Nokia n91 Grey Review - Introduction & Design

Nokia's N91 is something of a breakthrough product in that its one of the first mobile phones to pack an onboard hard drive for media storage that measures in the Gigabytes, not Megabytes.  With 4GB of onboard storage (an 8GB special edition model is also available), the N91 has the same capacity as an iPod nano, making it a true contender to the "Holy Grail of Convergence" sought by manufacturers looking to replace your phone and music player with one device.

Problem is, as good as the N91 looks on paper, it doesn't quite deliver in hand.  The handset isn't lacking in features, what with WiFi connectivity, a 2MP camera, and Symbian Series 60 smartphone capabilities.  But it just doesn't have the look and feel of a true contender to the music phone throne.  Combined with its hefty pricetag, the growing capacity of flash memory cards — and yes, the flash and dazzle of the iPhone — Nokia's N91 feels like a great idea in need of some serious updating.

In a previous review, I called the Nokia N80 "a little brick of a cell phone."  If the N80 was a little brick, then the N91 is something approaching a cinder block.  To be fair, portable electronics have become so small and light that my frame of reference is no doubt skewed.  But compared to today's other state-of-the-art mobiles, the N91 is downright clunky. Measuring 113.1 x 55.2 x 22 mm
and weighing 164g, this slider phone is long, wide, thick, and heavy (though not quite as thick as the aforementioned N80).  Add to that a housing that flares out even wider at the top and a control panel that slides down even longer at the bottom, and you've got a phone that won't get lost in your pocket or purse, anyway.
 
The front of the N91 shows a 1.3 x 1.6" display flaned by a small speaker grille to the top and a row of controls - four buttons and a joystick - below.  Beneath the controls is a sliding panel with a five-key music control pad on its surface.  Sliding the panel down reveals a fourteen button dialing keypad beneath.  Despite the handset's ample size, the dialing keys are rather small and may pose some inconvenience for people with large fingers. 

On the back of the phone, the 2MP camera sensor is the sole visible feature.  The bottom portion of the back panel slides off to reveal the battery and SIM card slots. 

A single button on the top panel of the N91 controls power and profiles and sits adjacent to a lock switch, and a dual headphone/remote control jack.  The headphone jack is sized at 3.5mm, so it's compatible with standard stereo headsets.  The included in-line remote plugs into both jacks and replicates the front panel music controls as well as the 3.5mm headphone port.  The bottom of the handset has a single port for use with the included AC adapter.

Side panel features include a volume rocker switch and mini-USB port on the left and a battery release button on the right.  While I was pleased to see the inclusion of a standard USB port for connectivity, I was somewhat surprised by the lack of a dedicated camera button.

The N91's housing is made largely of steel parts, which gives it a solid feel that would be luxurious on a more sleekly designed handset.  Same with the silver chrome and grey color scheme.  As it is, the phone has an undoubtedly well constructed air to it, but its overall bulk and oddly-flared shape render it more gangly than sexy overall. 

Of course, much of the bulk can be attributed to the onboard hard drive which at the original time of the N91's conception was the only way to get 4GB of storage into a mobile handset.  With flash memory formats such as Sony's Memory Stick Pro series now available in 4 and 8GB models, however, that storage can easily be matched in a much smaller and lighter device.  Sony Ericsson's w950i Walkman phone features 4GB of onboard storage in a 15mm thick, 112g package, and the forthcoming iPhone promises up to 8GB in an 11.6mm thin package.  Nokia certainly could - and, I think, would do well to - release a flash memory based update to the N91 if they're serious about competing in the high end music phone space.