Being a successor of the Nokia N95 8GB, Nokia N96 has some king-size spec sheet to top and it can’t be accused of not trying. There’s FP2, double the built-in storage and DVB-H. The bloodline is strong but the crown is heavy and ancestral sins will be held against the heir twofold. The modest battery capacity and the downgraded CPU do raise some questions that need their answers. Join us for an out-and-out review of Nokia’s latest top-of-the-shelf offer. Let’s see if it has got the performance to walk in them shoes size N95.
Nokia N96 comes to top the Nokia multimedia portfolio, packing almost every single feature you can think of. It extends the functionality of its predecessor – Nokia N95 8GB with 16GB of internal memory, DVB-H TV receiver, and the latest version of the Symbian OS. There are also some more minor upgrades including music keys on the front panel, a kickstand (we love that one) for more comfortable video watching, Navi wheel and dual-LED flash. On the negative side, the CPU has been tripped up but we are yet to see how this affects the performance.
Probably the most obvious alternative to Nokia N96 is Samsung i8510 INNOV8. It trades the DVB-H receiver for an 8 megapixel camera with lens cover, DivX support, DNSe audio technology, and a juicier battery. It also sports an optical joystick, which rocks for browsing. The Innov8 however is slightly more expensive than N96 and it lacks the complimentary stuff (Nokia Maps, 3 months of voice navigation, a free N-gage game and the Transformers movie).
Key features:
* 2.8″ 16M-color TFT LCD display of QVGA resolution
* 5 megapixel autofocus camera with dual-LED flash and AF assist light
* Built-in DVB-H TV tuner
* Symbian OS 9.3 with S60 3.2 UI
* Dual ARM 9 264 MHz CPU and 128 MB of RAM
* 3G with HSDPA support
* Quad-band GSM support
* Wi-Fi with UPnP technology
* Built-in GPS with A-GPS functionality and 3 months of free voice-guided navigation
* Dual slide design with dedicated gaming/audio keys
* Massive 16GB onboard storage
* microSD card slot with microSDHC support
* Built-in accelerometer for UI auto-rotation
* 3.5 mm audio jack
* TV out
* Stereo FM Radio with RDS
* Car charger in the retail package
* VGA video recording at 30fps
* USB and Bluetooth v2.0
* One free N-gage game and Transformers movie preloaded
* Keypad locking slide key
Main disadvantages:
* Inadequate battery life
* No camera lens protection
* The @$$#% N81-inspired design
* No office document editing out of the box
* Doesn’t charge via the USB port
* Dreadful camera key
* Cheap looking keypad
* Unreasonably hefty price tag
Wed, Oct 8, 2008
cellphone