Nokia N97 review: Lock, stock and touch

16 June 2009
They don’t get any bigger than that. A launch of this caliber can aptly be called inauguration day. The release of Nokia N97 is the N-series counter-move that geeks have been waiting for since November. Easily one of the most...

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  • ?
  • Anonymous
  • j{f
  • 17 Jun 2009

Andrew Tan, 17 Jun 2009Xperia 1 off course more expensive due to Microsoft licensi... moreonce again you're wrong, and you need to open your eyes...blackberry's stock increased by nearly 45% 2 months ago. You know wat caused this increase? Balckberry was released in india...so it will very soon be a sucess in other parts of the world. the satio has NOTHING except a decent camera. The n97 has so many things that the satio doesnt.. the satio is also one of the THICKEST touch screen phones out. and regardless, s.e's sales aren't even close to nokias. no matter wat you say, the satio;s sales will be far more disappointing than the n97's. I dont know how much phones sell for in asia, but in north america, the n97 is very fairly priced compared to other phones. (n97 for $725 vs. sony ericsson x1 $850+...HTC touch pro 2 $700...)...the n97 has things like carl ziess lens where as satio has a garbage lens... n97 has fm transmitter, radio with rds, 1500 mA battery, hinge design, 32 gb memory.. these things all adds to cost

    • A
    • Andrew Tan
    • wHS
    • 17 Jun 2009

    Anonymous, 17 Jun 2009well the omnia phones, x1, HTC touch pros and other full qw... moreThe last success Nokia done in high-end market is Nokia N95 8GB, after this they out nothing! N97 took one year and the outcome is just... So So ... nothing appraise about it.

    Don't deny how failure N96 are! and 5800XM is aim for middle range market.

      • A
      • Andrew Tan
      • wHS
      • 17 Jun 2009

      Anonymous, 17 Jun 2009blackberry and palm are about the service you get with the ... moreXperia 1 off course more expensive due to Microsoft licensing, and it is different OS. What the point you do comparison on it.

      I said N97 fail because I comparing it with Samsung i8910, SE Satio and even the Nokia 5800XM. (All base on same OS)

      5800XM success because they are cheap, Samsung i8910 is more appealing due to it better spec. (How many user that ready need QWERTY keyboard?), Satio also better spec than this N97 (and only Nokia ever out such crazy price, it never happen in others manufacture except WinMo phone)

      Blueberry is powerful on push email and internet, I do agree on this but this is past, now a lot of phone can have better internet and emailing. They is no point to lied on Blackberry. And please open widely your eye! Blackberry is only success in USA! It is not success in everywhere! Not in UK, not in Asian!

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • j{f
        • 17 Jun 2009

        Andrew Tan, 17 Jun 2009and one more thing, Blackberry is extremely expansive in ot... morewell the omnia phones, x1, HTC touch pros and other full qwerty keyboard touch-smartphones certainly aren't cheaper... how can people afford those? Nokia priced thier phone according to what they think is resonable. This phone will still outsell any of its competitors just becaseu nokia created such an amazing reputation for themselves with the n95 8gb, n82 and 5800. afterall, nokia is still the highest selling brand of phone in the world when compared to samsung, s.e. and lg.

          • A
          • Andrew Tan
          • wHS
          • 17 Jun 2009

          and one more thing, Blackberry is extremely expansive in others country. It is not cheap at all.

          N97 that kind of price, how many 18 - 25 age user can afford it? N97 obviously is not targeting on teenager.

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • j{f
            • 17 Jun 2009

            Andrew Tan, 17 Jun 2009A real business man using Blackberry and Palm? The most hil... moreblackberry and palm are about the service you get with the phone.. thats my point. They're not toys, they dont have nice cameras and loud speakers... they'er for email and internet, and THATS IT. SO none of the samsung, ericsson or nokia phones are ture business phones. and once again you talk about the ericsson satio which doens;t have full qwerty keyboard. I JUST mentioned that the cost of mechanical moving parts increase the price of phones SUBSTANTIALLY... and by the way, the samsung omnia HD is selling for the same price as the n97, the X1 is selling for $150 more than the n97 in north america, and the satio is expected to be more than the n97 too. I dont know about where you live, but in north america (where i live) the people who drive bentley's, ferraris, lambos, have 1+ million dollar houses, and wear rolex watches all have blackberrys and palms. THose are business men, not 15 year olds with stupid satios, 5800s and LG pradas.
            If you're so smart and think nokia over priced this phone, how about you make a housing/shell out of cardboard for an n97 and a samsung omnia (just for fun)... lets see wat uses more time, money, material and design?... (i bet you'll feel stupid after attempting the n97 casing)

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              • Andrew Tan
              • wHS
              • 17 Jun 2009

              Anonymous, 17 Jun 2009anf if you're a true business man, you're serious about wat... moreA real business man using Blackberry and Palm? The most hilarious things I ever heard.

