Editor's note: Portions of this review were taken from our original evaluation of the unlocked Nokia N95, as both devices share many of the same features and design.
When it comes to cool Nokia cell phones and smart phones, we here in the United States are often left in the cold, as our friends in Europe and Asia get all the goods. Well, it seems Nokia has heard our cries; the cell phone manufacturer has opened two U.S. retail stores and started selling more of its hard-to-get mobiles from the company's Web site. One model in particular has attracted a lot of attention, and that would be the Nokia N95. An unlocked version, which we reviewed back in April, is already available, but the demand for this smart phone has been so great that Nokia decided to release a North American Edition of the Nokia N95. For the most part, it's very similar to the original version, but there are some major additions that make it a better buy, namely 3G support, more memory, longer battery life, and faster performance. The price tag is still appalling at $699 for an unlocked version, but hopefully a U.S. carrier will pick it up soon (ahem, AT&T).
Design
For the most part, the Nokia N95 North American Edition is very similar in design to the original N95, but there are some minor changes to color and camera that we'll discuss throughout this section.
Considering all the features that are packed into the Nokia N95, you'd think it would be a pretty hefty phone, but not so, my friends. The N95 measures a compact 3.8 inches long by 2.1 inches wide by 0.8 inch thick and weighs only 4.2 ounces. It feels comfortable to hold, and the soft-touch finish on the back of the device makes it easier to grip. That said, we couldn't help but think that the phone felt, well, kind of cheap. In particular, the front cover felt plasticky and rickety (more on this below). From an aesthetic standpoint, the N95 certainly falls more into the short-and-stocky category rather than svelte and sexy, but we think it's still a good-looking phone. The North American version is available in black and silver or tan and silver.
The Nokia N95 North American Edition is very similar in design to the original N95 with some minor tweaks to the color and camera.
Of course, another attraction of the N95 is its innovative two-way slider design. Not only can you slide the front cover up to reveal the alphanumeric keypad, you can also slide it down to expose the media player controls. The dual functionality is nice, but we had a couple of concerns. First, the cover, which houses the screen and navigation buttons, felt loose and rattled around a bit. It just didn't feel like it was securely locked into place, thus leading to our next complaint. When putting the phone into a pants pocket or even when thrown into a bag, it was too easy to slide open the phone. There is a keypad lock, but we would prefer that the N95 just had a stronger mechanism for locking the position of the front flap.
Moving onto the display, the Nokia N95 features a gorgeous 2.6-inch QVGA TFT screen with a 16 million-color output and 320x240 pixel resolution. Be aware, however, that it isn't a touch screen. Images and text looked great, with deep color saturation and sharp definition. You can change the theme of the home screen, backlighting time, and font size. There's also an ambient light detector to adjust the backlighting depending on your environment, which helped keep the display readable in various lighting conditions. However, we noticed the N95's screen had a nasty habit of holding fingerprints and smudges, so keep some kind of wipe cloth close by. We should also note that when you slide open the phone to access the media player controls, the screen automatically switches to Landscape mode, but once you close the phone, it doesn't automatically switch back. You have to open the dial pad to get back to portrait mode, which is annoying.
The navigation controls beneath the display are a bit difficult to use.
Beneath the display are the N95's navigation controls, which consist of two soft keys, the Talk and End buttons, shortcuts to the main menu and the multimedia menu, a Clear key, an Edit key that lets you choose the text input type, and a four-way toggle with a center select button. For the most part, the controls are easy to use, though they're a bit slick and the toggle and outer ring of buttons (see image above) could have been bigger. Still, it's an improvement over the Nokia E65's minuscule keys. The N95's numeric keypad features large, tactile buttons with bright backlighting, and they're raised above the phone's surface so it's easier to dial by feel. Unfortunately, the media player controls are less tactile and require a bit more pressure to register the command.
Since the N95 is a multimedia-centric device, Nokia smartly equipped the phone with a 3.5-millimeter headset jack so you can plug in your favorite pair of earbuds or headphones for a better listening experience. It's located on the left side, in addition to an infrared port and the microSD expansion slot. On the right side, you will find the volume rocker, a shortcut to your photo gallery, and the camera activation button. The latter is in a position so that when you're holding the phone horizontally, it actually mimics the look and feel of a digital camera. The N95's camera lens itself (and flash) is located on the back, but unlike the first version, the protective lens has been removed. Now, you may be scratching your head wondering why Nokia would have gone and done such a silly thing, but it's actually for a good reason. Believe it or not, by removing the lens, it created more space to fit in a larger capacity battery, one that promises 30 percent longer battery life (see Performance for more). We do still worry about scratching the camera lens since there's no cover, but Nokia does include a soft protective pouch for carrying the phone. Finally, there's a power connector and mini USB port on the bottom, and the power button on top of the handset.
