Nokia N95 (2)

Nokia N95 review: Nokia’s crown jewel

This is the our detailed test of Nokia N95, the best equipped phone on today’s mobile market. All functions have been rigorously tested.

Official images of Nokia N95

Key features

• Two-way sliding construction
• Dedicated music keys
• Landscape screen mode
• Stereo speakers
• microSD memory card slot
• UMTS, Wi-Fi, USB, stereo Bluetooth and Infrared support
• miniUSB port
• FM radio
• 5 megapixel camera with auto focus
• Records video in VGA resolution
• GPS receiver with free basic navigation
• Symbian 9.2 OS with S60 3rd edition UI plus Feature Pack 1
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• TV-out port

Main disadvantages

• Poor battery life
• Charging through USB is not possible
• No FM RDS
• Voice assisted GPS navigation is charged
• GPS chip doesn’t work with third party applications
• Cannot edit office documents

At this moment Nokia N95 represents the crown of the entire Nokia portfolio. It is the best equipped phone on the world market. It was brought to public attention in September 2006 at an imposing Nokia show in New York. Due to the high customer demand the price is yet rather higher than the initially announced expected retail price of 550 EUR.

Nokia N95

Nokia N95 is among first mobiles to have a built-in camera with a 5 megapixel resolution. Among its lures are also an integrated GPS module, HSDPA support, two-way sliding construction, and a very handy 3.5 mm jack connector for earphones. The phone runs on Symbian 9.2 OS with the S60 3rd edition UI plus Feature Pack 1. Some of the innovations gathered under the label Feature Pack 1 are, for example, a new user function menu and a repeated alarm clock.

Unpacking

Construction and design

Pros: attractive design • comfortable size and weight for a smart phone • both-way sliding construction • high-quality plates • matt „soft touch“ surface on the back

Cons: no spring to facilitate opening • top half plays when the phone is open • friction between plastic surfaces causes creaky sounds that accompany each opening

It is a beautiful phone, discreet but at the same time irradiating a huge performance potential. The front plate is silver, while the back one is dark velvet („plumy“ in our case). Nokia N95 is coming in two color versions though: the above mentioned one and in a light „sandy“ one. The phone’s one and only design particularity is the expressed camera frame on its rear side. Surface is matt, so fingerprints will never ever be a reason to worry; except for the display, of course.

The phones slides out in both directions

Nokia N95 is a slider, but it slides either direction, which is quite surprising; this is the first time we come across such a constructional solution. A classical slide move upwards reveals the keypad, while a slide move downwards shows the four keys, through which the music player is controlled.

Moving directions according to the user mode applied in the phone

Nokia N95`s size of 99 x 53 x 21 mm is pleasing with respect to the great amount of functions it offers. The same holds true for its weight – 120 g. Nokia engineers have managed to reduce remarkably N95’s thickness (by 5 mm) and weight (by 14 grams) in comparison to the slider N80 from last year. The only smaller-body multimedia smartphone from the N series featuring a Symbian S60 3rd edition OS is Nokia N73. The latter may be longer than N95, but it is also narrower and by 2 mm thinner. Nokia N73 is lighter than Nokia N95 by mere 4 grams.

Nokia N95 looks rather compact among smartphones, but it is a true „fatty“ in comparison to common feature mobiles.

Size comparison: N73 and N95

Sliding both directions

Sliding is accompanied by „crinkly“ chafing of plastic against plastic. When you slide the top half out, it is recommended that you twist your thumb and lean it against the top edge; otherwise you will not be able to open the phone with one hand. In fact, a tiny jag (if it existed) located beneath the display against which a finger could lean would have been extremely helpful. When you slide the phone out in the opposite direction, generally you will be holding it with your both hands in a horizontal position, so you should not meet any difficulty like the above mentioned.

Sliding construction could have been elaborated better

When closed Nokia N95 shows a tiny space between both its halves. When we slid the phone upwards, however, we faced a rather unpleasant surprise: N95 produces extremely loud clicks when it is worked with in open mode. These clicks do not originate from the keys though. They are caused by the top half interfering with the bottom one. The problem is in the tiny space between them, so a press on any key results into the top half moving towards the bottom one and producing the above mentioned annoying sound. As various opinions from our discussion forum indicate, this is not a sporadic drawback, but even so, most pieces should not suffer from it. We recommend you that you test Nokia N95 well before you proceed to a purchase.

Beyond the sliding mechanism the overall construction of Nokia N95 is excellent. The plates fit in perfectly, without any creaks, at least for the moment.

Equipment, battery life and accessories

Pros: stereo speakers • instant access to images • 3.5 mm jack connector for earphones • 160 MB of internal memory • microSD memory card slot • mini charger

Cons: memory card is not part of the retail package • poor battery life

Naturally, the front plate is dominated by a large display. Nokia designers deserve a complement for having outstretched it making use of all available free space. The display is imbedded by a millimeter and thus relatively protected from scratching (in case you put your phone on a table with the display facing downwards, for example). Above the display you will find a receiver with a metal grill, an ambient light sensor for display brightness control, and a camera for video calls. Below the display is located the functional part of the keypad. It is decorated with chromium-plated keys organized in a rounded frame and with a navigation key with a glossy center.

