| Nokia N95 Retailer Review Groundbreaker Nokia N95
The Nokia N95's features put it ahead of the rest
Overall:| Design: | 3/5 | | Features: | 4/5
| | Useability: | 4/5
| | Battery: | N/A/5
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THE GOOD: Feature-packed dual-slider offers GPS, Wi-Fi and a five megapixel camera, plus streaming and Internet options. THE BAD: Vodafone store managers are expecting their first stocks of the Nokia N95 on 15 March. Independent dealers are expecting to receive stock at around the same time, with distributors reporting that they will have the handset in stock from around 7 March.
The mobile market has not seen anything truly new for a while, with most phones settling for the bog-standard camera and MP3 player. Just like the N90 – the first phone with 4GB of internal memory – the Nokia N95 has broken with tradition and stepped up its features. While it comes with the usual specs, the device adds a GPS function. And the camera has a whopping five megapixels, surpassing the rest of the market.
‘I’m not a massive Nokia fan, but this is the phone that could change me, purely because of its GPS feature,’ says Gilchrist. Wrathall adds: ‘The sat nav is a huge plus point.’ The Carphone Warehouse salesperson agrees: ‘It looks pretty swish, just like a normal TomTom. It can zoom in to about ten feet of where you are.’ Gilchrist says the GPS function will appeal to everyone.
The panel agrees that the camera is the stand-out feature. With most of the market still hanging on to two megapixels as the standard, the N95’s five megapixels are unbeatable. Omitola says: ‘It is top of the range right now. It has the same quality as a normal digital camera.’
The Carphone salesperson agrees: ‘The pictures come out quite well, even compared with the Sony Ericsson K800i. Quality-wise, it is quite good. The K800i is the benchmark and this is slightly better.’ Wrathall adds that the N95 comes with all the right cables so people can view videos on their TVs and computers: ‘That has been around since the Samsung D600, but people like it.’
Design
Despite its impressive features, the N95’s design is a letdown for the panel. ‘Looks-wise, it is nothing fantastic,’ says Gilchrist. Wrathall agrees: ‘It is not for me. It is a bit bulky.’ The Carphone salesperson thinks the phone has a ‘plasticky’ feel to it. However, Omitola likes the design: ‘It feels different to other Nokias.’
At £600 Sim-free, the N95 is not one for those low on cash. Wrathall thinks it is expensive, but says: ‘It is just out and people want it, so they will pay it.’ The Carphone salesperson adds: ‘The phone doesn’t feel as though it is going to crash, especially with the price. People shouldn’t have too many issues.’
Nokia’s Nseries handsets have been known to experience software problems in the past, but the panel thinks the manufacturer has overcome those with the N95. ‘It hasn’t crashed since I used it, so I think it is alright,’ says Omitola. ‘To start with, it is slow, but it picks up pace.’ However, Gilchrist thinks the N95 is sluggish: ‘The software seems to run very slow.’
Regardless of its hefty price tag and uninspiring design, the panel thinks Nokia is onto a winner. The N95 has created plenty of hype, consumers are interested and the phone is already selling well.
Omitola loves what Nokia has done with the N95: ‘This is all in one. You can take it on holidays and you have a mobile, a camera, an FM radio and GPS, so you can’t get lost.’
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