Description



The Nokia N95 is an impressive device, and one that is set to become the top high end smart phone. What impresses about the N95 is that so many features have been packed into a relatively small device. Within a device little bigger than the N73 is a 5 mega pixel camera (with VGA video capture too), connectivity options galore (USB, Infrared, Bluetooth, GSM, WCDMA, HSDPA and WLAN), integrated GPS, 150MB of internal memory (expandable via a microSD slot), and a feature packed and application laden software platform - S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1. But what's it really like to use? Here are some first impressions.

Features

The N95 has Carl Zeiss optics on its 5 mega pixel camera, allowing users to capture print-quality photos and DVD-like quality video clips. These can either be played on its 2.6-inch QVGA display or on a compatible television thanks to the device's TV-out feature and support for Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) technology. This smart phone’s two-way slider makes it easy to switch between different modes. A numeric keypad slides out from the bottom of the N95, while dedicated media keys slide out from the top, converting the display into full screen landscape mode. This landscape mode uses a different launcher than the rest of the system and allows you to use the device in a landscape mode for viewing pages on Nokia's impressive web browser (Web Browser 2.0), or playing music and video through the included multimedia applications. The N95 is a quad-band GSM/GPRS phone with support for EDGE, WCDMA, and HSDPA networks. It also has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.0. A GPS receiver, built-in stereo speakers, and a miniSD card slot round out this model.The N95 is Nokia's first HSDPA (3.5G) device, but also boasts Wi-Fi, WCDMA, quad-band GSM, Bluetooth (including A2DP), IrDA and USB 2.0 connectivity (via mini USB connector). Other hardware features include a 5 mega pixel camera, a built in GPS, TV-Out, 3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio, a MicroSD memory card slot and 150MB of internal memory.

Specifications

Integrated GPS system,5 Mega pixel (2592 x 1944) digital camera with Flickr support, Carl Zeiss Optics, auto focus & digital zoom , Video recording at near DVD quality - 640 x 480 at 30 fps, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g with WPA2, WPA , HSDPA (3.5G) - 3.6 MBit/s download speed, Quad band GSM / GPRS / EDGE: GSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900, Single band UMTS / HSDPA: W-CDMA 2100, 2.6-inch QVGA (320x240) 16 million colour screen ,microSD memory card slot ,160MB of internal memory, 3.5 mm audio jack, Music Player supports MP3, WMA, RealAudio, SP-MIDI, AAC+, eAAC+, MIDI, AMR, M4A, True Tones , Stereo speakers, Mono microphone, A2DP wireless stereo headphone support, Stereo FM Radio and Visual Radio, USB 2.0 via mini USB port , UPnP , Bluetooth v2.0 full speed , Fully hardware accelerated PowerVR 3D graphics from Imagination Technologies (including OpenGL ES 1.1 and M3G, see JBenchmark) , May include FOTA ("Firmware over the air" update ability) , Push to Talk over Cellular (PoC). Voice recorder, Dimensions; 99 x 53 x 21 mm, Weight 120 g, Volume 90 cc.

Conclusion

The quad-band N95 gets very good reception. The earpiece isn't all that loud, but it's clear, with subtle and pleasant in-ear feedback. Transmission is very good, too, with good blocking of background noise; it can sound a little tinny in noisy situations, but its fine at other times. The speakerphone uses the N95's powerful stereo speakers, an effective combo. The handset worked well with the Plantronics Bluetooth headsets I use for testing. That said, the N95 uses Nokia's somewhat perplexing voice-dialing system, which isn't as easy to operate as the Voice Signal and Nuance systems you find on other phones. Sure, the N95 is a perfectly fine phone, but that's not why it's so expensive.