Should I get the N95?

Welcome to the boards Gwanatu. Lets see if we can help you in your decision.

In fact, there are six different versions of the N95, but you should be narrowed down to just two because of where you live. Wikipedia has a version comparison for the N95 which should help, but suffice as to say, because you live in the US, you need to go for either one of the NAM versions of the phone (N95-3, N95-4).

You say that the N95 8Gb is outside of your price range, so that brings us down to just one choice: the N95 NAM Classic (the silver one).

The N95 does have dedicated 3d hardware but I'm not sure if it's actually used (Someone correct me on this) so if that's the case, you needn't worry about it. You're right about battery life on the N95 Classic, however if you upgrade to the latest firmware then that should help your phone last a little longer between charges. If all else fails, buy a 2nd battery. That's what I did, and I did the same when I pre-ordered my N97, just in case.

Sadly, you can't upgrade phones with Feature Packs like you can with Windows. The OS you have on the phone is the OS you're stuck with. I've not known of any kind of compatibility issues with software when the phone's firmware has been upgraded. You just have to remember to reinstall the applications again when you upgrade, as doing do returns your phone back to it's Factory Settings.

I myself once considered upgrading (or, perhaps, side-stepping) to the N85 at one point as a new phone, and the N82 is a good piece of kit, so you shouldn't dismiss those two just yet. To help, here's a =1753&phones[]=3061&phones[]=2487"]technical comparison between the three. All three phones run on S60 3rd Edition of sorts so you have a lot of applications and games to choose from, whichever you go for, and all three phones support microSDHC cards so if you upgrade again in the future to another phone that supports them, you won't need to buy another card.

Needless to say, I've been very satisfied with my N95 and you wouldn't go wrong with picking it.

Hope this helps.

Anyone, please feel free to correct me if I've got any of these details wrong.

In case to get a good working smartphone , with good camera features , robustness (no slider) , and a down-priced position in the market , compared to the recent divices like N97 or Samsung 9810i , I would go for the N82 . See also this thread :
http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/forum//forum/thread/76049/&highlight=N82
Or : read this aticle : http://mobile.allaboutsymbian.com/features/item/Camera_Nitty_Gritty-part_2.php

😊 Regards jApi NL

Thanks so much for the responses, you are both very helpful.

The other reason I chose the N95 over the 82 or 85 is because of the keypad. I've read multiple reviews on all of them and it just seems like the keypads on both of those are simply awful in comparison to the N95's. The 85 and 95 also have the dual slider functionality, which is really nice for gaming from what I can tell. I'll be using it as a phone more than anything for sure, but I want it to be as functional as possible. the 82 seemed to have the best camera and the 85 the worst camera of the 3, which is another reason why the 95 won out because it seems to be somewhere in the middle.

After looking up the N95-3, it seems that Newegg has it for $289, but it doesn't have a camera lense cover! That really worries me, as this will be my primary and only camera and I don't want the lens getting scratched up. I don't usually like to have holders for my phones as I just like them in my pocket, but I'm not sure that would even make a difference as all the holders I've seen have holes in the back for the camera, so that's not even protected anyway. Does the lack of lens cover matter?

edit: and I just noticed that the first part of the article you linked addresses my worries about the scratched lenses. Thanks!

Gwanatu wrote:I've posted this on another Symbian forum and received no answers in a few days, but here goes, with more detail:

I'm looking in to buying a new phone. I've never owned a smart phone and after looking in to all the different options out there, I think I've narrowed it down to buying an N95!

If you can live with a 3.2MP camera (instead of the N95's 5MP sensor), I would recommend the 5800 XpressMusic instead, as all the N95 variants use the older 3rd edition OS.
The 5800 is roughly the same price (RRP around $300US), uses the new 5th edition OS and has a much larger resolution screen, touch sensitive input/handwriting recognition, etc.
The 5800 also comes with a free 8GB memory card from most suppliers.

dez_borders wrote:If you can live with a 3.2MP camera (instead of the N95's 5MP sensor), I would recommend the 5800 XpressMusic instead, as all the N95 variants use the older 3rd edition OS.
The 5800 is roughly the same price (RRP around $300US), uses the new 5th edition OS and has a much larger resolution screen, touch sensitive input/handwriting recognition, etc.
The 5800 also comes with a free 8GB memory card from most suppliers.

I had considered a touch screen phone and actually preferred to have one before this weekend when I finally tried one out for the first time. I tried the Samsung Instinct, and of course all the touch screen phones are different because of software, touch responsiveness, etc. I can't say I was terribly impressed with the texting ability. Now I don't know if that was because of the size of the QWERTY keyboard on the phone screen, but I made lots of typing errors and it wasn't generally easy. Both my brother-in-law and his girlfriend have this phone and aren't very happy with it. I would imagine it would be frustrating in day-to-day operations outside of taking pictures and answering the phone of course. Being S60 5th release I was also concerned with application compatibility, mostly gaming and those sorts of things that rely on physical buttons for input.

On another note it seems there are some good Ebay auctions for N95 8gb that put it only about $20 over budget, and that might be more feasible if the jump from N95-3 to the N95-8gb is worth it.

