A third member of the AAS team has now had a few weeks with the Nokia N97 (we're saving Ewan til last - he'll be reporting back from the Edinburgh Fringe with it in August) and here Tzer2 presents a brief look at what stood out, especially in comparison to the smaller, cheaper sister device, the 5800 XpressMusic. Summary: it's slightly better, has the potential to be much better, but has to be seen as too expensive.
Read on in the full article.
Realized that 32GB of Flash Memory will make a shop price of at least 100 Euro . That makes the initial price diference of 600 - (300 +100) = 200 Euros ?
😊 Regards jApi NL
i see you have put there are no transition effects on the n97, there is actually some on it - it took me a while to find. there not as prominent as the 5800's but none the less they are there, and on v10 too.
You could kind of compare the N86 as well here. Obviously it is not a touchscreen device, but it is more stable and cheaper. I feel that Nokia still has some work to do regarding the touchscreen OS.
There's nothing fundamentally wrong with the N97 or the 5800, both are pretty solid devices, and they both mark a reasonably good start for Symbian as it transitions from a button-based to touch-based platform.
This is a somewhat fallacious observation, as Symbian has always had support for touch in the form of UIQ. What we're talking about here is the addition of touch to S60, not Symbian...
On my opinion, one of the main problems for feature phones like N97, these days, it�s the Netbook wave and their prices. Since for proper work, nothing match a proper PC. I buy one Dell Mini 9, new, for 100�... with the 600 - 700 range price of N97, I can have a real Netbook and a good phone, like N82 and N95 8G, and spare 200 - 300� for another thing. These days, a feature phone like N97 does not deserve any more so much money. Just, like I said, my opinion...
Interesting review:
I find it interesting that as we move from "feature phones" to "smartphones" people tend to get more polarized in their opinions of divices and reviews move to a experience versus feature review. Having a e-71 as a primary phone I realized I needed a weekend phone (Camera, video, something that didn't make me look like a nerd when I was at a bar) so the N-85 entered my life. I Got the 5800XM for my GF and I couldn't use it because it has a "cheaper" experience (design, feel, materials) vs the other two phones.
The N97 has a unique experience - E series build detail, N series media pop, keyboard that sucks you in the more you use it. I see and feel alot of deliberate though that went into the phones design and it's physical interface (I never know which way to hold the XM, the heel on the N97 is just a brilliantly effortless design feature that makes handling the phone so much easier). The N97 has integrated into my life more then any phone I have ever owned, it's at home in the business world, vacationing, clubbing, backpacking, the gym.
I had a 9300 for years, and never upgraded to the E90 because I was waiting for the price to fall from the sky high $970 USD when it was first released. Within 3 days of launch in the USA I got a white N97 for $759... if I waited until today I could get it on Amazon for $599. The dollars don't really make a difference. The cutting edge, just released, will allways command a premium.
As for net books... two points. Convergence! I remember having to lug around a laptop, GPS, MP3 Player and phone - with the myriads of chargers and cables. Why step backwards? Secondly your $200 subsidized netbook comes with a 2 year $50/mo data plan so that is $1,400 bucks at the end of they day.
Totally agree with the small size thing here. Prefered the smaller 6120 over N95 because of that myself, and it's one reason I will never get a wide device like N71 or iPhone. And the main reason why I'm excited about the upcoming E52, granted that's no touchscreen device, but I want my keypad :tongue:
in my opinion
- better touchscreen
- 3,5" instead of 3,2"
- dpad
- qwertz
- fm transmitter
- compass
- faster cpu
- 32 gb memory
- better camera
- widgets
- 40 degree display angle
- optimized web browser
are worth the upgrade and its enaugh changes. what else do u want ? that it can cook coffee for you ? 😃.
More ppl should be getting neither, and getting a Samsung I8910:
- glorious 3.7" OLED screen
- OMAP3 processor
- plays XviD out of the box
- excellent DSP
- 8MP Camera
- Capacative touchscreen
- super build quality
I also agree with the small size thing here and prefered the smaller 6120c. I have a 6220c now but it is not as good.
Not all of us want to use our Nokia's like a PC or ipod. We want the benefits of Symbian 60 in a small'ish and light Nokia.
Two new soon to be released Nokia's that match this description are the E55 and the 5530 xpress touch screen. Although one is seen as a business phone and the other a music device, to folks like me who just want a light Symbian 60 I think either would do.
But which one? :con?
One of my favourite phones was the SE M600. It had half qwerty keys like the E55 (which I got on well with) and a touch screen like the 5530. The only negitive, it did not have camera
I like the white background. Can I ask which theme you are useing?
