Nokia N97 Review of a Prototype

Last Friday during the New York Nokia Users Meetup, I played with a Nokia N97 prototype. I’m now giving you my initial thoughts about the device. It’s nowhere near production because it kept crashing. Since the hardware is pretty much what we’ll see when it comes out, this preview will be based on that.

Gwapz and Nokia n97
Erick from MWI with the Nokia N97. Photo by Will Sisti.

Slider

I inspected the sliding mechanism right away. It is very cool! It’s really firm. You hear nice solid clicks when you slide it up or down. The quality was so good that I was constantly sliding it up and down and didn’t notice any wobble to the sides. We’ll have to wait and see if the production models maintain this high quality.

Take a look at the video below and to inspect the slider. Head to the blog if the video is not visible in your RSS reader.

Keyboard

The keyboard layout was designed differently from a typical Qwerty keyboard. The spacebar is located to the right side. It took only a few minutes to get used to, so this is not an issue I’m worried about.

Nokia n97 Keyboard
Keyboard close up

Last Friday, I was concerned that the Nokia N97 was missing a dedicated period button. I told everyone on Twitter that I couldn’t find it! I had to press the Chr button and then click the screen to select the period. A second look at the official press photos and other sources show it being to the right of the letter L. The prototype I played with had the letter Ñ.

I did not have any issues pressing the buttons. All the presses were recognized by the phone. If you were fine using the tiny keyboard on the Nokia E71, the N97 shouldn’t be a problem. The buttons also felt like hard rubber, different from the rest of the phone. The friction from the buttons’ surface helped me feel the separation.

Touchscreen

I’m not sure what I feel about navigating through the menu with the touch screen. For a prototype, the interface was very quick and responsive. My problem was sometimes a menu only needed one click, while others needed a double click. Very confusing, but I’ll wait for the final product to give my judgment.

Scrolling though lists is different from many of us are used to with the iPhone. For example, on the iPhone, you drag up to go down the list. On the Nokia N97, you guide down to go down the list. I hope you can imagine what I just said. We all know that there’s no multi-touch support so we can’t pinch or expand our fingers to zoom in or out of web pages or photos. I will honestly say that with the few hours I spent playing with the Nokia N97, I still preferred the “touch” experience on the iPhone.

Final Thoughts

I’m looking forward to the Nokia N97 because it has great potential. Like what I wrote previously, it could be the answer to my problem. Contributor Renegade Fanboy also chimed in that it will be an amazing device but there could be 5 reasons not to buy the N97. We’ll have to wait for the final retail version of the Nokia N97 to make our thorough review. I really hope Nokia does not disappoint us.

View Comments »

  1. The UI issue you mention, about menu options sometimes needing one click and sometimes two, is exactly the same problem currently on the 5800 XM. I’ve had a 5800 for about a month now and can attest that it’s annoying. I really hope they address this small usability glitch before the N97 comes out because it’s one of those details that seems small but stands out, like sand in your shoes.

  2. [...] Read more from the original source:

  3. [...] More Here… here Sphere: Related [...]

  4. [...] I found on the Nokia Blog a post that mentions the meeting in NYC that Nokia Users had on January 23rd. They were lucky [...]

  5. @Chris Walters, I hope they fix that issue on both devices.

  6. Just out of curiosity: did you try the Audio-Player? And if so, do you by any chance remember if the N97 has also only 10% steps to raise or to lower the volume?

  7. I have the Nokia 5800 for about 3 weeks now. Although the issue with having to click 2 times instead of 1 time might be annoying, but you can get used to it…

    All this whining about that mechanism is getting annoying by the time. It’s the way it is. It’s different to other touch screens, but yeah, Nokia has to maintain a common base for both touch and non-touch phones. Otherwise prices will raise due to developing costs.

    During my 3 (or were they just 2?) of heavy usage of the Nokia 5800 I don’t even have to think about if I have to click once or twice.

    This reminds about the discussion of iphone fanboys vs iphone haters where the haters allways come up with: “You cannot even copy and paste with the iphone. the phone is rubbish”. That was funny for the first 2 days. Than it was annoying.

    Regards,
    Jeran

  8. “For example, on the iPhone, you drag up to go down the list. On the Nokia N97, you guide down to go down the list.”

