Nokia N96 Mobile Phone Review

INTRODUCTION

The Nokia N96 is basically an upgraded version of the previous Nokia N95. Compare to its predecessors, Nokia N96 is equipped with 16 GB internal flash memory and integrated DVB-H tuner for mobile TV. Unfortunately, not all countries have DVB-H system broadcasting. Many peoples complaining about its battery life, it’s even worse than the Nokia N95. Personally, I recharged my battery everyday. So, I wouldn’t notice any lack of battery life. My friend had his Nokia N96 running without recharging for up to 4 days.

DESIGN

The Nokia N96 has a smooth rounded corner compare to Nokia N95 which has a sharp corner. The Nokia N96 is designed to make it looks much more modern and sleeker than Nokia N95. The keypads on Nokia N96 will only visible when it illuminated. The size of the Nokia N96 cell phone is slightly bigger than Nokia N95.

Front Panel:

The Nokia N96 is equipped with a 2.8 inch QVGA display, up to 16 million colors with 240 x 320 pixels. The screen displays sharp and colorful images. At the top of the front panel, there are pinhole VGA camera and earpiece. Below it, there are the basic navigation keys, five-way d-pad and hidden multimedia playback controls which light up when in use. Sliding up the phone will reveal the standard dial keys.

Right Panel:

At the right side of the phone features top and bottom corner stereo speakers, volume controller under the top speaker and a camera button just above the bottom speaker.

Left Panel:

At the left side of the phone is where the covered microSDHC card slot resided. It can support up to 16 GB of microSDHC cards.

Top Panel:

On the top side, it has the 3.5mm headphone/TV-Output jack, power button and the key-lock switch button.

Bottom Panel:

At the bottom side of the phone, it has the microUSB data connector port and the 2mm Nokia pin charging port.

Back Panel:

The back side of the Nokia N96 is equipped with a single piece of glossy dark plastic back panel cover. It also houses the 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss digital camera and dual LED flash.

TELEPHONY FUNCTION

With all the high-end hardware in the Nokia N96, it still can perform well as a telephone device. The phone is powered by Symbian S60 Feature Pack 2 (version 3.2) Operating System. It provides better power and wireless connection management. The Nokia N96 user interface remain the same as it previous predecessors. The voice quality is the usual high Nokia standard. The phone functions can be access and navigate easily because of the user friendly interface.

WIRELESS AND MULTIMEDIA

The Nokia N96 is more like a portable multimedia device with phone attached on it. There are many functions on it that users can utilize such as the WI-FI, GPRS, 16 GB of storage for your favorite music and videos, 5 mega-pixel digital camera, etc.

Wireless Connectivity:

There is the new Destinations feature in the Symbian S60 Feature Pack 2 which enables the automatic switching connectivity option. The Bluetooth function on this phone also very stable and versatile.

GPS:

There is a built in GPS which comes with applications such as Nokia Maps 2.0.

16 GB Storage:

There is a 16 GB of internal storage which is perfect for storing your pictures, music, videos and even maps taken from Nokia Maps 2.0.

Gaming:

The Nokia N96 is equips with the N-GAGE Platform. There are also preloaded games on it.

Camera:

The built-in camera on this phone is the 5 mega-pixel and Carl Zeiss-equipped digital camera which provide good color balance and quick shutter speed. There is also a geo tagging function on this camera. This camera also provides easier integration with online photo sharing such as Ovi and Flickr. The double LED flash function on this phone is best for video recording to give a better and brighter lighting on the images taken.

CONCLUSION

The Nokia N96 looks better than Nokia N95 because of its smoothly rounded corner. Despite it is wider and taller than Nokia N95; it is actually slimmer than Nokia N95. The Nokia N96 is more like a multimedia workstation, which is what people need in a cell phone nowadays. We require more than just a simple communication device.

The 16 GB internal memory storage is an added feature for new users, but it is hardly worth the money for Nokia N95 users to replace theirs to N96 considering the 16 GB microSD memory cards are now available for $58 at Amazon.com. As for the DVB-H tuner on Nokia N96 is useless for users on unsupported broadcasting countries.