Nokia N95

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By Damian Koh,Juniper Foo
Apr 17, 2007

Ever since Nokia announced the N95 back in September 2006, we knew for sure it was going to be one highly anticipated handset. However, nearly half a year flew past before we got some love from the N95. To most people, this Nokia sounds like a dream come true, with HSDPA, GPS, Wi-Fi, 3G and a 5-megapixel autofocus camera packed into a compact slider. But behind these glossy specifications is a rather disappointing battery life, somewhat sluggish performance and a premium price tag. That said, the N95 will still appeal to tech gadget enthusiasts and, of course, those with deep pockets.

Design
The Nokia N95 is one smart phone that just doesn't measure up, especially if you consider all the features in its minute size. Although the N95's footprint is only slightly larger than a credit card, it is thick on the side. In hand, the unit feels surprisingly light. The soft-touch finish on the back is a pleasure to hold, though the plasticky build of the body gives it a less than solid feel.

	The screen changes to landscape orientation but doesn't switch back automatically when the phone is closed.

One of the first things we noticed is the sharp 2.6-inch 240 x 320-pixel screen. The LCD held up well under sunlight and the picture display is crisp and clear--an important criteria as a navigation device-- even though it has a nasty habit of holding fingerprints. But what's really unique to the N95 is the two-way sliding mechanism. Sliding the top lid up reveals the alphanumeric keypad, while pushing it in the other direction exposes a column of media playback keys. These buttons are not touch-sensitive although they appear to be. We have to make a conscious effort to depress it in order to register a particular command.

What's annoying is when we slide the lid to access the media keys. The screen changes to landscape orientation but doesn't switch back automatically when the phone is closed. We had to push it further to get to the numeric keys before the screen would go back to portrait mode. The numeric keys, on the other hand, have a ridge-like contoured surface which makes it easy for thumbing our messages and they light up in blue when the ambient sensor detects a dark environment. Likewise for the buttons on the top lid. These are large and provide tactile feedback. If we have to nitpick, the controls on the outer ring are a tad too slim horizontally and there's no option to map the buttons to specific applications.

	The 3.5mm audio jack is a god-send for music lovers.

There are many things we like on this Nokia: A mini-USB port instead of the proprietary connection for desktop synchronization, a 3.5mm audio jack for our favorite headphones so we don't have to reach for an adapter, an external memory card slot that supports microSD media up to 2GB, and finally, a pair of onboard stereo speakers sitting along the sides.

On the back of the handset is where we find the 5-megapixel autofocus camera with Carl Zeiss lens. The ring slider protects the lens from scratches and the integrated flash helps to light up our subjects in dark environments. In use, it's not different from a dedicated digital camera. We could distinctly feel the half-press action to autofocus before actually taking a shot.

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