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The Nokia N97 is the first of the N-Series from Nokia to feature a touchscreen. The device features 32GB of internal storage, 5 megapixel camera with dual-LED flash, a secondary camera for video calls and a slide out QWERTY keyboard.The N97 is available in Black and White and runs a touch optimised version of the Symbian OS which has been further enhanced for the N-Series.
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Since November every Nokia enthusiast has been eagerly waiting the launch of the new Nokia flagship device - The mighty Nokia N97. The wait is over probably the most talked about mobile is here to rule the Nokia roost for probably as long as when the next flagship device comes along…
Being the second device from Nokia to sport the new Symbian S60 version 5 OS already had the fans hoping for the N97 to bring a lot more to the table than the Nokia 5800 Xpress Music did. And the spec sheet looked promising. Lets take a look at what the n97 sports:
Hardware
What’s in the box
Design & Construction
The N97’s dimensions are as follows - 117.2 x 55.3 x 15.9 mm (18.25 mm at the thickest point) and it has a volume of 88cc. The device also weighs in at 150g which is quite heavy in modern standards. Even though the device is big, it is reasonably thin and easy to grasp in the hand. It seems to have been built for comfort and thus its flaws in size could be ignored.
Whilst the unit is fully plastic it has a very nice appeal about it. The QWERTY keyboard looks neat and the engineering behind the slide out tilt looks sturdy. The material used is resilient to fingerprints and scratches. I was quite impressed with many of the tests I saw the N97 had been through and come out on top.
The 3.5 inch resistive touch screen with the 360x640 screen resolution is only second to the Nokia’s own E90 when compared to the devices from the company. With the advancements in mobile displays it seems like the current resolution is far from being adequate in today’s standards. HD quality displays also pose as heavy competition to the N97.
However Nokia still rules in sunlight legibility. I remember that my 5800XM was a little disappointing to me in this avenue, the N97 makes the N Series proud matching up to its brethren with decent outdoor visibility.
I wish Nokia had chosen to go with a capacitive display on the N97 simply because unlike the 5800 the lack of the stylus slot makes the users prefer to use their fingers to navigate the unit instead of the dangling stylus. The resistive touch can pose as an obstacle to these users due to its need for a firmer press. I have to add however that the screen on the N97 is a vast improvement over the 5800.
The touch does feature a three level adjustable vibration feedback.
Let’s move on and focus on the front of the phone. The top has the VGA camera for video calls. The proximity sensors that ensure the keys are not pressed while you answer a call the earpiece and other sensors.
The call answer and drop keys are soft touch keys which is a vast improvement over my 5800. I remember the frustration in having to use those buttons to under a call and having my finger slip off the key. Unfortunately the menu key which is also widely users could have been better.
The volume key and the camera key are on the right side of the device. They are easy to use unlike some of the older family members of the N97. My 5800’s camera key was quite hard to use for me so this was a very welcome improvement.
The top of the phone has the 3.5mm jack and the power key which in typical S60 fashion can be users to change the ringing profile.
The left of the device has the Micro USB connector slot and the screen lock key. My 5800 key which looked firmer than this one gave way within a few months use, so I am being extra careful with the N97. The USB connector has no cover, probably because it needs to be used extensively for charging as well as data transfer.
The back of the phone sports the classy N Series family brand and the 5 MP camera. The Camera I noticed closely resembled the N79. Come to think of it the Unit itself resembled the build of the N79. Under the back cover is the power behind the N97. It’s 1500 mAh BP-4L Li-Ion battery which boasts hours of talk time and playback time. The sim tray and the MicroSD card slot hide close to the camera.
The three row QWERTY keyboard has a lot of criticism. I remember reading in many forums it being described as the outcome of a drunken developer. I found the keyboard reasonably easy to use. But I see how this could irate mobile enthusiasts who have sampled other devices. The space bar key being on the right and the D-Pad on the left also faced the critics. These two can be easily adjusted to and the D-Pad is quite usable for the gamers.