              What so great about Blackberry? IT seems what Blackberry can do, others phone also can, include your lovely brand Nokia! And Blackberry is mainly on US market previously and they just slow down coming to Asian market, are you going to said all Asian or other country business man is not a real business man?

              Palm? Palm is dying so long, if not because of Palm Pre, they already die, and Palm Pre is more on entertaining than business purpose only.

              Did I said Samsung is the most perfect? I just take an example. Why you not talk about the processor speed? SE Satio also base on symbian S60 v5 and from the prototype set, it do perform speedy than this N97, and I guarantee it won't be that crazy price.

              Comparing 5800 with N97, is that a huge different? Not ready, but the price is extraordinary different! From the price, N97 can be much more better, at least a better processor.

              AMOLED screen is not ready that bad under sunlight, Samsung AMOLED is good under sunlight, Nokia N85 AMOLED also good under sunlight. (I believe the N86 also, I never seen this phone yet as I can't judge on it)

              Every manufacture is upgrading their processor but not Nokia. Apple iPhone 3Gs is x2 faster (you can get comparison at Engadge) Samsung is announcing few model that utilize on 800Mhz processor with 3D acceleration. SE Satio processor also seems better and the leak Xperia 2 also. Acer and Toshiba came with 1Ghz processor. Why Nokia can't do that, why Nokia still using old type processor that running lower speed and same camera unit. (The only I can get is they purchase too many units of it, and they need to face out fast)

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • j{f
                • 17 Jun 2009

                Andrew Tan, 17 Jun 2009This is not lack somethings, Nokia just touch up somethings... moreanf if you're a true business man, you're serious about wat you do and you dont have time for toys... thats wat blackberry's are about. simple, hastle free, good looking and affordable. No winmo, no symbian, and no android. just palm and blackberry... make sense andrew? still not? you're definately not even close to being business minded...

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • j{f
                  • 17 Jun 2009

                  Andrew Tan, 17 Jun 2009This is not lack somethings, Nokia just touch up somethings... morefirst of all i didn't say this phone is for business, this is a toy for peple between 18-25 years of age. second of all if you dont realise how much the price increases with that hinge design you have no idea wat you're talkin about. i'm an engineer and i can tell you how much the price increases by when you put a mechanical moving part on a phone. you make it sound like samsung's are perfect phones and have the ultimate specs. Like i mentioned before, you didn't read/understand the review, cause ONCE again they mentioned the the TFT screen can be read in the sunlight where as the OLED screens are hard to read in bright light applications. You just dont get it, once again you're trying to create the IDEAL phone. There are compromises everywhere..... You're obviously not business minded. Go get yourself a samsung since its aboslutely perfect (once again, complete sarcasm)

                    • A
                    • Andrew Tan
                    • wHS
                    • 17 Jun 2009

                    Anonymous, 17 Jun 2009you're a dumba** and obviously didn't read the reviews and ... moreThis is not lack somethings, Nokia just touch up somethings and selling with crazy price, why Nokia can do this? because too many blind follower.

                    Why the phone need to touch up so much of money if using AMOLED. Did you ever know the AMOLED use less cost than TFT? (If don't know then don't simply shot)

                    Why Samsung can give better spec but not Nokia? Samsung i8910HD spec is better in every term compared with N97. (Ya you may said Samsung i8910HD no QWERTY keypad, that is true but is QWERTY keypad ready that important? Some more Nokia take out the virtual QWERTY keypad, are you going to slide out the QWERTY keypad every time?)

                    What the point using stylus if finger can do all the task. Sytlus is just troublesome.

                    I put camera lens in last point because I know it is not so important for a business man, and you point out that as my main point.

                    N97 is ultimate phone for business perpective? Ha! Ha! Ha! As I know E series is aim for business and N is aim for multimedia and means future, is this phone ready future spec? it is not!

                    Want a great business phone? Symbian is still not ready catch up yet especially the Symbian S60 v5 touch phone. For business, go for WinMo.

                      • ?
                      • Anonymous
                      • j{f
                      • 17 Jun 2009

                      Anonymous, 17 Jun 2009N95 when it was launched had the ultimate specs,today nokia... morenokia's nt playin catch up, they've had the specs on this phone releases for over a year, so its other companies playing catch up. Look at the new samsung that has almost the EXACT same design as the n97. its got only a 5 mp camera, 2gb of memory, hlaf the battery life, bad looks and etc. Nokia is is the ONLYY full qwwerty smart touch-phone that runs on symbian. so its unique and truely has no competition directly in its class. This phone is test nseries phone for the upcoming n98...have no fear, nokia will step it up.

