Nokia N95
- Thread starter cdn_bc_ca
- Start date
I'm buying this phone next week. I'll let you know the details after I get it. Alternatively, there's some YouTube video reviews here:
Ok, I bought this phone yesterday and have had very little time to play wth it. This morning, I had the fun task of synchronising my contacts and getting ahold of a few that I had lost with the theft of my last phone (the O2 XDA Neo). I have to say that one thing I miss about my old mobile is the touch screen and the stylus pen which made it quicker to type.
Some cool features:
GPS. This is such a cool thing to have on a phone. There is a drawback to using the Nokia GPS service and that is it won't give you directions to your destinations unless you pay. A work-around is to download a program called AmazeGPS. This program gives you free directions and navigation including voice.
Music and Multimedia. Works as a kind of walkman/mp3 player which supports most or all formats; atleast aac, mp3 and wma. A feature lacking seems to be support of streaming windows videa. Realmedia/Realvideo is totally supported so I actually did check out a CBC News video. (Shame, BBC doesn't allow non-UK IPs to access their video content). I couldn't test CTV streams because I'm not in Canada.
There's a radio function on the phone which uses your headset as an antenna. Surprisingly, the reception on this thing seems better than radios in most cars. Nokia automatically downloaded the radio directory/info for my area.
Camera. Really cool! It almost rates as a mid-level digital camera product.The videos are astonishing for a mobile phone and the colour, flash and crispness of pictures seems quite acceptable. You can also connect your mobile to your television with TV-Out! Though they are just composite cables.
Software. I found the Nokia PC Suite to be annoying, bulking and a pain in the arse to get working atleast using Windows Vista. There are some games on the phone, but I'm not a big game player.
Connectivity. Great features! I've got WLAN, USB, Bluetooth and Infrared.. not to mention GPRS which I don't use as a general rule. I can't recommend fring enough! I've already made several Skype calls using this little program (not included, but free at fring.com). Fring also provides you with access to most IM networks like msn, icq, aim, etc. I would not suggest using skype or fring over a GPRS connection unless you've got a really big data package. Fring also provides full access to your phone's contact directory. The phone also provides VOIP options.
Aesthetics. Oh yeah, this phone looks great with the 'sand' faceplate. I didn't like the default Plum colour it came in but we got a choice of one free other colour. Your milage may vary.
Availability. I don't think any major Canadian or US providers will be selling this phone. I got it here through Deutsche Telekom's -T-Mobile-- in Germany. As far as I know though, you can get it on eBay or through an official Nokia store. Definately check out ebay before buying offline
Some cool features:
GPS. This is such a cool thing to have on a phone. There is a drawback to using the Nokia GPS service and that is it won't give you directions to your destinations unless you pay. A work-around is to download a program called AmazeGPS. This program gives you free directions and navigation including voice.
Music and Multimedia. Works as a kind of walkman/mp3 player which supports most or all formats; atleast aac, mp3 and wma. A feature lacking seems to be support of streaming windows videa. Realmedia/Realvideo is totally supported so I actually did check out a CBC News video. (Shame, BBC doesn't allow non-UK IPs to access their video content). I couldn't test CTV streams because I'm not in Canada.
There's a radio function on the phone which uses your headset as an antenna. Surprisingly, the reception on this thing seems better than radios in most cars. Nokia automatically downloaded the radio directory/info for my area.
Camera. Really cool! It almost rates as a mid-level digital camera product.The videos are astonishing for a mobile phone and the colour, flash and crispness of pictures seems quite acceptable. You can also connect your mobile to your television with TV-Out! Though they are just composite cables.
Software. I found the Nokia PC Suite to be annoying, bulking and a pain in the arse to get working atleast using Windows Vista. There are some games on the phone, but I'm not a big game player.
Connectivity. Great features! I've got WLAN, USB, Bluetooth and Infrared.. not to mention GPRS which I don't use as a general rule. I can't recommend fring enough! I've already made several Skype calls using this little program (not included, but free at fring.com). Fring also provides you with access to most IM networks like msn, icq, aim, etc. I would not suggest using skype or fring over a GPRS connection unless you've got a really big data package. Fring also provides full access to your phone's contact directory. The phone also provides VOIP options.
Aesthetics. Oh yeah, this phone looks great with the 'sand' faceplate. I didn't like the default Plum colour it came in but we got a choice of one free other colour. Your milage may vary.
Availability. I don't think any major Canadian or US providers will be selling this phone. I got it here through Deutsche Telekom's -T-Mobile-- in Germany. As far as I know though, you can get it on eBay or through an official Nokia store. Definately check out ebay before buying offline
Thanks for the review. I've found this phone on a Canadian and US websites but they sell for about as much as a laptop. That's a hefty price..
Yeah, none of the major providers will cary this phone simply because the blackberry rules and the price alone will keep most customers away. But I think it's good that don't carry it, since if they do the phone will most likely be locked into the provider as opposed to being totally unlocked if you buy online.
Anyway, I have a few more questions..
How is the call quality and reception?
Screen readable in direct sunlight?
How is the build quality?
How is the web browser and WiFi reception?
