About the Author

author photo

Contributor Renegade Fanboy is in a love and hate relationship with Nokia devices and software: Dr. Renegade and Mr. Fanboy blogging in one. He currently lives in Milano, Italy and writes his blog in his spare time. You can follow him in various social networks under the name of renegadefanboy.

See All Posts by This Author

5 Reasons Not to Buy The Nokia N97

January 12th, 2009 • Renegade Fanboy • Filed Under •

There is a jar next to my Mac, so far with 62 euros, waiting for Nokia to grab it from me somewhere around April. I’m confident that I’ll raise the money for the Nokia N97 – but is Nokia confident that it will be able to separate me from my 550 EUR?

Nokia n97 5 Reasons

Contrary to Mark’s post on the iPhone Pro killing the N97, I believe that it is only Nokia, who could kill the N97. I mean, if the N97 is not working for you, you can always skip it for the N86 or N900 or the real touchscreen phones from Nokia end of 2009 – start of 2010. With over a dozen S60 phones in one year, there is plenty of choice besides the N97.

5 flagships in one

Yet, the Nokia N97 is not a simple flagship, it is the combination of five:

  1. It is an N-Series flagship, with all the hardware goodness of an N9x
  2. It is the touchscreen flagship, seriously trumping the 5800 XpressMusic in all departments
  3. It will be The Flagship Ovi Device, the first, where the Ovi experience will work out-of-the-box
  4. It is timed for the revival of the S60 development community with Qt for S60
  5. It is the next N-Gage flagship device

Pretty impressive, huh?

Who could resist the N97

It will contain everything Nokia has and will cover the gaps S60 phones had in the last two years. So, if you get 5 flagships for the price of one, could you still resist buying the N97? There is plenty of time until the 2Q, but here is my 5 point checklist on when not to buy the N97:

  1. If it will not have an App Store, where you can buy 3rd party apps and download Nokia software for free (with a minimum of 100 apps)
  2. If it will not have Ovi (Nokia) account integrated across all parts of the firmware with single sign on
  3. If the battery will not make it through the day with a sample usage of all features (music, video, web, GPS, calls, messaging, N-Gage)
  4. If the Ovi Suite will not been ported to Qt and running on Windows, X11 and Mac
  5. If all parts of the Ovi web service will not become platform-independent (e.g. Music Store available on Macs, Maps 3 available without plugin)

Piece of cake, right? It is exactly my point – the N97 is an amazing device and a definite buy, but only if Nokia delivers the promise. Check out one of our sponsors, Omio, for availability and mobile phone deals.

Post to Twitter

Enjoyed this post?

Consider subscribing to our full feed RSS. You can also subscribe by email and have new posts sent directly to your inbox.

Twitter

For more updates you won't find on the blog, follow Mark on Twitter.

  • Qt, x11, ovi... All sounds gibberish to me and probably many others. I hope these are terms We don't need to know and the phone just works nicely and impresses us. I'm really excited about the n97 and can't wait. However I'm also excited about the upcoming palm and htc devices. Let's not forget about apple neither.

    Hmm 2009 is going to be an interesting year for mobile gadget fans.
  • @Mark, you are right, Qt and Ovi in itself does not solve anything.

    However, what is enabled true these technologies should benefit us users very much. My point would be, that without these "enablers", there are too many things cut from us, while Palm, HTC and Apple users can experience the benefits.
  • @Mark Guim, yes those terms should never be exposed to "regular" users, but for technical, bleeding edge people these are all the things that need to work seemlessly (invisibly?) in order that Nokia starts to beat things like the iPhone and Palm Pre
  • Jeran
    Qt ... User interface nokia adopted for s60 for faster development circles - can also be used for computer platforms like mac os x and linux
    X11 ... window manager which can be used with QT to support linux and mac os x
    Ovi ... Well, THE sharing platform by nokia (calendar, contacts, backup, files, photos, movies)

    And well, I must agree with author. I am also quite pissed that I cannot use all Nokia Services under a mac... E.g. Nokia Files, no online back syncing from web backup to mac software, picture sync iphoto to nokia handsets, firmware update via mac os x, ... Well, you see an endless list...
  • I would like any phone to become more open in regard of choice. For one I don't care about a Software Store, there are plenty of sites that allow me to download any piece of S60 software I like. And it's even possible to share software by sending them using Bluetooth (if you keep a installable package on the phone, which is a nice idea if you show your phone and apps to other S60 users).
    Well, as Jeran states it Ovi is "THE" sharing platform by nokia, but who says that I want to use Nokias sharing platform, and not something different??? For example my gallery is on 23hq.com, which isn't supported by Share Online (at least not w/o some hacking and giving away account infos to third parties). My blog is on a service called twoday.net and so far I haven't found a way of using it from my mobile phone.
    I don't like using the platform of any vendor, or a specific carrier. This is why I never considered buying the iPhone in the first place.
    Symbian becoming more open in general would be awesome, I guess it would attract many people that want to have the "freedom of choice".
    BTW: Having Qt is only great for developer, and I really hope that it'll make developing for S60 more easy.
  • @Christian, currently the software developers are the ones, who do not see S60 "open for business".