Alright so here's my final options:

N95-1 - $298 - I want this one because of that camera lens cover. I know it's been shown to not matter as much, but it really worries me. I was also worried about it working in the US, but the store I looked at assured me that it would work with T-Mobile in Florida.

N95-3 - $285 - This seems like the best value to me. It doesn't appear to come with a memory card, but it doesn't really matter because I can probably buy a microSD 8gb for really cheap right now anyway. The advantages here are pretty obvious; definite compatibility with US carriers, a nicer no-slip back to the phone, more RAM and probably overall general improvements to the phone.

N95-4 8gb - $320 - Although this is tempting because the redesign looks really sleek, I've heard issues with this getting scratched up really easily and the 8gb internal memory not being as fast as a microSD that I can put in the other model. It's also 10% more expensive after buying a microSD for the N95-3.

I'm thinking the N95-3 is all but a no brainer. If it just had that blasted camera lens cover I would have bought it a week ago. Are there any cases that any of you would recommend for these? I like my phone in my pocket.

Gwanatu wrote:N95-1 - $298 - I want this one because of that camera lens cover. I know it's been shown to not matter as much, but it really worries me. I was also worried about it working in the US, but the store I looked at assured me that it would work with T-Mobile in Florida.

GSM might work as the N95-1 uses the 850/900/1800/1900 GSM frequencies and America uses 850 and 1900.

HOWEVER UMTS (3G and HSDPA) frequency 2100 is the only one used in the N95-1, a frequency that's NOT used in the States.

So yes you'll be able to make phone calls, send texts and connect to GPRS, but you certainly won't be able to make video calls or have fast internet access (when not in range of a free wireless hot spot).

It seems the N95-3 would be your best bet. There isn't a single N95 that's been released for the American market that has a camera lens cover I'm afraid. Krusell make some good sturdy cases. I wouldn't recommend their Dynamic cases for an N95 as they're just awful, but the Apollo one looks like it'll do the job.

Sources:
GSM Frequency Bands (Wikipedia)
UMTS Frequency Bands (Wikipedia)
=1753&phones[]=2346"]Comparison of N95-1 and N95-3 (PhoneArena)

Alright, N95-3 it is. It seems the small disadvantage of the lens removal is simply outweighed by all the other advantages of the newer model. Thanks so much for all your help, I would have to say you've all helped me make a great decision! :icon14:

So you all are going to laugh at me, but I found a killer price for an N95 8gb NAM with a bunch of extras (only $10 more than the N95-3 that I found earlier). Is there anything bizarre about this phone that makes it somehow worse than the N95-3, or is this definitely something I should jump on?

Also I was looking over user comments on the N95-4 that was saying it's only good if you can crack the firmware. Is there anything in particular that is more difficult in this model than the others to do that? That's just using custom firmware like with a PSP or something to run unsigned code, right? Thanks again.

Essentially if you won't want any more than 8Gb of storage space, then the N95 8Gb NAM would be the one to go for, especially if there's only $10 difference.

I'm not sure about cracking the firmware (which iirc means you can install unsigned apps without having to go through the hassle at symbiansigned) but I would agree that no mobile is good if it has the operator's firmware installed. I changed the product code of my N95 from an o2 one to the generic EURO1 one by Nokia, and this meant I could install the latest firmware released by Nokia.

You might want to do the same with your N95 when you get it, so you can get the latest firmware and fix any bugs in the current firmware. Thankfully I won't need to do this with my N97 when I get it, cos I've pre-ordered it direct from Nokia 😊

Hope this helps.

Yeah it does, thanks. Now I've just got to decide whether or not I should get the phone with a Zagg Invisible Shield or if I should get it with a Bluetooth headset. The invisible shield comes pre-installed on one, and I've read mostly positive reviews on that product, so I'm kind of leaning towards that.

I would recommend a hard case moreso for the N95 classic, but not quite so much for the N95 8Gb because it has an actual hard screen protecting it. Is the bluetooth headset good? If so, you could have the best of both worlds by getting the one with the headset and then buying the case seperately.

Then again it boils down to whether you drive or not. If you drive, go for the one with the bluetooth headset. If you walk or take public transportation instead, get the one with the case as it'll be in your pocket a lot more.

I bought the one with the Bluetooth. Thanks, you have been immensely helpful! Now I just can't wait to get it 😎

I guess I'm too late. But you should have done more research. The n82 has exactly the same cpu, 3d hardware, ram as the n95 8gb. Differences are: cons: smaller battery, smaller screen and it doesn't have the cool two-way slide. Pros: xenon flash(big one), a lens cover and a memory card slot(I rate this as better than the n95 8gb built in storage because an 8gb card is dirt cheap and the slow transfer speed between the phone and computer). The old school n95 only has 64 megs of ram.

I guess I'm too late. But you should have done more research. The n82 has exactly the same cpu, 3d hardware, ram as the n95 8gb. Differences are: cons: smaller battery, smaller screen and it doesn't have the cool two-way slide. Pros: xenon flash(big one), a lens cover and a memory card slot(I rate this as better than the n95 8gb built in storage because an 8gb card is dirt cheap and the slow transfer speed between the phone and computer). The old school n95 only has 64 megs of ram.