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"1st Class Phone" on by serendipidy
Pros: Great all-round device that does everything
Cons: Slight delays when using some functionality
Summary: Having read the editor's review you'd end up thinking that the phone didn't look that good, have great build quality or respond well, and possibly also that it wasn't the best thing since sliced bread.
The truth is that this is one of the best looking and feeling handsets out there. The build quality is very solid and it's snappy for all the key phone functions.
Having used every kind of handset ranging from the Palm based Treo to a multitude of Windows and Series 60 phones over the recent years they've all fallen well short of being an ideal phone. This is the first one which genuinely starts to deliver the goods.
The overall feel of using the N95 is that it is simply phenomenal and without doubt is a milestone in mobile phone development. I'm fortunate to be based in London and get to benefit from all the 3G goodness and speed, and have to say that the browsing, navigation (GPS) and multimedia goodies such as playing the games on my wide screen television make this handset an unbelievably useful and fun device.
Other great features are the performance for syncing, it used to take ages to sync a Nokia phone, but this one syncs faster than you realise, so much so, that I've set it to auto sync via Bluetooth whenever it's near my laptop.
The 3G connectivity means that surfing and emailing through the PC or N800 are now a joy on the move as well as in the office.
The other thing to note is that the connectivity in general and especially the Wifi works extremely well. The phone seems to instantly detect wireless networks, at least three or four times faster than Windows and allows easy switching between the wifi and 3G connections allowing you to save on your bandwidth bill.
What is clear though is that some of the functionality is in effect 'back-up' to dedicated devices. I'd always prefer to take photos with a dedicated digital camera although the camera works very well in good light (although it is slow).
The GPS (Maps) application is great and the ability to drill down into street level in villages in Hungary (where my wife is from and currently visiting) is something I've never found before in a GPS device. I would still use my Nuvi though to navigate around most of Europe since it does a great job and has a bigger screen.
This is also the first Nokia which is 'standard' in that it has standard headphone jack and USB connectors. It means it actually starts to feel like a tiny computer rather than simply a phone. If you compare the performance of this device with PCs it comes on top in all kinds of scenarios.
The multi-tasking nature of the N95 is also great. It allows you to flick through songs using the dedicated keys, whilst reading a travel guide and plotting your route to the next destination, all to be gently interrupted by an incoming call with a 3D ringtone which zooms from one side to the other.
Having looked at some of the reviews and my own experience, and compared them with the editor's review it's clear that the editor has got this one seriously wrong. I can appreciate that there's a couple of disadvantages in using the handset in the US but even then the general performance should simply blow you away.
There's no device that comes close to this phone as an all-round handy device which really works. It certainly means I'll be carrying a lot fewer devices on a day-to-day basis -
"Best new Phone in the market." on by eyyubi83
Pros: Gps built in, mp3 player, s60 3rd edition, 5 mega pixel camera, bluetooth 2.0, speaker phone, flash player, 2nd vga camera, uPnP, movie player, real player streaming.
Cons: only one the new operating sytem does not work with alot of the software out in the market. The softwares have to be updated to work on this cell phone. Not a touch screen.
Summary: This phones talks about gps which alot of phones have had in the past, but there is a difference that you have to understand. That difference is that all other phones in the past with gps was network related gps. They used your cell towers to triangulate your location while this phone actually connects to the gps satellites and gets your location what that means is if you are in an area with no coverage your "nextel, cingular, sprint, verizon or any other companies" phone will not be able to get your location. Like in the middle of the woods, or much of the highways of the US. This phone will play movies in addition to mp3. Also stream your favorite realplayer videos off the air. The list goes on...
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"One phone to suit all your needs" on by mahindrajith
Pros: Great connectivity and wide range of software change the way you use the internet.
Cons: Low Battery Life, Easily heated up during long calls or VoIP calls, Music player errors, GPS cant connect, 2-way slider.
Summary: I eagerly awaited the launch of this phone and got it on the first day of launch. It was great in terms of design. Although in many ways it looks like a brick, compared to the N80, the N95 is slimmer and lighter and packs more features.
The best part was the wifi connectivity it offered. Although in terms of battery life, you may not be able to sustain the handphone while surfing wirelessly all day, it did change the way i used the internet. Booking tickets online was a breeze (i could just connect in a hotspot at starbucks). I could still be on MSN while away from my computer. I used the VoIP whenever i could find a hotspot, thus saving on hefty phone bills through free calls. There were many.
Surely the E65 would have offered me the same wifi advantages plus a longer battery life, but this was running on Symbian OS 9.2 and had a larger and clearer display.
The 2-way slider was great when it came to viewing videos. Having such a large screen and speakers that could go real loud, it was almost an ipod video by itself. I rarely used the music player buttons however and the only reason i found myself sliding the other way often is to rotate the display view.
The 5 megapixel camera is a godsend. Although i could not really take clear pictures compared to a normal 7megapix camera, it was great for a camera phone. The bigger deal was the video. Videos have never been this clear on a camera phone before.
I didn't try using the visual radio service as i wanted to avoid any GPRS charges so as to keep my bill as low as possible. So far my bill dropped by about 30% with VoIP calls and wifi surfing instead of GPRS.
Here comes the sad news - This phone can be equally as bad.
