The N96 is an evolution of the dual-slider design Nokia released with the N95 two years ago. However, compared to the initial N95, the N96 is not as thick, though it’s wider. The slider is more taut, and there are fewer gaps in the build.
The slide mechanism has also been tweaked and now feels much smoother and sturdier, but the unique dual keypad arrangement has been retained. If you slide the screen upwards you’re met by the standard numerical keypad, but when you slide it downwards a column of four media playback controls (play, stop, fast-forward and rewind) are revealed.
This model has a 2.8-inch, QVGA screen. While not a touchscreen, it does offer striking color and a great balance between indoors viewing and outdoors needs.The rear of the N96 houses the Carl Zeiss and dual LED flash-equipped, 5 megapixel digital camera. The single-piece back panel covers the 950 mAh battery.
In order to add support for the DVB-H standard (more on that later) Nokia has had to kit the phone out with new video acceleration. This speeds up decoding of video formats like h.264, themost common standard for video on mobiles.
As ever, connectivity is absolutely top notch. As well as support for HSDPA, the phone has onboard Wi-Fi and Bluetooth complete with A2DP support, so you can stream stereo audio to a pair of wireless headphones. On the back of the N96 there’s a 5-megapixel camera with auto-focus and dual-LED flash.
N96 is simply a different evolution of the same thing. It’s a still a great phone that’s bursting at the seams with top-notch features, but it’s not a huge update on the original. Most importantly, it doesn’t provide anywhere near as good a user experience as the iPhone.
No comments yet.
Leave a comment