Nokia N95 camera review: High five

19 April 2007
Camera interface, description of functions, sample pictures, comparison to a digital camera, and sample VGA videos. Nokia N95 is among the first mobile phones on the European market to ever offer a 5-megapixel resolution. What’s more, its camera features a Carl Zeiss lens, automatic focus, and detailed user-configurable settings.

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  • A
  • AndyJ
  • 0pf
  • 24 Apr 2007

I have had the N95 for just under a week now and am totally impressed with it. For a symbian OS phone it is quite responsive, although it does have its times when it locks for a few seconds. The menus once you get used to them are easy to navigate and use. The wifi is brilliant, all we need in the Uk now is more free hotspots. I am stuck using it at home for now. The browser is fast over wifi and the ability to choose the amount of zoom for the page allows either easily read txt or a display of a full web page. The camera quality is the best I have ever seen on a phone and betters my old olympus digicam. The satnav system is near useless as it is so slow and expensive, although as I with O2 I have full uk maps and it works well as a map book. I would highly recommend the N95 to anyone looking for a great allround phone with market beating features!!!

    • R
    • Rus
    • SrJ
    • 21 Apr 2007

    @Alen

    They are both chosen to be best by different sources, so there is no need to arrogate that award exclusively for K800. N73 pics are sharper and better.

      • a
      • allEn
      • PGY
      • 21 Apr 2007

      now i m jst w8in 4 da new review of N95 and K800i:camera...

      @ Rus: how many tymz wil i hav 2 remind u...n ervybody dat k800i has been chosen 2 b da best gsm fone 4 2007??..yes i beliv dat n73 has more functionalitiz bt stil k800i won 4 its camera...got it? u don hav da ryts 2 say nethin against K800i n sony ericsson.

        • e
        • easy guy
        • nUx
        • 21 Apr 2007

        Hey, take it easy! Did you notice the "Read the original review at MobilMania.cz" sign on top of the review? The guys at GSMarena are not trying to sell you more Nokias - they are just as excited with the new cameraphone as every single user is.

        And for all those that keep ranting about the battery and the sound quality - wake up, guys! It's not a Nokia N95 review, it's a Nokia N95 CAMERA review! Only the CAMERA is taken into account for god's sake!

          • E
          • Erik
          • m7q
          • 21 Apr 2007

          I have had the N95 for a week now and I must say I am very pleased. I had the N80 for a year and was disappointed with most of the features especially the camera. The N95 get it all right including Wifi (though problems with encryption). I usually use my Nikon D200 for camera shots, but the N95 makes really good pictures and it will come at hand quite frequently. Regards

            • B
            • BEDZ
            • m54
            • 21 Apr 2007

            This can only be about < £100 if this was a standalone camera, and i agree with fdf, without OPTICAL ZOOM, it cant compare with a real camera whereas the N93 and Sharp's 902, 903, 904 & 910(?) have got the optical zoom.

              • C
              • Carlos
              • 4B1
              • 20 Apr 2007

              I just find that some people here do not read the review properly. It does not say anywhere that this phona can replace a camera phone and give the same definition. It talks about the difference between the two and how the camera phone is slowly catching up to the camera's resolution. It doesnt say that it is better. It keeps saying how cameras are better than phones. Can you not read? Are you, sorry to say, incompetent? Cant you understand simple english? The nokia n95 probably does take better pictures than your common 3.2 megapixel camera, but its not better than the 5 mp. Why? well if you read properly, it talks about lens size, not lens. Yes they both use the Carl Zeiss lens, but the camera one is much bigger, hence better resolutions. It's just funny to me that people are ranting about nothing.

                • R
                • Rus
                • SrJ
                • 20 Apr 2007

                Even N73 takes better pictures than K800, how can anyone compare K800 to N95, which is even better.
                You Sony Ericsson fans are pathetic.

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • F4p
                  • 20 Apr 2007

                  it looks like some cheapo saying bad about n95..
                  if n95's camera suck, sony dig cam cybershot sucks too cause they are using the same lens -.-

                    • ?
                    • Anonymous
                    • Tk0
                    • 20 Apr 2007

                    I dont think they are supporting Nokia as such - DO YOU REALLY THINK NOKIA NEED TO PAY A LITTLE WEBSITE OFF TO GIVE IT A GOOD REVIEW. NO.

                    The fact is that this phone is a stepping stone in technological advancement. It has raised the bar, and will hopefully make manufacturers aware that industry standard has just gone up a level. No more crappy 2MP cameras in every phone that's released!

                    And as for that KNOB HEAD who said MP3 is crap, battery is crap etc. Where do you get that idea from?? The MP3 and radio are as good as you will get out of a device which, including speakers weighs as much as your average remote control for a home stereo.
                    The battery life is around a day or so, but that's why it comes with a charger. I've got a 5MP digital camera, and the battery on that is nowhere near as much as this phone can provide.

                    Right, rant over. You can't slate this phone, because it has made a mark on tech advances, and that's what we need in this industry right now, in the same way that we need someone to produce a good electric car for the motor industry.