Anyway, what kind of applications run on this device? It is using a Symbian OS series 60? Would I be able to use any of the applications listed here:
http://www.symbian-freeware.com
Thanks.
Yeah, none of the major providers will cary this phone simply because the blackberry rules and the price alone will keep most customers away. But I think it's good that don't carry it, since if they do the phone will most likely be locked into the provider as opposed to being totally unlocked if you buy online.
Anyway, I have a few more questions..
How is the call quality and reception?
Screen readable in direct sunlight?
How is the build quality?
How is the web browser and WiFi reception?
Anyway, what kind of applications run on this device? It is using a Symbian OS series 60? Would I be able to use any of the applications listed here:
http://www.symbian-freeware.com
Thanks.
cdn,
I was not able to use a lot of the Symbian applications that I found on the web, as the phone produced an error like "can't install application".
How is the call quality and reception?
The reception is excellent. My office normally gets horrible to nill reception on my older phones with the GSM 1800/900 network I'm on; the O2 XDA Neo, Sony Ericsson w550i, Siemens S65. I'm happy to report that the N95 does well in this area.. as have most other Nokias I've owned.
Screen readable in direct sunlight?
YES! My balcony faces east and I was testing the GPS function in bright sunlight yesterday morning. I could read the screen fine.
How is the build quality?
Can't say really. It's ultra-light for it's size and I'm scared of doing much with it.
How is the web browser and WiFi reception?
Web browser is typical Nokia-Symbian. WiFi reception is acceptable. Again, I was downloading GPS maps on my balcony and it seemed quite quick. My old XDA didn't do quite that well with WLAN reception.
By the way, I took a quick video today with my phone. I uploaded it here: http://video.canadiancontent.net/11997520-nokia-n95-video-sample.html
Edit: The video recording does better with more suitable lighting. As you can see, my apartment is quite dark with the blinds closed
I was not able to use a lot of the Symbian applications that I found on the web, as the phone produced an error like "can't install application".
How is the call quality and reception?
The reception is excellent. My office normally gets horrible to nill reception on my older phones with the GSM 1800/900 network I'm on; the O2 XDA Neo, Sony Ericsson w550i, Siemens S65. I'm happy to report that the N95 does well in this area.. as have most other Nokias I've owned.
Screen readable in direct sunlight?
YES! My balcony faces east and I was testing the GPS function in bright sunlight yesterday morning. I could read the screen fine.
How is the build quality?
Can't say really. It's ultra-light for it's size and I'm scared of doing much with it.
How is the web browser and WiFi reception?
Web browser is typical Nokia-Symbian. WiFi reception is acceptable. Again, I was downloading GPS maps on my balcony and it seemed quite quick. My old XDA didn't do quite that well with WLAN reception.
By the way, I took a quick video today with my phone. I uploaded it here: http://video.canadiancontent.net/11997520-nokia-n95-video-sample.html
Edit: The video recording does better with more suitable lighting. As you can see, my apartment is quite dark with the blinds closed
Last edited:
hello,cdn_bc_ca,i m just passing by .i said i have to write to you cause i can see you answering the request for everyone asking u . i ll do search and i ll ask all my freinds if they got tis phone,have a great day
cdn,
I was not able to use a lot of the Symbian applications that I found on the web, as the phone produced an error like "can't install application".
How is the call quality and reception?
The reception is excellent. My office normally gets horrible to nill reception on my older phones with the GSM 1800/900 network I'm on; the O2 XDA Neo, Sony Ericsson w550i, Siemens S65. I'm happy to report that the N95 does well in this area.. as have most other Nokias I've owned.
Screen readable in direct sunlight?
YES! My balcony faces east and I was testing the GPS function in bright sunlight yesterday morning. I could read the screen fine.
How is the build quality?
Can't say really. It's ultra-light for it's size and I'm scared of doing much with it.
How is the web browser and WiFi reception?
Web browser is typical Nokia-Symbian. WiFi reception is acceptable. Again, I was downloading GPS maps on my balcony and it seemed quite quick. My old XDA didn't do quite that well with WLAN reception.
By the way, I took a quick video today with my phone. I uploaded it here: http://video.canadiancontent.net/11997520-nokia-n95-video-sample.html
Edit: The video recording does better with more suitable lighting. As you can see, my apartment is quite dark with the blinds closed
Thanks for the information. I've been reading alot of the posts at
http://n95blog.com
It's got a lot of great videos and information about the phone. I think I will get this phone when the price comes down a bit... but I have a feeling that when that time comes, there will be something better out.
BTW, nice TV.
Hey Andem,
I have another question. About this AmazeGPS software, you get voice enabled turn-by-turn navigation, correct? Does it still use a GPRS/3G connection?
On their forum, I was reading this thread:
http://www.amazegps.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=275&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
The discussion on the GPRS use starts about 1/2 way down the page. After I read that I was totally confused? What does it use the GPRS for?
Thanks.
I have another question. About this AmazeGPS software, you get voice enabled turn-by-turn navigation, correct? Does it still use a GPRS/3G connection?
On their forum, I was reading this thread:
http://www.amazegps.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=275&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
The discussion on the GPRS use starts about 1/2 way down the page. After I read that I was totally confused? What does it use the GPRS for?
Thanks.
