Tilting touch screen

This Symbian S60 smartphone is certainly better equipped to succeed than the 5800. It arrives with a bevy of features associated with Nokia’s Nseries flock, including a five-megapixel snapper, VGA-quality video recording, a whopping 32GB worth of internal memory, on-board GPS with Nokia Maps, built-in Wi-Fi and a 3.5mm headphone slot. But more interestingly, it rocks up with a tilting touch-screen, support for Nokia’s new Ovi download store and a sliding QWERTY keyboard.

Unfortunately, accommodating the QWERTY keyboard means the N97 is a beltline pieces. It is certainly narrower than the iPhone wide boy but its 150g heavy gauge does its presence in the pocket. It is also strong, but loses points for a plastic cover too creaky drums at the rear, although our review sample was a group of ill-fitting rear could be a one off.

There were lots of bugs present in 5800’s platform and the OS seemed rather rudimentary, but Nokia managed to solve most of them by a wide sequence of firmware updates. Still, the graphical interface, as well as the basic control of the menus remained the same. This shouldn’t be that bad, but when you intend to compete with one of the most successful smartphones on the market, the iPhone, you must provide something that has at least equal value. Either Nokia managed to do that with the N97 or not, we will see in the following review, so read and judge for yourselves.

Sluggish zoom

The 3.5-inch display is perfectly sized for full fat internet browsing and viewing webpages. Unfortunately, Nokia’s default browser is a bit erratic and not having the iPhone multi-touch skills means zooming in on pages is a bit sluggish. Similarly, dragging webpages around proved slow to react at times. Luckily with HSDPA support and Wi-Fi on board, pages load quickly. A more reliable and efficient alternative is the embedded Opera Mini browser.

The Nokia N97 is already brimming with apps but visit the Ovi Store via the main menu icon and you can download more straight to your handset. Despite reported early teething problems, we found setting up an account and downloading apps very simple. You can pay either via your phone bill or by credit card with the whole process relatively seamless. Of course, because the Ovi store is in its infancy, content can’t match the scope of iTunes but there’s certainly enough to be getting on with. It could also do with a more accurate search facility and not have to rely solely on categories to find apps.

Deep Down We Hoped For an eight-megapixel snapper to the N97’s five-megapixel lens is more than adequate, especially when you consider the iPhone 3G S only packs a measly 3.2 megapixels. Also, Nokia has a long tradition of turning out sharp Carl Zeiss shooters and the N97 is no exception. The lens is protected by a sliding cover, and although we expected a Xenon flash, the dual power LED is the next best thing. It is also consistently effective in low light environments.

The manufacturer still shies away from its fitting with the latest camera face, smile and blink detection technology, and the on-board photo mods are standard Nokia outcome for high-end camera phones. This means you get a good selection of white balance, exposure, scene, ISO, contrast and color settings. Auto focus is quick to get its eye when lining up shots and the results are pleasing. Picture quality is detailed and displays Nokia’s signature warm color tones.

With the likes of the Samsung i8910 HD 720px shooting video in HD and the LG Arena in WVGA-quality, the N97’s VGA resolution at 30fps is slightly disappointing. However, it is certainly smooth enough for posting on YouTube and watching on your PC.

The music player is every bit as dynamic as the one inside the 5800 XpressMusic. A top loaded 3.5mm headphone jack means you can plug in your own headphones and a good quality pair will further enhance the sound. The massive 32GB of on-board memory (bolstered further by an optional 16GB microSD card) shows the N97 could easily be your prime portable music player.

The hype surrounding the N97 as an iPhone contender means expectations are sky high. There’s no doubting the N97’s credentials as an accomplished all-round smartphone, and it delivers a leading performance. But while it beats the iPhone on the camera and QWERTY front, and weighs in with a download store, it still lacks the refinement and all-round seamless experience the King from Cupertino offers.

Good

Well, there are good things, even in a bad phone, so Nokia N97 still has its good parts. These are the impressive display, the full QWERTY keyboard, HSDPA and Wi-Fi technologies, plus the built-in GPS receiver (with three months of free voice guidance). Also, the 5-megapixel camera is superior to most cameras of the same kind. The music player and the 3.5mm jack port are exceptional as well.

Bad

The battery is so low that it will drain way too fast if you use the phone to talk too much. Such a big display would’ve made a nice addition if you had had a good browser or an eye-candy UI. Symbian OS 9.4 with S60 5th Edition UI cannot be compared to the iPhone’s UI or Android. The ack of some free business tools like document readers is another letdown.

Package

Nokia N97 handset
Nokia 1500 mAh Battery (BP-4L)
Nokia Travel Charger (AC-10)
Nokia Connectivity Cable (CA-101)
Nokia Wired Headset (AD-54, HS-45)
Nokia Charger adapter (CA-146)
Cleaning cloth
Stylus PEN

Nokia N97