Our Review of the Nokia N96
The layout of the menu keys is virtually identical as the interface found on the N81, including the squared 'Navi Scroll' click wheel control and the positioning of the other context sensitive buttons.
The Nokia N96 arrives with a huge burden of expectation; the N95 was a smash hit for Nokia and it continues to sell well thanks to the recent 8GB re-fit, and the Finnish mobile giants continue to face pressure from a certain does-everythingtouchscreen handset…
Stylistically, the N96 takes a step away from the N95s and instead borrows heavily from the wardrobe of the N81, bringing in the same beautifully stylised curves and gleaming black plastic surface. The layout of the menu keys is virtually identical as the interface found on the N81, including the squared 'Navi Scroll' click wheel control and the positioning of the call and cancel keys and the other context sensitive buttons. The dual-slider format of the N95 makes a welcome return; the signature four media keys are neatly tucked away at the top of the handset, discreetly integrated within the neat black plastic casing of the N96.
The 2.8" 16 million colour display is one of the most impressive around; colours are deep and sharp and there is very little picture distortion. There is also a small retractable stand on the back of the handset located around the lens cover of the camera so you can put the phone down and watch downloaded content, films and digital TV. Watching TV and films on your mobile has been seen as the "next big thing" for quite some time, but the N96 has taken some real steps towards making this a reality, and the quality of the images the phone can kick out make it worth investigating. The very fact you can watch a film on the N96 is down to the massive 16GB of internal memory, which can be further expanded to via the microSD card slot (maximum card size: 8GB) to a monstrous 24GB.
With such a huge amount of storage available to users, Nokia may have finally hit up on a music phone solution that has enough space to appeal to music fans who carry a lot of music around with them on portable players; 32GB equates to well over 3,000 3-minute long tracks. The N96 supports MP3 and WMA plus all of the AAC variants (including AAC+ and AAC+).
Leaps forward have also been made in terms of connectivity, and Nokia have managed to include Wi-Fi support for the N96.
The defining 5 Megapixel camera of the N95 returns, complete with a dual-LED flash, powerful enough to deal with the most demanding of lighting conditions, autofocus and Carl Zeiss optics. The VGA video camera records at 30fps, and there is a front-facing VGA camera allowing for 3G videocalls to be made. Needless to say, images and film captured on the N96 are breathtakingly good.
The good news doesn't end there; leaps forward have also been made in the realms of connectivity, and Nokia have managed to imbue the N96 with support for Wi-Fi, meaning that you can browse the internet at your leisure whilst sat at your local hot spot. As the N96 is HSDPA compatible, internet access is as good as it was on the N95, if not better. You still browse through sites when holding the phone in horizontal 'media mode', and scrolling through pages using the Navi Wheel key.
Battery life promises to kick out some 3 hours and 40 mins of talktime along with 220 hours of power in standby mode; obviously with all the features crammed into the phone, the N96 is going to be a power hungry beast. Nokia will not be keen to repeat the same mistake that plagued the first N95.
Pros
Wi-Fi enabled smartphone.
Powerful 5 Megapixel camera with LED flash.
The dual-slider format returns.
Cons
It's not cheap!
Our Rating
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The N96 is full to bursting with cutting edge features and comes packaged in a slick compact chassis. The dual-slider format returns along with all the features which made the N95 such as success for Nokia.
