The N97 packs a 3.5-inch, 640 x 360 pixel (that's a 16:9 aspect ratio) resistive touchscreen display with tactile feedback and QWERTY keyboard into this sliding communicator with... more
Good Looking, Durable, Huge Memory, Very Very Good QWERTY keyboard
Disadvantages:
Tiny processor leading to lag and application crashes
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
The Nokia N97
Nokia have announced the follow up to their 5800 XpressMusic touchscreen phone. The Nokia N97, which utilises a 3.5 inch touchscreen and slide out QUERTY keyboard.
Appearance
The overall design of the N97 is not at all unique, looking like the lovechild of a Google G1 and Apple iPhone, comparisons have also been drawn to the AT&T Tilt, and rightly so. Despite Nokia's lack of imagination the N97 is a nice looking thing, apart from a small button in the bottom left corner, the 3.5 inch touchscreen dominates and looks sleek and well designed.
When the QUERTY keyboard is slid out the screen sits at an angle, looking remarkably like the HTC TyTN. The N97 is both larger and thicker than the iPhone, which isn't exactly inconspicuous itself, this makes the N97 feel a little too large, especially for people with smaller hands, despite this the N97 looks and feels solid and well made.
Unlike the majority of mobile phones which incorporate a QUERTY keyboard into their design, the QUERTY keypad itself is a complete success. Despite the room taken up by a directional pad on the left hand side, the buttons are well spaced, so even those with larger fingers won't end up pressing two or three at the same time.
Performance & Interface
The N97 has a very satisfying 32GB memory, on top of which can supplemented with a microSD card by a further 64GB. Anyone who is familiar with recent Nokia handsets will be aware of the Symbian S60 OS, which in the N97 has been revised for the fifth time, sadly though, not completely successfully. There has been a noticeable improvement since the N95 and N96, but the reoccurrence of lag and navigation bugs leaves it falling behind the slicker iPhone. The cause of this is likely to be the lack of power provided by a processor of less than 500MHz in what is quite literally a hand held computer.
The N97's newly designed home screen includes a number of widgets to select from, which realign themselves automatically from portrait to landscape. Fans of the 5800 XpressMusic will be glad to hear that the N97 maintains several of the key features from the 5800's home screen, most noticeably the option to select your four favourite contacts.
The N97's default widgets aren't a bad selection and are made up of, Shortcuts, Facebook, Favourite Contacts, Clock Function and Accuweather, but can be added to with a range of widgets. Not all of the available widgets are a success though, most noticeably the Amazon widget, which as far as I could tell only displays random items. These default widgets are the first thing that you see when you turn the phone on, and so were the first thing I played around with and unfortunately they demonstrated the lack of power and bugs apparent with the N97, tending to be a little erratic. The Facebook application frustrated me the most, which took it upon itself to log me out… repeatedly.
Further features include TV Out, WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth, GPS, FM radio, and a 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics. The Nokia N97 runs on Quadband GSM networks and supports 3G/HSDPA.
For some reason, which I can't quite figure out, the N97 has been designed with a resistive screen, unlike the capacitive screen of the iPhone. However, it is very responsive, the combination of larger buttons and virtual scroll bars make navigation unbelievably simple, despite its relatively slim body.
The Verdict
I realise I have been a little hard on the N97, but I expected great things, a true challenger to the iPhone, so how did it stack up?
I liked -
The build quality is very good, the hinge doesn't feel as if it will come off in your hand and the touchscreen is hardy. The appearance is also a success, the N97 is... dare I say it, better looking than the iPhone.
The massive amount of memory contained in something so small is a big plus and despite the minor downfalls of the Ovi Store, its existence opens the door for endless application upgrades, to help you fill that vast memory.
The battery life is good, and when it does go, it will charge in around two hours.
But For me, the most successful feature of this phone is the QUERTY keyboard, when combined with that HTC TyTN like angled screen it is perfect.
I disliked -
While the 3G connection is an annoyance I could live with it, the main issue I have with the N97 continues to frustrate me… Why are given this huge amount of memory and such a tiny processor to manage it with. This in tern leads to the other downfalls, including infuriating lag and application crashes.
Would I Buy One?
As a whole I liked the N97, despite its flaws it is the best Nokia to date. But with a sim free price of around £500 would I choose it over an iPhone… No, I'm afraid there are just too many annoying factors which need to be addressed first.
