Hands-on with Nokia's high-rolling N96
By Sean Cooper 
posted Feb 14th 2008 8:14AM
posted Feb 14th 2008 8:14AM
posted Feb 14th 2008 8:14AM
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LOL @ that piece
Indeed. I tried the older one at a Nokia store, and it felt so cheap and the interface wasn't that great. I must be missing something, but it feels like it's on the same level of my Insignia Pilot as far as build quality.
I like my N95 and sure I think N96 is a beauty!
I'm not sure, but the edging is still kind of plastic...
Bring back the xenon flash.
I have to say starting w/ an N95, going to a SE K850 (w/ xenon) & now back to N95 I like the led flash better. Why?
In zero light the xenon is better as it makes it look like daytime, but in low light the led makes things look more natural. I had quite a few "2d" faces w/ the xenon.
Dual led looks interesting for video, so I guess that's something when I go absolutely crazy & spend 7XX on a phone for only 2 real new features (more memory, dual led).
Throw in a full keyboard and I'm in.
Indeed. Lack of both keyboard and touchscreen both makes this a non-contender for. keypads are way too slow. Ask any blackberry user if they'd ever go back to a keypad.
this phone is gonna pound the iphone into dust.come'on iphone fanboys flame me but right now im havin a great time! ha ha ha...
.. eh? Who puts an apostrophe in between come'on? And who has a great time by themselves BEFORE a war starts.
Flamezored.
Well actually the build quality of a N95-1 isn't that bad. I'm always a but careless with my equipment and even though my behaviour has improved since I replaced my very old 6310i (I no longer put my keys in the same pocket) I have dropped it on the street/floot/etc. six times or so in the three months I now own it (one of those occosions was when I had to sprint to get the bus and it got out of my pocket, battery and SIM lying on the street :-O).
Anyhow it still works 100%, only two scratches at the edges. A colleague of me does simulations in Abaqus (a very nice finite element package) and he mentioned to me that Nokia also uses this software to design it's phones and analyze them on mechanical weaknesses (actually, when you're a developer and you're part of the dev network you might just see some products yet to be released pass by, so EG you know what to do ;-) ).
Sorry, didn't want to reply that post, just pushed the wrong butten :-D.
Usual nokia ugliness.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcNLEwf2pOw&eurl=http://monitor.hr/
So you won't be buying one, then?
I've got an N95 - does anyone use the media buttons on it?
I find it quicker to use the usual buttons plus it often slides open the wrong way and bring sup that stupid 'circular' interface that takes ages to startup
and the 'c' key is in a completely idiotic place
and the battery lasts about 25 mins.
sorry didn't mean to rant. I like ti really!
The media buttons are a good idea but completely useless in reality. I've never used them.
They need to hire some better designers. The thing looks like a toy, just like the N81. Am I the only one who thinks that their flagship device is not supposed to look like another midrange device they offer (N81)? Their focus lately seems to just pump out as many phones as possible that are all the same, with minor differences here and there.
They even took away the interface for the N95 8gb, which I'm very glad of.
I don't use the buttons much, but I do sometimes because I take my phone out w/ me on my bike & use those bigger media buttons because I'm pushing them through a waterproof bag. Other than that: pretty useless & just another thing to break or get wobbly.
If you have a Wi-Fi capable mobile or a modern games console attached to your home cinema setup, and the need/want to get your media from one place to any, you really owe it to yourself to check out the Orb. It's turned my N82 into a multi-codec monster. Plus (and here's the point of this post) you can even beam your TV, EPG and Record programming right from the handheld anywhere there is Wi-Fi.
No mess. No fuss. No fee.
corp.orb.com
16GB on-board + microSD slot = 48GB memory by the time it's released!
Maybe I just don't "understand" the N95/N96. Music controls and a keypad slide out. Okay great. I hardly EVER dial phone numbers and can't you just put music controls on the screen? I mean i'm all for slideouts, but if something is going to slide out, why not a querty?
I totally understand that the feature sets on the N95/N96 are very impressive so it's not a bad phone. But I bet if they didn't have a keypad / music controls to slide out they could have made it way thinner. seems wasteful to me.
The MM slide is actually very handy for getting into portrait mode quickly ;-).
Landscape that is :-P.
Aye i havent used them at all with my N95 8GB. N96 got morphing slide keys so they will change their layout for Ngage games and that will be probally be the main use for me when i get this phone in my hands.
Rik, if you want a quick change to landscape, get a hold of rotateme v2.
I've used the media keys on my n95, once or twice, and that was to just look at them. I use the music player every day as a go to and from work!
On my n95 I have running, rotateme, shakesms, shakelock, flipsilent and nokmote. It's kinda a shame nokia didn't think of those apps themselves!
I own TWO N95 8GB, and never have I used the dedicated multimedia keypad.
The reason that I own 2 N95 8GB is because my first one is being fixed by Nokia Care Center, and they said it will take at least a month and a half to fix it.
