How would you change Nokia's N95?
By Darren Murph 
posted Dec 7th 2007 7:05PM
posted Dec 7th 2007 7:05PM
For those of you fortunate enough to own this here mobile, why not release a little steam by venting to us those minor, yet inexplicably annoying quirks that are preventing the N95 from being the phone it could otherwise be? Not quite satisfied with the design? Slightly perturbed by the current storage capacity limits? Do you truly feel as if this thing should handle laundry and Quake in its spare time? C'mon, we're confident this heralded handset has a few niggles holding it down, and while a certain segment of you are already enjoying the niceties presented by the latest firmware release, we know this thing is a few features shy of unequivocal domination. Let's hear it! Oh, and don't spend too much time bragging about ownership -- let's get to the good stuff, k?
Make the GPS launch before the year is over!
No kidding. Took me the longest time to find out how to "turn it on". Turns out it already was. A-GPS didn't help me much.
Don't own the phone now. Went to K850 & love it. A camera that takes pictures- instead of refines the focus &... &... &... click. Another great photo op missed.
Well the Euro version with AGPS only needs about 2-30 seconds to get a satellite lock. Strange - have you tried to update the FW?
Indeed, using a N95-1 with Google maps here in the Netherlands (with a flat fee data plan off course) and it's very quick in finding the location.
And to get on the topic subject; Since the last FW update there are few things that actually annoy me with this phone, but there do remain some things;
-Can't set the browser to 50% zoom by default, I love this setting but I have to redo it every time I start browsing
-Part of the limitation in browsing speed is in the phone itself, my data plan is only 192 kbits (which is sufficient for internet radio, youtube btw) but when I use it with WLAN speed is still a lot slower than my laptop
-Screen is just too small, I think this is the big plus now of the 8GB model (used to be the internal mem and battery before the FW update), and this is exactly the reason why the N82 can't stand up to the N95 (you want to go browsing the internet on 50% zoom on such a screen?)
Often heard comment like it's too large; nonsense! My wallet in my other pocket is a lot larger, in fact it's quite nice that it's relatively short. And of course the lack of QUERTY/touchscreen; have you ever realised that the power of the clasic phone interface is that it can be controled with one hand? Quite conveniant when you're driving (OK, it's not allowed, but who actually cares anyways) or cycling, or just surving the web during a boring meeting :-P.
Who cares? The guy you hit with your car and can't walk the rest of his life, that's who cares.
Thank you!
Don't make me and all gamers die inside by putting the N-Gage platform on it!
the new n-gage software looks great,
- Definitely need a new a color, high gloss paint!
- Free GPS?
- Touchscreen
- more memory
Free GPS, you say?
www.google.com/gmm
What, you want voice navigation and true turn-by-turn directions?
http://www.amazegps.com/
http://www.nav4all.com/
As for the memory, the original N95 is the only one with this problem. The new ones have 128 MB of RAM, the US version has an microSDHC slot, while the new European version has 8 GB internal. The US version is theoretically capable of 2048 GB, according the SDHC spec... So there:-P
-racing stripes
-miniture tv screens instead of buttons
I think I speak for everybody when I say MAKE IT CHEAPER.
I don't like the button design; too easy to push the wrong one.
I'd get rid of the buttons, make the screen bigger and put a big mirrory Apple on the back.
Wellll, okay. As long as the apple spins.
It doesn't fully sync with my BMW's bluetooth
I hope this is a joke, in your case it's not the n95 fault but the bmw bluetooth system that doesn't support the n95 fully.
Yeah, BMW bluetooth is very fully. Didn't work with my old SPV. I think the pre-idrive systems are known to have alot of problems
Synched with mine. My older E70 did sync too and so did my wife's N80.
qwerty keyboard please?
Ocean/Duo style sounds nice to me... my Blackberry's tiny number pad is sometimes less than desirable.
