Well, I picked up my N97 last Monday and have had some time to dick around with it and judge for myself whether or not I made the right decision! 😉
And from my early impressions, I think I did. Yup, I like the N97 and can see it growing into something good and me growing into using it.
Here are some observations:
1. It clearly has a few niggly bugs that will get ironed out in FW, no doubt. I've been an S60 user long enough to know that no device is perfect at launch. The ones that annoy me are the silly screen lock bug that takes a few unlocks to actually bring the screen back to life and when a widget goes landscape (e.g. Facebook) the buttons bar on the right doesn't always disappear. Also, surely the flipping up of the screen should bring the device out of lock mode properly? Still, nothing insurmountable.
2. Nokia dropped the ball on a couple of hardware design issues IMHO. The USB port is on completely the wrong side of the phone. It should be on the opposite side or on the end. Where it is means that if I have the device on my desk and connected via USB, the cable juts out and makes things both awkward and unsightly. As for the QWERTY keyboard, I'm yet to be convinced by the Blue Shift key and omission of the Pencil key and it's functionality. Otherwise, it's quite useable.
3. Destinations took a bit of getting used to but now I have everything in and priorities set, it seems to be ok with automatically switching between networks.
4. Not a fan of the supplied Calendar widget. I liked my calendar on the front screen of my N95, with a list of current and forthcoming events. Either an update or 3rd party widget will sort this.
5. Facebook widget is ok, but hoping that the new iPhone app means we might get something similar too.
6. I'm still holding off debranding as judging by the many posts here and in other places, it's still fraught with a little danger. I am also not being pushed that way because the device I bought was not branded by an Operator, but rather by Carphone Warehouse. I am on Orange and wish to remain so due to their excellent landline, VoIP and DSL package discount that I get by having an Orange Contract Phone, but Orange aren't supplying the N97 directly, so I purchased mine from CW. Looking at the list of product codes supplied here, it is a specific code for CW. This is good, because it doesn't have an operator crippled FW but not so great because it's stuck at v10 and no upgrades are currently available. So, I'm holding fire on debranding for the time being.
7. Anyone know why I have a folder in my Applications section called "MfE"?? It's empty.
8. I upgraded to Ovi Maps 3.01 and I am having none of the issues that many seem to be having. Also, GPS lock is faster than my N95, which was no real slouch itself.
9. I am still waiting for Nokia to get back to me regarding the transfer of my N-Gage games.
10. I invested in an HH-12 windscreen mount when I got my N95 and purchased the N95 specific cradle. Best car mount I have ever had. BUT, it appears Nokia don't do a specific cradle for the N97 yet, which is REALLY annoying. I deliberately bought the HH-12 because of the interchangeability of the cradles, so let's hope they bring something out soon.
11. A2DP works brilliantly in my car, so no changes from the N95 there. I also like the way that the Radio, Music Store and Music Player all now reside under one button. Roll on a Spotify App 😊
12. A concealable stylus would've been better.
13. I do like the general feel of S60 v5 and it seems a fairly natural evolution of the interface.
14. Haven't used the camera in earnest yet and therefore can't comment on the lens scratching issue. I'm off to a Thomas The Tank Engine Steam Day with my kids tomorrow, so that'll be it's first proper outing.
That's about all I can think of now. Was a bit disappointed that the BBC iPlayer on the N97 is missing the live streams, unlike the N95 version. However, this isn't Nokia's fault and I can access the streams from the BBC Mobile site for now. I hear an update to take care of this is in the pipeline.
Other than that, it's been a pretty positive experience so far. Hopefully the September FW updates will fix the niggles and hopefully I can get them without the need for rebranding. I am not averse to doing it, as I rebranded my 6680, N73 & N95, all with success, but the reports of bricking suggest that the methods found so far are in need of polishing. So I'll try and refrain for as long as I can.
Of course, should my experience drastically change (in either direction) I'll be sure to let you know. May I also thank all the contributors so far on this board for the various tips and suggestions I have found so far. AAS continues to be the place to be for Symbian devices 😊
