Physical Characteristics

Overall, the N95 is a pretty big/thick phone.  It is about the size of a thick digital camera (about 3/4″) about twice the thickness of my Motorola Q Global… not all that terrible, but it will make quite a big bulge in a pocket.  Weight isn’t too bad, but it is NOT a light phone.  The sliders (there are two ways the screen slides) are smooth and still working well after all the abuse the phone has taken to get to me.  There are buttons on the on one of the edges for camera (taking pictures), volume (which doesn’t work well – but it could be the demo), and play/pause for the media.  There are also two largesque (is that a word) speakers, one on each side, that put out a pretty good sound quality. 

On the face there are a number of buttons that control a variety of functions, but they are not very intuitive.  The strongest evidence for me on that issue was the fact that I actually had to read the manual to figure out how to turn it on… Ok, I am not always the brightest bulb, but I really couldn’t figure out how to turn it on…  (There is a little button up on the top… you don’t use the send or cancel button like… oh… every other mobile phone I have ever owned.) Overall, the most glaring physical deficiency that is apparent is the lack of a full qwerty keyboard… Didn’t know how much of an issue that really was at first, but …

Here are some pictures:

Software

The default software package on the N95 is really quite good.  There are a number of default applications like Nokia Maps ™ (currently free, but I think that is because of the trial) and other GPS utilities including a positioning system that would be great for geocaching… however, it also provides a level of confidence for how accurate the satillite signal is… at times it was as close as 9M (little over 27′) other times when stationary it read 35M (a bit over 108′) that will make a big difference when hunting for something as small as a pill container.  The N95 really seems to be geared (almost exclusively) toward being a multimedia device. There are numerous applications for audio and video everything from playing to recording.  Additionally, there are the standard office type applications, text/multimedia/email apps.  The N95 is built on Nokia’s Symbian platform so 3rd party java applications can be installed and run relatively easily.

Niceties and the Outrageous

As I mentioned the N95 is really a multimedia device.  There is a nice 5MP digital camera built in as well as a 1.3MP webesque cam built into the face of the phone to allow video calls. There is even a cable to allow the N95 to be connected to the component RCA connections on your TV to play pictures and video…

I need to spend more time using the various capabilities and applications on the N95, but my first impression of the N95 is that it appears to be a very good media device and player.  However, as a phone it leaves a bit to be desired.  The call quality is very quiet and tinny.  But, I finally figured out how to turn up the volume during a call, so the volume issue may be moot.  However, let me add this in reference to using the N95 8GB North American Edition as a phone.  In briefly looking at the user manual the first time “making a call” is reference is page 83!

More in a few days…

~Scott