Nokia N96 review – unlocked, hence expensive
Sum and Substance:
Thumbs Up:
Huge 16 GB internal memory, has advanced multimedia features including 5 mp camera, integrated 3G support, GPS, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi.
Thumbs Down:
Issues with performance, phone freezes sometimes, expensive
Inside the Trunk:
Technology: WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM
Band: WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM 850/900/1800/1900
Phone design: Slider
Caller ID: Yes
Other features: Bluetooth, FM, Camera, etc.
The Whiz Kid Speaks:
Nokia N96 has a 2.8 inch display with 240 x 320 pixels resolution and it supports 16.7 million colors. Supported digital formats are WMA, MP3, MPEG-4 and AAC. Internal memory is 16 GB. Connectors include Headset jack – Mini-phone 3.5 mm, Headset jack – Mini-phone 3.5 mm. Headset is included in the bundled and along with it, there are two cables for video and USB. 950 mAh battery has a rated talk time of 220 minutes and standby time is 220 hours.
The phone has a 5 megapixels camera with maximum resolution of 2592 x 1944 pixels. Minimum focal length is 5.2 mm, special effects include Black & White, Negative, Vivid, Sepia. Downloadable content includes screensavers, video files, audio files, wallpapers, ringtones, themes and games. Supported email protocols are IMAP4, SMTP, POP3.
Razzle Dazzle:
Nokia N96 is 4.1 inches high, 2.2 inches wide, 0.7 inch deep and weighs about 4.4 ounces. The size is similar to that of HTC Touch Pro but it is a bit thick. We won’t recommend this phone if you wear a lot of tight pants. This phone feels a bit cheap due to the plastic edges. We also didn’t like the battery cover as it feels quite fragile and it might crack if the handset tumbles.
Inside Dope:
This is not a new phone; it is been around for awhile and belongs to the Nokia’s high end line up of smartphones. We were initially impressed by the specs of this phone but then N97 was announced out and it stole the thunder. This doesn’t mean that N96 is an outdated device. The best feature about the phone is the 16 GB internal storage which lets you store tons of data on the device. It also has advanced multimedia capabilities and this is a good replacement for you music player. You don’t have to carry two gadgets while traveling. This phone is very much like N95, only the some of the features in design are tweaked and there is additional storage memory put in. For business users, there is a productivity suite and variety of wireless connections.
The display of Nokia N96 is 2.8 inches big and has a resolution of 240×320 pixels. The display doesn’t support a touch screen interface which is bummer on a smartphone like this but you do get a built in accelerometer which automatically changes the orientation of the screen from portrait to landscape mode when you tilt the device. There is also the ambient light detector which automatically adjusts the brightness of the screen according to the light in the environment. The home screen is customizable with a variety of themes and you can adjust the font size and backlight.
Underneath the display, there is a navigation array which is made up of Talk and End buttons, two soft keys, clear button, menu shortcut, and five way direction keypad. There are some new controls added by Nokia in here but they are not that apparent. When you turn the backlight on, the dedicated music control buttons (pausr/play, stop, back, forward) surround the toggle. There is a tiny multimedia button which automatically takes you to games, photos, videos, music, etc. Except for this button and navigation toggle key, all the controls are flush on the surface of the phone which makes the handset look sexy. On the downside, we thought that pressing the buttons were a bit tough since they were a bit stiff and appeared cramped.
Sliding the Nokia N96 up takes you to the alphanumeric keypad. The keys are wide, large and flat; we didn’t have any frustrating mispresses. The top row is quite close to the edge of the slider and hence our thumb hit on the edge occasionally but this is not unexpected in a slider phone. Sliding the display down gives you access to multimedia function buttons (stop, play, etc.). You will probably turn the phone when accessing these buttons and the phone’s orientation will automatically change when you do this.
Features of the phone include multimedia and text messaging, vibrate mode, voice commands, conference calling, speed dial, speakerphone and world roaming. Video calling and push to talk capabilities are included but you won’t be able to use it here in the US. There are no limits to the address book as long as there is room in the internal memory. A single entry can hold birthday, e-mail addresses, home and work addresses, multiple phone numbers. For caller ID, you can assign a photo to a contact and also assign a custom ringtone to your groups. Bluetooth 2.0 is there and it supports stereo and mono Bluetooth headsets, dial-up networking, file transfer and hands-free kits.
We tested the Nokia N96 for call quality and it was quite good. On our side, the audio was clear but the voices sounded a bit hollow sometimes. We didn’t have any problems talking on the phone though. On the other side, people said that the clarity was impressive and the sound quality was good too. Speaker phone quality is not that good but this is not unexpected in a cell phone. For Bluetooth calls, we used the Motorola S9 Bluetooth Active Headphones and Logitech Mobile Traveller Bluetooth headset.
Nitty Gritty:
If you already have an N95 we won’t recommend an upgrade since this phone doesn’t have many different features and it is quite costly too. We wouldn’t recommend this device even if you don’t have N95 because N97 will be coming out soon so it will be interesting to see what that handset has to offer.
