-
"An excellent smartphone package for the price" on by tomrees8
Pros: Keyboard, hi-res, sensitive touchscreen, turn-by-turn satnav, multi-tasking OS, plenty of apps, great camera, large memory, small size.
Cons: Can be a bit sluggish (due to less than cutting edge CPU). OS is a bit clunky (but perfectly serviceable once you get used to it.
Summary: I love this phone primarily because the keyboard makes writing text so much easier than a touchscreen keyboard (it's faster mainly because it's more accurate, but the big plus is that you don't need to have the screen taken up be a virtual keyboard, so you can see what you're writing. It's great for web surfing because of the hi-res screen.
Everything else is functional, doing pretty much what you'd expect from a smartphone.
And Nokia just made turn-by-turn satnav free. Ovi maps are preloaded (rather than downloaded on the fly), so it's faster than google maps. That makes buying this phone pretty much a no-brainer, as far as I'm concerned. -
"Solid Performer" on by well_read
Pros: Excellent reception, sound, basic apps. I do not think it retains all of user information such as your contacts, location, etc. that other smart phones do. ATT does not recognize this as a smart phone, and allows unlimited 3G data for $10/mo instead of
Cons: Sometimes have to reboot if trying to operate 4 or 5 running applications at the same time (GPS, internet radio, web browsing and camera - all at the same time) Lack of other sources providing medical applications for Symbian.
Summary: Relegated my Google Nexus to use as PDA for the applications not available on Symbian. N97mini does everything I want in a phone, no plans to change soon.
-
"Unhappy Performance" on by dhruvsai
Pros: Looks...Design
Cons: the ph freqntly hangs up,touch screen doesn't work at times &it really embraces whn i get a call bt unable to take it as touch screen or the call answer buttn doesn't wrk.the ph suddenly restarts whn some call is being answered or msg is being sent.
Summary: All my earlier models of Nokia were perfectly working but with lots of interest,trust & brand image on Nokia,I had now gone for N97mini 6mths back but,am really unhappy with the quality of service the ph is giving.the vendor advised me to update the s/w & all the probs will be solved.later nokia service center just formatted the ph & given me bk bt the prob is same.with lots of interest, trust & brand image on nokia, i took n97mini but am really feeling unhappy with the service the ph is giving
-
"A not-so-smart smartphone" on by danielcalvinc
Pros: Excellent photo quality - 5mp with Carl Zeiss lens (f/ 2.8 is excellent for a phone)
High screen resolution - 640x360px
Well-designed QWERTY keyboard
Music app is very easy to navigate
FM Radio has good reception for a phoneCons: Very rudimentary interface
Processor is not built for what the phone demands from it
Bluetooth and email service have major glitches that make them practically unusable
Annoying alerts pop up repeatedly and cannot be disabledSummary: The Nokia N97 Mini is in one word - overpriced.
1st Issue - It's OS. The Symbian OS series 60 on this phone is simply a redesigned version of its predecessor. What Nokia did with Symbian S60 is quite similar to what Microsoft did with Windows Mobile 6.5. Both are simply redesigns of their predecessors, which are also redesigns of their predecessors. The bottom line is, you have an OS that has not seen major revisions in years.
2nd Issue - It's processor. The N97 Mini uses an ARM 11 434 MHz processor. In the age where companies like Apple and HTC are building cutting-edge phones with 1GHz processors, this is unacceptable. In order to run most apps, the processor should be at least 600MHz. The iPhone 3G uses a similar processor, but it is designed with better graphics processing capabilities. Another issue that causes the Nokia N97 to be quite "laggy" is it's screen. The N97 uses a very high resolution screen for it's size, while if it used a less detailed screen, the phone could run much faster without a very noticeable difference.
3rd issue - OS glitches. A very annoying problem with the N97 is alerts. Specifically the "Connection not available" alert. It pops up in the most unexpected and undesirable times, and for absolutely no reason. It is impossible to disable. It is comparable to the incessant nagging of a small child. If I am not using any applications that require internet access, and I don't even have a data plan, why would I care that a connection is not available? No reason. It just wants you to know. And after it tells you, it tells you again. And again. And again. It blocks out everything else for a number of seconds, and when you click it to exit, it pops right up again. This may seem like a very minor design flaw, but believe me, if you own this phone, you know what I'm talking about. Two other VERY major glitches affect the Bluetooth connection and email service. When trying to activate email, you may find yourself very frustrated when the N97 stays on the "testing connections" screen. Personally, I have tried numerous times to activate the email service, but to no avail. I've looked for answers, but I've never gotten past that screen. Bluetooth is another issue. I have tried to connect the phone to both my computer and headphones, but it cannot connect, and for an unknown reason. I have also never found a solution to this problem either.
Now, I don't want you to think the N97 is a complete failure as a phone. It's not. It has it's pros. It's camera is very impressive, with a 5mp sensor. Not only that, but it uses a Carl Zeiss lens with a aperture of f/2.8. Very impressive for a phone. Photo quality is excellent, arguably point-and-shoot quality. One slightly annoying issue with the camera is that shutter and focus sounds cannot be disabled. Who knows why.
Ovi Maps is also an excellent application. It has saved maps, so internet access is not necessary unless using satellite imagery. Navigation is excellent, with free, non robotic sounding text-to-speech navigation. When in satellite or terrain mode however, you will definitely notice major lag in navigation, so it is best to stick to map mode.
Overall, the N97 is a average smartphone, with a moderately wide range of apps that can be installed. It does NOT, however, live up to its $580 price tag. Unless you can get an amazing deal (which I did, at less than $300), get an iPhone. And that's coming from a PC guy. -
"nokia n97 mini samrt phone?" on by ulkayuvraj
Pros: slider, good keypad, handy,
Cons: no call duration for call log, no access to mass memory where we save our vedio songs, simple ovi apps r need to purchase, camera doesnt look like 5 mp, cannot see the number details of call log,
cant edit wall paper expect rowsSummary: no call duration for call log, no access to mass memory where we save our vedio songs, needs software refine ,simple ovi apps r need to purchase, camera doesnt look like 5 mp, u cannot see the number details of call log,
cant edit wall paper expect rows, to control volume of music player u need to unlock the phone, option has unwanted help option, most of application dont have back option we need to exit from that app., no good free games, needs s/w refining
Write a Review
Online Stores
| Store | Promotions | In Stock | Price | Total Cost | Initial Sort Order |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | No | Yes | Tax: TBD Ship: TBD | $189.99 Shop Now | |
| See all prices | |||||
Compare to other smartphones
Compare Selected
Check coverage in your area 
%20-%20Smartphones%20-%20CNET%20Reviews&srcUrl=http://reviews.cnet.com/smartphones/nokia-n97-mini-unlocked/4852-6452_7-33770406.html&x_breadcrumb=8900:3488:3504:6452&x_arw_bkts=MAD:high_wireless_switcher){kind=small}