The Nokia N95 8GB is a mighty hard act to follow in anyone’s mobile book. Its powerful feature arsenal still towers above most of today’s smartphone competition. So is its successor, the N96, all conquering enough to trade in your Nseries powerhouse?
While its new look spec sheet undoubtedly improves upon N95 8GB, we’re still left wondering if Nokia has really pushed the envelope hard enough. Does a 16GB memory boost, slight design overhaul, added memory card slot, and a currently redundant built-in DVB-H mobile TV receiver scream essential upgrade? Not hiking the camera to a Samsung i8510-rivalling eight megapixels also feels like a missed opportunity but despite these initial misgivings, the N96 still proves to be a mobile dream machine.
So apart from these upgrades, slightly faster processors and a new streamlined but still pocket denting design, its feature list and performance mirrors the N95 8GB. This means a masterly autofocus-led five-megapixel Carl Zeiss camera lens, rapid built-in Wi-Fi and HSDPA for web browsing, support for A-GPS and the latest Nokia Maps, slick VGA-quality video capture and N-Gage gaming. Still impressive, non?
This Nseries uber phone also shines as a newfound mobile television entertainer. With the DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcast for Handheld) switch on still on the distant horizon for us UK residents, Nokia has appeased TV addicts by fitting a BBC iPlayer app and a flip out desktop stand, so you can easily view the latest Beeb programmes over Wi-Fi on the hop. Picture quality isn’t super-slick but it’s still highly watchable, even despite annoying intermittent buffering interruptions.
Verdict
Perhaps not the massive leap on from the N95 8GB we’d all hoped but the N96 nevertheless proves to be a smartphone tour de force.
Best features
More attractive streamlined design
Vast 16GB onboard memory with further expansion plan
Mouth-watering feature set
Mobile TV courtesy of BBC iPlayer app
Not so good
Big and bulky
Expecting eight megapixel camera upgrade
Nokia N96 full specifications >>
Check out the Nokia N96 photo gallery:
Closest rivals
Samsung U900 Soul
This stylish slider’s morphing context specific touch controls make it a treat to use but its five-megapixel camera and HSDPA download speeds are equally slick.
Nokia 6220 Classic
If you want your Symbian smartphone a little more pocketable, then this five-megapixel toting, HSDPA-careering, sat nav guiding candybar is worth a look.
LG KU990 Viewty
It may not be an all-out smartphone but this touch phone’s five-megapixel camera and stellar video capture performance is still top draw.
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