Camera Phones Plaza

The construction is one of the strengths of the new Nokia N97. You can observe the manufacturer’s attention for a phone that would be the main landmark in this year. Nokia N97 is a slider, but not a normal slider. By triggering the mechanism, the screen turns at an angle of about 30 degrees.

The front side resembles pretty good with the 5800 XpressMusic. Its touchscreen measures 3.5 inch and occupies most of the phone. The screen quality is already standard, we cannot say that it is extraordinary, but it is not bad. Under the screen, we find only 3 buttons. An oblique button, that opens the main menu and returns the user in the standby screen and two touch sensitive buttons for calls.

The touch part, including the screen and the two sensitive buttons, is OK. The touching commands are made better than in the 5800 XM. In fact, it very rarely happens to be forced to repeat the command. The touch sensitive buttons dedicated to calls are also very well designed.

The dimensions and its thickness are decent for a device in this segment. Sure, N97 is thicker compared to a regular phone. However, it is thicker than a modern slider should be.

The first impression is that the QWERTY keypad buttons are small. By practicing, you can write very fast and the feedback given to the press is very good. The space button is not placed in the center as we expected, but is the third key on the right. Once you get used to the placement of the space button, you will notice that it is very easy to hit it with your right hand thumb.

On the left of the keyboard, lies a 5-way D-Pad. It provides an alternative to the touchscreen, but an incomplete alternative. From the keyboard and the D-Pad, you can do about all the operations that you could do from the touch screen, except for exiting a menu or an application. Perhaps a small back button would have been a great idea.

On the sides of the phone, in addition to the usual buttons and inputs (volume, camera, microUSB, audio and the on / off power button), N97 has a locking mechanism that locks / unlocks the screen and keys. It does not create difficulties when using it, except for the fact that locking and unlocking the device, is being affected by a bug that is felt from time to time. The screen does not turn on when you unlock it. The same happens when blocking and the screen does not shut down sometimes.

Another plus is gained for the simple and effective mechanism, which is protecting the camera. It is simply a cap, which moves to the right / left side, to cover / uncover the lens. We should mention that moving cap to the right leads to the unblocking of the phone and the starting of the camera application. On one side, we have the facility of taking pictures fast. On the other side, you can accidentally remove the cap when you keep it in your pocket, leading to the unblocking of the phone.

Immature is the word that describes the version 9.4 of Symbian S60 interface 5 the best. It is actually the same version that XM 5800 had. Normally, Nokia would have to repair the mistakes of the first touchscreen Symbian version. Unfortunately, they did not do it, and on Nokia N97, you encounter the same problem as on 5800 XM. Some commands are accepted on a single press, while other commands are accepted only after the second press. The first one has a selection role. The selection is also made for a purpose, for example, when there is a set of options that are available only by selecting an item. On Symbian S60 9.4 it is useless to press twice. For example, in the configuration menu, to enter a particular section, you must first select it, and then you enter it, after you press the second time. Let someone from Nokia explain us, what is the logic of this approach. If you get used to this problem you can live together with the operating system in peace. The screen takes orders promptly and the system works very well.

The widgets disease struck Nokia now too. Already more and more manufacturers adopt the widgets fashion on the standby screen mode. For those who do not know, widgets are mini-applications that can be configured and rearranged after your own taste. N97 provides you, directly in the standby screen, with multiple applications as widgets: clock, date, active profile, weather conditions, schedule, one or two lists of favorite applications and one or two lists of favorite contacts, e-mail, etc. Most of them have their own set of options. The number of available widgets for Nokia N97 is quite small. More can be downloaded online from the Nokia application shop. Some widgets, such as the weather and the one for Facebook, require an Internet connection.

If you want to create and edit documents, you will have to pay for an upgraded version of the Office Suite. If not, the programs from the Office Suite will be used only for opening documents, without any possibility of creating or editing documents. It is the second largest objection, after the immaturity of the operating system that I have to make. Seriously, at how expensive the phone is, is it normal to pay for the Office Suite too?

Nokia N97 has a 5 Megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens, autofocus and every little option that is already basic. The application does not come with new things, but with the classic set of settings: flash, timer, color tone, white balance, exposure, contrast, etc. The quality of the photos is good, though it does not impress. The details are good, but the color tone on the auto mode is not exactly the most correct one.

Nokia N97 has a Li-Ion 1500 mAh battery that offers a good autonomy. With 2 hours of talk time, about 2 hours of web browsing (on HSDPA), dozens of pictures taken and transfers via Bluetooth, N97 lasted for about 3 days.

It is normal to have high expectations from a phone that comes from the most important producer. Nokia N97 is trying to rise up to our expectations and to its high price. In some ways, it even succeeds – the design, the QWERTY keyboard, etc.

Unfortunately, the operating system bugs pull down Nokia N97. The S60 OS for touchscreen needs fast improvements. If in the first phone equipped with this version, the problems were understandable, at N97 we cannot forgive them. You must remember that if you want a full Office Suite, in addition to the device's high price, you have to pay extra money to upgrade it.

Its plusses are :
+ Its construction;
+ The touchscreen;
+ The QWERTY keyboard;
+ The GPS, the Wi-Fi, and the HSDPA;
+ The 32 GB internal storage;
+ The MicroSD slot for up to 16 GB of external memory;
+ The camera;

Its minuses are
- The immature operating system;
- The Office Suite costs extra money, if you want to be able to edit the documents;
- The lock / unlock function does not always work correctly;
- Its price should be a smaller one.