                        • k
                        • kabeer
                        • tAS
                        • 17 Jun 2009

                        sumone here said this fone is behind its time ..man if this fone is behind its time then then iphone is of biblical years duh!!

                          • k
                          • kabeer
                          • tAS
                          • 17 Jun 2009

                          the fone is way better then iphone ..ppl are sayin omnia hd has a better camera n wateva ...so if u want all the best things in one handset thats not possible ...iphone has a great touchscreen i agree but it dnt have a good camera n alot of other stuff ...so u cant complain that there are fones with better camera n all ...N97 is complete fone ...great touchreen ...the OS is ok ..great camera ...great QWERTY keyboard...the browser support everythng ...facebook n all the social networking sites are great to use infact the best fone for FB n all dat ...so u cant complain ...if u dnt lyk it still go get sumthn else then ...n as far as popularity is concerned it is the most popular fone ryt now..poupular then the iphone too u can see dat on gsmarena.

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • j{f
                            • 17 Jun 2009

                            you're a dumba** and obviously didn't read the reviews and articles posted. you say the phone is a failure becuase : the camera is the same as the n95 8gb, and you say it doenst have a captive screen. they stated the ADVANTAGES to having a resistive screen (you wouldn't be able to use a stylus to hand write). ANd they stated that this phone out does the camera on the n95 8gb without QUESTION and here you are talking nonsense. and if they put an OLED screen on this phone, it would have been $999 rather than $699. I guess you're the only ballin one here (complete sarcasm)... Y don't you think about wat you just said and figure out y having the ULTIMATE phone doens't make sense from a business perspective. every phone lacks something or the other.

                              • ?
                              • Anonymous
                              • iih
                              • 17 Jun 2009

                              N95 when it was launched had the ultimate specs,today nokia is playing catchup,be the camera,os interface,app store and sure marketing which apple is so good at

                                • N
                                • NightBlade
                                • 0T4
                                • 17 Jun 2009

                                Anonymous, 17 Jun 2009no doubt this phone will sell...its not amazing in any cate... moreBest looking QWERTY phone? Please. Almost every other werty has a better design than this (think X1 % TouchPro 2)

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • j{f
                                  • 17 Jun 2009

                                  Anonymous, 17 Jun 2009So it is official - N97 has failed!!! After two and a ha... moreiphone is a piece of garbage buddy, get the hell out of here...how can you compare iphone's garbage camera, garbage speakers, garbage looks, garbage battery life, and garbage reception (drops so many calls its not funny) to phones like these? iphone is out of this league with the kinds of stuff that samsung, ericcson and nokia are spitting out.

                                    • A
                                    • Andrew Tan
                                    • wHS
                                    • 17 Jun 2009

                                    After seen the review from GSMArena and PhoneArena and I just test it out at Nokia shop.

                                    It is confirm another failure product by Nokia.

                                    Why N97 fail:
                                    - Weak processor, the speed is ok but not extremely fast.
                                    - No 3D acceleration
                                    - No capacitive touch
                                    - No AMOLED screen
                                    - Bulky
                                    - Over price
                                    - Same old N95 camera lens. Let's don't talk about megapixel, the comparison here already proof it is worst than others 5 megapixel camera phone. (and for those keep saying how bad and how we no need more than 5 megapixel, are you try before 8 mega pixel camera phone? Did you ever know how great they are the quality, non of 5 megapixel phone in market now is comparable to it. All manufacture not only increase the megapixel but they do increase the lens quality as well)

                                      • k
                                      • kabeer
                                      • tAS
                                      • 17 Jun 2009

                                      this fone is just awesome ..ppl keep on saying that iphone is better n all ...the iphone is expensive then N97 n with less specs ...n by the way there is no competition btw N97 and iphone ...they are totally different fones ...N97 is way much better in specs ya alryt the OS is not comapareable to iphone but it will get better ...except the best touchscreen iphone dnt have anythn good ..poor camera ..cant use bluetooth no support for java and flash in the browser n alot more ...so N97 is jus awesome n way better then iphone in terms of specs

                                        • ?
                                        • Anonymous
                                        • j{f
                                        • 17 Jun 2009

                                        no doubt this phone will sell...its not amazing in any category, but the fact that it does everything adequately makes it a satifying phone. besdies, its definatly the BEST looking full qwerty smartphone out on the market.
                                        as far as the article and review are concerned--good job, but i have one thing to say. It was mentioned that the d-pad is for left hand users. Well, NO...its made for right hand users and nokia thought about it right becuase theright hand can move around the keyboard quickly where as the left had can't so it is placed still on the d-pad. This is also how video game controllers are made. Nokia thought about that VERY well and couldn't have done betetr for the placement of the d-pad navigation key.