Phones: Nokia N97 Smartphone – Review – 79
Nokia is back with another N-series mobile placed at the ultra-high-end reserved for road warriors and mobile internet junkies.
A 3.5-inch touchscreen displays some rather obvious iPhone envy, but Nokia avoids the pitfalls of touchscreen usability by also including a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. This props the screen up like a tiny netbook, revealing keys that are actually quite easy to type on. It takes some practice to get up to speed, but it’s definitely faster than tap-tap-tapping the cramped onscreen keyboards of other touchscreen devices. Touch interfaces can be loads of fun, but I’ve yet to see one that I could possibly use to write a 500-word review. A keyboard, however tiny, is a must-have for anyone needing to enter large amounts of text on the go.
A crisp 640×360-pixel display makes it easy to read email, handle attachments or browse the web. You’re not limited to mobile-friendly sites with the N97; many regular websites are perfectly usable in the phone’s browser. Both Flash and JavaScript are supported to a degree, though sites very heavy on either may pose a problem.
To store all of your applications, games, music, photos and videos, the N97 provides an ample 32 gigabytes of storage. Unless you’re considering an iPhone, there are few other mobile phones that provide near this capacity.
If you decide to load up all that storage with music, the N97 includes Nokia’s simple but functional MP3 player application. Background playback is supported, so you can listen to your music collection while checking your email on the bus or train. A built-in FM transmitter allows you to send your music to a nearby radio, so you can even use the N97 as an in-car MP3 player.
GPS and an electronic compass make the phone an excellent navigator, either with a license to the Nokia Maps service or with the freely downloadable Google Maps application. Either way is costly in terms of data charges but invaluable the first time you end up lost on a one-way street five minutes before a job interview.
Far more than a web-friendly phone or PDA, the N97 is one of the most functional devices you can find without moving up to a web-connected netbook. If you’re worried about the prospect of ever being offline, the N97 is an ideal sidekick. If you’re worried about the prospect of incurring massive data changes, give it a miss.
HARLEY OGIER
Network: Vodafone
CONTACT: www.nokia.co.nz
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