    That’s terrible. It’s very intuitive, that when You want to go down the list, You drag up. It works in iPhone and Android. I hope Nokia will add option to choose how You need to drag to scroll down the list. That would be the best option. Let users choose.

  9. [...] Guim has managed to have a play with an N97 prototype, and it’s fair to say he’s a convert, as he reports on The Nokia [...]

  10. Mark, what’s the keyboard like to use? I notice there’s only one shift key.

    This is the same as the Toshiba Portege G910, and it measn you have to get your fingers into all sorts of contortions when you want a capital A, for example, or to use the @ symbol.

    The G910 was the worst keyboard (and smartphone!) I’ve ever used – is the N97 any better?

  11. That’s a good clicky lookin slider!

    It’s funny that you can hear Serko raving about the Palm Pre in the background audio! : )

  12. @matthew bennett, lol serko was talking about the Pre the whole night.

  13. [...] The Nokia N97 is planned as an N-Gage compatible device. For a hands-on look at the N97 in prototype form, check out this story on Nokiablog.com. [...]

  14. I have been waiting for years for a touchscreen nokia & now all I can say is GOOGLE ANDROID. Nokia Nokia who designed the software the scrolling should be the same as every other touchscreen Why WHy Why, I am going to move to Android as they seem to listen to the consumer.

  15. [...] The Nokia Blog – Hands on with the N97 prototype, video of the slider [...]

  16. [...] via [thenokiablog] [...]

  17. [...] Kollegen von “The Nokia Blog” haben bei Youtube ein neues Video über das Nokia N97 eingestellt. Auf dem knapp [...]

  18. [...] toetsenbord van de Nokia N97 is onlangs door Thenokiablog.com aan een test onderworpen. Een van de opvallendste conclusies is dat het toetsenbord, in [...]

  19. Looking forward to the release of the Nokia N97. Am thinking Facebook or twitter will build an application to use the social location functionality so everyone knowns where you are. Obly thing im thinking about this phone is that nokia should of gone Android!

  20. which phone will be better de new iphone 3g 32 gb comin out in 2009 or de n97. how much will the n97 cost in the uk.

  21. The Chinese copy people have already made there N97 an its available on tradetang.com,so thats what Nokias got to stop doing announcing there phones to early then copies of there mobiles get released by the Chinese copy makers an the N86 will be the same,so buying a phone on the internet you better check out your buying the original Nokia phone an not the copy one

  22. [...] The Nokia Blog have a nice review of a prototype N97 with this video showing what they describe as a slider function that is smooth and responsive. [...]

  23. The for market version looks a lot more cleaner than the prototype

  24. I have Nokia N97 32GB for sale. The price for 1 NOKIA N97 32GB is 450 USD with the shipping already included in the price For the moment I am located in Romania because I moved here recently . Anyway, the shipping will be started from here and will take only 3 days to reach your location. The phone will come Brand New, Unlocked, Full Accessories ,2 Years International Warranty, Original Box, Receipt , has GPS , WIFI , 5 MP Camera and many others. Is 100% Original from Nokia, Made in Finland. Email me at international.sellings.shop@gmail.com for more info !!

  25. I am selling the Newest NOKIA N97 32GB, New, Unlocked, In the original box with full accessories , never used or opened. Original from Nokia made in Finland. Only 450 USD , contact me now !!! HOT !!!!

  26. So the second touchscreen phone is here, hoping it is better than the Nokia 5800! Ive heard this should be with us in about 4 weeks for the UK

  27. i love this phone. the best one

  28. I have got to say that the slide out qwerty looks excellent, and if the social feature would work with twitter, they would be on a roll

  29. Nice blog :)

  30. N97 is just balls. Biggest example od hardware and software bugs in the history of nokia.

  31. Nokia N97 is a most attractive 3G Smartphone comes in black and white colour casing. It designed nokia, for many business & entertainment users suit today's mobile phone users. If you plan to buy this phone you can compare various nokia N97 contact deals http://www.askphone.co.uk/nokia-n97-contract.html and buy cheapest.

  32. nice post

  33. nice post

  34. its my new phone :P :P

  35. its my new phone :P :P

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