In order to make room for a larger battery, Nokia removed the protective camera lens.
The North American version of the Nokia N95 comes packaged with an AC adapter, a USB cable, a TV-out cable, a 2GB microSD card with an SD adapter, a pair of earbud headphones, a headphone adapter with antenna and audio playback controls, a desktop software CD (which includes Nokia PC Suite), and reference material. For more add-ons for the N95, please check our cell phone accessories, ringtones, and help page.
Features
It's hard to decide where to begin with the feature-packed Nokia N95, but since imaging is one of its biggest draws, we'll start there. The N95 is equipped with an impressive 5-megapixel camera--unheard of in the cell phone and smart phone world--with a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens. (Carl Zeiss was an optician who first started manufacturing lenses for microscopes and then used his expertise for camera lenses.) The breadth of customization and editing options available on this phone is astounding--almost like an actual digital camera. You can choose from seven shooting modes, ranging from close-up to sports to night portrait, and five quality settings. You can adjust the brightness, contrast, white balance, color tone, ISO light sensitivity, and exposure value to get the best picture possible. The flash even has a red-eye reduction option. Plus, there's also a self-timer and a sequence mode for multiple shots.
The N95 can record video at a maximum VGA resolution (640x480) at 30 frames per second, though you also have a choice of four other quality settings. The N95 can record video with sound in MP4 or 3GP (for multimedia messages) format, and length is only limited by the available memory. There's a handy timer that shows you how much video time you have based on the memory and the quality setting (this feature is available in camera mode as well). Editing options are a little more limited in video mode; you only get two shooting modes (automatic and night) and white balance and color tone settings. In addition, there's a video stabilization feature to help reduce camera shake as you're recording video.
With a 5-megapixel lens, the Nokia N95 took impressive pictures, although there was a slight hazy effect to this picture.
We were impressed by the quality of photos and videos the N95 produced, as one would hope with a 5-megapixel lens. Pictures boasted vibrant colors and sharp lines and edges, though there was a slight hazy effect to our shot. Unlike some smart phones, the N95 didn't require you to have a supersteady hand to get a clear shot. The camera phone also did a decent job with nighttime pictures, though they were still pretty dim. Video quality was also good. There wasn't any of that graininess that sometimes plagues videos shot by camera phones. We also wanted to mention the camera's interface, as we found it extremely easy to use and change camera settings, which can sometimes be challenging when you don't have a touch screen.
The North American version of the Nokia N95 gets a boost in internal memory, and the microSD expansion slot can now accept 4GB cards.
Once you're done, you can touch up your videos and photos with the included image editors. For example, you can add clip art and reduce red eye on still images, or cut audio for videos. The phone's memory capabilities have been upped with about 160MB of internal memory (compared to the previous 150MB) for saving your photos and videos to the phone, but we recommend saving them onto a microSD card, especially since the N95 can support up to 4GB expandable media (used to be 2GB). And sharing your memories is also easy with the ability to view them as a slide show, print them via Nokia's Xpress Solutions, upload them to the Web or Nokia's Lifeblog app, or transfer them to other devices. Also, Nokia includes video-out cables so you can hook up your N95 to your TV to view all your media on the big screen.
As a multimedia computer, the Nokia N95 isn't limited to just pictures and video. There's also an integrated music player that supports MP3, WMA, W4A, AAC, AAC+, and eAAC+ files, as well as OMA DRM 2.0- and WMDRM-protected songs. The music library categorizes tracks by artists, albums, genres, and composers; you can also create playlists right on the phone and adjust the sound with the built-in equalizer. The N95 also has an FM radio, though you'll have to use the included headset to access the radio, since it acts as the tuner. RealPlayer is also onboard with 3GPP and MPEG-4 video streaming support. Again, we applaud the decision to incorporate a 3.5mm headphone jack, which goes a long way in making the multimedia experience that much better.
As part of the N Series of multimedia computers, the N95 has dedicated keys for the media player.