Well that is called the Nokia E90
Windows Mobile 6, 3.6" VGA screen, no keyboard. Make it an O2 XDA Flame killer. :)
Oh good lord NO. No F'ing Windows on it!!
Luckily, Nokia isn't likely to be that stupid. They're putting a lot of resources into Maemo (their linux platform)... so more likely, we'll see the N800/N810 OS on an N95 descendant than something as piss-poor as WinMo.
Maemo. haha. that buggy sh*t. please, don't make me laugh.
No thanks, I don't want to have to repeatedly restart my phone several times a day just to get the applications close completely.
Windows....Lol dont bring the pain back after i have seenthe light please ;)
thinner
better buid quality
full internet so i can watch all youtube videos
otherwise perfect
m.vtap.com
and the slowness of the UI is also improved ALOT with the lastest firmware (v20 something)
You Tube is coming with Flash Lite 3
Cheaper!!!w00tness!!!!!
The whole it's-not-an-iphone thing was hard to get used to, but after a few weeks, the non-user friendly OS was almost livable!
-Better battery life for sure.
-Touchscreen.
-A decent set of earbuds Nokia, please, its not that hard. Why do all of yours sound even worse than my iPod bundled ones?
-Make the back of the phone flatter.
-Better software suite on the computer side of things.
-DivX/XviD support.
-More FPS on video recording.
-Optical zoom, other manufacturers manage it Nokia, Why drop it at the brick that was the N93?
Divx mobile .89 runs well on S60 already. It's free.
30 fps 640x480 video recording isn't good enough?
Can you please recommend a Smartphone with the N95's capabilities that has better video recording!
30fps isn't good enough when I'm playing back a jerky video that hasn't even been edited yet. If a mobile phone company is gonna make a fuss about the camera they've bodged onto the back, it had better cut the mustard, and the camera on the N95 just doesn't.
You can use Optical zoom by pressing down on the dpad to zoom in, and up to zoom out. (That's left and right when using the phone on its side)
1. The plaform on it sucks ass. IT freezes on me from time to time which is annoying.
2. I get bloody connection errors all the time its unreal, in improtant phonecalls, anytime it wants to it will get a connection error, when i have to make a call i cant because of connection errors, AND ill have full signal aswell.
3. having to go the the option menu everytime i want to exit a bit of menu is annoying as hell. whatever happened to pressing the red button, thus closing everything down and taking you to the display. this causes battery drainage if you dont realise something is open
4. IT'S BATTERY IS CRAP
5. the bloody life blog is a pain in the arse, and you cant delete your messages to your secret lover, with deleting call history or missed calls, or anything else the bloody lifelog/blog/piece of crap application stores.
6. the camera cover slider is as flimsy as your granny's underwear, and frequently gets stuck, only opening half of the cover, creating an annoying problem
7. the key lock is absolute bollocks and takes seconds to lock, this should be instant, the amount of times i have called people or connected to the internet from the time ive shut the slider to the time ive put it in my pocket is ridiculous.
8. the flash sucks, which is excusable i guess it is a camera phone, but still.
9. its internal memory is absolute balls, it wont play a video, if ive left the log open. and the addressbook open. THIS IS WHERE NUMBER 3 COMES INTO PLAY ALOT. IT'S BALLS AND ANNOYING
10. The computer software is quite frankly ram destorying, and its backup program for when having to update the software (because it deletes your WHOLE phone first) DOESNT BACK UP YOUR PHONE PROPERLY. and because its ram destroying this takes aaaaaaaaaaaaages.
11. There are so many different folders on the thing that when saving something to your phone it doesnt know where to put it, so it plays eeny meany miny mo with your folders and just hits them for six into the one it didnt choose.
I do love it, because of what it can do, i just wish it could do what its meant to do effeciantly and properly. theres alot of work to be done on the next super nokia.
ok hater
....and you cant delete your messages to your secret lover...
Argh. That kills it right there for me, no joke!
