Flashback: Nokia N97 was an "iPhone killer" that helped kill Nokia instead

22 November 2020
Touch support on Symbian S60 was the proverbial lipstick on a pig. Neither Nokia's hardware nor its software were ready for the modern digital era.

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  • 6
  • 6ix
  • r3H
  • 23 Nov 2020

But let’s admit it, iPhones have always been the standard from then till then, and not once has it ever been the best at one particular thing or spec, but it just does everything well, it’s no coincidence it’s the standard, just read that article again and see How people have somehow preferred apple at each turn ,I’m talking to every android fanboy reading this, is Apple really a fraud? Do they deserve the hate?

    • 6
    • 6ix
    • r3H
    • 23 Nov 2020

    Anonymous, 23 Nov 2020To say it is far ahead is the biggest misinformed .I think what he means to say is they had a decent headstart to the smartphone OS race. Which isn’t what it seems cause Android and IOS were beasts but it was left to developers to have the resources and tech wiz to max out its possibilities. That time difference mostly confuses people to think Symbian was even in the race, Symbian lost as soon as IOS & AOS surfaced, not when they actually caught up

      AnonD-955101, 23 Nov 2020Either you are 9 year old or you are just trolling. people who didnt use nokia device at its prime dont know what it means to build quality that every smartphone now a days lack.

        • S
        • Shiny Dave
        • mpm
        • 23 Nov 2020

        This was the era where I had E-series phones - I think the E63 at this point, sure I had the E61 before. Symbian was a great fit for the keyboard and D-pad approach, and I made so much use of those phones as a student, for work and play.

        When I got a job requiring extensive travel, I had to get a phone with GPS. I nearly got the E72 because I couldn't handle touchscreens well, and then the Dell Streak happened and gave me a screen big enough that my dyspraxia wasn't stopping me from typing. Never thought I'd find touchscreens easier than those keyboards, but after an adjustment, I did.

        The N97 felt DOA immediately. My mum had a resistive touch phone and I tried it to find it was utterly unusable for me, and I couldn't believe Nokia's flagship that late was resistive touch. The E63 was my perfect student phone, but it was long clear that capacitive touch changed the game.

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • PE3
          • 23 Nov 2020

          Hg, 23 Nov 2020It was Amercian companies that buy an American CEO to purpo... moreTo say it is far ahead is the biggest misinformed .

            joe nodden, 23 Nov 2020And it stayed dead to this very day. With zero chance for r... moreWell, sadly you are right. HMD who makes the new Nokias are not the same brand. So the original Nokia is still dead, and HMD can not grow that big to challenge the big boys(Samsung or Apple). In my opinion the biggest mistake was to make Windows Phones, and not making Android phones starting from 2009. They thought Symbian can be a good solution when it wasn't. They started with Meego OS too(before making Windows phones), and they failed again.
            So, Nokia is dead for good.

              And it stayed dead to this very day. With zero chance for revival anytime soon.

                • G
                • Gee
                • mqw
                • 23 Nov 2020

                I was still rocking my N95, so never even looked that this. :)

                  I had one of these phones. It was. Without doubt, the worst phone I have ever owned. Everything about it was appalling to the extent I sold it very quickly. It still gripes just how bad everything about the experience with it was.

                  This phone meant I would not think about getting another Nokia

                    ciquta, 23 Nov 2020No way, I remember when the iPhone came out it was a TOTAL ... moreWhen iphone came out it didnt affect Nokia At all, from 2007 to 2010 Nokia concistenly sold 400m+ phones every Year. And at smarphone department Nokia grew faster than Apple and Samsung combined. Then Elop came produce burning memo, discontinued symbian and move to Windows phone. Then Here Nokia dropped really fast, Apple and Samsung Fill void left by Nokia.

                    Nokia Died because of Internal Conflicts and not by introduction of iphone.

                      Essen, 23 Nov 2020I am no CEO of Nokia or Blackberry. But when the iPhone did... moreRightly said. Something to think about.

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • TRF
                        • 23 Nov 2020

                        Anonymous, 23 Nov 2020Cant be worse than Y, Ace, young etc ... What's bad about Ace? It's cheap and gets the job done.

                          • A
                          • Adi
                          • txp
                          • 23 Nov 2020

                          This phone turned me from Nokia fans to nokia hater. The software is so corrupted and unusable.
                          I faced almost all issues that happened to this video
                          https://youtu.be/vJpEuMidcSU

                            • R
                            • Robbie
                            • nHD
                            • 23 Nov 2020

                            I had one from new. Loved it. Took at least 6 months and several firmware updates until it was properly usable though.
                            Had a N900 after which was a powerhouse for the time

                              • H
                              • Hg
                              • Hk}
                              • 23 Nov 2020

                              It was Amercian companies that buy an American CEO to purposely destroy Nokia. Symbain was far ahead of iOS and Android interms of being resource efficiency, secure and privacy focused. Only tweak needed was the UI element. Simple coding nothing divine that needed to be improved.
                              But Nokia decided to move towards a more technically advance OS Meego, which was a great technical decision. The multitasking and app development would technically surpass everything in the market.
                              The Elop came along dumped every important technical decision. Moved everything towords Windows CE, half baked OS. Most developers in their right mind would sense the politics involved. WinCe Os was a political decision rather than a technical decision. Infact even Elop had to dump Windows CE within a few months and moved towards Windows NT. Took 2 years to move towards NT and by that time developers had already their resources into Andorid and iOS.
                              To say that Symbain and Meego were behind is just being uninformed. Sure it had its faults but codes were being written to address those issues. Nokia had to be killed for Android and iOS to rise. That was Elops job .

                                Rain, 23 Nov 2020Actually very bad touchscreenfor me their screen respond not that bad . but using its stylus given .. yeah. thats bad

                                  Peter-B, 23 Nov 2020This is the N97-like phone I was referring to. Well, this a... morethat one look more like E7 than N97

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                                    • the konigsberger
                                    • vae
                                    • 23 Nov 2020

                                    i did try a nokia n97 back in the days when it was on display in telco stores in sydney and i almost got hand injury a few times when i opened it.enough said.

                                      • F
                                      • Faisal J
                                      • 2Ad
                                      • 23 Nov 2020

                                      Nokia had introduced one of the best mobile phones to the world. The brand had the capacity to produce mobile phones ranges from very low range to high. There were hardly some models which were disliked. However, the brand could not match its excellence according to the new need of the market. Apple and other Android devices swallowed market leaders "Nokia" as they were never there. Blackberry is one of them as well.

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                                        • AnkitG
                                        • rJs
                                        • 23 Nov 2020

                                        Nokia N97 was an amazing smartphone and with a good touch, it had a powerful keypad as well. Loved that device from Nokia.