Nokia N95 8GB

Nokia came out with their complete multimedia device aka. Nokia N95 exactly an year back an created a wake in the cellphone market.Nokia has taken a step further by improving the flaws in the device and bringing out a much improved version of the device name Nokia N95 8GB. Although Nokia N95 8GB is not perfect and has its share of defects but it surely is a hell of a device and certainly the best cellphone in the market right now according to me.

Nokia N95 8GB specifications:

• Dimensions : 99 x 53 x 21 mm
• Weight : 128 g
• Display : 2.8″ TFT 16M colors, 240 x 320
• Memory : 8GB internal
• 5 Megapixel camera with autofocus
• GPRS,HSCSD,EDGE,3G
• WiFi: 802.11 b/g,UPnP
• Built-in GPS receiver
• Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• OS: Symbian 9.2 rel 3.1
• Approx Price: $700

Design and Display

The basic design of the phone goes unchanged and the phone is still a dual slider phone, a first of its kind which got down well with the users.The all black body is made of high quality plastic but is prone to fingerprints which thankfully are not much visible.The front camera and the light sensor are located at the top right side.The card slot is no longer present due to the huge inbuilt memory present.The slider mechanism is smooth in all the three directions.Power key is at the top as usual.The left side contains the speakers,audio jack and IR port.Right side contains the other speaker,volume keys and camera keys.The most noticeable change is with the camera as the lens cover is removed and the LED flash has been placed right below the lens.

The display has undergone a increment of 0.2″ to become a 2.8″ display.The display quality is remarkably good and you won’t find absolutely any difficulty even in bright sunlight.I did find the clarity of the display to be better than the N95-1.Display although is also plagued by the fingerprint problem.The keypad is the same expect for the fact that the backlighting color has been changed from blue to white which complements the black color perfectly.

Music Player and Camera

They have been the forte of the N95 that make it a complete multimedia device.The music player has not gone any transformations, which is a bit of disappointment as I had expected something new on this front.Although there are no grudges with the current music player as it is fully capable of doing all the expected tasks be it sorting tracks,setting equalizers or creating playlists.The audio quality goes unchanged over N95-1 which is a big disappointment.Newer phones such as N81 or N82 offer better music quality and it is a shame that Nokia did not provide same level of experience on its premier device.

The camera has not gone any major changes except of the removal of the lens cover and repositioning of the LED flash.Integration on Xenon flash would have been great.The changes that were brought about through firmware changes in N95-1 reflect on the N95 8GB.The image quality has not got any improvement , though it is still one of the best you can get from existing 5.0 megapixel cellphone cameras in the market.

OS and Web browser

The N95 8GB is powered by Symbian 9.2 OS with the Series60 3rd Edition user interface.The 128MB memory on the device is enough for all you multi-tasking needs.Demand paging has also been included in the OS though it is not a standard part of OS 9.2. Navigation through menus is quick and applications open up in a snap.

The screen rotation has got better but still no animation like iPhone.Multiple alarms,unlimited voice recording are now standard features.The phonebook can store unlimited contacts with great details of every contact.The gallery is a pleasure to work with as the 3D view is refreshing.Zooming in and out of photos is quicker and slideshow can be customized according to your needs.

File management is very good and sending multiple files is a breeze.Search has taken a step further as now you can start a search from active standby itself.Organizer as expected has everything that you need to manage your tasks.

The browsing experience on the device is great and the default browser does the job very well.The browser manages to fit every page perfectly well on the screen.Virtual cursor does it job nicely without any hiccups.Zooming level can be adjusted by a few key presses.Mini-map feature is also available which comes in very handy for large web pages.Overall it provides rich browsing experience.

Pros:

• Big 2.8″ display
• Great 5.0 MP camera
• Massive amount of RAM
• Audio jack
• Built-in GPS and WiFi
• TV-out function included
• Massive 8GB storage

Cons:

• No lens cover
• Unimproved audio quality
• Unimproved camera performance
• No Xenon Flash

Final Thoughts

Nokia N95 8GB is definitely an improvement over Nokia N95 , but it does leave room for improvement. A better camera quality and audio quality are my only complaints with this device but that’s how Nokia likes it. 8GB is huge and the fact that you can use the device as a removable drives makes it even more useful.Bigger display is another notable improvement.Nokia N95 8GB still is a device anybody would love to own, so if you have the money then go buy it!

Rating: 4.3/5