Derrick
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A great smartphone for the average consumer
For Nokia the N97 marks the company’s first venture into a large touch screen interface coupled with a full QWERTY keyboard, perhaps in a bid to keep up with manufacturers such as BlackBerry, HTC and Apple who are all make good headway into the smartphone market.
On paper the N97 has a great line-up of features including an impressive 3.5 inch resistive touchscreen, 32GB of internal storage with MicroSD support for up to 16GB, a full QWERTY keyboard which slides out from beneath the screen and a 5 Megapixel camera with autofocus, an LED flash and a Carl Zeiss lens.
In terms of connectivity the N97 has 3.6Mbps 3G, GPRS and EDGE networks. It also features WiFi 802.11 b/g and Bluetooth 2.0 connection options with GPS support and geo tagging.
With regards to hardware the device operates on an ARM 11 434 MHz processor and it uses Nokia’s Symbian version 9.4 operating system.
The N97 is a good-looking device. At first glance the fold out system which reveals the QWERTY keyboard appeared slightly flimsy, nonetheless after considerable use it continued to perform well. The device itself is well designed and ships in black or white
When it was initially released the N97 interface left much to be desired. Numerous consumer complaints regarding unlock issues and faulty touchscreen options were leveled at Nokia and as a result the company quickly released a comprehensive firmware update.
This installation eliminated most of the issues initially experienced. Despite this the N97 retained a number of problems including unreliability with regards to its motion controlled swivel screen and high lag times when booting up the device. The lag times increased once more content had been added to the phone, this may be as a result of the 434 MHz processor, which is smaller than usual for a smarthphone of this nature.
Although Nokia’s Symbian platform works well on the N97 we couldn’t help but feel that it has become more outdated and less intuitive than other operating systems such as Google’s Android platform. The Symbian menu system has changed little over the years and may leave the user feeling frustrated with the cluttered interface. Nonetheless it performs well and there is a marked improvement in how the touchscreen relates to the OS when compared to Nokia’s first full touch device – the 5800 Xpress Music.
The N97 is well positioned as a music and media device. Its 32GB memory capacity and 3.5mm headphone jack arguably puts it in a better position than most iPods in terms of sheer storage. In addition, Nokia’s Ovi Store and the ‘Comes With Music’ offering, which allows Nokia users to download as much music as they please for a year, is a great addition.
On the business side the N97 allows users to set up an email address, either through Exchange or through hosted services such as Gmail. Although this service works well, the mail delivery times lag behind those found in BlackBerry devices.
The Nokia Maps service, which integrates with the N97’s AGPS functionality, is arguably the best out of the box navigation system around. Each map is cached on the device itself, allowing for faster navigation and lower download costs. The interface is also extremely easy to use.
Battery life is entirely dependent on how many widgets a user chooses to run on the home screen and in real time. During our tests the battery lasted for 5 days of heavy use with home screen content switched off. With a full screen content display this would typically be halved.
In conclusion the N97 is a strong contender within the smartphone market and certainly competes well with the majority of touchscreen based devices around today.
For Nokia the N97 marks the company’s first venture into a large touch screen interface coupled with a full QWERTY keyboard, perhaps in a bid to keep up with manufacturers such as BlackBerry, HTC and Apple who are all make good headway into the smartphone market.
On paper the N97 has a great line-up of features including an impressive 3.5 inch resistive touchscreen, 32GB of internal storage with MicroSD support for up to 16GB, a full QWERTY keyboard which slides out from beneath the screen and a 5 Megapixel camera with autofocus, an LED flash and a Carl Zeiss lens.
In terms of connectivity the N97 has 3.6Mbps 3G, GPRS and EDGE networks. It also features WiFi 802.11 b/g and Bluetooth 2.0 connection options with GPS support and geo tagging.
With regards to hardware the device operates on an ARM 11 434 MHz processor and it uses Nokia’s Symbian version 9.4 operating system.
The N97 is a good-looking device. At first glance the fold out system which reveals the QWERTY keyboard appeared slightly flimsy, nonetheless after considerable use it continued to perform well. The device itself is well designed and ships in black or white
When it was initially released the N97 interface left much to be desired. Numerous consumer complaints regarding unlock issues and faulty touchscreen options were leveled at Nokia and as a result the company quickly released a comprehensive firmware update.
This installation eliminated most of the issues initially experienced. Despite this the N97 retained a number of problems including unreliability with regards to its motion controlled swivel screen and high lag times when booting up the device. The lag times increased once more content had been added to the phone, this may be as a result of the 434 MHz processor, which is smaller than usual for a smarthphone of this nature.
Although Nokia’s Symbian platform works well on the N97 we couldn’t help but feel that it has become more outdated and less intuitive than other operating systems such as Google’s Android platform. The Symbian menu system has changed little over the years and may leave the user feeling frustrated with the cluttered interface. Nonetheless it performs well and there is a marked improvement in how the touchscreen relates to the OS when compared to Nokia’s first full touch device – the 5800 Xpress Music.
The N97 is well positioned as a music and media device. Its 32GB memory capacity and 3.5mm headphone jack arguably puts it in a better position than most iPods in terms of sheer storage. In addition, Nokia’s Ovi Store and the ‘Comes With Music’ offering, which allows Nokia users to download as much music as they please for a year, is a great addition.
On the business side the N97 allows users to set up an email address, either through Exchange or through hosted services such as Gmail. Although this service works well, the mail delivery times lag behind those found in BlackBerry devices.
The Nokia Maps service, which integrates with the N97’s AGPS functionality, is arguably the best out of the box navigation system around. Each map is cached on the device itself, allowing for faster navigation and lower download costs. The interface is also extremely easy to use.
Battery life is entirely dependent on how many widgets a user chooses to run on the home screen and in real time. During our tests the battery lasted for 5 days of heavy use with home screen content switched off. With a full screen content display this would typically be halved.
In conclusion the N97 is a strong contender within the smartphone market and certainly competes well with the majority of touchscreen based devices around today.