[QUOTE=Secondly your $200 subsidized netbook comes with a 2 year $50/mo data plan so that is $1,400 bucks at the end of they day.[/QUOTE]
No... First hand, with a promotion without contract!
Its a bad sign to compare high end phones with 5800...
5800 is so boring phone..why not dispose it..
I think we all need to look at this comparison not from a point of view of features, lets forget home screens and compass (hello !!) and actually look and see if one can perform something the other cant.
I bought a 5800XM even know there was an N97 in the making, reasons being that firstly the price of the N97 would be huge even if I was stupid enough to fork out on a contract, contract suck. Secondly, I knew that it was going to be typical S60 OS just like the XM, and I knew it would not be able to do one single practical thing the XM couldn't do.
I knew it would look the exact same, menus etc, ok home screen is nice but that will come to XM or it will get revised at least but hey I can get all the stock, facebook and social information too, just not on the home screen, worth �400 more to have in one place, ehh nope.
Compass, more like pointless, ok for some, walkers orienteering maybe, but again I can just turn on the GPR on the XM likewise the N97 and get the compass, so this app is not relevant.
Dont get me wrong, id love to have an N97, but i just dont think its really that much different that XM, will it beat an iPhone, honestly, I dont think so, I love symbian, have been a symbian man since my first one years ago.
5800 with N82 as a second phone makes a killer combination.
cause the lack of multitouch and keys or dpad you wont get many games for your omap 3 😉. playing games without hardware keys is just awfull. and i REALLY prefer resistive above capacitive cause i like the advantage to use a stylus. and i prefer also a 5 mpx CARL ZEISS lense with dual led and camera protector above a 8mpx with single led and no lens protection. so i prefer a thousand times the n97. look at my quake 2 video here. n97 haves more power then the most of you mean :
The FM transmitter on the N97 is virtually worthless. The obvious place where an FM transmitter would be most useful is in the car. I have a VW Jetta wagon, and I can tell you, unless I actually get out of the car and hold the phone within inches of the exterior antenna (which is at the rear), the FM Transmitter is not strong enough to be picked up by the radio. So that can certainly be taken off the list of pluses for the N97. A few other pains in the ass about the N97: calendar widget only gives current day appointments or defaults to "Next Entry on xx/xx/xx". All previous s60's would say "No events today" then show the next event, no matter how far in the future. I hope a firmware update will change this. Another thing is how tedious it is to kill a running application. It used to be that you would bring up the running apps list, select the one you wanted to close, and press the end key..done. Not on the N97. No, you actually have to open the running app, go to options, slide down to the exit option and kill it that way...STUPID Nokia!! I could go on. I do love the phone, though, I just wish the engineers who designed it considered some of the BASIC functions of other s60 devices and were consistent.
What are you on about, killing apps from the task bar is the same for all 5.0 phones - you can 'long press' on an icon and kill it from the pop up.
There are a few places where long press does something useful.
I've always preferred my 5800 to the n97 because of its size and other things. Yesterday at the mobile event at ucla i confirmed this i got to play with n97's all day. The n97 is too slippery, but it IS very heavy and solid build quality. But honestly it was actually a little slower and less stable than the 5800. I don't really care about the widgets. I just like the 5800 better for such a cheap price with lots of feature i feel better using a 5800. I can't explain it but i just like it better. The n97 just isn't wowing me and i don't miss it the next day.
Also the first keyboard i used was not bad like people say, but the second one had a worse keyboard. So there seems to be some differences between manufacturing lines.
ganxta wrote:are worth the upgrade and its enaugh changes. what else do u want ?
A reasonable price and a compact pocketable size would be more important than any pure spec figure to me.
I finally got my hands on an N97 this weekend, and wasn't expecting much considering the slagging it has received on internet discussion.
Turned out to be shockingly good, well built, well thought out effective phone. All this stuff about the space bar turns out to be bumfluff - it's actually a good intelligent place to put it and works well with the three rows.
I fleetingly considered getting one, but ultimately it is just a little bit too big. I consider the 5800xm too big but it's such a good phone I live with it.
visited the Nokia store at Regents Street this afternoon to have a good play with the N97 (and the N86).
Now maybe those display models have had a good thumping over the last two weeks (and I played with quite a few of them to make sure I hadn't come across a duff one).
My experience seems to be at odds with a lot of the feedback on this thread:
1) the build quality is bad. Nothing to do with the screen mechanism which felt rock solid on every unit I used, but the screen surround, the fitment of the battery cover - a collection of creeks and groans.