I used it almost as i would use PC. Although i cannot view videos on youtube, i was able to download some and view on the realplayer. While i was at it, once i stumbled upon some 50mb video. Halfway through the download i was worried if the phone could support such a large file and cancelled the download. My web became inaccessible. Everytime i clicked on web, it would auto-close application. Even after a few restarts the phone was still the same. I then had to install a browser software to clear the cache (the root of the problem).
Another major problem is that the N95 auto-closes applications when they are not in use for a small period of time. Supposing you were in the middle of a game and had to attend a 2 minute call. Once you're done, your game has already been closed.
I also had some embarrassing moments with the Music player. I'm happy that it came with the headphone jack. However, when i accidentally loosened the connection between the jack and the phone, the music player automatically switched to speakers and started blasting my music in public.
Another problem was that when using the provided earphones with the music control, the music is momentarily played on the speaker for a second or two when you're switching tracks while playing the music. Yet another embarrassing moment.
The 2 way slider is another big problem. So much for advertising "What's in your pocket?" when the phone is so pocket unfriendly. Imagine this, when the phone is put inside the jeans pocket, it tends to slide upwards to reveal the keypad since the slider is that smooth. It slides the other way when it is removed from the pocket. So usually when i take it out, the display is in landscape mode and that makes me look unprofessional sliding my phone all the time.
My 1.5 month old N95 recently went for repairs after the display light died. The phone was still perfectly working. Just the display backlight. It was a slow death from the heavy usage from someone like me. Thankfully there's a firmware upgrade for this phone and i hope it will solve some of the many problems for the N95. -
"Built material does not justify the premium price. Camera way too slow for on the go picture taking" on by ddiking
Pros: Feature packed, good picture quality, cutting edge technology. dual slide design. WLAN.
Cons: Cheesy material. Squeaky buttons. Little too thick. Camera way too slow for snap-shots. The price.
Summary: A good all around multimedia phone, but I returned it the very next day. Not worth the price to me.
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"All your dreams...in the palm of your hand" on by sb12345
Pros: WiFi, GPS, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, Symbian OS based, Map application, large screen, dual slider, intuitive user interface, 5MP camera
Cons: Battery life poor, but it is fine w/ a nightly recharge, not made of anodized aluminum
Summary: This phone does everything imaginable. It's pretty much a full computer in your pocket.
Camera:
5MP is phenomenal for a cell phone. It also has many advanced functions such as aperture settings, exposure compensation, white balance, self timer, and red-eye flash settings. On top of that, the video camera is very very good but not DVD quality as Nokia says. It even has image stabilization built in. In other reviews, you may have read that the "camera was slow" or something along those lines. The truth is that the shutter itself is not slow, but the response time between pushing the button and the clicking of the shutter is long.
GPS: Really useful and neat feature to have. Be sure to clear all maps first using the PC map loader (if it was not bought in the US--mine was an Asian model) Then load your US maps into the memory card. The map goes down to street level and is fairly up-to-date. The accuracy of the GPS is around 150 feet. It even indicates altitude and speed of your vehicle.
Video/Music Playback:
The media centre of this phone has some impressive animation, and plays videos and songs in stereo sound with impressive quality. Plus, it can be hooked up to any TV so you can blow it up on a larger screen.
WiFi:
Fairly good. Regular sites don't load as fast as a normal comp, but that's because of the overall processing power/RAM of the unit. WiFi also saves you on expensive data costs that you would prob encounter with your wireless carrier. It's really useful for checking email and browsing your favorite sites.
Bluetooth:
The EDR really helps when you sync your media files from your computer. It also helps increase the range between your computer and the N95.
User interface:
The Symbian OS is very intuitive and clean. Occasionally, it lags but this wasn't a big issue for me. Even more complex apps like the Map application loads and quits efficiently without hanging up. The unit only freezes after applying a more complex setting such as changing the system theme or something. It can be fixed by a simple restart of the device. However, this should've been fixed by Nokia through a simple message telling you to restart your device the way you'd restart your computer after installing an update or program.
Battery:
This seems to be a big point of critisism for the editors and other users of this phone. The honest bottom line is this: it doesn't go about 14 hrs without a recharge. (that is w/ use of WiFi, GPS, and Bluetooth). If you use the phone just for talking w/ idling, the battery lasts a comfortable 21 hrs. The best thing to do is to probably charge it overnight daily. Then you'll be fine.
PDA functionality:
The address book, calandar, and document viewers are excellent. Multiple numbers per contact w/ room for email addresses, home addresses etc. The calandar has many options for appts, meetings, and alarms. The document viewer not only opens regular text docs, but also spreadsheets and some kind of file that resembles PowerPoint. Checking email is also easy as setting up your account with the wizard is a snap. It works of WiFi or through your wireless carrier.
Screen:
The size is really nice and the important info such as time, date, etc show up nice and large so it's easy to read. For videos and the GPS, it's perfect. The ambient light sensor works well.
Physical feel:
The phone has a solid feel. It's also slimmer than it looks. When I saw the pics on the Nokia site, it def looked thicker than when I actually had the unit in my hand. The fact that the sliding mechanism isn't assisted isn't a big deal for me. The two-way slider is also pretty neat. However, the slider, when open, has a slight flimsy feel to it. It's also made of plastic, and not anodized aluminum like a lot of new electronics (eg. iPod) which is surprising for such a high-tech device. The plastic is wrapped tightly and solidly around the device though and doesn't "squeak" or "creak" when being handled.
Overall, this phone is really THE THING as it surpasses the typical smartphone. Despite a few minor faults, it is an amazing device with tremendous functionality.
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