Mounted on the top of the device is the switch on/off button, which also serves, as usual, for switching between ringing profiles. In the top of each phone’s side you will see a metal grill hiding a stereo speaker. Since the stereo effect is most appreciated during movie playing when the phone is held in a horizontal position, locating one speaker at the top and the other one in the bottom would have probably been a far happier solution. This is a minor issue, though.

Display makes full use of the front plate • camera for video calls • you will not miss the camera… • speakers on both sides

The right side of the phone also features a dual volume & zoom-control key, a camera release button, and an instant-access key to the Gallery. Newly created images can be immediately viewed without additional, unnecessary menu browsing.

Dual key for volume control of the receiver and for zoom setup • camera release button and a key for instant access to the image gallery

On the opposite side you will find a slot for earphones – a standard 3.5 jack mm compatible with any earphone type; no adapters are necessary. Surely enough, at the beginning this connector will seem like an enormous hole in the phone to you, but thank heavens it is there. Further on, you will see the discreet tiny Infrared port and a protected memory card slot. The cap of the memory card slot is easy to open due to the space nearby, which is big enough to allow you to insert your nail. Nokia N95 works with microSD memory cards, but surprisingly, there is none in the phone, or in the retail package. Apparently, Nokia chose to keep price down in reasonable limits and left card purchase to users according to their preferences. For example, Nokia E61i also comes without a memory card included in the package. Nokia N95 offers 160 MB of internal memory space that should do it as a starter.

Plug in your favorite earphones • memory card slot hidden under a protecting cap

The cap of the memory card slot is not active, that is, the phone does not recognize that you are about to extract the memory card. That is why we recommend you that you select the option „Extract memory card“ in the ringing profiles menu accessed through the switch-off button. In result, the phone will close all applications running on the card avoiding unpleasant complications. The memory card can be removed without making the above steps too, though. And of course, memory cards can be exchanged while the phone is working (hot-swap).

Daily charging

A miniUSB system connector is situated in the bottom of the device. Right next to it is the charger slot. The charger delivered with the phone is utterly minimalist with the socket plug being its biggest part. The charger slot is the same like in any other Nokia phone.

In the bottom: miniUSB connector, a charger slot… • …and an eye-let for a wrist band • charger is extremely small

On the back: the camera is surrounded by an expressed, slightly elevated silver frame. Only the bottom part of the rear plate is removable. Under it you will find a battery of capacity 950 mAh, which is advertised to provide the phone with power for up to 215 hours on stand-by or 240 minutes of calls. There is no need to tell you that these values are literally impossible to achieve. We have been testing Nokia N95 for 4 days quite intensively and we have had to charge it daily; yesterday even twice.

Only part of the rear plate is removable • what a pity there is not enough space for a bigger battery

The poor battery life of Nokia N95 is probably its most significant weakness. The phone is packed with features so that users never get bored. Yet, they may easily get bored to death if left without a battery juice. However, things do not have to go that wrong and the phone will serve you all-day long provided you watch movies and browse the Internet moderately.

Keypad, control, and display

Pros: intelligent keypad lock • the functional part of the keypad is comfortable • good numerical keypad • large display • brightness control through a light sensor • brightness can be set up manually

Cons: numeric keys could have been made bigger • uneven backlighting under the music player controls • lower display resolution • small font size in the clock on stand-by • no information LED

Keypad lock is especially interesting. Once closed Nokia N95 will not bother you asking whether it should lock the keypad or not, like Nokia N80, for example. It locks it straight away, instead. Locking takes approximately 2 seconds, which allows you to go on working with the closed phone; a brilliant solution, indeed. The lock gets automatically released when the phone is open. Locking and unlocking as described above work reliably no matter in which direction the device is slid out; it is also applied when the camera lens cover is removed – the keypad is unlocked and you can start shooting; you close back the cover and the keypad gets locked again. Of course, the lock can be deactivated through sequential presses on the corresponding context keys without opening the phone. A standard automatic lock with user-configurable idle time is available too.

The functional part is very well elaborated. The navigation key is precise and confirms presses confidently; the glossy keys form an elevated frame facilitating touch orientation. Plenty of space has been conferred to the main and multimedia menus access keys, which is admirable. The C key and the Pencil are somewhat difficult to reach when N95 is closed, but they will be rarely used in closed mode, anyway.

Comfortable, practical, no unnecessary design elements

The keys located on the right side of Nokia N95 deserve a compliment, too. They are big enough and a bit elevated, therefore easy to find by touch. The switch-off button on the top of the device is also useful, even though it is imbedded to prevent unintentional presses.

