From Nokia N93 To Nokia N95: Upgrade or Not?
The Nokia N95 is just around the corner and after reading a few articles, there are a few things that make me think twice before doing an upgrade. I’ll list down what’s important to me and conclude whether or not it is recommended for other N93 owners with similar interests upgrade to the Nokia N95.
Thanks to Paul Whitaker, I noticed that the Nokia N95 only supports mono audio. While this is not a dealbreaker for me, going to the N95 from the N93, I will be losing the stereo recording. Since I upload most of my videos on YouTube, the audio are converted to mono anyway so other YouTube users will not be affected. However, watching the original videos on a computer with 2 speakers, or a TV, we lose audio depth. You can find out more about mono vs. stereo by BCAE.
Nokia N95 with Mono Audio
Nokia N93 with Stereo Audio
Sample Nokia N95 photos have been showing up with purple hue. They say that firmware updates will fix this, but after hearing the same thing about how Nokia will fix the noise on Nokia N93 pictures, I will not get my hopes up. Fortunately, the pictures can be fixed with software on our computers.
Color Corrected Nokia N95 Photo
Original Nokia N95 Photo
Nokia N95 has GPS… the Nokia N93 doesn’t. However, My-Symbian revealed in their Nokia N95 review that the built-in GPS receiver will initially only work with the included Nokia Maps. This is disappointing to me because I think TomTom is better, faster, and more usable than Nokia Maps.
Unfortunately, no other existing S60 3rd Edition GPS software is able to take advantage of the built-in receiver because all of them are ‘hardcoded’ to communicate with Bluetooth GPS devices via the Serial Port Profile.
Conclusion. So should I still upgrade to the Nokia N95? While the 3 factors above mention a few negative things, they are not that bad. Mono and Stereo are hardly noticeable through basic speakers, picture colors can be easily fixed, and I can stick with Nokia Maps until TomTom ports their software to use the GPS receiver on the Nokia N95. Nevertheless, I will be checking Fonegrabber or the Nokia N95 Price Check page for a trusted seller to have it in stock and still be one of the first few to buy it.
I’m sure I’m not the only Nokia N93 user feeling this way. Do you have a Nokia N93 and plan to upgrade to the Nokia N95? Let me know the reasons why or why you won’t upgrade.
N95 enthusiast on 2 March 2007:
Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems that the only time you get mono sound is when you use the headphone jack to send a video to a tv. It seems that the N95 in itself is capable of both recording and playing back audio in stereo.
Mark Guim on 2 March 2007:
The two grey screenshots above are the video properties of the Nokia N95 and the N93. Notice that N95 has one audio channel (mono) as compared to two audio channels (stereo) in the N93.
James @ The Creative Life on 2 March 2007:
Excellent post . . . I totally agree with all the points mentioned here. I love the N95 and if I was in the market for my first smartphone the N95 would be the one for me. But as an N93 owner with the Nokia GPS unit, there really isn’t much point in upgrading to the 95. Sad but true.
Mark Guim on 2 March 2007:
James you’re up? It’s friday morning here in new york city… do I get a new logo? =P
James @ The Creative Life on 2 March 2007:
Haha! Glad you remembered . . . You should have it by now!
Nseries WOM World » Blog Archive » To N95 or not to N95? on 2 March 2007:
[...] That is the question owners of other Nseries devices are asking themselves. Mark Guim, of the Nokiablog.com is asking the question of himself and his readers. Follow the jump to see what device he will decide on. [...]
Davit on 3 March 2007:
Well, I think it’s only a matter of time when TomTom will be able to use a built in GPS in N95.
It seems that camera is important for you, so… do you really want to play with fixing colours in every photo you take by N95? In case of change phone to N95 you’ll also loose a optical zoom.
ayush3090 on 4 March 2007:
awesome post
but i’d like to add something -
AFAIK nokia n95 only has 1x optical zoom , whereas n93 has 3x optical zoom
Cio on 4 March 2007:
Hello,
I want to upgrade my n93 to n95 because i like the way how n95 works.
If you have the s60v3 feature pack 1 on your n93, it will ROCK.
And the modus when you change in camera mode by n95 is nice too.
So all in all, i wish that will be an upgrade to n95 be aviable.
I’m sorry for my english.