2) good size and light weight
3) awful keyboard. Not only insufficient key travel and a joke of a d-pad, but the angle of the screen really doesn't make typing any easier. I found myself wishing to be able to fold the screen back parallel with the keyboard like certain HTC devices 😊
For reason 1) alone I could never consider laying out the money for the N97.
In relation to the 5800 apart from the widget homescreen (a nice feature but how long til someone ports this to other s60 v5 devices?) the N97 still suffers from all the failings of the S60 interface. Come on, SCROLL BARS on a flagship touch device? So ok with the 5800 at what, 200 quid now it's acceptable, but the latest and greatest...?
The 5800 is far from a great device but I'd rather buy two of them than one N97.
The N97 has a unique experience ...keyboard that sucks you in ...
... a brilliantly effortless design feature
... The N97 has integrated into my life more then any phone I have ever owned, it's at home in the business world, vacationing, clubbing, backpacking, the gym.
I hate advertisements. This collection of cliches has no credibility whatsoever.
"vacationing"? Really? Backpacking as well! All in the last week?
Nokia must be forcing their staff to work overtime.
Thanks for the tip about the long press. I never knew that. My last phone was a 6682 and I could just kill the apps with the end key. The long-press is brilliant. Thanks again.
morpheus you simply have to get used with the keyboard. here my experiences.
some experiences from me :
n97 is HOT. inside and outside Very Happy . i can play quake 1 and 2 directly on the mobile without such bluetooth shit. can you i8910 users do that ? so youre nice well praised gpu is simply useless. cause you cant make use of it due the lack of hardware controls. and with a bluetooth mouse and keyboard you can stuck on your pc as well.
multitask also does the job very well since its just 128 megs. ive opened ; widget homescreen, camera, internet browser, fring, spore java game and music player in a row. and still works flawless. i think that is enaugh for the most people. well in germany the things looks different. here the most people are on the n97 side.
i wrote a very big review about n97 in my s60 forum. about 10 pages. and 10 users in my board haves the n97. and only two the i8910. the others doesnt have the money actually or stuck with s60 3rd. also camera is genius its dual led can fully lighten up a complete darken room in meters distance.
and its nice to use the VGA secondary cam (not qvga like on i8910) as a webcam out of the box. fm transmitter functionality also works great here. streaming your mp3 library from the 32 gb to a close stereo is just fantastic. also they keyboard is outstanding and with the combination of dpad and the 40 degree angle with kinetic scrolling surfin experience is as great as it never was before.
the battery lasts for me : 6 and a half hour continoue using without giving the device a break. or 3 hours of use it lasts 24 hours. thats pretty much for such a feature packed phone. also the gps is nice. outside it takes me 10 seconds without agps to get a connection. in lower weather conditons still no more then a minute. inside a minite too.
data transfer rate from the 32 gb to pc is 4 mb /s most time. pretty fast. the menu is fast, no lag. boot up time is longer as from s60 3rd thats right. call quality is also good. could be a little bit more natural. but the voices are loud and clear. build quality haves too sides. the upper part made from very good matterials feels nice. but the lower part feels a bit cheap.
also nice feature that the device can read sms for you. usefull while drivin. surfin on big sites like symbian freak or allaboutsymbian no problem here too. till now i just got 2 times a out of memory error from the browser. in sure 15 hours of using till now. thats good i think. like i mentioned above multitask also works well. and you can stream your navigation voice to your cars radio too which is a big plus.
also its nice that the camera has a protection. so i dont have to be scary for scrateches if the device is in my pocket. there are still MANY bugs, but they are all firmware related. and we all know that nokia releases firmwares very often and very fast. so thats no problem at all.
also movies working like a charme. a 1,2 gb movie works without any lags. in superb audio and video quality. also skipping backward and forward in the movie is fast.
3 months navigation for free and 25 euros of music also are nice things. and so the notification led for missed calls and messages is. outside the build quality which indeed could be better im very very very happy with the device. speed is fast. it rocks in terms of games, internet, multitask and camera. so what i need more. im no nokia fanboy. im administrator of a s60 not a nokia forum. the n97 just fits my needs at best. and all the negative critizm are a little bit to hard.
well mobile phone successors always arent the great step forward in technology we whish. i8910 has a bigger screen, hd video, faster cpu and gpu and s60 5th over innov8 thats it. n97 has bigger screen, qwertz, fm transmitter, slider mechanism and s60 5th over n95. thats it. both arent great revoloutions. but a step in the right directory. messaging, surfin, gaming and looking movies was never as nice for me as with n97.
so nokia did their joob good here.