I remember when I heard the sliding mechanism clap sound first thing I thought was that this unit won’t last long in my hands… I am quite rough on my mobile and I need a unit that can handle some wear and tear. It was a pleasant surprise for me when I handled the unit that it felt quite sturdy. I have still not begun to make full use of the keyboard and I am both nervous and curious oh how it will do.
Home Screen renewed
The N97’s home screen resembles the 5800 but has some nice enhancements. The clock, profile switcher and the calendar all look more thumb-friendly. The landscape view of the home screen was also warmly welcomed by me.
Enter the widgets
I remember when I first read about the widgets with the N97 I was quite excited. But in the months that followed and all the advancements on the home screen made by other mobile providers, the widgets seem old and outdated. The ability to enhance the home screen with email, music shortcuts and the Favorite contact features was something I enjoyed. The web based widgets I can do without. Widgets can be added, removed, sorted or even downloaded from Nokia’s Ovi store. Up to five widgets are allowed at a time in both portrait and landscape mode.
Exploring your N97
Pressing the silver menu key takes you into the N97’s menu. The icons are arranged similar to that of the 5800. Symbian’s two taps to open may be confusing to some early adopters, but can quickly catch on. It can get frustrating as some icons get activated with one tap instead of two.
The lack of kinetic scrolling is frustrating to many users including myself. Having used the iphones smooth bouncy interface, and even tried out some reasonable scroll interfaces on other devices, the N97’s scrolling can be slow and frustrating. The D-Pad allows users to quickly switch to what makes them more comfortable.
The N97 is supposed to have 8 preloaded themes. I unfortunately had only 3 (N Series Themes) I found that these themes did not contain any vivid theme effects, so I am on the hunt for the original set. Themes can also be downloaded and added off the net.
The S60 task manager that most Nokia users are familiar with can be accessed by pressing the menu key. You can switch between your tasks from here…
The phonebook is vastly similar to that of the 5800. The N97 offers a summary feature which is unique to it. You can add many fields to your contacts and personalized tones and group them. One feature I found this phonebook to be missing was to edit a label.
Telephony
The call quality of the N97 is pretty good. I have been able to use it in various places and had a good reception. Interference have also been reduced with a good microphone placement on this device.
The voice dialing feature of the N97 is fully speaker independent. You have to remember however that if your contact has more than one assigned number the first one will be the one dialed. It’s unfortunate that this unit doesn't have a smart dialing feature.
The built in accelerometer offered a call muting feature to the 5800 XM which is also available on the N97. This feature can be added to older devices via third party software.
The call feature is very user friendly. One thing it lacks however is the N97 is unable to use the green soft key to answer the call. This I hope will be fixed in an upcoming firmware update.
Messaging
The N97 supports all popular messaging formats like sms, mms and email. It shared a common smart editor that can automatically convert the msg between sms and mms based on the size of the message. The messaging interface is something that is familiar to all Nokia users.
The software QWERTY keypad has been removed from the editor in favor of the hardware keyboard. An alpha numeric pad is available for messaging as well. Users can also use the handwriting feature of the N97 if needed. Training the unit to understand your handwriting will help improve it.
The email feature is also very advanced and supports a wide array of formats.
File Management
The Symbian file management is quite advanced. But for a 32GB device copying data around can become very time consuming. Performance is something that this unit needs to improve.
Albums
This feature is similar to that of the 5800 with a few improvements that are from the N series tag. However the fancy features available in the N series models before are not available to the N97.
You can browse the images by sweeping your finger across them, but having used the iphone I am once again faced with a big disappointment. Kinetic scrolling would have been a nice addition to the image gallery. I can then deal with missing the multi touch experience.
The zoom feature is time consuming and irritating at times, so I would think users won’t be able to browse their galleries with much ease. I hope that Nokia fixes this in their future firmware updates.