The keys mounted on the right side are elevated and thus practical • no keys on the left side • switch-off button on the top of the device

The numeric keypad consists of waves: each line represents one wave. Keys are spacey, but we expected them to be even more spacey with respect to the phone size since there is sufficient area for enlargement. When you type messages you might find uncomfortable the fact that the elevated bottom edge of the phone touches your thumb when you press particular keys. Nevertheless, we like this keypad a lot and we give it a high mark.

Imagine the sea – each line of the numerical keypad of Nokia N95 has the form of a wave

Numeric keypad backlighting is blue; the functional part glimmers with more colors. Backlighting is automatically activated when light intensity drops under a certain level. Light intensity is controlled by an ambient light sensor located above the display.

Keypad backlighting is controlled through a light sensor

The keys on the opposite side revealed by sliding the phone are black and completely flat; there are no touch orientation markers, but it is not a big deal since there are only four such keys. They might seem touch-sensitive, but they are not; they are mechanical, their plastic surface flats out slightly when pressed. Backlighting is blue and – quite surprisingly – very even.

Music player controllers feature no orientation markers

Large-screen show

We like the size of Nokia N95’s display a lot. The display has a diagonal of 2.6 inches, which is equivalent to a rectangle of 40 x 53 mm.

The largest display a Nokia NSeries phone has ever had

Resolution has not been modified: it is a standard QVGA one offering 240 x 320 pixels. Whoever is used to Nokia N80?s extremely fine display, whose pixels are virtually invisible, may be disappointed with the display of Nokia N95, which is rather „rough“ and its pixels are clearly visible if inspected in detail. Yet this fact will hardly have any importance in daily use. The display is quite neat; font is slick and polished and masks lower resolution quite successfully. Perhaps, we would have hardly been speaking about roughness in the case of Nokia N95?s display if it had not been for N80. As a matter of fact, most PocketPCs which have really large touchscreen displays feature the same resolution as Nokia N95. Nokia has already proven that it knows how to produce fine displays. With applying a standard QVGA resolution it probably aimed at 100% compatibility with all applications.

Display comparison
phone	dimensions	resolution	density
Nokia N95	40 x 53 mm	240 x 320 pixels	3,623 pixels/cm 2
Nokia N73	37 x 49 mm	240 x 320 pixels	4,236 pixels/cm 2
Nokia N80	35 x 41 mm	352 x 416 pixels	10,204 pixels/cm 2
Nokia N93	37 x 44 mm	240 x 320 pixels	4,717 pixels/cm 2
Sony Ericsson P990i	42 x 56 mm	240 x 320 pixels	3,265 pixels/cm 2
HTC P4350 (Herald)	43 x 57 mm	240 x 320 pixels	3,133 pixels/cm 2

The display shows 16 millions of colors; legibility under direct sunlight is brilliant. Backlighting is controlled through a light sensor, but at the same time you can set up brightness levels from the menu. Bear in mind that the brighter the display the more energy it uses. Default settings are optimal.

The menu offers a idle-time setup option for the backlighting (5 to 60 seconds) as well as a idle-time for the activation of the screen-saver (1 to 30 min.). In result, backlighting is off in saving mode, while the phone displays a bar with clock, date, name of active ringing profile and – if needed- icons of missed events. In screensaver mode the display is hard to see due to the lack of backlighting. Nokia N95 lacks an information LED that would twinkle when an event is missed such as the one in Nokia 6300.

Networks, data transfers, connectivity, and VoIP

Pros: GPRS and EDGE • UMTS and instant data transfers HSDPA • Wi-Fi • Bluetooth 2.0 including A2DP profile • Infrared port • miniUSB connector • USB Mass Storage • direct VoIP support • automatic setup of data profiles

Cons: data profiles cannot be automatically selected by priority • internal memory does not appear as USB Mass Storage • charging via USB is not possible

Nokia N95 is a quad-band phone, which means that it works in all four standard GSM frequency bands – 850, 900, 1800, and 1900 MHz. Here it offers data transfers via GPRS or EDGE. The phone also works with 3G UMTS networks. Apart from video calls you can also enjoy instant data transfers as fast as 3.6 MB/s thanks to the HSDPA support. The latter is already on the market in some countries, but there aren’t many networks with speeds above 1.8 MB/s.

Data transfers can be used for numerous applications straight in the phone no matter if you only browse the Internet, send images to your blog, download maps, or watch streamed video. If you like to use Nokia N95 as a computer modem, simply connect it and it will start working. The old famous much verified and constantly improved service program Nokia PC Suite creates all necessary settings on its own and when the phone is connected to a computer, all you need to do is click on the icon “Connect to Internet”. Connecting takes a few seconds.

A single click on Nokia N95 connects PC to the Internet

Using the details stored on the SIM card the phone recognizes the name of the active mobile operator and subsequently sets up all necessary data profiles – APN internet, WAP, and MMS – in accordance with this operator. If an application requiring connection to Internet is being run, Nokia N95 always asks for your preferred access point. In many cases the phone allows for presetting of a default access point that is subsequently selected automatically. Unfortunately, access points cannot be organized by priority or automatically selected according to their accessibility. To see how such options work, have a look at Sony Ericsson P990.

