| Launched at last: Nokia’s N95 8GB strikes back at iPhone |
|
|
|
| Written by Alex Zaharov-Reutt | |
| Tuesday, 16 October 2007 | |
|
Page 1 of 2 When Nokia released the N95, a new level of mobile computing and communications power had been reached. Sure, other companies had released phones with Wi-Fi, cameras, 3.5G connections, large screens (some with touch capabilities) and other high-end features, but the N95 brought it all together in a small, compact package. The 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss camera, great video recording capabilities compared with virtually all other phones, streaming media, Wi-Fi, 3.5G, a 2.6-inch LCD screen, the media playback, streaming and recording capabilities, the really good web browser (bettered only by Opera Mini’s latest Beta 2 which delivers a great mobile Internet experience on many phones today), excellent 3rd party software support, inbuilt GPS, video out, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP and more are all still standout capabilities today, in any phone. But the N95 suffered from three main things: short battery life, an operating system that should be snappier and capable of running several programs at the same time before running out of memory, and even with the ability to plug in a 2GB MicroSD card, wanting to have even more storage space to hand. The N95 8GB was designed to alleviate these problems in an upgraded new model, complementing the existing N95 which still remains on sale. Aside from preloading the SpiderMan 3 movie on special edition N95 8GB’s destined for Europe and only some countries in the Middle East and Africa, the screen size has been increased to 2.8-inches, the storage space increased to 8GB and, according to reviewers, the operating system is much snappier compared to the original N95, which is partly thanks to the vastly increased storage space. The Assisted-GPS feature that speeds up the N95’s ability to get a GPS lock when the latest v12 firmware is installed is included as a standard with the N95 8GB, so all users get it from day one, the internal antenna is said to have been improved, the ability to download music over-the-air through Nokia’s upcoming online music store is built-in and it’s also compatible with Nokia’s re-launch of the N-Gage mobile gaming initiative, and is meant to work with a range of Nokia phones, hopefully building a massive base of online gamers worldwide. But the headline feature is the 8GB of storage. Now that the iPod touch is available in 8GB and 16GB sizes, 8GB isn’t quite as impressive anymore, but it matches today’s iPhone and is the new absolute minimum for any true handheld computing and communications device, with phones towards the end of next year surely offering 16GB and 32GB as standard. But pausing the fast forward and rewinding to the present brings us back to a 8GB phone, which is still big enough to store up to 20 hours of video, or 6000 songs. Obviously, in use, you’ll end up with a mixture of the two, and will have other data besides residing on the phone. As it has a mini USB port, it can also be used as a portable storage device – just as the N95 can now, simply and easily – just plug it in and choose the USB storage option from the N95’s screen. Being able to store more songs is always good, but the ability to record hours of video clips before running out of space means users are like to record more video from their lives, to share with friends and family, simply because it’s easy and practical to do, and with either PCs or Macs, easy to share on YouTube or on home made DVDs or emailed to others. The other improvement is longer battery life. No, it doesn’t have a 20 hour life, matching the 8GB video recording capacity. But as you’ll see below, it is improved – and at least it can be replaced at will with a fully charged spare when the first goes flat if you know you’re going to heavily use all of the phones features and won’t be anywhere near a power point. Currently, the original N95 uses a Nokia BL-5F 950mAH battery to deliver ‘up to’ 160 minutes or 2.7 hours of talk time when connected to a 3G network, or up to 240 minutes or 4 hours when connected to a 2G network. Standby times are 200 hours on 3G and 225 hours on 2G. Thankfully, N95 8GB uses a more powerful Nokia BL-6F 1200mAH battery to deliver up to 210 minutes or 3.5 hours on a 3G network, and up to 300 minutes or 5 hours when connected to a 2G network, although doing so means you’ll only be able to connect to wireless data at EDGE speeds and can’t make or receive video calls – but at least you’ve got the choice. Standby time is 280 hours whether you’re on a 2G or 3G network. While it’s still not the 8 hours of talk time that the 2G and EDGE connected iPhone offers, it’s still a welcome boost over the original N95, and still offers the ability to insert another fully charged battery if needed. So, after all this N95 8GB goodness - what is it missing from the N95 8GB and how could it be better, and how does it compare with the iPhone? Please read onto page 2 for the conclusion! |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
Subscribe to iTWire's daily e-newsletter now and get a FREE 12 month license to project management software valued at $99 USD. 