Thx for that list, I had another N-series Symbian phone that exhibited much the same problems, except it was even slower than the N95...
"the key lock is absolute bollocks"
""bollocks""
british words are so cool to use aren't they!!!
Just use the 'Handset Down' (Red key) key to exit any app. Simple if you read the manual!
thats the thing it will exit the app but not shut it down. ive said that in my list.
vga LCD. I'm buying the ugly E51 at half the price b/c it has the same junk resolution, CPU and OS as the N95.
Touchscreen and free theme editor as powerful and easy to use as Sony Ericsson's.
Make it a 64gb iphone with longer battery life, and 3g simple no?
Thinner
Touchscreen
Bigger screen
Qwerty
Proper lens cover
Maybe a suretype keypad? And better push mail.
Yeah, I was wondering about SureType. I hate typing text on crappy phone keypads. Faster to just call the person.
everyone has said it already because it's true.
The interface on the thing sucks balls. I'll admit that I'm an iphone cult follower but I was super interested in it cause everyone claims it kills the iphone. Picked it up and couldn't figure out how to do a damn thing on it.
put it in my hands
1. Faster UI - I am surprised how fast and smooth some of the apps (especially games) are. It only proves that a nice user experience is possible.
2. Better battery, of coz
3. My build quality was not great, but not bad either (I returned the first one which was really bad). Still, my slider has a bit of play which it shouldn't for a $700 phone.
4. It could be a bit more stylish - looks a bit clunky, especially when pwning iPhanboys
Simple!
Give it some type of qwerty keyboard.
Better build quality.
GPS, a longer-living battery, UIQ instead of S-low-60.
And put and SE logo on it.
It does have GPS!
Nokia addressed most of the phones failings, e.g. storage, battery life etc. with its replacement the N95 8gb. As this phone is already on sale, doesn't that make this article redundant?
they are talking about the US version, which is different from the EU versin you are talking about...
N95 8GB did it for me. 2x better than these US versions(N95-3?). Thought still not really liking the form factor and gps is now ok, but could still be better.
Nothing. It's perfect. Screw the iphone!
@Alex This is Engadget. @Lee it already has 3G and BTW GPS, Video Out, 5 Megapixel Camera, 640x480 30fps video recording. Just to name a few features. Ask that for the Iphone buddy.
it can do everything, but its bloody hard to do, the os is a pain in the ass everything is awkward
things it needs urgently so i wouldn't sell it again after 3 weeks:
- usable webbrowser
- a easy way to put mp3 on the thing with my mac
for the moment i bought the cheapest nokia i could find instead and use as a phone only, saves me 700euros for the same use
i hope the iphone is better if it ever comes to belgium
http://europe.nokia.com/A4423134 it syncs with itunes and all
I am using N95 with my Macbook and syncing it with itunes and iphoto is as easy as its with iPod. Just use Nokia multimedia transfer and iSync and you are good to go!
I love the N95 (i myself have the N95 8Gb), although it's a bit hard (read: long and no fun) to navigate the phone, it is the best phone i have ever owned. I used to have the iphone and although i would not compare both of these phones, i can see what apple did right... software. their navigation is simple and logical.. the iphone in my opinion is a crappy phone, it's just cool.. but really.. it's crappy. The N95 it's clunky and annoying.. BUT the N95 has an awesome video recording camera, GPS, Photo 5MP, can read a lot of formats.. i just love it.. just wish they had some talent in design of software..... (by the way.. i LOVE apple and i am obsessed with them, but i can see when they make mistakes)
I'd like a full QUERTY keyboard. Basically something like the Palm Treo formfactor... but without the Palm sucky OS.
i'll admit the interface takes some getting used to, but there are no major issues with it. My only complaint would be the phonebook organization. I still liked my moto much better in that aspect. And to whoever said up the fps on the video, you're expecting way too much from a phone. The video quality is excellent. Rivals that of a hundred dollar video camera. Which rocks considering i only paid 375. K love my n95 and i'm the envy of everyone i know.
