Nokia's N96 gets unboxed on video, looks exactly like you'd expect it to

We won't kid ourselves here -- you know good and well what Nokia's N96 looks, feels and tastes like, but given that it just started shipping in Europe within the last 24 hours, we figured it prudent to pass along the first proper unboxing of the retail unit. Like we said, don't expect any surprises with this one, but we still suspect you'll leave the video waiting after the jump with a smile on your face.

[Thanks, Steve]

[Tom W Browning @ Sep 3rd 2008 2:52PM]

If the N96 had a slide out qwerty keyboard instead of the music buttons/number pad I'd be interested. As it stands, no ta.

[phanbouy @ Sep 3rd 2008 2:54PM]

what's a "ta"?

[Jaunty @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:19PM]

"Ta" = Thank You in British, Australian, New Zealand and South African English

[BlackCoffeeNoSugar @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:42PM]

I agree, mate. QWERTY keypad is essential here, too.

[LiQuiD_FuSioN @ Sep 3rd 2008 4:58PM]

What about "Ta ta"?

[XIYL @ Sep 3rd 2008 7:49PM]

Holy shit, that thing is thick as hell. And it doesn't even have a qwerty keyboard to show for it.

[Yay. @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:00PM]

Who carez!?

It's not an iPhone; it doesn't matter.

btw: I carry my iPhone with me wherever I go, and wherever I go people are jealous.

Please give up trying to compete with Apple; sophisticated people such as myself will continue to look down upon you.

[Bob @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:17PM]

Ok?!? why don't we all buy phones that can't even send MMS!!!! yay!!!!

[Niz @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:20PM]

people are jealous? why are you the only one that has one?

[Anthony @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:21PM]

"sophisticated people such as myself will continue to look down upon you."

Don't forget: High highfalutin.

As for the N96- I believe this is for a slightly different market. I'm not that excited about an all touch screen phone & so an N82 works well for me. Music is key, but so is robustness as the phone is frequently dropped into a jersey pocket or backpack so I'm less concerned about a screen.

[phanbouy @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:21PM]

don't feed the trolls

[Uh huh @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:24PM]

Sophisticated? Nah. The only thing "sophisticated" that YOU think so highly of yourself is your iphone hanging off of your left nut wherever you go. And you put that thing on your "sophisticated" face to make a call? That's as "sophisticated" as you'll ever be son. BTW, iphone users like yourself are not as sophisticated as the iphone 3G uses. Hell yeah! ......don't cry mini-afro version of david spade...I'm only just messin with ya.

[POW! @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:37PM]

you do realize pretty much everybody anywhere has an iphone now right? can't go down the block without seeing at least 10 other "sophisticated" people very much like yourself digging out of a dumpster oogling over their icraps and regretting that they decided to buy an iphone instead of paying rent

[phanbouy @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:42PM]

ok, fine feed the trolls. did anyone read this guy's comment? it's clearly calculated as trolling pseudo-parody.

you hypersensitive types cry all day long about why won't people shut up about iphone, yet all you're doing is encouraging the trolls to dominate half the bloody posts in every phone related article; they WANT the negative attention. hence, trolling.

[Lloytron @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:45PM]

Apple blinkers + Coldplay = superiority complex off the scale.

Thats not jealousy you are witnessing. It is people brushing you off.

[andrew @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:49PM]

everyone who doesn't want an iPhone cares!

[Gabriel @ Sep 5th 2008 3:47PM]

im not 100% about this but isnt the nokia n96 more powerfull then the iphone? Btw, the iPhone is overhyped, its just a fucking phone with the apple logo in it, get over it...

[Stinker @ Oct 18th 2008 10:04AM]

Stupid twat. Everyone knows you have to wear your mothers knickers 'cause you keep messing yourself!
The iphone is so limited. It's yesterdays phone. Apple will never take the throne from Nokia.

