I have been reviewing Mobile Phones for several years now, as well as individual handset reviews, I ...
I have been reviewing Mobile Phones for several years now, as well as individual handset reviews, I will be publishing a number of lists here on Ciao, including my Top 10 handsets of 2009/10.
Member since:01.07.2009
Reviews:8
Members who trust:1
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
misfitted 07.11.2009 (07.11.2009)
·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Nokia N97
very helpful by (100%):