Dogmann on 4 March 2007:
Hi all
Well as a very happy N93 owner that already has a Holox GPS and Tom Tom 6 i much prefer this solution for Sat Nav. Also from some of the reviews of the N95 it appears the newer Safari web browser is much more Ram hungry which is hindering MultiTasking as currently it appears the N95 has 2-3 meg less available Ram on boot up then the N93 and the Web Browser uses 50% more Ram which IMO is not so good. Also much prefer the keypad and form factor of my N93 so i am not planning on upgrading/downgrading to this model.
Marc
Mark Guim on 4 March 2007:
It’s great to hear different point of views.
@ayush: no optical zoom for the n95, but that’s something I can get over with because the 5mp camera will take larger pictures. I will miss zooming in during videos though.
@dogmann: your holux gps is connected to the N93, or you mean as a separate device? I’m afraid about the RAM too, but so far no reviews complained of “out of memory” issues.
N95 enthusiast on 5 March 2007:
The Nokia website claims that the phone is capable of recording stereo sound, so I still think that it depends on the video quality settings whether the phone records in mono or stereo. But I might be wrong about this…
ARSH on 8 March 2007:
Though N95 has 5Mp camera n N93 has 3.2Mp camera both of them takes videos in same resolution 640X480.
N95 takes pics as clear as N73, N95 pics r nt toooooooooo good. Their quality is like N73, better than N93 but there’s nt toooooooo much difference.
So dont go for 5Mp camera of N95.
N95 has GPS, whereas N93 doesnot. Tell me cant u remember locations in ur area dat u have to use GPS?…
I need GPS if I go out to some unknown location or on a tour to some other place…
I dnt need GPS to go to my college…. So its use is very less. U will find in our daily life there is very less need of GPS, its only sometimes we need GPS…
We can use tom Tom mobile maps in N93.
N93 has 3x optical zoom but N95 doesnot… N93 is the Nokia’s first handset to have OPTICAL ZOOM, its a new step in technology used in mobile phones…which N95 dnt have.
I bought N93 bacause of its optical zoom.
N forget bout 16 million colors of N95. The screen pixels of both N93 and N95 r same.. The 16 million color screen wont make pics tooo clear, its the pixels which makes the screen(display) more clear. U will find a little difference between N93 and N95 screen display.
Nokia just used 16 million color screen to attract customers…
As u have heard about problems in N93 soon u will get to know about the problems in N95 till thn Nokia will introduce new handsets n then leaving N95 u all will start appriciating those new handsets, u will start comparing thm with N95…..
Its my review……..
ARSH on 8 March 2007:
Display resolution:
N93: 320×240 pixels, N95: 240 x 320 pixels
Image resolution:
N93:2048×1536 pixels, N95: 2592 x 1944 pixels
(there isnt too much difference)
ARSH on 8 March 2007:
Both has CIF 352×288 sensor(camera) the will be very little difference between theis camera quality. So dnt go for 5Mp camera….
N93: Lithium Polymer battery BP-6M 1100mAh, N95: (BL-5F) 950mAH
(N93 battery is better. u can see)
Mark Guim on 8 March 2007:
@ARSH: those are great points. You should’ve contacted me and I would have let you guest write a separate post. Next time, don’t hesitate. Thanks for the insight.
man on 22 March 2007:
n95 has speakers
Shun on 27 March 2007:
Well here’s my two cents:
1. N95 has best of imaging and audio technology.
N93: No 3.5mm jack | N95: Yes
I think the most common use of our phones is audio listening while we do imaging on a rare occasion. i mean how many pics you take each week and how many times you listen with music?
2. Weight and Size – All people are crying about how heavy their NSeries are. Whats N93′s weight? 170 or 185g? by the way N95 is 120gms only. Nokia has answered the rantings on weight found on N90/N93/N91. Now, it can fit into your regular pocket.
3. The optical zoom? who uses optical zoom? maybe on a rare occasion. I often prefer the normal shooting in order to capture real and accurate images. And by the way, what’s the use of 3x optical? of the 6x optical? Do you optical zoom a macro shot? or do you optical zoom a very beautiful landscape? dont think so.
4. GPS – with or without. Maybe cool at first. But it’s better it’s integrated there.
5. 3.5G/HSDPA – Not so common but will favor those places with this service.