Manager of access points for data connection • menu • editing the parameters of the access point • you can also assign different access points to various applications in the same directory

We tested the speed of HSDPA connection repeatedly in a city of half a million inhabitants. In the center of the city it was about 800 kb/s, while in the outskirts it would frequently reach 900 kb/s and even more. Apparently, connection speed depends to a great extent on how busy the respective network is.

The phone offers an almost entire megabyte; upload is good

More results measured by Speedtest.cz

One of Nokia N95’s greatest assets is Wi-Fi support. There is an option for quick search of available WI-Fi networks straight on the stand-by display. It is especially useful in case that you often need to connect via Wi-Fi out of your home, in a restaurant, for example. You don’t need to search any settings in the menu; all you have to do is select a network and connect directly, without any complicated setup. Nokia N95 searches for available networks on its own and if it finds a known network, it connects to it automatically. Of course, you could deactivate the automatic network search option and save a little bit of energy.

Searching for available networks • connected to the network DAP • active stand-by mode menu • selecting another available network

If you are connected to a Wi-Fi network, connection appears on the stand-by display; if you select the connection icon, you can either search for other Wi-Fi networks, or select the option “Start web browsing”.

Scanning can be enabled or disabled

In the settings of Wi-Fi connection you will find an option for mode selection (infrastructure/Ad-hoc) or even a security option (WEP, WPA/WPA2).

Calls via Internet

Nokia N95 has inherited Internet calling from its „siblings“ from the E-Series. This service is preset in the phone so it works without any need for additional applications. All you need is Wi-Fi and a corresponding setup.

Setting up the internet phone is easy

Once you have set a SIP profile and an Internet phone account, when you dial a number, a new item called “Internet calls” will appear under the item “Video calls” in the context menu. This is how an Internet call is executed. However, if you want to not only make calls via Internet, but also to receive such, you should select the option “Permanent network registration” in the SIP profile settings. You can also set your preference call type from the call settings. If you go for Internet calls, Nokia N95 will dial all numbers via Internet. To restore GSM network connection, you will have to select it from context menu. As soon as Wi-Fi signals disappear, the phone will automatically give priority to GSM.

If you prefer to execute calls in Internet via Skype, install the freeware application Fring instead of setting up SIP profiles. As a result you may not have Internet telephony built straight in your phone system, but you will surely have Skype including all its extras. What’s more, this way you will even get along without Wi-Fi because Fring can also be used while the phone provides data connections to mobile network.

Stereo Bluetooth

Nokia has apparently „lost all love“ for Pop-Port, most new Nokia models feature a standard miniUSB connector instead. Nokia N95 is no exception to this rule. When you plug the cable into a PC, the phone will offer you four mode options: PC Suite, USB, Image print, and Media player. If you select USB, phone’s memory card will appear in the computer as a common removable drive. Unfortunately, Nokia N95 is not able to make its internal memory also appear in a computer as a new drive like LG Shine can, for example. Nevertheless, the fact that the phone does not go into Offline mode while it is connected to a computer through a cable, allowing user to freely make calls, is praiseworthy.

Once the cable is connected, the phone asks you to select a connection mode • permanent setup of a particular connection is possible though

Nokia N95 uses two other wireless technologies to communicate with close range devices – Bluetooth and Infrared. Nokia motivates the presence of Infrared ports in all newly launched phones from the N-Series with the possibility to use phones as remote controllers. The pity is that there is no special application in Nokia N95 that would serve this purpose.

Bluetooth works reliably. Nokia N95 supports A2DP stereo profile. You can connect more than one device to the phone simultaneously – for example, Bluetooth headset for listening to music along with a computer for synchronization.

Data connections setup menu • Bluetooth settings

System, user interface, control, speed

Pros: a wide range of options for user-configuration • automatic orientation of the display • a great amount of available applications • Java support • very good voice control • phone lock • font size is configurable from the menu

Cons: limited setup options in the active stand-by mode • no clear function of the red key • slow access to the menu with most frequently used functions

The fact that Nokia N95 works on the OS Symbian 3rd edition could hardly surprise anyone these days. Not so sure or foreseen, however, is the presence of Feature Pack 1. It is a software package full of innovations and is comparable to Service Pack created for Windows XP. The difference is that Service Pack represents a number of additional improvements to cover security defects, while Symbian brings about very practical innovations for the user interface.

At first glance nothing seems to have changed. The stand-by display shows the menu of the active stand-by mode surrounded by standard details like time, name of operator, date, LED, and the indicators of battery status and signal strength. The active stand-by mode can be deactivated. If you do so, images in the back will be better but you will lose instant access to 6 selected programs and you will not be able to see events from the calendar. You will not be able to see all available WI-FI networks so quickly, either. Honestly, we had expected the active stand-by mode within Feature Pack to be improved somehow. Already Nokia 6300 based on Series 40 had its active display compounded by 4 bars, which users could fill with whatever they wanted. The same option would have been very useful in Nokia N95 too.

