Nokia couldn’t give us a review unit of the much awaited Nokia N97 in time, so one of us bought one for this review. It’s for the benefits of our readers, right?
We loved the form factor of the N97, which slides out gracefully and at the same time, tilting the screen at about 45 degrees, revealing the QWERTY keypad underneath. The sliding mechanism is one of the sturdiest ones we’ve seen since the Nokia 8800 series.
While the QWERTY keypad provide superb tactile feedback, the layout of the keys are totally out of place. First up is the space bar with, which is located on the right instead of in the centre. Then it’s the 5 way directional pad, which is on the left of the keyboard. D-pads are usually located on the right, unless you are talking about console gamepads. We gave the device to few people, including lefties and they all had the same complaint.
Running on Symbian S60 5th edition, the N97 reminded us of the XpressMusic 5800, only better. We now have the option to put widgets downloaded from the Internet and these widgets have the ability to get online, pulling necessary updates onto the home screen. Think of it as a simplified RSS reader.
Despite being graced with a 3.5 inch touch sensitive screen, Nokia didn’t include a stylus silo on the N97 itself. Instead, the package is bundled with a short stylus that’s hung at the side of the phone. We didn’t mind this since the device is designed to be finger operated.
It’s Carl Zeiss powered 5 megapixel camera is also one of the best we’ve seen. It handled low light environment and macro shots really well, something most camera phones fail at. However, we’re not too sure why the N97 didn’t come with Xenon flash light that once complements the brilliant N82.
At US$700, we admit that the price is a little out of reach for Average Joes but bear in mind that this is Nokia’s flagship device. We took a really long time to get used to the awkward layout of the QWERT keypad but the form factor, camera as well as the new Symbian OS made up for it.
Pros : Nice form factor, Superb camera
Cons : Weird key placement on QWERTY keypad
Nokia N97 Specifications :
Frequency : Quadband (850/900/1800/1900 MHz)
Screen : 3.5 inch resistive touch screen at 640 x 360 resolutions
Connectivity : Bluetooth, USB2.0, Wi-Fi, HSDPA
Others : 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics
Dimensions : 117.2 x 55.3 x 15.9mm
Weight : 150g
Nokia N97 on Youtube I :
Nokia N97 on Youtube II :
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