Nokia's N96 grabs a Q4 North America launch date

You've seen the review, now get ready as Nokia just announced a Q4, North American release for its high-end, N96. That means localized 850/1900 HSDPA radios to go along with its GSM quad-band set, 2.8-inch QVGA display, 16GB of storage, a 5 megapixel autofocus camera with Carl Zeiss optics, WiFi, and assisted GPS. Interestingly, there's no mention of mobile TV which makes it seem that they've scrapped DVB-H entirely without a mediaFLO replacement. How much? $895, that's how much -- sorry you asked?

[NoAndThen @ Aug 26th 2008 4:22AM]

and people complain about the iPhone being expensive?

[Argot @ Aug 26th 2008 4:36AM]

Yeah, but unlike the iPhone, this one is worth the price you pay.

[Rich @ Aug 26th 2008 4:53AM]

The N96 is $895, the iPhone is a minimum of $1878.76 over two years.

[catachip @ Aug 26th 2008 7:18AM]

@ Rich

Yeah, because you'll be able to use the N96 for free on any network. Man, what a rip off the iPhone is! ...All phones have contracts associated with them, the iPhone's rate plan being comparable to anything else on AT&T.

[go seki @ Aug 26th 2008 7:27AM]

My N95-1 was about that much when I got it 18months ago
.. yes it is a pity about the VGA
.. I'm debating this or the Samsung Innov8 at the moment my heart says Innov8
.. but I haven't seen a price or release for that either.

[Ruben @ Aug 26th 2008 7:32AM]

That's the unsubsidized price.

Look up the unsubsidized price of the iPhone and all of a sudden, its not that expensive. And Im talking about what it would cost you here in NA to get the phone off contract. I don't care what India is paying for their phone.

Here's an example: $1167.54 CAD http://www.timtechs.ca/sim_free_apple_iphone_3g_16gb_prd206.html

[Rich @ Aug 26th 2008 7:55AM]

"Yeah, because you'll be able to use the N96 for free on any network."

Sure, stick a pre-pay SIM in it and you're away. It's got WiFi and VOIP if you want to save some money on calls.

[King Mustard @ Aug 26th 2008 8:38AM]

@Rich: The $1878.76 includes a lot of minutes and texts, as well as an unlimited data plan. What do you get for your $895, apart from the handset?

[Rich @ Aug 26th 2008 9:16AM]

You get the ability to do what the hell you like with the phone. No unlocking or jail-breaking needed. $895 buys you freedom.

Most of the people on Engadget are geeks. How many of them make more than $40-worth of calls/texts a month? Not many, I'd say.

BTW, why is OK for the original poster to compare the iPhone's subsidised price against the N96's unsubsidised price but it's not OK for me to compare the N96's cost against the iPhone's total cost?

[Amit @ Aug 26th 2008 9:36AM]

@ King Mustard:
How about: Bluetooth thats not limited to just handsfree, VOIP, radio, 16gb, MMS, Forward SMS, send SMS to multiple recipients, Video capture, 5MP camera which actually takes pretty good pics, etc......

[huh @ Aug 26th 2008 9:44AM]

The first n95 was maybe worth it, because it was properly designed. This model, like the remaining n95 series, has no lens cover, so despite protecting it, users are likely to find focus ruining scratches on their lens. Since the lens is one of the main features of the phone, it all comes together that Nokia wants you to buy a new phone every few months.

[Billy G @ Aug 26th 2008 11:52AM]

How does it make any sense to compare the base cost of the N96 to the cost of the iPhone and its calling plans? That's completely daft.
Once the N96 is selling subsidized and with a contract it'll probably cost the same. What a shock.

Apples and oranges, you bloody fanboys.

[vasilmann @ Aug 26th 2008 8:27PM]

if you have phone like this you need internet and you will prefer 3G. you have two choices att or t-mobile (comming soon) there is price for internet $30. i think you will pay every mounths like me but i bought iphone for $199 than you for $895. will see how much will coast iphone without contract (comming soon) i think $600. =) peace

[loosely_coupled @ Aug 27th 2008 4:01AM]

"Most of the people on Engadget are geeks. How many of them make more than $40-worth of calls/texts a month? Not many, I'd say."

What does that even mean? Now granted I may not be your typical geek stereotype, but the geek types I know are constantly on their phone calling or texting people.

??

[Aarun @ Aug 26th 2008 4:25AM]

Is that a U2 concert? If not, anyone know who is that band?