When the active stand-by mode is on, the ways of the navigation key help you browse the elements on the display. If it is off, you can assign the ways of the navigation key any function, you need to access instantly. As the menu is accessible through a separate button it is possible also to assign any function to the confirming center of the navigation key. The soft keys can be assigned various functions from the stand-by mode as well.

Active stand-by mode • main menu

There are plenty of user-configurable functions. Apparently, this was the reason for the cardinal re-make of the Settings menu in the main phone menu. Settings now contain far more options than one would usually find in any older phone based on Symbian. For example, there is a new group of settings called Adjustments, where, apart from the design and the control of the stand-by display, there is also an option for selection of graphic themes. Nokia N95 offers 5 such themes; additional themes can be downloaded from Internet.

Preinstalled graphic themes

One of the fundamental innovations of this improved system is the option to set a global font size out of three possible levels. The result is visible in the menu, in messages and…simply everywhere…

Setup options

Apart from menu colors you can also modify the design of the menu. If you are not satisfied with a matrix layout of the icons, you can organize them in a list. Naturally, you can move or exchange items and applications in the main menu in a way that best suits your needs. Another novelty is the option to create a multi-level structure of items. The icons in the menu are slightly animated, but if you do not like animation, you can deactivate it. The last innovation in the menu is the indicator of running applications: if an application is running, a blue symbol appears in the top right corner next to its icon.

Main display without active mode • main menu in the form of a list • menu animation can be deactivated

The main menu is accessed through a special key located on the left of the navigation key. If you press and hold it, a vertical list with all running applications appears in background. The red key behaves a little bit strangely and its function is not completely clear. In older phones it first used to minimize applications, then it took up the function of closing applications, and today it does something in between. In Nokia N95 it usually closes applications, but it also sometimes leaves them running in background. Unfortunately, what makes it work this way has remained a mystery to us.

Switching between applications

Auto rotate

Apart from the main menu there is another special menu containing the most frequently used functions, which are user-configurable. The menu is accessed through a special key on the right of the navigation key. Feature Pack 1 brings a substitute for the hash key with its four configurable applications: an active graphic interface, in which an infinite number of applications can appear; you can set your introductory animation or admire a 3D frame. At the same time, in the background, various images will be slowly popping up. They will be either predefined, or four images you have set up on your own. Regardless their type, they are all a bit blurred in order that their visualization does not interfere with the ordinary work of the phone.

User functions menu

All these effects are really very nice, but they take too long. Eventually, after the first two testing days, we deactivated both the background and the animation extras hoping that Nokia N95 would run more smoothly, but it did not. So we put the animation back hoping that it would at least make those four seconds pass faster. Why Nokia designed this most frequently used functions menu in this way is a mystery, especially considering how sensitive users are to interface speed.

Otherwise, the phone is quite fast and scores high in direct comparison to other smartphones. Being a smartphone, however, it always takes longer to run applications that are not cached into its memory.

The display uses portrait or landscape mode according to the application that is being used. If you slide it up, it will start working in portrait mode. If you reveal the four music player keys, it immediately switches to landscape. When you close the phone, the last used visualization remains until application is not changed. The entire phone system including all its functions adapt to the display, so you can browse Internet or pictures or whatever else you like in landscape mode, for example.

Stand-by display and main menu in a landscape mode

Voice commands

We remind you that you can give voice commands to Nokia N95 as well. The phone features a voice-recognition function and is able to virtually accept any type of command. Which application will be voice-controlled and which not is up to you, as the voice-control preferences are user-configurable. Generally, voice control works smoothly. If the phone is not sure about the order it has received, however, it gives you a list of all items likely to satisfy your search. The most probable item is located on first position. The phone proceeds to its activation, unless you quickly select another of the options available or close the entire application. Voice control is especially helpful when driving. Press-hold the right context key and the application will start running.

If you want to prevent others from browsing your phone, you can set up an idle-time, after which Nokia N95 will automatically lock itself. Before you can start using the phone again, however, you will have to insert a password.

And nobody will be able to open your phone

Telephony, ringtones, phonebook

Pros: video calls • automatic change of ringing profile after connection • call filters • voice dialing based on voice recognition

Cons: display blinks during ringing, not possible to switch-off • no option for terminating calls by simply closing the phone • ringtones are independently set up for each profile

You can make calls with Nokia N95 in three different ways – the standard one in a GSM network, via Internet, or in a 3G network with video. As usual, Nokia offers a high-quality, fine sound. Both the headphone and the microphone work brilliantly and so does the loud speaker.

Nokia N95 rings in 64-voice polyphony MID files, as well as with audio files in MP3, AAC, AMR, RealAudio, and WAV format, or through vibrations. Naturally, vibrations can be combined with sound. The display backlighting becomes active too. Ringing is of average quality, even though its basses are a little bit vague. Vibrations are strong enough, but at the same time they are rather loud. We tried to find an option to make the display stop blinking when the phone is ringing, as we would have preferred to see comfortably who was calling instead of getting a visual alert about incoming calls, but our efforts were in vain.