6. Bluetooth 2 A2DP EDR – Enjoy faster transfer, stereo wireless music.
N93: No, N95: Yes
7. Overwhelming charisma – Even Sony fanboys are turning their heads to N95. Even biased SE editors.
End.
)
Shun on 27 March 2007:
PS.
Bye the way, colors and imaging services has been improved on the retail version. making it the most ‘must have’ gadget of 2007 for work and multimedia purposes.
Mark Guim on 31 March 2007:
@Shun thanks…. the n95 is now out… I’m still waiting for the call from the Nokia Flagship Store.
termenator on 1 April 2007:
first i want to ask if 5mp camera in n95 compensates the optical zoom in n93?
second,please upload images and sample clip( in sun light) by n95 and/or n93
to see its quality.
janver22 on 15 May 2007:
I think the title “It’s What Computers Have Become” should be for the E90 Communicator. Indeed it fails one factor of mini-computers, the amount of RAM (About only 20 MB Available for user). So, you can’t do Multitasking on this Phone! This makes that Fast AMR CPU and an innovative Video CPU to shame!
Mazor on 17 July 2007:
termenator, no the 5MP does not make up for the optical zoom in the N93. There is something magical about having optical zoom.
Taking the same subject wide angled, and then zoomed in but further back, changed the proportion and distortion of the picture. this can be seen most clearly from the ears in relation to the face. On a wide angle, ones portrait ears will appear to be pushed back. Zooming in a little, will make it fit more in place, and more natural. Wides have their purposes for landscapes, more tele , for portraits, and for photographing animals, 3x zoom is needed so as not to get too close to animals to scare them.
Anyhow, N93′s 3MP is shown up 5MP n95 at times, where N95 has turned detail into mush.
mazor
Rakesh Rai on 17 July 2007:
…
Carlos on 31 July 2007:
HI! I’m not too good at posting stuff, but I just wanted to say I’m already at the 6th (going to the 7th) N95 and I always have to return them for the same reason: dead pixels, in video and photo mode, but each time they are different. Sometimes more than 7… I suppose it isn’t a display problem, I guess it’s something wrong with the photoreceivers or smth like it.
I’m from Spain, dunno if they’ve brought the worse N95 here or if it’s an universal problem.
If someone else has some similar problem, could u let me know?
carlosmaxpayne@hotmail.com
Thanks
And, btw, I thing N93 it’s better.
andy on 5 September 2007:
I know this is going to make people laugh, as I really did an ‘upgrade’act but, well, its in reverse order -I traded in my N95 in order to get the N93. So I have experienced both models. In fact I even have used an N93i before. If you ask me which one I like better, well, I have to admit from the bottom of my heart that the N93 is a more adorable phone to me.
ironE on 15 September 2007:
Hello! I definately like the possibility of optical zooming, especially in video mode. Also, I like being able to place the separate sat. receiver anywhere I like AND that it has its own battery and therefore doesn’t eat up extra phone power during navigation(when there’s no plug-in power available-think hiking&biking).
ironE on 15 September 2007:
I’ll definately stick with my n93 so I can zoom optically, especially while in video mode. Also, I like having the choice of sat. receiver placement independent of phone location for better tracking while using Sport Tracker, for example.
ALSO, the sat.nav. has its own power so it won’t drain phone battery when navigating on foot.
I imagine that video quality is no better with n95…?
I would be delighted to see Nokia take the camera/computer/phone concept to the next level – to me it’s fantastic to leave cameras at home and still be able to get quality video or still images that can be uploaded easily. Oh – by the way, the microphones on the n93 do a pretty #*%?! good job as well. That’s my rave for today…thanks!
Hygeaxox on 3 October 2007:
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big jay pizza sara sausage
RjMsT on 21 October 2007:
hi guys,, i owned a nokia n93, after 8 months of using it, while im playing one of the games that i downloaded(spiderman) after i killed the venom, the my phone started to hung and i dont know what to do so i removed the battery. but it wouldnt turn on again. i consulted it at the nokia care and it took 1 week to repair it, and also the flash about 6 months since i bought it, the flash is already no functional. what would be those factors that can destroy this phoe. please reply please pleasde. thank you very much,.. arigato
Ryan on 28 October 2007:
i have an 95 and it broke
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