Inside the Nokia N95 8GB
From the diverse range of opinions expressed by users, it seems you either love Nokia’s flagship mobile phone – the N95 with a massive 8 GB of memory – or find fault that it is not as all-singing, all-dancing as Nokia, or you, would like. It is almost as if Nokia has deliberately chosen to sail between the Scylla of attempt to be all things to all users – always a risky business – and the Charybdis of having compromise somewhere along the line – which it has had to do in some areas.
Packing as many “wow” functions into one device, though, is nothing if not fun. After the original N95 emerged in 2006, Nokia chose to upgrade its burgeoning, but still compact, box of tricks to deliver what in many ways is the definitive solution for techno-freaks. There is no doubt it is an awesomely clever and beautiful device; the arguments against focus on the details. But then, that’s where the devil is…
As the most celebrated addition to Nokia’s innovative N-series range of high-performance multimedia devices, the Nokia N95 8GB certainly offers a host of top-end features, including integrated GPS functionality, a slightly larger screen than the original N95 and, yes, that 8 GB of on-board memory. The extra capacity makes it a multimedia mammoth and enables you to install many more applications that normal. A separate card slot would have been nice, but perhaps a little greedy.
Your mobile phone is now a route-finder, too! Ok, numerous other phones now offer GPS, but with the N95, it is but one of many high-end features. The integral GPS module works with a preinstalled Nokia Maps application to help you navigate through the busy city streets as easily as using an in-dash automobile GPS system. Free downloadable maps for over 100 countries and 15 million places of interest via www.smart2go.com and WAP ensure you know where you are and how to reach your destination. However, it would have benefited from a better GPS chipset and also making it available for third-party applications. Voice-assisted navigation costs extra, too.
The N95 is Nokia’s first mobile with HSDPA (3.5G) – the leading standard for fast data transfers to mobile devices – up to 10 times faster than 3G. Naturally, it also features all the other connectivity options such as 3G itself, Wi-Fi, EDGE, quad-band GSM, stereo Bluetooth, Infrared and USB 2.0, plus a TV-out port.
An all-around musical experience is guaranteed from built-in stereo speakers, a 3.5 mm audio jack for regular headphones and FM radio. Nokia engineers have also included a five megapixel camera with Carl-Zeiss optics, autofocus, flash and the capability of recording videos in DVD-like quality – a camera lens protector would have been nice, though. It sports a 2.8-inch colour TFT display with a QVGA (240 x 320) resolution.
Amid the usual array of organiser-type features, there is an Office document viewer, but cannot edit what you see, nor can you charge the phone when it is linked via USB to an external device. But for style and overall feature-richness, the N95 8GB these are small gripes.
The eyebrow-raising functionality is even more impressive given the dimensions. At 99 x 53 x 21 mm, the N95 is slimmer and even lighter than the Nokia N80, with a first-of-its-kind slide-open transformation design. All-in-all, the N95 8GB has everything that all but the most specialist users would want in a single device. We await with interest what Nokia does to out-shine this dual-slide beauty later this year.
Written for Tracy & Matt by Bobbie Bhogal, founder of mobilesplease.co.uk
[Post tag(s): smartphone blog, Pocket PC blog, Windows Mobile blog, Nokia N95, Clove,Tracy & Matt]
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