On top of all that, Nokia has also packed a GPS receiver into the N95, along with a mapping application. With it, you can get color maps, route planning, and a healthy points-of-interest database. There's also a trip computer that shows you information about the total distance, time, average speed, and so forth. However, to get any kind of turn-by-turn directions, you'll have to download an upgrade to the device. There are several options for purchase, including a one-year license for $125.77 or a one-month license for $13.96. The N95's GPS performance was satisfactory, although it took quite a while for the unit to get a satellite fix. Once connected, though, it did a good job of tracking our position and gave accurate route calculations.
Aside from the GPS radio, other wireless options on the Nokia N95 North American Edition include integrated Bluetooth 2.0, Wi-Fi, an infrared port, and the best news of all, 3G. Specifically, the device supports the 850/1900MHz HSDPA bands, meaning you'll only get the benefit of 3G (data speeds of around 400Kbps to 700Kbps with the potential to hit up to 2Mbps) if you use AT&T's network. The smart phone supports a number of Bluetooth profiles, including wireless headsets, hands-free kits, wireless keyboards, and A2DP for Bluetooth stereo headsets. As far as Wi-Fi, the N95 is compatible with 802.11b/g standards; in addition, there's support for Universal Plug and Play, which lets you use a Wi-Fi connection to hook up with a compatible PC, printer, or home entertainment system, but the number of UPnP devices is limited at the moment. The N95 was able to find and connect to our test access point, and we were able to surf the Net within minutes, using Nokia's excellent Web browser.
While all the aforementioned features are great, you can't forget that the Nokia N95 is, first and foremost, a phone. The N95 includes a speakerphone, speed dial, conference calling, voice-command support, a vibrate mode, and text and multimedia messaging. The phone's address book is only limited by the available memory, and the SIM card holds an additional 250 contacts. There's room in each entry for multiple phone numbers, work and home addresses, e-mail addresses, birthday, and more vitals. For caller ID purposes, you can assign each contact a photo, one of 44 ringtones, or a group ID.
Last but not least, the N95 runs the third edition of the S60 platform on the Symbian operating system for your productivity needs. An app called QuickOffice lets you view Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents, and it optimizes the pages for the phone's screen, so you don't have to scroll all over the place to read text. There are some nice shortcuts to jump to the top or bottom of the page to reduce the up-and-down scrolling, and there's also a search function. However, if you want any editing capabilities, you'll have to upgrade the preloaded copy of QuickOffice. For messaging, the N95 supports IMAP4, POP3, and SMTP e-mail accounts and comes with a full attachment viewer. The N95 does support a number of push e-mail solutions, as well as Microsoft Exchange Server synchronization, but this is dependent upon your service provider and company's e-mail solution, so check with your IT department if you have any questions.
There's a handy wizard when you first power up the device to help you configure your e-mail, and we used it to easily set up our SBC Global account. Other productivity apps and PIM tools include Adobe Reader, a Zip Manager, a calculator, a notepad, a measurement converter, a clock, and a voice recorder.
Performance
We tested the quad-band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900; ) Nokia N95 in San Francisco using AT&T service and call quality was excellent. We could hear a faint background hiss when talking to friends, but still enjoyed plenty of volume and clarity to carry on with the conversations and to interact with our bank's voice-automated response system. Our callers said they were impressed at how good the phone sounded and had no complaints. Speakerphone quality wasn't as good as the background hiss increased slightly for us and we sounded muffled on the other end; still, it was nothing that prevented us from continuing with the call. We had no problems pairing the N95 with the Logitech Mobile Traveller Bluetooth headset or the Nokia BH-604 stereo Bluetooth headphones.
When we reviewed the original Nokia N95, we were pretty disappointed at the sluggish performance of the smart phone. The device is jam-packed with features, so understandably this can bog down the processor, but even so, the number of delays we experienced was frustrating--imagine if we had actually paid $700 for it. Fortunately, we had a much better time with the North American Edition of the N95. There were still times where the phone acted sluggishly--for example, when opening a Word document--but it was much improved. Web browsing was also swift, whether we were cruising via Wi-Fi or 3G.
Music playback through the phone's speakers was better than anything we've heard from recent smart phones. It still lacks that deep bass, but we're impressed nonetheless. Video playback was also smooth with good synchronization between picture and audio.
The Nokia N95 is rated for 4 hours of talk time and up to 9 days of standby time. In our battery drain tests, we were able to get 8.5 hours of continuous talk time on a single charge. According to FCC radiation tests, the Nokia N95 has a digital SAR rating of 0.42 watts per kilogram.
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Nokia N95 - brown/silver (North American Edition, Unlocked)
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