'Nokia - Great Effort, but could do better'
You can read my review of the latest iPhone, the iPhone 3GS on ciao at -
Advantages: 32gb Internal Memory, Nice Looking, Full QWERTY Keyboard, 5 MP Camera Disadvantages: A Little Bulky, Price, Small Processer Makes The Phone Slow
...in mind, the Apple iPhone, Nokia N97, Nokia 5800 Xpress Music and the HTC Touch Pro, in the end I chose to buy the new Nokia N-Series phone. It was a clear choice over the iPhone because of the price, also you do not have to buy the phone AND pay a monthly contract fee with the N97. Buying The Phone After choosing the phone I decided that I wanted to switch to contract instead of pay as you go. At the time the phone was only available on the ... ...* Nokia N97 * BP-4L 1500mAh battery * Charger * USB data cable * Earphone-remote handsfree kit * Manual and warranty docs * Nokia Ovi Suite installer * Wipe cloth * Detachable stylus you can loop into the phone Design - In my opinion the N97 looks similar to the iPhone, just a little chunkier but overall smaller in size. The exact measurements are 117.2 x 55.3 x 15.9 mm (18.25 mm at thickest point) and it weights 150g including the battery. ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
...owner and user of the nokia n97 i can say i am overall very happy with the improvements that nokia have made on previous models i.e N96 and N95. Lets face it all of us who went from owning an N95 to what nokia seem to believe was a better model (N96) were extremely dissapointed as although looking good on paper the N96 failed to meet the standards of its pre- deccesor but i am glad to say nokia have redeemed themselves on the launch of the N97. There ... ...all been waiting for has nokia created something that can match up to the all powerful i-phone well the answer is unfotunately not although this is by far the best phone nokia have produced, the apps are all excellent although still few and far between they all work well on the phone and very easy to download and install. The widgets are very useul to have on this phone and as a loyal nokia user appreciated the benefits of these but once again there ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: good function, qwerty keyboard, high storage capacity (32Gb) Disadvantages: the sceen can breaks easily if handle carelessly
...i am talking about is NOKIA N97, which nokia corporation introduced into the market. This phone has bridge the gap between computer and mobile by adjusting to the world around us. The design of N97 was based on the combination of 2G and 3G network, weigh 100g as gross weight. The Tft resistive touchscreen of N97 give this phone a unique display. The presence of sensors for auto turn-off and auto-rotate, qwerty keyboard make it to be different from ... ...which make the mp3 format or polyphonic format of sound files blast sound like the home theater which bring sound quality to your ear. Amazing, its camera is 5mp with led flash, autofocus and can even record quality video for several hours. Other features that made me to buy N97 are presence of radio, can play any format of sound, wap for internet, and it even has built in GPS with map you will use to locate your bearing in an area or other region. ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: great screen, camera, storage Disadvantages: cost
...comes standard with all the nokia qwerks, such as n-series games etc, which also gives you the choice of getting one free full version :)
BATTERY
not incredible, but for a phone with this much goin on, its pretty darn good. we're talking about 5 hours talktime, and about 200 hours standby. again, not going to win awards, but it is fairly good for a touchscreen with all these features.
EASE OF USE
as with all nokia, its fool-proof. easy menu layout, ... ...i would definately recommend this to a friend if they have a lot of money. personally speaking, i have a smartphone and find it invaluable, but if you arent going ot use the full internet or microoft office, its a bit of a waste. expandable memory is very good, and a very clear screen, which one of the best cameras a smartphone will offer, so i would give it an 8/10
dont forget to rate! :)
cheers
dave marken ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Easy to ajust to. Life saver for busy lives. Disadvantages: expensive.
Ok i am a very busy mum so i decided to buy this phone. It is a bit pricey, but worth it. The keys are a bit small if you have big fingers like moi, but you get used to them. I Got mine on ebay so it was cheaper than the retail price, of which i am not sure of, but i got mine for about £130. It is easy to navigate your way through the toolbar. It has alot of applications. The camera is good quality, but you have to be rather still to take it so it ... ...have anything fancy really to take pictures. It is easy to ajust to the phone. and easy to pick up phone calls. It does not have annoying ring tones. The battery life was surprisingly longer than i would have thought for such a big phone with many functions, about 12 hours, and then it quickly charges up again. Thought i would keep this review short and sweet so there you have it. ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
...This is a top-notch phone,excellent sound,great camera and all the extras you would wish for.It looks good and performs brilliantly.I have recently upgraded to the 8 meg version and can thus store far more info.In my opinion this is probably one of the best phones on the market .From my point of view the N97 has everything the camera produces images that are as good as my stand alone digital camera,indeed it my be said that it is a camera with a phone attatched.Video quality is also excellent.I think that it is also very good for internet usage and I personally have never had any problems surfing the net.The GPS facility far from being a novelty has also proved most useful tto me.In summing up I cannot praise this phone highly enough and would recomend it to everyone....
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Advantages: Superb Interface. App store access. Compass GPS. Disadvantages: Expensive. Very Expensive.
...keyboard.
I have recently also bought the NokiaN97. Which is good fun and it does quite a few things a lot better than the iPhone. But then in the normal world I think the iPhone still wins....
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Advantages: Touch Screen, lots of widgets, looks good Disadvantages: Scratches easily, rubbish battery, unresponsive touch screen at times
...My first touch phone, thought it was going to be pretty amazing which it was but not all its cracked up to be. Its functional and practical but not very interesting all i do it call and text of it, nothing else seems to reel me in. But it is a very good phone compared to the normal keypad phones. I was torn between this phone and the nokian97, but i chose this phone mainly because i thought the advert so really cool. But it has nothing to do with the advert at all. But overall it is a very good phone and is worth what you pay for it, i would just want some more apps on it and maybe things you could download more like an iphone if thats the type of look therre going for....
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Ciao members have rated this review on average not helpful
EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates For Global Evolution): Built-in
GPRS (General Packet Radio Service): Built-in
Mobile Email Client: Built-in
Cellular Messaging Services: MMS, Nokia Smart Messaging, SMS
Multimedia features
Downloadable Content: Audio files, video files, themes, games, ring tones, screensavers, wallpapers
Playback Digital Video Formats: MPEG-4, H.264
Digital camera
Video Recorder Resolutions: 640 x 480 (VGA)
Camera Light Source: LED light
Lens Aperture: F/2.8
Sensor Resolution: 5 Megapixel
Manufacturer's product description
The N97 packs a 3.5-inch, 640 x 360 pixel (that's a 16:9 aspect ratio) resistive touchscreen display with tactile feedback and QWERTY keyboard into this sliding communicator with an "always open" window to favorite internet or social networking sites. Nokia calls it the "world's most advanced mobile computer."
This product has not yet been reviewed. 
04.08.2007
05.09.2009
03.11.2009
