Quick review of the Nokia N95
 

3Just got this phone in to replace the Nokia 8800 that I had which was not a workhorse phone and it probably did not help that I dropped countless number of times due to the slippery steel....anyway, so here goes:

1) Beautiful TFT screen .... unbelievable display and it goes both ways -- potrait and landscape

2) menus is different from the candybar nokia design...takes a little getting used to.

3) slow lag in response time but that could be due to internal memory being used up....buying a 1GB MicroSD card today and see if it helps...will download the maps from google once I get this card

4) wifi is fast...54mb/s....used the wifi at my work...entered and WEP and connected easily....dowload rate is good enough...

5) camera is 5 megapixel, zoom and flash....good pictures for a cell phone...

6) have not used the video feature yet....

7) could not get the GPS function to work or maybe I was not doing it right

I will play around with the phone and update the thread as I get it to work out right....


Can somebody help me with this issue:

the PTT keeps beeping whenever I am talking to someone...how do you stop that?

I misplaced my N80 a few weeks ago, and am considering the N95. Please keep posting your experience with it.

I've seen a few other reviews, and think it would be a lot of fun.

I have recently moved from the N80 to the N95.
Feels like a totally different phone....major improvement in all of the areas that the N80 fell short. Even battery life is better (although still not up to the life of pre symbian nokias -Doh! )
Wifi and browsing is a lot faster, as is the phone generally.
Its slightly longer, but thinner then the n80, so it actually feels smaller. Its lighter, and it has a much improved sliding mechanism that wont wobble open in your pocket.
In short, it is the best phone I have ever had.


Comprehensive review I found a few weeks back:
http://www.symbian-freak.com/reviews..._review_01.htm

Dont download the maps from google- once you have a memory card (wont install them without) go to : http://www.smart2go.com/en/
Thats the official nokia application thats installed on the phone. Works better once you have a memory card with the maps on as opposed to having to download them each time you use (£££).
GPS and sat nav does actually work ok. Ive tried it a few times and had no issues with it. Being able to search and plan via postal/zip code is a godsend too.
Annoying that you have to pay for the voice commands, but it is decent enough without it.

as for the beeping...er
try
settings-> connection -> packet data. Change that to 'when needed'. Had the same issue with the N80 when I first got it if I remember correctly.

If you arent in a 3G area ( like the US) then change the network mode to GSM. Will stop it hunting down a 3g signal all the time and will drastically improve your battery life.

thanks for the info on the maps, 3G and packet data...

I have played all weekend and it is an awesome phone....major workhorse...I do not see me switching for a while :D

Speaker and handset phone volume is amazing....

connected to my secured WIFI network at home with no problem and was downloading webpages at 54mbps....got movie times, zoo times and so forth....quick and fast and do not need to power up the laptop.

screen is BEAUTIFUL and great for viewing pics....I will try some videos later....

Got a 2GB MICROSD card coming in the mail...so will download the map function and see how it works this week...

Battery life is HORRIBLE....


linenbasket: when you use the GPS, do you turn the NETWORK access point "off"? I cannot get my GPS Position to work....

It takes a few minutes to lock onto the GPS initially.

If you want to test it, then go outside or right by a window, applications->maps, and select your wifi as the access point. dont touch anything after that and it will download the map and zoom into your position automatically. Give it a few minutes more and it will lock onto the satellite and the red X will disappear from the symbol in the bottom right.
Once its initially locked on its not too bad at updating and tracking your position.

GPS will work with no memory card and with network access point set to off and will give you your location (but confusingly with no map if not installed and no network connection. It will just show you on a blank screen.)
Sat nav/directions won't work with the access point set to off if you don't have a card with the maps on installed- it needs to access the network to download the maps on the fly and plan the route. This is why buying a card is essential.
Once you have the maps downloaded onto the card you shouldnt need to connect at all when using the gps or nav (unless you want the voice directions in which case you do need to connect I believe) so should be able to set it to off.


Im still learning this thing myself but thats what I have found out so far

Wirelessly posted (Nokia E61i: Mozilla/5.0 (SymbianOS/9.1; U; en-us) AppleWebKit/413 (KHTML, like Gecko) Safari/413 es61i)

A quick question for you ex-N80 users, do you notice the lower resolution on the N95 vs. N80?

I think the resolution is better on the N95...lookig at my brothers n80 right now....

Ditto
Have both on side by side as I am typing this.
if it is lower it is not noticable, helped by the bigger screen I guess.
Web pages are easier to read on the 95 for example. Certainly seems better

On test, the N95 has better onscreen resloution (and IMO, better colour contrast) than the N80.

To add to the comments (I've had mine for nearly a month now)
- Camera is very good... but play with the manual settings to tweak. AF is normally on target, but adds to the picture take time so not 100% ideal for snapshot situations.
- Integrated GPS is ok, but not the best performing one (also TomTom won't work off the internal GPS yet)
- Downloading the maps is a great saver on bandwith if you're on a limited data tariff - just make sure you have time to download them!
- I run a 1GB card in it - plenty for vids and pictures (especilly when a 3 1/2 minute vid comes out at 80mb!)
- Menus are Symbian 9 .. .so easy for N series users to adapt to
- Battery life - yes, its accepted as bad. Remember to switch off the GPS when you're not using it ;)
- I'm not sending mine back ... lets put it like that ;)

On test, the N95 has better onscreen resloution (and IMO, better colour contrast) than the N80.

To add to the comments (I've had mine for nearly a month now)
- Camera is very good... but play with the manual settings to tweak. AF is normally on target, but adds to the picture take time so not 100% ideal for snapshot situations.
- Integrated GPS is ok, but not the best performing one (also TomTom won't work off the internal GPS yet)
- Downloading the maps is a great saver on bandwith if you're on a limited data tariff - just make sure you have time to download them!
- I run a 1GB card in it - plenty for vids and pictures (especilly when a 3 1/2 minute vid comes out at 80mb!)
- Menus are Symbian 9 .. .so easy for N series users to adapt to
- Battery life - yes, its accepted as bad. Remember to switch off the GPS when you're not using it ;)
- I'm not sending mine back ... lets put it like that ;)

i picked up the n95 a few weeks ago and love it. Great screen, apps, and camera. Lots of functionality with the supported applications and all. Only negative in my mind is the battery life. Need to find a place where i can get a backup N95 battery and maybe external charger. That or fix the firmware for a longer batterylife. Otherwise, great phone

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (SymbianOS/9.1; U; en-us) AppleWebKit/413 (KHTML, like Gecko) Safari/413 es61)

Just got Skype working on my E61 using www.fring.com - that would work really well on the N95...

Video?
 

Could some one please comment on the video feature?

How's the quality?
What format is video stored in?
Is there a time limitation how long/big each video file can be?

Thanks!!

I've done a few quick tests

Video to me is pleasing - I record in MP4 format. For a 30 second video in Dubin about 10Mb... for a 3:32 journey up the Aston Expressway (a road link in Birmingham), about 78mb (your milage may vary of course - 20mb/minute feels about right).

Its limited to the size of remaing memory on your MicroSD card or 59 minutes 59 seconds....
Based on 542mb
High quality MPG4 = 28 minutes, 18 seconds
Standard quality MPG4 = 50:58
Low Quality MPG4 = 59:59

Hope that helps!

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