Ringing • call process • call context menu

Game lovers will appreciate the application 3D tones installed in Nokia N95. It uses the pair of stereo speakers to create miracles through common ringtones. For example you can not only set the sound to circle around you, but you can even define at what speed it should do so. An echo option is available too. If you select the sound route called „fly“, the phone will even offer you a Doppler effect setup option.

Application 3D tones

An hour instead of a minute

When the phone is ringing, the name of the caller as well as its number and mini image appear on the display. Thumbnail images are extremely small, unfortunately. Calls are accepted by opening the phone, but they cannot be terminated by closing the device. They simply go on. In fact, calls can be executed even if the phone is not fully open. In any case, an option for terminating a call by closing the phone – if there has been such – would have been much appreciated.

Let’s now have a look at ring profiles. You can set up as many of them as you like. You can define ringtones for standard calls, a different melody for video calls, a preferred style of ringing, keypad tones, vibrations, or even call filters; the latter can be configured according to call groups in the phonebook. We have never met anyone who has a different ringtone for each profile, but this is no guarantee that such users do not exist. If they do, they will surely enjoy the configuration options for ring profiles in Nokia N95. I myself use one favorite ringtone as it helps me recognize that it is my phone that is ringing. If I want to use it in all profiles, I will have to set it in each one of them independently. A far more comfortable and universal solution would have been the option to „copy settings from another profile“ in the context menu of the respective profile, but the pity is that there is no such one.

Call setup • ringing profiles setup

Any audio file can be used as an alert for incoming message, but, once again, you will have to set it up in each profile. The alarms of the alarm clock as well as reminder sounds are set up from elsewhere and are valid for all profiles. Each group of contacts as well as individual contacts can be assigned a specific ringtone, which does not depend on the active profile, either. Another handy option is the automatic switch between profiles after connecting accessories; for example, when you plug in your headset, Nokia N95 will automatically select the profile that best suits it like the one, where caller’s name appear on the display before ringtone is activated.

Incoming calls can be denied or simply silenced. From Settings you can insert a SMS text that will be automatically sent to the person, whose call you have denied. For example: „I cannot answer your call at the moment. I will call you back later. “

You can use other functions of the phone while you are calling. For example, you can check your calendar or start the voice recorder to make a track of your call. After several years of doubts, uncertainties and intentions without result Nokia has finally designed a voice recorder that creates tracks longer than a mere minute! Nokia N95 offers an entire hour. Yet, it remains unclear why the length of voice records should depend on anything else but the available free memory only…

There are no modifications worth mentioning in the video calls application. As usual, you can switch from one camera to another, zoom-in, or cancel your image and select another one from the settings menu to represent you before the opposite side.

“Blow-up phonebook”

Executed calls are archived in a well organized call log. Here you can set how long should the log be kept: 2 days, 10 days, or a month. When you open the call register you can immediately see the name or the number of the respective contact as well as the date and the time of the call (in smaller font). You can deactivate the call log for good, too.

Call register

The phonebook is a Symbian classic. Its capacity is only limited by the available shared memory. Each contact can be assigned a great amount of fields. There are precisely 46 types of fields, but it is also possible to add more fields of the same type. The entire phonebook can be synchronized with Outlook or with Lotus Notes. The phonebook is organized in lines and is not sophisticated. The only option you can select here is whether contacts should be ordered by first name or by last name.

How you will access your phonebook is up to your choice. One reference can be found on a first position in the active stand-by mode; however, you can also set an access on one of the context keys or from the user menu, for example. The phonebook is searched by gradual typing of the initials of the respective contact. The phone filters promptly, both by first and last name. Searching by company name is not available. Nokia N95 searches its phonebook faster than older Nokia models.

Phonebook: browsing • search • contact detail • editing • groups

As any other Symbian smartphone, Nokia N95 manages voice dialing very successfully. You do not need to predefine a voice label; the phone recognizes your commands and then checks in the content of the phonebook. If you pronounce both the first and the last name of the desired contact clearly and loudly, Nokia N95 guarantees nearly a 100% probability for success.

Contacts can be organized in groups; to do so, simply mark the ones that need to go into the same group. Each group can be assigned a specific melody and used as a call filter. The list with contacts on the SIM card is fully independent; it can be opened from the context menu.

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Messaging, SMS, MMS, email

Pros: great T9 dictionary • delivery reports archived in a separate list • no need to preset MMS • good email client • possibility for setup of regular email receiving • support of office formats in attachments

Cons: last message recipient cannot be immediately selected

The message menu does not bring along any significant innovations, either. A novelty is the extended menu for creating new messages, where, along with SMS, MMS and emails, you will also find the so called audio messages, which are nothing else but instantly created MMS containing only sound.

You can receive as many SMS as you like; you will only be limited by the available shared memory. The first detail you see when you receive a message is the name of the sender; the message itself starts on the second line. SMS and MMS are stored in one and the same folder, while emails are saved in a separate directory. Reports of SMS delivery are saved to a folder of their own, too, which is convenient.

