Nokia N95 Review - Features

Features

Features
 It'd almost be easier to list the features that this phone lacks than to try and catalog everything it can do.  There's the camera, the video camera, the gallery, slideshow, and media blogging software, the media player, the GPS functionality, the Web browser with EDGE and Wi-Fi ... and the list goes on.   

The N95 does everything it does quite well.  RealPlayer handles video playback while Nokia software takes care of listening to music and viewing images in gallery or slideshow mode.  Integrated software lets you upload photos direct to your Flickr account or Nokia's Lifeblog service.  Visual Radio adds to the entertainment value, and the included suite of office software provides basic functionality for dealing with email attachments and documents on the go.   

Series 60 users already know there's a ton of add-on software available out there to extend their smartphone's functionality.  While the N95 I tested did suffer from the occasional lag when switching applications, or if I had too many things running at once, in general I was able to multitask and do all of the other things power users are used to.  Be forewarned, however - extended use of the phone's many functions will run the battery down in a relative hurry.  Expect to charge your N95 every night if you make full use of its media player, WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS functionality. 

Voice Command functionality is pretty extensive but doesn't work all that well.  I'm not a big voice command user, but during my testing I had some trouble getting the N95 to recognize what I wanted it to do.  A quick hunt around the Web revealed similar results from several other users and reviewers. 

Speaking of GPS, Nokia's implementation of location-based services on N95 is generally excellent.  While turn-by-turn navigation is only available on a fee-based subscription basis, the included Maps application runs right out of the box provided that you have an active Internet connection.  I tested the functionality while connected to T-Mobile's EDGE network, and while the initial downloading of maps data took a few minutes, the GPS receiver itself was quick to connect to a satellite and mark my location on the map.  Basic searches across categories ranging from "Bars/Pubs" to "Landmarks" and "Public Transit" were speedy and accurate, and the system correctly plotted routes based on active GPS data and the many destinations available in the online database.  Detailed guides for many major cities across the globe are also available for purchase and download for use with N95.

Camera
The 5 megapixel camera built into the N95 is about as state of the art as it gets - at least for the time being.  No, it's not perfect, but it is the best camera phone I've ever seen, and brings camera phones into the realm of stand-alone digital shooters for the first time.  An autofocus lens with Carl Zeiss optics and mechanical shutter is backed by an LED diode flash assist light, and protected by a sliding lens cover.  What's funny is that over the few weeks I was testing the handset, on more than one occasion when I took it out of my pocket, a friend cried out, "Cool camera!"  They were all momentarily stunned when I gently informed them that this was actually a phone ... with a "real camera" glued to its back. 

While a hint of graininess can be spotted in a few of the photos I snapped with the N95, in general the results were very impressive.  Colors were by and large rich and vibrant, details sharp, and only really suffered in poor lighting.  Even in bad lighting, the N95 outdid other camera phones, performing on the level of an entry-level standalone camera.  The LED flash helped a little, as did the handset's automatic ISO adjustment, but ultimately dim lighting remains the downfall of even the best camera phone. 

The N95's video mode is equally impressive, capturing VGA (640 x 480) movies at a full 30 frames per second with stereo audio.  While this phone isn't going to replace your $500 camcorder just yet, it's a far better alternative than any cell phone that's come before it (or at least the equal of Nokia's own N93).  An included video cable lets you hook the phone up directly to a TV set for playback of videos and still images on the big screen.  As with still photos, lighting is everything when shooting video on N95 - particularly when played back on my 32" TV, clips shot in dim light looked a bit washed out and grainy, while those shot in optimal daylight really looked great.  The wow factor of shooting a colorful daytime scene on your phone, and then hooking that phone up to a TV set for playback really can't be denied. 

A big drawback to the N95's camera functionality is that it makes you wait.  When you open the lens cover you wait a few seconds for the camera to boot up.  When you line up a picture, you wait a beat or two for the sensor to focus.  When you snap a shot at maximum resolution, you wait a good four or five count for the image to write to memory.  On the one hand, given how much functionality is packed into such a small gadget, it's reasonable to expect the handset's processor to take a few moments to switch modes or write a few megabytes worth of data.  On the other hand, when you miss a Kodak Moment because your $750 camera phone takes three seconds to get ready, it's pretty annoying. 

Don't just take my word for it when it comes to the N95's camera, though.  Check out a whole bunch of photos on flickr taken with N95s all across the land: http://flickr.com/cameras/nokia/n95/ Next: Display & Audio »