Being the second device from Nokia to sport the new Symbian S60 version 5 OS already had the fans hoping for the N97 to bring a lot more to the table than the Nokia 5800 Xpress Music did. And the spec sheet looked promising. Lets take a look at what the n97 sports:
Hardware
- 3.5” resistive touch slide and tilt display with upto nHD 640x360 pixels
- 5 mega pixel camera with auto focus and Video recording at 30fps VGA
- 434MHz ARM 11 CPU with 128MB RAM
- Quad band GSM, 3G with HSDPA, WiFi & GPS
- Digital Compass
- 32GB of onboard storage with MicroSD slot for expansion
- Built it Accelerometer
- Bluetooth 2.0 and micro USB connectivity
- 3.5mm standard audio jack and TV out
Software
- Symbian OS 9.4 with S60 5th edition UI
- Web browser with Flash and Java support
- Nokia Ovi Maps support with voice guided navigation (3 months free)
For an N Series device the hardware is nothing to boast about. It stacks up against the top N series devices that hold onto the crown, whilst offering a few additional perks which wont necessarily excite the fans who look forward to their new N Series devices putting something new on the table every time.
With the experience gained from the 5800, the users would look for the N97 to be near flawless, but the S60v5 software is still relatively new, and it looks like the N97 will have to take it forward from this point onwards.
What’s in the box
The 5800XM offered the users with quite a handful of goodies. And I can say I was a little disappointed with the contents of the N97 package.
- Micro USB Charger
- Adaptor for Legacy Nokia chargers
- Micro USB data cable
- Two piece stereo headset
- Cleaning cloth
- Stylus (only one provided)
- Carrying pouch (May not be available for all versions)
Design & Construction
The N97’s dimensions are as follows - 117.2 x 55.3 x 15.9 mm (18.25 mm at the thickest point) and it has a volume of 88cc. The device also weighs in at 150g which is quite heavy in modern standards. Even though the device is big, it is reasonably thin and easy to grasp in the hand. It seems to have been built for comfort and thus its flaws in size could be ignored.
Whilst the unit is fully plastic it has a very nice appeal about it. The QWERTY keyboard looks neat and the engineering behind the slide out tilt looks sturdy. The material used is resilient to fingerprints and scratches. I was quite impressed with many of the tests I saw the N97 had been through and come out on top.
The 3.5 inch resistive touch screen with the 360x640 screen resolution is only second to the Nokia’s own E90 when compared to the devices from the company. With the advancements in mobile displays it seems like the current resolution is far from being adequate in today’s standards. HD quality displays also pose as heavy competition to the N97.
However Nokia still rules in sunlight legibility. I remember that my 5800XM was a little disappointing to me in this avenue, the N97 makes the N Series proud matching up to its brethren with decent outdoor visibility.
I wish Nokia had chosen to go with a capacitive display on the N97 simply because unlike the 5800 the lack of the stylus slot makes the users prefer to use their fingers to navigate the unit instead of the dangling stylus. The resistive touch can pose as an obstacle to these users due to its need for a firmer press. I have to add however that the screen on the N97 is a vast improvement over the 5800.
The touch does feature a three level adjustable vibration feedback.
Let’s move on and focus on the front of the phone. The top has the VGA camera for video calls. The proximity sensors that ensure the keys are not pressed while you answer a call the earpiece and other sensors.
The call answer and drop keys are soft touch keys which is a vast improvement over my 5800. I remember the frustration in having to use those buttons to under a call and having my finger slip off the key. Unfortunately the menu key which is also widely users could have been better.
The volume key and the camera key are on the right side of the device. They are easy to use unlike some of the older family members of the N97. My 5800’s camera key was quite hard to use for me so this was a very welcome improvement.
The top of the phone has the 3.5mm jack and the power key which in typical S60 fashion can be users to change the ringing profile.
The left of the device has the Micro USB connector slot and the screen lock key. My 5800 key which looked firmer than this one gave way within a few months use, so I am being extra careful with the N97. The USB connector has no cover, probably because it needs to be used extensively for charging as well as data transfer.
The back of the phone sports the classy N Series family brand and the 5 MP camera. The Camera I noticed closely resembled the N79. Come to think of it the Unit itself resembled the build of the N79. Under the back cover is the power behind the N97. It’s 1500 mAh BP-4L Li-Ion battery which boasts hours of talk time and playback time. The sim tray and the MicroSD card slot hide close to the camera.