    While I enjoy the variety of applications on S60, ranging from wi-fi hotspots to home control, it is hard for new users to get their load of basic applications (in all kinds of flavors) and for developers to finance the development of unique apps.
  • Aaliyah Silvani
    hi, can someone please tell me and where from can i purchase the nokia n97??!! birmingham, u.k. thanks
  • Ashu
    @ Aaliyah,

    Its not on sale right now. Expect it somewhere in mid of 2009.
  • Hmmmm, not sure I agree entirely with the 5 reasons not to buy it. I agree they're issues to consider, I just don't reckon many people (other than people like me and you) will bother about those bits, and'll buy it anyway.

    Good post, by the way, I've linked through to it from my blog post, 'cause you inspired me! :O)
  • Follow up

    Its expected 1st Q of 09 at a guess (£470) 550 EUR
  • universeguy
    Hi interesting post. I have already kept money aside to buy Nokia N97. Reading this blog i will wait after its launch. Gotta hv all those features Rene mentioned. I am quite happy wth my 5800. But no major apps or games hv arrived. Touch guitar n piano sucks. Nokia is still sleeping. Developers are snoring. Phew !!! Rene any idea abt ngage game titles on N97? Thanks...
  • @universeguy, I guess there will be no need to wait too much after its launch - as these points will be clear right at that time (including N-Gage support).

    Personally, I think all of these points will happen - but it's good to remind Nokia, what is our minimum requirement. :-)
  • Aaliyah Silvani
    Thank you, £470 is not bad! i look forward 2 it
  • karatedog
    If it won't sycn offline with Outlook (aka. download mails from Outlook client software) I won't buy it.
    If it cannot connect to a protected wi-fi network (EAP-MSCHAPv2), I won't buy it.
    If it cannot use VPN (Cisco ASA, with simple username/password), I won't buy it.
    I don't need another nicely designed phone which I can use for phone, SMS and sometimes taking pictures.
  • Kel
    I'll not be buying it if I can't put spaces in telephone numbers(As on E90) reading some of the very long modern international numbers is a real chore
  • Aaliyah Sylvani
    I also won't be buying it for the same reasons you stated karatedog, ur totally right
  • nokia phones can use the 'nokia for exchange' application. works just as good as a blackberry, and guess what. its free (as long as you have the unlimited data plan)

    its not an outlook client exactly, but you can send and receive from your inbox and download and view attachments and search the corp directory.
  • karatedog
    @Neal G,
    As I mentioned earlier, no educated sysadmin would open the corporate Exchange into the internet, no matter if you use the net from wifi or 3G. So here comes the need for VPN (which sucks in Nokia).
  • Craptokker
    The N97 is now being sold (online at least) in China, it's being sold for approx US$800+ and for those of you skeptics, it's the original one. Copies of it of course are being sold for under a US$100. I really want to get one but when it's on the shelves so that I can check it out myself.
  • natalie
    how much do you think it will cost in a month, 2 months, etc.
  • natalie
    what company will have it ? i need it but cant change plans
  • Ger
    An absolute horsecrap article
  • Man, I love the look of that phone. Nice. It sucks that such a nice design can have such a negative side.
  • One thing the Nokia is good for is as a mobile broadband modem. Rather than getting an internet dongle and a new SIM, you can use your existing phone as a modem. Not quite as slick as using an iphone but it allows you to connect a netbook up and surf the web from where-ever you can get a signal.
  • kurtnelle
    Dude, all your points are ridiculous. Basically you're making comments about the Ovi store not the phone. Also, with regards to the battery, specs and reviews indicate that the battery will make it through the day.

    As for Mac ports? Forget that; I'll be very happy if Ovi doesn't touch that garbage os.
blog comments powered by Disqus
    • Subscribe to RSSSubscribe to the Nokia blog
    • Receive new posts by email

  • Sponsored Links

  • Price Checks

  • Uploaded from my Nokia

    • Beer pong andrew vs jan #n97Flood near whitestone bridge #n97 videoLate lunch at Green papaya thai restaurant #n97Vg massaman curry #n97Chicken panang curry #n97Pepper steak #n97Calamari #n97Fried tofu with peanut sauce #n97Thai iced tea #n97Signed the lease, Sheila planning where to put furniture #3gs