Nokia N96 - Pretty, but functional? (Nokia N96)

Member Name: glitterbee

Product:	Nokia N96
Date:	15/02/09 (32 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: BBC iPlayer, reasonable tarriffs, excellent sound quality.

Disadvantages: Sometimes slow and confusing navigation, some phones have better picture quality

The Nokia N96 is an extremely good-looking phone. Shiny, smooth and reassuringly weighty (although not heavy), it seems to be a phone designed for 'serious' or 'business' users. However, the pay monthly deals for the Nokia N96 are fairly reasonable, with lots of texts and minutes - sometimes unlimited internet access too.
The phone's highlight is the BBC iPlayer feature; mine came with free ready-downloaded Mighty Boosh, Dr. Who and Top Gear episodes. The picture and sound quality is amazing, as it is for the music player. The memory means that there's lots of room on the phone for music, videos and photos, which is great - but you'll need compatible Windows Media Player software to sync your computer's music to your phone.
The camera is good quality, although there are other phones out there with better picture quality if that is your main reason for buying a phone. It does come with many options such as different camera modes, sharpness and flash etc.
If there is anything to complain about with this phone (and as a non-business user, I can't help on that front) it is that it is sometimes slow and difficult to navigate. I for one took some time to read the user manual and was still stumped occasionally as to where to find certain applications.
The Nokia N96 is certainly a cool phone though, with a dual-slider and iPhone-like features such as the screen switching from portrait to landscape. I would recommend it for a casual user or someone who likes gadgety phones, but for a business phone perhaps you would be better off with something like a Blackberry.

Summary: A cool and pretty phone with a variety of extra features, but maybe not for work or business use.