Message menu • selecting a new message • received messages folder • reading SMS

The message editor counts down characters and advises you of the number of already completed sub-messages. T9 learns new terms quickly: if you correct the word three consequent times, it will start offering you the version you offered on a first position.

Message recipients are selected from the phonebook and, of course, you can pick up more than one. There is no option for quick selection of the recent message recipients Sony Ericsson phones as well as Nokia models of Series 40 usually have this option. „Smart“ Symbian models – not yet.

Typing SMS

Sent messages are saved in a special folder, while unfinished texts are stored in a section called “Drafts”. When you decide to leave the editor in the middle of a message, Nokia N95 asks you whether it should save the message or delete it. Delivery reports can be set either globally, for all messages, or for each particular message. Delivery reports pop up for an instant on the display, after which they are saved in the folder “Reports”.

Each MMS can contain up to 300 KB of data. Creating a multimedia message is very simple: first select a recipient, then type a message subject and select content or create it (no matter if it is a picture, video or voice record). Add text and send out. If you have time and desire to play with MMS, you may want to use the function “Presentation”, which offers improved MMS pages with colorful background etc.

MMS creation • presentation function

Emails: no news

Nokia N95 can both receive and send out emails with attachments. It supports POP3 and IMAP4; emails are sent out using the protocol SMTP. Access to a mailbox is easy to set up as it is identical to the one applied in computers. All you need to do is connect to the Internet and insert your log-in name and password.

Emails • reading • setting up automatic receiving

From the settings you can select whether the phone should download entire emails including attachments or just email headers, or possibly something in between: the first X KB of each email. Besides, you can set the client to only download a certain number of all received emails. Regular mailbox checks are available too. You can even select whether only emails from local networks or, let’s say in roaming, should be downloaded; you can select the days, the hour (from – to) and the time interval (from 30 min. to 6 hours) of mailbox checks.

The email client is able to open HTML emails and attachments with no problems whatsoever. Thanks to the support of Office formats you will be even able to view attachments including Excel spreadsheets. The same array of options is applicable when emails are sent out too.

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Time organizer, Office, Internet

Pros: improved alarm clock • very well organized calendar • seamless synchronization • browser for Office and PDF documents • brilliant web browser

Cons: simple task manager • Office documents cannot be edited, only read

Here comes a miracle: Nokia has improved the alarm clock application of its Symbian smartphone! This innovation constitutes part of Feature Pack 1. The new alarm clock will wake you up at one and the same time either daily, or on working days only, or – if needed – on a particular day weekly. Besides, you can directly set up a number of such alarms. Apart from time and repetition, the application offers user-configurable text legends, so it can also be used as a substitute of the reminders in the calendar.

Good alarm clock in the end

In fact, I am probably one of the few users whom the old non-repeated alarm clock application suited perfectly as I usually wake up at different times or I simply do not set any alarm. The good news for people like me is that the old “one-time” alarm clock is still present in Nokia N95, but under a different name “Quick wake up”. The only configurable detail in it is the time.

The alarm clock will wake you up even if your phone is off. What’s more, it is so intelligent that once it has woken you up, it will ask you whether you want to switch on the entire phone.

The calendar offers month, week, and day views, of which one can be set up as a default one. The days featuring events in the month view are marked with a tiny nook. When you select this nook, a small window with event description appears in its top. The week view works in a similar way with the only difference that events are visualized in the form of oblong bars in a time axis. The daily view contains a chronological list of events.

Calendar and task manager

Nokia N95 offers four types of events: meeting, note, anniversary, and task. Once you have chosen the type you need, you can assign it a subject, a location, a deadline, and an alert time. The items in the calendar can be repeated daily, weekly, every two weeks, monthly, or every year. On the other hand, Nokia does not offer task repetition; there is no simple way to set up a reminder (for example, of a call you need to make and the number that has to be dialed), either.

The task manager is an integrated part of the calendar. Tasks can be assigned a priority and a reminder. Simple text notes without reminders are available as well, but these are located in a separate folder.

Notes

The calendar, the tasks, and the notes can all be synchronized with Microsoft Outlook. Details like deadline, subject, repetition, location, and even note are transferred without any problems

No modifications

In the menu with office functions you will also find a Voice recorder. Record length is no more limited to a mere minute. Nokia N95 provides an entire hour, instead. Record quality and storing directory (internal memory or memory card) are both controlled from the settings. Of course, Nokia has not forgotten to install a calculator, which works with roots and has enough memory, but does not manage any scientific functions.

Office functions menu

Other helpful applications are the unit converter and the barcode reader.

Browsing Office documents

Nokia N95 offers two other, far more useful viewers that manage reading Office and PDF documents. The application QuickOffice opens Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files, which you can read and browse, but not edit, unfortunately. PDF files are opened by the mobile Symbian version of Adobe Reader. And of course, all documents in the above mentioned formats can be viewed in landscape mode.

