Review: Nokia N95 8GB Look And Feel
In first of a few series, I’ll be giving a review of the Nokia N95 8GB concentrating on its look and feel. There are a few changes on this model compared to the other Nokia N95 variations, more importantly the bigger 2.8 inch flushed screen, bigger battery, and the shiny black color. In the end, I think it looks great and a lot better looking than the older Nokia N95 variations.
I won’t talk about using the Nokia N95 8GB yet. Let’s think about the curious costumer who just glances by and sees the Nokia N95 8GB. First impressions determines what phone catches my attention and appearance plays a major role.
Dimensions. The dimensions are 99mm x 53mm x 21mm. That doesn’t sound too bad, but let’s compare it to other popular phones, the Nokia N82 and Apple iPhone 8GB. The Nokia N95 8GB is the thickest of the three but also the shortest.
- Apple iPhone 8GB: 115mm x 61mm x 11.6mm
- Nokia N82: 112mm x 50.2mm x 17.3mm
Apple iPhone 8gb, Nokia N82, and Nokia N95 8GB side by side
Let’s start the tour of the Nokia N95 8GB.
Front
In a closed position, the first thing you notice is the glossy 2.8 inch screen. It is flushed with the rest of the surface which is shiny. The problem with this is that lighting can reflect off the screen and may obstruct your view. It can also be a fingerprint magnet. I personally like the gloss and shine.
Glossy display on the Nokia N95 8GB
On top of the screen are the earpiece, secondary camera, and a light sensor which automatically adjusts display and keypad brightness according to the surrounding.
Below the screen are some buttons for calling, ending calls, and navigating around the phone. There also dedicated buttons to the Menu and the Multimedia Menu. I’ll explain more about its uses in the next post on using the Nokia N95 8GB. For now, let’s stay to the look and feel aspects.
Nokia N95 8GB versus Nokia N95 NAM buttons
The buttons are quite easy to press and provide great tactile feedback. You know which buttons you are pressing without looking at the N95 8GB. This is handy for those who like to use the phone while driving. The contrasting chrome with black buttons look great, too.
Dual Slide. The Nokia N95 8GB is more than a slider phone. Sliding both ways shows either the numeric keypad or media playback buttons. The original Nokia N95 received a lot of complaints on the poor build quality on the older Nokia N95-1, but that is now fixed. There are however, small amount of people who complain about the slider, so just hope that you are not unlucky.
Back
The surface has a “sticky” rubber surface which makes it feel comfortable in the hands. Don’t worry about the phone slipping through.
The back of the Nokia N95 8GB.
Camera. The main feature of the back is the 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens. LED flash is right next to the lens and you might notice the absence of a camera cover. Be careful not to scratch the camera lens too much, or it might negatively affect the image quality of the photos.
Battery. Opening the battery cover shows off the 1200mah battery. Removing the battery provides access to the SIM card slot. Out of all the phones I’ve used, all the versions of Nokia N95 have provided the easiest and fastest way to remove and replace the battery and SIM card. No need for pins or paperclips.
Sides
Placed on each side are the built-in stereo speakers. The location is perfect for talking on the phone with speakerphones. I have no complaints about the volume.
On the left side are the infrared port and a 3.5mm jack for headset and the TV-out cable that lets you view your screen on a TV or monitor with composite video and RCA inputs. I haven’t used infrared yet, and I honestly think it is useless.
On the right side are the volume controls, the Gallery button, and the camera shoot button. The camera button works like other point-and-shoots. You press halfway to focus, then fully to take the picture. I like that you can really feel if the button is half-pressed or fully pressed. I did not like the camera button on the Nokia N82.
Bottom
The bottom of the Nokia N95 8GB consists of port for the charger, mini-usb connector for transferring files with the computer, and the microphone. The future models should really get rid of the charger port and just let the phones be able to charge on the mini-usb.
The microphone’s location should be acknowledged by anyone taking videos. If you are right-handed, it is easy to cover up the microphone while taking videos. Watch out for that.
Top
There’s just the power button on the top. Nothing to see here. Move along.
Nokia N95 8GB Top View
Look and Feel Final Thoughts
The Nokia N95 8GB looks great. Just put it next to the older Nokia N95 model, and you’ll agree without a doubt how much more beautiful it is. A big minus, however, is a missing micro-SD card slot. Transferring files will be limited to bluetooth or USB transfer.
I’ll finish this part off by saying that I agree with Steve Litchfield’s review claiming the Nokia N95 8GB is the best phone ever made. I’ll explain more in an upcoming post when I review about using the Nokia N95 8GB. Make sure to subscribe to the Nokia Blog feed.
Andrew Leung on 26 March 2008:
indeed the best phone ever. finally putting the tablet to good use btw, posting on this thing.
Rupert on 27 March 2008:
Yeah, I just got my hands on one this week. Good breakdown of it.
When you get to talking about using it, no doubt you’ll note that the video editor has been removed. This might be of passing concern to you - but to me, it’s everything. The phone is useless without it. I’ve spent a year shooting and cutting and posting creative films with my N93. I was so excited about my upgrade to the N95 8GB. I’m STUNNED by their decision to remove what to me is the key application. I’m going to have to get rid of it, now - and I’m pretty depressed about the future of filmmaking on mobile devices. I guess Nokia have surrendered this ground to Apple, who doubtless will include video and a version of iMovie on a future version of the iPhone. Incredibly sad, because I loved Nokia’s editor. And I have converted a *lot* of other videobloggers to Nokia devices just because of it.
Mark Guim on 27 March 2008:
@Rupert I hate that Nokia removed the video editor out, but if you’re into videoblogging, the video editor is not enough. I’ll use iMovie for that. For the quick and short vlogs, just use Qik and the videos will be up immediately for everyone to enjoy.
Dan on 27 March 2008:
I’d probably go along with the best phone ever, but it’s not perfect.
Mine seems to have developed a bit of a smudge under the screen too. Most annoying.
Rupert on 28 March 2008:
@mark thanks - yes, i love Qik, too - but you’re wrong about the video editor not being enough for videoblogging. It’s quite an amazing piece of kit when you get used to it. If you check out my blog - http://twittervlog.tv - you’ll see 200 or so quite intricately edited videoblog posts that I’ve made in the last year using the video editor on my N93.
Once sent from my N93 to Blip.tv, they would crosspost to my blog and to Twitter, so everyone could see things as I posted them and respond.
It started out as an week’s experiment, but I ended up loving the immediacy of it so much that I carried on. I love being able to make everything in the phone and post direct - without the huge amount of time spent transferring footage to the computer, importing it into iMovie or FCP, then exporting/compressing and then uploading. Frees you up to be able to post things in the moment, as you experience them.
Rupert on 28 March 2008:
@mark …which is why i’m so upset about the video editor being removed from the N95 8GB. Having pioneered creative video art made all on one device, and having built up a large audience for it, and had my films screened at festivals around the world, I’m depressed that Nokia see it as so unimportant that they’ll actually remove it (not that they know I exist).