                    The reason these large corporations hold back is to try and sell us the old crap for as long as poss. People in the know will be aware of marketing extension strategies. I bet you all the money in the world that if Nokia wanted to make a 5MP cam phone a year ago they probably could, but if the ease us into the new technology they can make more $$$$$

                    It's all about the profit guys

                      • m
                      • mike
                      • Tk4
                      • 20 Apr 2007

                      this is weird whee is my comment
                      i was saying nokia n95 has really bad battery mp3 palyer is very poor sound quality from radio and mp3 is so crap and the earphones are very very chaep just like the review on gsmarena
                      i think gsmarena get lots of money from nokia for this review cos camera in this phone is the strongest piont of it but so what if the battery life is so crap
                      i think we all should give up read this website cos they are supporting crap and do not care about customers at all !!!
                      not nice guys

                        • a
                        • allEn
                        • PGY
                        • 20 Apr 2007

                        now i hav 2 beliv dat da gsmarena editor is jst in favor of nokia..all da time hez boostin nokia...i think i hav 2 remind u all dat k800 has been chosen 2 b da best gsm fone...and huevr u r mr. dont say nethin 2 paul...hez absolutely ryt..
                        i jst don beliv dat how da editor had said dat n95 and da digi camera takes da same quality pictures! dis z jst unbelieveable! N95 z shootin pics with good sharpness??huh?? whoaa.. look at da pics carefully..specially da macro pics...shoot more pics n den test it..da black borders wil clarify all ur faults!...such a cheater!...god!
                        Read da review at mobileburn... http://www.mobileburn.com/story.jsp?Page=1&Id=3298 ....dis review wil tell u guys wat kinda pics N95 can shoot..jst a good resolution..n nothin..its jst da big brother of N73 with more resolution...

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • 2CL
                          • 20 Apr 2007

                          Even the K800 has better details. The N95 has all the details smudged out.

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • PU{
                            • 20 Apr 2007

                            pual, you dont even used the phone before.. dont talk as if you know... n95 isn't just a camera, it's also has a wifi, gps, mp3.
                            dont take a camera to compare, use a moblie instead, compare with the pictures and video quailty.. and even compare whether it has wifi or not.. just like k800.. nothing special, video quality sucks..

                              • S
                              • SeF
                              • whB
                              • 20 Apr 2007

                              Samsung F700 and the upcoming SE K850, these two will once again start the prestigious gsmarena camera test since it's introduction when S700, S65 and 7610 were involved on hands on test.

                              i think even nokia put CCD sensor on their phone they won't get match to the real camera. this is where experience and expertise comes up. nokia is not a camera manufacturer from the start. they must partner with some famous camera manufacturer in order to get the correct settings for it's camera like CCD, lens and focusing calculations.

                              and i just disagree to the one who said that N95 matches the MJU cameras from olympus, hey is N95 all weather camera?

                                • a
                                • abc
                                • BJQ
                                • 19 Apr 2007

                                I have to say that the quality of the images is truly amazing for a mobile phone. What more can you guys expect from a mobile. To take shot as good as full function digital camera? No way. So don't compare it with a camera. The thing is N95 can be good enough to be substitution for a camera in some cases where u want to take good shoots without having to carry a camera all the way

                                The video capability is very good, can be comparable with the N93. It's a pity that this bad boy doesn't have optical zoom. But if it does, the size will be much bigger.

                                Sony Ericsson fan boys have to accept that so far video function in SE phones is crap. What a lame with a tiny QCIF video. Even Samsung can easily beat that.

                                Currently, N95 takes best photos, accept that. I'm waiting for SE to release a similar 5 MP and a comparision would be interesting

                                  • m
                                  • me
                                  • nCK
                                  • 19 Apr 2007

                                  the n95's camera is pretty good.anyways no camera phone will be capable of outperforming a real digital camera soon.in general speaking,a mobile phone is smaller than a camera,and it has to do a bucketload of other things whilst a camera only has to take pictures. also a digital camera has a bigger sensor than the phones do.i think that the n95 would be a cracking camera phone if it had a ccd sensor instead of a cmos.although i am curious how the sharp 910sh pictures look (if i remember correctly that has a 5 mpix ccd sensor with 2x optical zoom).so it would be interesting to see it go up against the 910sh and the 5 mpix lg.

                                    • J
                                    • Just ME
                                    • MQY
                                    • 19 Apr 2007

                                    Paul, N95 has a rather good speakers. Don't speak if yo dont know---

                                      • D
                                      • Drsilverworm
                                      • Yhd
                                      • 19 Apr 2007

                                      Not only is this NOT a full review, but it's not a complete camera review either! Where are the text document samples? One of the primary uses for my cameraphone is taking pictures of documents, this is important...

                                        • p
                                        • paul
                                        • pw7
                                        • 19 Apr 2007

                                        what is this ?
                                        awful review maybe because this phone is crap battery life is for 5h (mp3), quality of sound is very poor radio signal and sound quality is crap i have to say that review is just like nokia n95!!!! very disappointing!!!!!!!
                                        shame on you guys!!!!!