Thing i hate the most about the N95 is the dual slide mechanism.. the damn thing keeps on sliding the other way when I put it in my pocket..
Apple Logo
Make the USB speed significantly faster (as it is it's only marginally better than USB 1.1, which is pathetic with 8GB of memory to fill.
Improve battery life - 1,5-2 days of only moderate use before needing a charge is pathetic.
I second that. The USB on all Nokia phones is too slow.
the nokia n95 8GB has addressed some of these issues. it has a bigger battery, double the RAM, a bigger screen, more mature and advanced firmware as well and comes in a stylish black
it doesnt have a camera lens shutter though and heaps of people are complaining about it, it has 8GB internal storage but no slot for any extra memory card.
i've used symbian for a while and love this operating system, the web broweser isnt the best though.
so the phone is snappier (faster to use) than the original n95 (and including the new USA version)
so these have been addressed, but unfortunately wont be available in a USA version, so USA customers may have to wait for a new phone to be released.
it's horrendously slow. unacceptably slow! for example, there's a good 1-3 second delay when you hit the left key to create a new message! this is just indicative of the whole UI. honestly, my 3210 from 1999 worked 100x faster than this, it was instantaneous! how much bloat have they added to series 60 to result in this? i'm now on a 3G Series 40 6500. it's perfectly fine, and very speedy too. the only advantage Series 60 appears to have is multitasking... and i'm sorry, but it's just not enough.
i have my pop email set up on the 6500, the 320x240 screen sees the internet in exactly the same way, i can inline search contacts, which also have first and last names, email addresses, multiple number locations, the camera and flash takes decent enough pictures (when will people realise that 5mp camera on phones result in bigger images, not better images?)... i could go on. Series 60 is worse than WinMo...
Not the biggest fan of s60 myself, but the speed issue was down to a lack of ram and corrected with the 8gb replacement. The n95 8gb is quicker than my old 6233.
Had an N73 with the same speed issue. It was utterly ridiculous that any $30 phone would run circles around this $500 piece of art. Where the iPhone has a snazzy transition between apps, or just no delay at all, the N73 showed a half-broken blue screen for 3 - 5 seconds for nearly any app. Even the clock! Anything you wanted to take a snapshot of was long gone by the time the camera had started up. It was horrendous. Nice hardware but horrendous software.
But isn't there any delay of 3 seconds on the left key to activate the key lock? This is a 'problem' with the N73, the first couple of seconds there just nothing happens when you push the left key, this to give you time to push the *. But it is indeed very annoying when you want to open that app. So I already switch 'New Message' from the left key to the right key, save me a couple of seconds every day!
the left key as in the left navigation (d-pad) key. it's not a feature, the delay is the UI visibly constructing the environment for writing a 50 word text message.
it's horrendous.
I compared this with the AT&T- Tilt (HTC) and decided the HTC had more brawn to it.. the build quality on the N95 is better but features wise the Tilt kicks ass except for its 3MP camera. The GPS on tilt is free (Google Maps..) or you can buy any 3rd party amp s/w like tomtom and go to town with it. Exchange push is great for corporate e-mails and tons of customization options..
There is free Google Maps for S60 also...
And you cam use Tom Tom on the N95
Have it and love it! I would make it a bit more stable,faster and give it live tv capabilities since it is a Multimedia computer,mines on fw v20 and its getting better than when i bought it. At first gps nav was free now gotta pay that sucks
CDMA/EVDO
you beat me to it.
Lower the price. A phone that much more than the iPhone doesn't stand a chance.
But surely your talking about the SIM free price. And how do you know what price the 3G iPhone is going to be?
Put Android on it.
All that glorious hardware is worthless with the shitty S60 software.
1) put Maemo on it
2) side-sliding full qwerty keyboard
3) allow it to act as a low power wifi access point for your PDA/Laptop/etc.
