I Bought a Nokia N95 for my last upgrade and would like to share how I feel Nokia have fared in this foray into super phone league

The Nokia N95 is based on the world's leading S60 software on Symbian OS, enabling you to personalize your device from a wide choice of compatible applications that can be downloaded to the Nokia N95, including games, navigation, entertainment, productivity and creativity. But a frustrating thing I found that to make most of the software useable – the semi PowerPoint tool for example depended upon downloading expensive add-on software. The Nokia N95 comes with quad-band, 3G mobile phone, with a 5 mega pixel digital camera and wi-fi connectivity. The Nokia N95 is being touted as an alternative to the Apple iPhone device but to be honest is no where near as yet.

Features

Features two-way slider 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens O/S: Symbian OS v9. MP3 and video playback work exceptionally well with some of the material I loaded so that was quite good. Experts contend that one of the best and most interesting features of Nokia N95 is the built in GPS navigation. However be warned that the maps come bundled in free – and you can download them to avoid Nokia/O2’s outrageous download fees but the navigation is not! Other good features are the shortcut button to open the gallery & that the camera starts up just by opening the shutter, as again this cuts out trawling through the menu although after a little use it tends to slip open. I love the screen size and its amazing features, especially the barcode cracker is fun to use when you can get it to work – I spent a jolly hour trying once.

The map software is great, but takes forever to get a valid GPS signal and mine took an age to lock on to a signal. I did buy a subscription to the navigator for a month (cost around 10$) but could not get it to work properly in anger – on one occasion I was almost there before it started talking. I waited once for 30 minutes to get a signal lock which it promptly lost in seconds when we were underway. Compared to TomTom or Navman the software isn't up to it and requires you at times to pull data from a wireless connection or 3G/HSDPA. & the software fee for navigation although strikes me as a bit pricey. On an annual fee basis you could buy a TOM TOM 6 complete! Overall the GPS is a toy to show your mates what a nice phone you have – but as a practical navigation device it is not useable – especially walking around with a phone held out at 45degress in front of you!

One major complaint with the software interface: the language is unclear when you're trying to save a picture or video. Does not easily sync with Outlook Address Book either and I would have liked the emails to be downloaded but you must resort to extra hacks and 3rd-Party software to do this.

Battery

Battery life very poor, varies between 6 & 24 hours – to get any decent use you need to turn off all the features which seems not to be the point of buying such a phone. You can simply charge it every night and problem solved but in my view battery life should last for at least 2 days with normal use, if not then the phone isn't worth the money. This is a phone after all!

Bottom Line

The Nokia N95 is a high quality multi-functional phone, combining an Mp3 player, camera, GPRS system, office applications, Wi-Fi technology, and then displaying it back to the user on a 16million pixel TFT screen. There's no doubt that the Nokia N95 is one of the most full-featured smart phones available right now, but its poor battery life could very well be its Achilles' heel. I was also frustrated by the software I get annoyed when suppliers load a device with lots of tasters that demand expensive upgrades and add-ons to really make it sing. I am thinking of changing it at the next upgrade for a more practical device that can make calls easily that does not need to be charged every day.

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RoyMoggAdmin