The three row QWERTY keyboard has a lot of criticism. I remember reading in many forums it being described as the outcome of a drunken developer. I found the keyboard reasonably easy to use. But I see how this could irate mobile enthusiasts who have sampled other devices. The space bar key being on the right and the D-Pad on the left also faced the critics. These two can be easily adjusted to and the D-Pad is quite usable for the gamers.
I remember when I heard the sliding mechanism clap sound first thing I thought was that this unit won’t last long in my hands… I am quite rough on my mobile and I need a unit that can handle some wear and tear. It was a pleasant surprise for me when I handled the unit that it felt quite sturdy. I have still not begun to make full use of the keyboard and I am both nervous and curious oh how it will do.
Home Screen renewed
The N97’s home screen resembles the 5800 but has some nice enhancements. The clock, profile switcher and the calendar all look more thumb-friendly. The landscape view of the home screen was also warmly welcomed by me.
Enter the widgets
I remember when I first read about the widgets with the N97 I was quite excited. But in the months that followed and all the advancements on the home screen made by other mobile providers, the widgets seem old and outdated. The ability to enhance the home screen with email, music shortcuts and the Favorite contact features was something I enjoyed. The web based widgets I can do without. Widgets can be added, removed, sorted or even downloaded from Nokia’s Ovi store. Up to five widgets are allowed at a time in both portrait and landscape mode.
Exploring your N97
Pressing the silver menu key takes you into the N97’s menu. The icons are arranged similar to that of the 5800. Symbian’s two taps to open may be confusing to some early adopters, but can quickly catch on. It can get frustrating as some icons get activated with one tap instead of two.
The lack of kinetic scrolling is frustrating to many users including myself. Having used the iphones smooth bouncy interface, and even tried out some reasonable scroll interfaces on other devices, the N97’s scrolling can be slow and frustrating. The D-Pad allows users to quickly switch to what makes them more comfortable.
The N97 is supposed to have 8 preloaded themes. I unfortunately had only 3 (N Series Themes) I found that these themes did not contain any vivid theme effects, so I am on the hunt for the original set. Themes can also be downloaded and added off the net.
The S60 task manager that most Nokia users are familiar with can be accessed by pressing the menu key. You can switch between your tasks from here…
The phonebook is vastly similar to that of the 5800. The N97 offers a summary feature which is unique to it. You can add many fields to your contacts and personalized tones and group them. One feature I found this phonebook to be missing was to edit a label.
Telephony
The call quality of the N97 is pretty good. I have been able to use it in various places and had a good reception. Interference have also been reduced with a good microphone placement on this device.
The voice dialing feature of the N97 is fully speaker independent. You have to remember however that if your contact has more than one assigned number the first one will be the one dialed. It’s unfortunate that this unit doesn't have a smart dialing feature.
The built in accelerometer offered a call muting feature to the 5800 XM which is also available on the N97. This feature can be added to older devices via third party software.
The call feature is very user friendly. One thing it lacks however is the N97 is unable to use the green soft key to answer the call. This I hope will be fixed in an upcoming firmware update.
Messaging
The N97 supports all popular messaging formats like sms, mms and email. It shared a common smart editor that can automatically convert the msg between sms and mms based on the size of the message. The messaging interface is something that is familiar to all Nokia users.
The software QWERTY keypad has been removed from the editor in favor of the hardware keyboard. An alpha numeric pad is available for messaging as well. Users can also use the handwriting feature of the N97 if needed. Training the unit to understand your handwriting will help improve it.
The email feature is also very advanced and supports a wide array of formats.
File Management
The Symbian file management is quite advanced. But for a 32GB device copying data around can become very time consuming. Performance is something that this unit needs to improve.
Albums
This feature is similar to that of the 5800 with a few improvements that are from the N series tag. However the fancy features available in the N series models before are not available to the N97.
You can browse the images by sweeping your finger across them, but having used the iphone I am once again faced with a big disappointment. Kinetic scrolling would have been a nice addition to the image gallery. I can then deal with missing the multi touch experience.
The zoom feature is time consuming and irritating at times, so I would think users won’t be able to browse their galleries with much ease. I hope that Nokia fixes this in their future firmware updates.
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