooth and easy to use.
So lets start talking about some of the features:
The Camera:
As soon as you manual open the lens on the back of the phone the camera mode clicks in. You do not have to select anything from the menu just open the lens and away you go. Once you open the lens the buttons down the side of the phone light up blue. If you turn your phone so this buttons are on top then the phone looks just like a compact digital camera. It has a flash and a video mode that is easy to switch to when the camera is activated. The button that lights up blue is your capture button. It's a very easy point and press. It has good resolution and takes good photos. I have taken a couple of video clips of my son and they are very good too. It is a Carl Zeiss lens and is 5 megapixels. For all the other spec on the camera check the Nokia website .
The Music player: It has a music player, which I have to say I was surprised how good it was. It's easy to use due to the double sliding mechanism of the phone. As soon as you slide the phone down to reveal the buttons it automatically selects the music player. I have only downloaded 5 songs so far (which I did through the Internet) but they sound fine. It comes with a headset, but it also plays the music with out it and has easy volume control with a button on the side. The music player supports MP3/AAC/AAC+/eAAC+/WMA/M4A Again full tech specs available on the website. I'm not that tech and don't know what half of it means any way put it plays the music pretty well.
Memory Functions: I guess if you are using it for photos and music you want to know about it's memory capability. Up to 160 MB* internal dynamic memory and there is Memory card slot supporting up to 2 GB microSD memory cards, when I bought mine it came with a 512MB memory card. Haven't needed more than this as yet.
Sat Nav: One of the things that attracted me to this phone was the fact that it had sat nav. So far for me this has been it's most disappointing feature. It is relatively easy to use and the maps are free to download from the internet and you can hook your phone up and download them so your network provider doesn't charge you (as most do). How ever you want voice enhancements on there you have to pay and it is an annual subscription of £47. Then to use it when you are out and about, which is when you want to use it as it's sat nav you will get charged by your service provide how and what depends on the service provider. I am with Vodafone and can not get a straight answer from them about the chargers so have avoided using it so far until I understand how much it will cost me. So I can't really comment on it's functionality yet just it's cost.
3G It's a 3G phone so comes with all the £G benefits if you are in an area that gets 3G of course. Video calling mobile TV etc.. all of which cost to use. I haven't tried video calling on it yet. I have tried the TV on it and that's pretty good. The choice of programs is pretty poor but that's not the phones fault ease of use and watchability on it though is fairly good.
Summary.
I haven't mentioned all the features as they are too numerous and many of them are the same as any other Nokia. I have mention the ones that attracted me to the phone and the ones that would probably attract most people and the ones that are unique or better than other Nokias.
I really like this phone it isn't cheap and if you were to buy it, it would cost around £395 it does vary place to place. I actually got mine from vodafone on a pay as you go tariff for £50 which I thought wasn't a bad deal and I got 3 months half price line rental. There are deals on other networks. It just depends on what tariff you want.
All in all the phone is excellent really good, don't know about the durability has haven't had it for long enough, but the features are good and easy to use and it is sleek an attractive. My only criticisms is the Sat Nav because of all the hidden costs. So if you were buying it purely for the Sat Nav don't bother get a Tom Tom otherwise I would highly recommend it.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: Good Music Player, Awesome Camera, Gadget packed Disadvantages: Crashes, hangs, poor battery life, internet browsing using Wifi is very slow
wzwukdotcom 19.12.2007 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Nokia N95
Jun 1st, 2007
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