[srw985 @ Aug 26th 2008 4:28AM]

Enjoy your overstreched screen. For that price, and what is supposed to be Nokia's flagship phone, its a shame theyre using a stretched out QVGA when it really should be VGA.

[Chris @ Aug 26th 2008 4:33AM]

I've got the N95 8GB and the N96 just doesn't add enough to let me go out and buy it.
I'll wait for an 8 megapixel contender.

[King Mustard @ Aug 26th 2008 5:16AM]

I'm in the same boat. For that price, you can get the Samsung INNOV8.

[Ayman @ Aug 26th 2008 5:26AM]

but it has an SD slot and twice the Gigs
but if you want the 8MP

http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/03/nokias-patent-application-shows-8-megapixel-n-series/

[King Mustard @ Aug 26th 2008 6:47AM]

@Ayman: The INNOV8 has a microSD card slot (SDHC) and 8 GB of 16 GB of internal memory.

[tiuk @ Aug 26th 2008 10:20AM]

Yeah, I just got an N95-4 a few days ago so this is a bit depressing. I love it though, and there don't appear to be any chances here that I'd really kill for. Thinner would be nice, but whatever. It'll probably be a while before this makes it to Canada anyway, since Rogers just launched the N95-4 recently.

[De @ Aug 26th 2008 11:26AM]

tiuk if you want a thinner n96 just go for the n85

[Johan S @ Aug 26th 2008 4:37AM]

$895 for a QVGA phone???

One good thing about this phone is that I'll be able to spot the rich & stupid when i see them walking around with it.

[Al @ Aug 26th 2008 7:12AM]

A 2.8" VGA screen is a lot like a 28" 1080P screen. You can't really enjoy the pixels without a larger screen size.

[Mic2000 @ Aug 26th 2008 4:52AM]

Well, at least the design looks good for a Nokia!

[BFish @ Aug 26th 2008 5:07AM]

Nokia is loosing things on the pricing, those 2 new mobiles announced today
have the following prices:
N79-> 590€
N85 ->690€

So throw in around 1.000 bucks and you'll get fatty, symbian crap ;)

[L @ Aug 26th 2008 5:40AM]

Oh how I love it when people just blatantly lie - did you pull those prices out of your no-sunshine body part?

The Nokia press releases state:
N79: "The Nokia N79 is expected to begin shipping in October 2008, with an estimated retail price of EUR 350, before taxes and subsidies." (http://www.nokia.com/A4136001?newsid=1246124)
N85: "The Nokia N85 is expected to begin shipping in October 2008 with an estimated retail price of EUR 450, before taxes and subsidies."
(http://www.nokia.com/A4136001?newsid=1246129)

[BFish @ Aug 26th 2008 6:39AM]

@L.
It's the retail price with VAT included. Picked up from the finnish press.
Linking one of them for you here (prices are at the end of the news):
http://www.digitoday.fi/mobiili/2008/08/26/nokia-julkaisi-kaksi-uutta-puhelinta/200822044/66

[keese @ Aug 26th 2008 9:27AM]

You sir better keep throwing chairs than throwing fantasy numbers.

€450 before VAT is €550 incl. VAT. In Finland.

And it is MSRP - the price nobody is going to pay.

[L @ Aug 26th 2008 3:14PM]

I *very* much doubt that Finland has 50+% of VAT, and I doubt even more that the VAT differs between two phones...

[Skope @ Aug 26th 2008 9:24AM]

Well if you are finnish you know that we are one of the Nordic socialist countries(communist) and our priceys cant be directly changed to other countries.
Plus the price wont be that high even here and if it is it's for the first 2-3 weeks like always with these N and E series Nokia devices.
N95 was talked to be 1100 euroes at the start.

[BFish @ Aug 26th 2008 1:41PM]

Seen these Nokia prices before. They announce the price of 85€''s before VAT or operator
substitutions. Ended up beeing some 140€+ in Verkkokauppa.com in reality with the VAT
and no subventions. I know the VAT pcnt in Finland and those numbers aren't matching that is for sure. Check the price on the store, those Nokia pricess in their press releases are just a marketing scam.

[Michael Scrip @ Aug 26th 2008 5:39AM]

Touch screen? QWERTY?

[Sarig @ Aug 26th 2008 7:13AM]

Why? :)

[Michael Scrip @ Aug 27th 2008 2:05AM]

Why?

Typing! Would Blackberry be where it is today if you had to type with T9 ?

To me, a full keyboard is important... not so much a touchscreen.