[Sahil Arora @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:03PM]

Sweet!!! Free car charger:D

[Adrian Williams @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:07PM]

For the high price I would expect a bluetooth head set included

[Albert @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:07PM]

They're not competing with the iPhone, if you're thinking between this and the iPhone you need to re-asses what you'll be using the cell phone for. The N96 is more so a cellphone powerhouse and for business purposes whereas the iPhone is a multimedia device.

[gabe @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:10PM]

business phone? please.

its a phone for geeks.

i'd take one :nerd:

[iEye @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:22PM]

Nokia 96 Business phone? And all along I thought a Black Berry was a business phone...

The only business a Nokia phone is good for, is pervs taking UpSkirt shots.

Even the piece of crap iBricker is more business related than this..

[Mic2000 @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:09PM]

Not on the grass!

[Homeboy @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:09PM]

Lol, somehow the title made me laugh. Nice one!

[Imran @ Sep 3rd 2008 4:22PM]

Yeah I'd like to see Engadget use a title for that for the 100 sighting of the next iPhone, but no, instead they'll be gushing all over it 100 articles later.

[Travis @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:16PM]

The box that thing came in looks like it has been around for ever. Notice the worn edges on it.

Fake unboxing.

[POW! @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:35PM]

Of course its fake, who would wait to get the phone and go to the park to open it, i would open it and start using it and then before i made the unboxing video i would put it back like it was when it got here first

[L @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:33PM]

Could somebody here please ban SuperDumbnutErik, erm, "This is Apples Market Now", erm well...this idiot up there, whatever he calls himself at the moment?

[L @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:35PM]

Funny tidbit: The unboxing video itself is shot with another N96...

[andrew @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:51PM]

well that would be better video than an iPhone. I wonder what the people saying that iPhone is soo great will do when something is better than the iPhone? Cuz if they bought one they should not be allowed another phone ever again with that attitude.

[Smartphone OSX = iPerfection=UR A DUMBASS @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:37PM]

Why don't you go suck on Yay's sophisticated ass iphone off his left nut. What is this freakin article about??!! It's about the Nokia N96 not your revolutionary iphuck phone

[Adonis @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:39PM]

This is so fake it's unbelievable! Nokia is trying PR.

That's one broken up packaging. What happened to the special edition N96 you could trade in for your house? They were supposed to be the first to get them. But this guy has one in a normal box? WTF.

LAME!

iPhone-alohics - be quiet and go masturbate in your corner - Sophistication? Kill me now.

[icrap @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:46PM]

It's amazing you can type so well with Mr. Jobs wang in your mouth...

Wake up! iphone is FAR from perfect.

I'd much rather have an Open Source OS with a ton of free, good apps for download then to pay Apple every time I want something they decided not to put on the phone...like cut and paste...

[Porr @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:53PM]

I'd say that these fanatic Apple fans seem to be using most of their time bashing Nokia so that's the thing they seem to be most worried about.
That said N96 is overpriced phone for niche DVB-H users. N85 is just pure win compared to this and Mobile-Review and Smape have been praising N85. SE, Samsung dont really have anything to compete for what you get with N85's price. N96 is for niche market and N85 will be the best seller.
I'll probally end up buying 5800(tube) or N85

[Imran @ Sep 3rd 2008 4:26PM]

I'd like to know what these people bashed before their beloved iThing came out.

[digitallysick @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:53PM]

Nokia had 3g and gps in the N95 far before apple had an iphone. While i do miss the iphone onscreen keyboard and web browser. I am pleased with the N95, im not restricted like i was on the iphone, i feel, i have a real cell phone. The camera is amazing, and even the video quality is better than any cell i have seen

[Matthewmongan @ Sep 3rd 2008 4:09PM]

Nokia makes a great phone, and it's market share is evidence of it. however, the lack of some kind of qwerty input is a kick in the pants. they could do onscreen qwerty and retain the slide out for eyeless dialing. I adopted the iphone after my treo went for a swim and while i have grown to appreciate the onscreen keyboard, the lack of hard number buttons makes dialing while doing anything that needs my eyes elseware frustrating.

i see no reason for the nokia flagship phone to lack capacitive touch. it would be the best phone hands down if it did. As it stands, its only a slight improvement over previous iterations.

