N95 8GB

Here comes the Hot Stepper. Well, is it really the "Jewel In The Crown" of Nokia? We will find out. For starters, it is a looker. All chrome finish and double slider design. WOW! Looks quite compact and mouth watering. It has all that Blah Blah that Nokia promised in September 2006 at an imposing Nokia show in New York. We will get down to brass tacks shortly. But first things first, the usual specs.Nokia N95 is among first mobiles to have a built-in camera with a 5 megapixel resolution. Among its lures are also an integrated GPS module, HSDPA support, two-way sliding construction, and a very handy 3.5 mm jack connector for earphones. The phone runs on Symbian 9.2 OS. It is a beautiful phone, discreet but at the same time promising a plethora of performances.

Looks.

The front plate is silver, while the back one is dark velvet. Nokia N95 will be available in two color versions : Silver; Velvet and a light aluminum shade one. The phone’s one and only design particularity is the expressed camera frame on its rear side. Surface is matte, so fingerprints will never ever be a reason to worry; except for the display, of course. Nokia N95 is a slider, but it slides both directions, which is quite unique; this is the first time such a solution has been used to overcome the woes of multi faceted device usage. A classical slide move upwards reveals the keypad, while a slide move downwards shows the four keys, through which the music player is controlled. At 120 grams, you will never feel it weighing you down. Only weighing down you might feel is of its features; if you are not the owner. However, you may feel annoyed by the small clicking sounds when the phone is open. No, these are not keypad sounds, but they are from rubbing of both the sliders. I guess even good engineering at times can't get rid of certain situations.

Functionality

The functional part is very well elaborated. The navigation key is precise and pressing it would not leave in a doubt whether it was pressed or not. The glossy keys are on an elevated frame which makes it easy for touch orientation. Main and multimedia menus access keys have plenty of space for clumsy thumbed people, which is admirable. The C key and the Pencil are somewhat difficult to reach when N95 is closed, but hey, are you going to use those keys when the phone is in closed mode? I don't think so. The most interesting thing is the automatic keylock. Locking takes approximately 2 seconds, which allows you to go on working with the closed phone. The lock gets automatically released when the phone is open. Locking and unlocking work reliably no matter in which direction the device is slid out; or when the camera lens cover is removed - the keypad is unlocked and you can start shooting; you close back the cover and the keypad gets locked again, nifty, ain't it? Numeric keypad backlighting is blue; more like the N70. But the functional part glimmers with plenty of colors. Backlighting is automatically activated when light intensity drops under a certain level. Light intensity is controlled by an ambient light sensor located above the display. What will they think of next; an ambilight display? The keys on the side feel soft touch due to plastic coating on them. Actually they are mechanical. When you press the keys, the plastic cover gets slightly depressed. The keys by themselves are e mechanical.

Display

The large size of Nokia N95’s display is immediately likable. The display has a diagonal of 2.6 inches, which is equivalent to a rectangle of 40 x 53 mm. Resolution is standard QVGA offering 240 x 320 pixels. The display is quite neat; font is slick and polished and masks lower resolution quite successfully. As a matter of fact, most PocketPCs which have really large touchscreen displays feature the same resolution as Nokia N95. Nokia has already proven that it knows how to produce fine displays. With applying a standard QVGA resolution it is probably aimed at 100% compatibility with all applications.

Music and Entertainment

This review will not be complete if I did not discuss the Entertainment part of this "Phone." Nokia N95 is fully equipped to entertain everybody. After all, providing fun is one of its basic missions. One of its key functions is the music player controlled through special keys for quick and efficient control. These keys are located on the smaller, sliding half of the phone. They are functional, even when the music player application is minimized. In case that the music player is off, pressing on the “ Play” button will make it run from the last played piece of music. The original earphones provided in Nokia N95 retail package are a real shame compared to the high quality of the phone. They distort sound, actually blurt it out out with aggressive highs and no bass. The inconvenient shape makes fall off the ears frequently. The good thing is the connector. The earphone connector is universal 3.5 mm jack type, permitting the purchase of practically any model of earphone. Since no sound output works with all earphone models in the same way, the built-in equalizer is much appreciated at the moment of fine tuning. On the other hand, the use of earphones different form the original ones complicates remote control from the cable (otherwise very practical). Everything is designed with the idea of carrying the phone in your pocket: the remote control is fixed to your breast pocket or pined to your collar and the earphones lie down into your ears.

VideoCenter

The innovation brought by Nokia N95 is called Videocenter – a function providing direct access to video archives on the web. The greatest lure is the beta-version of the mobile YouTube: you connect to the server, look through the last videos menu and play the one you like. The original guide-post for this service is Nokia Video Service Catalogue – a simple webpage with links to all offered services. Besides YouTube here you will also find Reuters news-bulletin, for example. As you can see, Videocenter is basically a classical videopodcast.