So I bought my second one and still waiting for the first one to be fixed.
In my part of the world, if you bring your nokia for service, it usually takes 2 long months to fix.
Talk about good and quality service, nokia has lots to improve.
Yup Nokia is hitting the iphone panick button and try to pump out as many phones as they can.
As for me, my next purchase would either be xperia or the iphone when it hits Asia.
"Yup Nokia is hitting the iphone panick button and try to pump out as many phones as they can."
That's probally there just to iritate, but people should already get that. Nokia aint losing it's dominance for long long time. Their portfolio is by far best of the big 4 and Samsung(No2 manufacturer) actually released far more phones compared to Nokia while Nokia had 72% market share from smartphones and all phones sold 40%. If you are really living in Asia and see the "norm" Nokia phones not smartphones would think you agree.
Xperia in the other hand is or seems to be great product and will introduce WM for many European and Asian customers. Something that i could actually buy if there isnt any major problems with it and i would think there isnt any when it's released.
Thought when you look at the other feature phones SE released in MWC(and again released more phones than Nokia) i dont think Nokia has problems to hold it's market share after all X1 is niche product, BUT damn good start from SE that has now shift from feature phones to smartphones and i'm sure we will hear SE eating Nokia's smartphone revenues in coming years and SE is great company to introduce WM to Asian and EU market if any WM should be thanking SE.
I had pleasent experience with Nokia Care Center here in Germany and got my phone back in 5 days and got backup phone from them, but not saying that you couldnt have had problems with them and if i would have had probs like that i wouldnt buy their products.
Where are you living?
@Soze: I live in Indonesia. There's a big difference between living in third wold country and first world country. Back when I was in college in the US, when I brought my motorola startech for repair, they gave me a brand new one because the repair will take more than a week.
To be honest, the only reason that was holding me from buying any SE brand was their UIQ os.
But now that WM6 is on the table, it is a different story. I could even run SQL server on the phone.
We have got the new Nokia N96 for sale for inquiry please email us asap (shiba-electronics@hotmail.com)
Welcome to Shiba Electronics Store Malaysia
We have great prices on electronics, musical instruments, video games and all general merchandise. A shopper's paradise without leaving home. Holiday and gift items for the entire family. {Yamaha, Sony, Xbox 360, Panasonic, Fujifilm and Wii}
shiba-electronics@hotmail.com
Where are you guys located in Malaysia? I'm traveling there this summer. I wouldn't mind swinging by and checking out what you have.
KOOLINKS WORLD LIMITED
THIS LISTED ITEMS ARE ALL FOR SALES AND THEY ARE ALL BRAND NEW, UNLOCKED WITH ALL THE COMPLETE ACCESSORIES IN THE ORIGINAL BOX, INTERESTED BUYER SHOULD CONTACT US THROUGH EMAIL AT: stopover@live.com
NOKIA N96 for $350usd
NOKIA N78 for $280usd
Sony Ericsson G900 for $250usd
Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 for $290usd
8GB Apple iPhone for $280usd
16GB Apple iPhone for $380usd
SAMSUNG G810 for $270usd
SAMSUNG GIORGIO ARMANI P520 for $230usd
NOKIA N96 SPECS:
Quad band GSM (850/900/1800/1900), GPRS/EDGE, dual band (850/2100) HSDPA connectivity
Symbian, S60 FP2
2.8? QVGA 320×240px 16M Color display
5 megapixel with Carl Zeiss lens, dual LED flash
Secondary front camera for video calls
30 fps, VGA quality
16GB of built-in Flash Memory
DVB-H TV Tuner
Wi-Fi b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR, microUSB
aGPS
Full HTML, Flash Lite enabled Web Browser
Dimensions: 103×55x18 mm, 92 cc
Battery: 950 mAh
SO EMAIL US IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN BUYING.
CONTACT EMAIL: stopover@live.com
We offer prompt shipping from our Store, The product will arrive at your destination within 2 Days Via UPS and Fedex Courier Sevices.
THANKS.
My name is Dino Ahmetovic and I want to give advice for everybody who wants to have a business with Sabrina M Johnson. SHE IS A CHEATER.
Explanation: I’ve ordered one cell phone N96 for $370 including shipment. Next day she sent me message as she mistakenly packed three units??? After resending additional $370 for second unit (for third she told me that will go on hers bill), now she ask me to pay some taxes and fees? If anybody needs prove I will send all e-mails from her and everybody can see who is Sabrina M Johnson.
My name is Dino Ahmetovic and I want to give advice for everybody who wants to have a business with Sabrina M Johnson. SHE IS A CHEATER.
Explanation: I’ve ordered one cell phone N96 for $370 including shipment. Next day she sent me message as she mistakenly packed three units??? After resending additional $370 for second unit (for third she told me that will go on hers bill), now she ask me to pay some taxes and fees? If anybody needs prove I will send all e-mails from her and everybody can see who is Sabrina M Johnson.