Great phone - depending on your network! (Nokia N96)

Member Name: Gav86

Product:	Nokia N96
Date:	15/09/09 (36 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Massive features list, great camera, loads of memory

Disadvantages: Network branded software, clumsy app store

I have such conflicting feelings about this phone, but overall, im
happy with it and what it does.

Towards the end of my last phone contract with TMobile, rather then
renewing, i thought id look around for a better deal. After some
looking around online and wandering in the shops, i decided on the
N96. I wanted something i could sync my emails/calendar etc to and
something with a decent camera and usable web browser. Got a very good
deal with Vodafone and i went home happy.

The specs on the phone are very impressive;
- 5 Megapixel camera
- 16GB internal memory with a Micro SD slot to add an additional 16GB
- Front facing VGA camera for video calls
- Quad band & Dual Band
- WiFi
- Built in accelerometer
- Mobile TV
- GPS locator for use with Google maps and satnav software
- FM & Online radio
- 128MB Ram

And alot more that i could keep listing and fill the review up with.
But as you can see, its pretty well kitted out and i was happy with my
choice.

The Symbian operating system - while getting old in comparison to
iPhone OS or Palm OS for example - is very straightforward to use and
offers alot of customisation. I changed my home screen to show my
calendar entries, Wifi networks in range, and altered my shortcuts to
my contacts, emails etc. So far so good!

I then went ahead and linked all of my calendars together which is
very straightforward. So my Outlook calendar in the office, talks to
my Google calendar, which talks to my iCal on my Macbook at home, and
vice-versa. And with a bit of software on the N96 called 'Mail for
Exchange' my Google calendar talks to my phone, so everything is in
sync wherever i am. Very cool!

The 3G connection to the internet works well, and with my unlimited
data plan its really easy to get on the internet, check my emails,
sync data and access most things on the web, inlcuding a nice quick
little Youtube application. If youre near a WiFi connection, it
obviously makes things much quicker, and im yet to have an issue
connecting to WiFi.

To compete with other handset manufacturers Nokia have launched their
own application store named the 'Ovi Store'. This can be accessed
through the web on a computer or through your phone. A standalone
application can be downloaded to the N96 for quick access.
While this is a nice idea, the execution has been pretty poor in my
opinion. The store seems very unorganised and anythign can be
submitted - from apps, to games, wallpapers, videos etc. IT just gets
a bit untidy.
The only thing i have downloaded from the Ovi Store is a magnifier
application that works though the camera. A bot of fun for a few
minutes and thats about it. Apples App store is much better set out
and easier to use.

The camera on this phone is excellent. Crisp, clear pictures are
taken, it has a great double LED flash, lots of photo tweaking
features and the video recording mode is similarly great. While it may
not rival a standalone digital camera (or some of the newer Sony
Ericsson camera phones) it is definitely very usable and the pictures
are easily transferred to PC etc or just chuck them in a message and
send it off to Twitter or Facebook using the nice and quick 3G
connection.

Other features such as the media player, word processor, pdf reader
and games all work well and as expected. Although, all of the games
are just demos, full versions need to be downloaded. Tetris isnt much
fun when the game ends after youve put down about a dozen bricks!

The major downside for this phone to me is the Vodafone network
branded software. It is currently based on Nokias V11 software which
is now over a year old. Nokia is now up to V30 with N96 software.
V11 leaves the phone sluggish and unresponsive at times, hard to use,
and very frustrating when trying to get things done. V30 is apparently
a world of difference.
The network consistently say they will get it sorted, but as they do
not stock the phone anymore, it isnt looking good. I am waiting for my
12 month network warranty to run out before i debrand the phone and
use Nokias up to date software, so i can use the phone as it is meant
to be used!

Potential to be a fantastic bit of kit, let down by the software. 3.5/5

Summary: Great phone let down by Network branded software

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