[ynp @ Sep 3rd 2008 5:29PM]

Remember who Nokia's market is... Asia and Europe. qwerties just aren't that popular there. As strange as it might seem, not everyone likes qwertys or touch screens.

[andrew @ Sep 3rd 2008 3:56PM]

"Unix grade OS in the palm of your hand."

yeah thats why apps crashed and it lagged when it came out. You trying to make unix sound bad saying that it's unix grade?

[Jonathan Ziemer @ Sep 3rd 2008 4:04PM]

after a romantic filled picnic with the my one true love, we will re-enact star wars in reverse chronological order.

[Jan Fuellemann @ Sep 3rd 2008 4:36PM]

Hi,

we just updated our iSync plugins, so you can sync the new Nokia N96 with your Mac:
http://www.novamedia.de/isync


Kind Regards,

Jan Fuellemann (nova media)

[whatishalo? @ Sep 3rd 2008 4:38PM]

Dude's gotta lay off the caffeine or get checked out for Parkinson's

[Chris @ Sep 3rd 2008 4:47PM]

Since december 2007 I'm the owner of the N95 8GB. Although the build quality isn't the best, wear shows quite easy it's an awesome phone. Quality of the camera is sublime. While watching movies the imagine is really sharp. Only thing that it lacks is the speed with which you can transfer to it.

I was really looking forward to the N96 coming out, but it was pretty clear when the specs hit the Internet it wouldn't defer much to it's old brother the N95 8GB. The only things are that it's 16 instead of 8GB and I don't even have the 8GB full yet. And that internal TV tuner. That's it!

I'll be waiting till October before I upgrade to another phone. Btw all those Apple fanboys out there.. iPhone is great and succesful eyecandy but featurewise it's terrible. Where the hell is the MMS? What's up with the crappy camera. And did you ever try sending a textmessage with that thing? I haven't got the biggest hands and still it's one hell of a task to get the right letter. Next to that Apple is f*cking you guys over.. all normal features are packed into tiny new apps need to be bought through that store thingy. Well enjoy your leech guys!

[Raul @ Sep 3rd 2008 4:50PM]

This is a rip off, one would think Nokia would have learned the lesson. What's the point of features you can't use or use well? What does one do with 3G or dvb on 2.2-2.8 inch screens with keypads? And good luck surfing the net on that screen with a keypad.

At least they are not scrimping on ram nowadays, remember the good old days of N73, and that wasn't very long ago, was it? And has Symbian changed since 6600 apart from drm? How can an UI be static for 7 years? Simply having a hi-res cam is not equal to a smart phone, you also need decent sized screens and keyboards. That helps for every interaction with the phone, apps, games, Internet, everything. This is a phone for adolescents geeks, the 'usual folks who need to stand out', and people who value hi-res camera more than anything else.

With all those large screen phones in handy form factors with touch screens out there like Omnia, Instinct, Android coming up, HTC, iPhone this is simplynot worth the price. And if you need a smaller phone there are decent Nokia's and SE's out there. I think its time to stop worrying about Apple fanboys and iPhone and start thinking about Nokia fanboys and holding Nokia accountable. How else can they release such stuff and then have the gall to ask for 800 big ones.

[ynp @ Sep 3rd 2008 5:12PM]

If it were one of the 7 or 8 Engadget "First Look" articles about the iPhone, it would be something more like: "Don't blow your wad! The hotly anticipated iPhone 3G gets unboxed on video, looks just as incredibly amazing as everyone expected it to!"

[Nieker @ Sep 3rd 2008 5:53PM]

Unboxing a 600 euro cellphone on the lawn... nice.

[Mikolev @ Sep 3rd 2008 6:20PM]

thanks for sharing, it really brought alot into the topic

[Joe G @ Sep 3rd 2008 6:34PM]

It's doomed, as are all phones with the same old rounded-off square button in the middle. Booooo-ring. *sigh*

[Mark Anderson @ Sep 3rd 2008 6:52PM]

Care to explain why considering they sell millions of the N-series?