4) make it so I can use it with T-Mobile in the USA (both before they go 3G, and after)
maybe a dual-slider qwerty keyboard? definitely a touchscreen and more memory.
possibly an SD card slot. none of those stupid mini on microSD cards. those suck, period.
More battery, more QWERTY and a better battery cover (mine has broken twice!)
The new firmware update addressed so many issues it isn't funny (N95-1)... If someone hasn't updated and is complaining go do it now! Every single aspect of the phone was at least slightly improved.
Something I really wish more phones would have is USB-Host. That way I can have all my music on an 8gb microSDHC and all my TV shows/Movies/Photos on a separate 30gig+ HD. Improved TV-Out (640x480 or more res) would also be nice to go with that.
I guess a bigger screen with more res would alway be nice for Nav and/or Internets
It feels too plasticky. Better build quality,and faster response time with button presses.
Couple of suggestions:
-QWERTY Keyboard
-Touch Screen
-COLORS (Red, Blue, Green, Orange, etc.)
-Lower Pricetag
YOU KNOW WHAT WOULD BE COOL: if they made it word on GSM or CDMA networks. Think about that...huh? think of all of the bars you would get, and you can use it on ANY network, EVEN MORE THAN ONE!
@ john
You can use any N95 on T-Mobile, as long as it is unlocked. Thats the beauty of having a SIM card, just take it out and put it in any unlocked phone, and your good to go. As for using it after T-Mo goes 3g, you might want to look into the N95-3, it already has 3g capabilities built in.
and @ the other John
You know whats cool?? THe N95 already works on any GSM carrier, thats T-Mo, Cingular/ATT, Orange, etc.Think about it, unlocked Quad Band GSM phone, like the N95, you can "get alot of bars". You can uaw it on any network, EVEN MORE THAN ONE!
But its GSM only, so I cant use it on my family's sprint service.
-even larger screen, 3" perhaps, VGA, touch, multi-touch is welcome
-stronger slide mechanism, or screw it, why make it a slider at all?
-get rid of the silver coating, at this price i want it look less generic
-make it less plasticky
-better battery life
-better web browser
-no 8Gb internal storage needed, just give me 2 microSDHC slot
-why not make a bluetooth keyboard that looks like a Blackberry, just without the screen? I'd buy one.
-name it differently, N96 maybe, call it "revolutionary" an all, "this has become computer" instead of "this is what computer's become"
-make it available RIGHT NOW
Make Nokia sell you cheaper N95-3 if you already bought the N95-1 and reside in the USA. Faster camera. Add xeon flash. Disable the freaking animated menu button...its rather useless.
battery life isnt TOO bad but if they can improve on it then that would be great. a full QWERTY keyboard woulud also be nice. One thing that annoys me though is that the OS tends to freeze up on me from time to time.
hmm N95 has been deprecated for the N95-8G, Allot has changed with the new version including more ram so apps start faster and many menu foibles have been fixed.
.
:: AT Lease 1600 Mah battery .
:: Magnesium alloy body.
:: slimmer , below 18mm(i am practical)
Should feel like N70 .
.
Yep I love my N95 but that pretty much sums up my thoughts too. Battery, build quality and thickness.
Its interesting to read these comments. It seems like a lot of people have not upgraded to the latest firmware (or even the one before it). Many of the discussed problems/issues have been resolved or significantly improved via the firmware upgrades. Its not that hard to do an upgrade and its WELL worth it.
the problem is the firmware is still not available for APAC , we poor
Change your product code...
ask google
everyone seems to hate the software, and i'm one of them...the interface is crap, menu navigation is shite, and the OS has crashed/hung/frozen on me twice (can't tell what happened..there's no crash report)
on the hardware front---the hard disk is mounted OVER the battery, protected by nothing more than the back cover. i carry a spare battery with me, and you have pluck out the hard disk to get at the battery...that's just really bad hardware design.
still, the potential of this phone is far beyond anything out there.