[Tristan @ Aug 26th 2008 5:58AM]

Heh, that'll be a handset only price though yeah? And it's not that much really considering the n95 was £400 handset only when it first came out. It'll take you a couple years to get used to smartphones in the US, the extra features make them well worth the extra cost compared to other options out there ;)

[mykeeb @ Aug 26th 2008 6:38AM]

At least the earphone jack is at the top unlike the N95 where it was on the side. This phone does look good and i will probably get this when my contract ends but only if i can get it for free.

[Ricardo @ Aug 26th 2008 6:50AM]

Wow, a non-touchscreen, non-qwerty QVGA phone for $900, what a bargain! This feels so nostalgic, like it's 2006, and what better feeling than nostalgia when buying a phone?

[Pdexter @ Aug 26th 2008 9:35AM]

Well this is one of the big difference of Europe/Asia market compared to USA.
These candybar non qwerty smartphones are by far the biggest sellers in Europe and Asia. Good phone dosent need to have qwerty or touch screen. You can use the menu one handed faster than any TS phone would ever do. Majority seems to be in my side as S60 powered phones have that 45% market share and over 160 million userbase while by far most of the slack qwerty and not one have TS. TS is useless for me in tasks what i do with my phone and i can write faster with T9 than with most of the qwerty phones. Nokia tested TS 4 years ago with Symbian S90, but people just didnt buy it.

Thought thing that i do agree is qvga. That must go, but for now we need to wait till September when 5800 and rest of the new generation S60 phones start running out. There are couple of phones from Nokia with higher res(like 800x352), but all these over 2.6inch screens need more than qvga.

[Milo Jones @ Aug 26th 2008 9:12AM]

How does this compare to the Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte?

[Ovbhiedo @ Aug 26th 2008 9:38AM]

Nokia still charges these ridiculous prices for their qwerty-less non-touchscreen dumbphones. $900 for this??? No qwerty or even a chance of an on-screen keyboard (ahem, no touchscreen), so i'm stuck cranking out url's, emails, WEP/WPA passwords and so forth via a keypad...and they expect 9-benjamins plus tax.

I can understand paying this much for something killer from HTC with Win Mobile 'cause it would be a lot more useful and functional, like the Touch Pro or Diamond, or something like the Nokia E90 but not anything else. Heck, this is a mortgage payment !!!

This is definitely E90 price territory...

[Kips @ Aug 26th 2008 10:05AM]

And still most of the people take that non qwerty and TS device in this price range phones(NA not included of course)....

That said N96 is absolutely useless phone imo and it's over priced. If you dont need DVB-H there's absolutely no reason to pay that much and not go for N85!
N96 actually got crappier 3D support than example N85 or even 2 years old N95(so more smoother NGAGE gaming for example). N85 got bigger battery, smaller screen, but N85 got OLED screen so it's better and saves batterly life while at it.
All this with much smaller packet than N96 and cheaper price....

[freediverdude @ Aug 26th 2008 10:34AM]

I agree, this doesn't look like much of an upgrade from the n95, other than more storage. Hopefully this is just holding them over until they come out with something new.

[D @ Aug 26th 2008 12:31PM]

And now you see why the iPhone is selling so well. (And I do know that the iPhone is subsidized while this isn't, but if Nokia isn't going to do what it takes to get an American service provider to pick it up they're going to have to do something to increase it's appeal.)

[HalfJoey @ Aug 26th 2008 1:40PM]

I think its a nice phone, but completely overpriced. Now I feel that if most phones are not $200-300 after contract its a joke.

[Bzzz @ Aug 26th 2008 2:04PM]

QVGA on a 2,8" is just a bad joke - and Nokia sticks to this resolution. Maybe in 2010 there will be a real successor for the N80, but not now. 416x352 @ 2,1", 3MP, WiFi: just 200 € - what else? Oh yeah, GPS. Well, a GPS mice doesnt add 500$, right?

[Mark Anderson @ Aug 26th 2008 2:21PM]

This phone is too late. It's missed its window.

Get an N85.

[dgduris @ Aug 26th 2008 10:12PM]

N96. Interesting. But that S60 interface is sooo quirky to a touchscreen user (UIQ/ WM6) like me. That said, Litchfield @ AllAboutSymbian did an input test between the T9 of the N95 and the qwerty keyboard of the E90. The N95 won! Interesting. I may shop this vs the Fuze - though the Fuze will be subsidized when my upgrade is due and the N95 won't be....