Landscape view is available too

Another useful application is Zip. It helps opening zipped documents coming in email attachments as well as sending out zipped files straight from the phone.

Internet everywhere

The Internet browser installed in Nokia N95 is not new; we know it from former Nokia phones and it is brilliant, as always. It manages complicated websites including scripts, remembers form data, works with cookies and Java, and is extremely comfortable to use. There is cursor moving on the screen, which snaps to links. If you move the cursor too quickly, a small window with your exact location pops up automatically. When you move to the previous page, the browser shows you previews of the pages you have already visited.

Internet browser • fast browsing via navigation window

The browser works very fast in the presence of WI-Fi or HSDPA networks. If you use a GPRS connection, then you will surely appreciate its economic mode. Of course, Opera Mini uses the bandwidth even wiser.

Web pages can be viewed in landscape mode; the favorites can be saved into folders, which can be subsequently synchronized with a computer browser. Nokia PC Suite offers synchronization not only with Internet Explorer, but also with Firefox. This comes to indicate that the phone quite probably supports Opera too, but we cannot confirm this fact as we did not have Opera installed in our computer while we were testing the phone.

Landscape mode

Unlike its older “siblings” Nokia N95 is quite stable and has no problems with memory insufficiency. You may only face difficulties if you start browsing very complex websites. In such case you can be sure that the message „Memory is full, close some of the currently running applications“ will appear sooner or later.

Some of the older phones featuring Symbian 3rd edition had two Internet browsers: one was called Web and the other one – Services. The reason was that the Web browser would not open WAP pages, so another browser able do read them was necessary too. Nokia N95 only has one browser managing all above mentioned tasks.

Camera

Pros: 5 megapixel resolution • active multi-plate camera cap • autofocus • a wide range of function settings • very high quality images • high quality videos in VGA resolution

Cons: strong JPEG compression • frequent use of cold color nuances • flash cannot be activated permanently • xenon flash would have been handy • no manual exposure settings

Since we already published a separate article about Nokia N95’s camera we will just copy part of the article here. Click to read the whole camera review here.

Full-function camera

The camera is located on the rear side of the device; the lens is protected by a mechanical cover opened with an easy slide. Fortunately it’s not that easy to let the cover open spontaneously, for example in case of pulling the phone out of one’s pocket. The cover is active, that is, its opening activates the camera application. When you closed it, the keypad lock is activated automatically and vice versa – opening it unlocks the keypad.

Both activation and deactivation of the camera application is accompanied by gradual l lighting up of the side functional keys backlighting, just like in Nokia N73. On the right side, under your right pointing finger you will find a large release button; right next to it is an instant-access key to the Gallery; there is also a dual zoom key located under your left finger. To sum up, taking pictures with the phone is as natural as with your common digital camera.

Lens is protected

On the front there is another camera for video calls, which can also be used for taking pictures. It creates images of up to 640 × 480 pixels and might be quite useful for portraits to go into the phonebook.

Inside the frame of the lens you will also see a powerful LED flash (not as powerful as a xenon flash, of course). Unfortunately, there is no setup option in the menu that would allow permanent activation of the flash so that this can be used as a torch, as seen in other Nokia phones. A special program providing such an option could probably be downloaded additionally, though.

Optics from Carl Zeiss

The QVGA display (2.6 inch) serves as a viewfinder of the 5-megapixel camera.

Camera keys are located on the right side of the phone • keys are illuminated gradually • shooting position

Camera settings

It takes 6 seconds to get the camera application running. If you manage to focus immediately, then your first shot will probably take you about 8 seconds, which is rather slow, especially considering the frequent use of photo mobiles as opportunist cameras for taking instant shots.

To take a shot, first half-press the release button until the focusing frame becomes green, and then press the release button fully; just like you would do with a standard digital camera. Available are 4 different shutter sounds, each of which can be silenced completely should the phone has been set to silent mode.

Camera viewfinder

The camera application is very user-friendly and easy to manage. Function icons are displayed on the right and switched between by using the vertical ways of the navigation key. The horizontal ways duplicate the zoom function, also available on the phone side. When a function is selected, an additional menu pops out. The upper context key closes functions, while the bottom one opens the option menu.

Camera menu and setup options

Among other options here you will find camera resolution settings, automatic insertion of images into albums, shutter sound setup, or default storage. Once you have set up all above mentioned features, they remain saved even if the camera application has been restarted. However, the same does not hold true for the functions displayed in the right menu column, which load their default settings each time the camera is activated.

ISO setup from phone

Let’s now have a closer look at the camera functions displayed in the right menu column:

• The camera/video mode switcher is on first position.
• Shooting mode – you help the camera focus and provide exposure setup. Available are: macro, portrait, landscape, sport, night, night portrait, automatic mode, and even a user setup option. The latter allows custom settings for focus, flash, exposure compensation, white balance, color nuances, sharpness, and contrast. Automatic mode is rather reliable; macro would be better if setup manually.
  
• Flash – automatic, user-configurable, or deactivated. Red-eye reduction is available, too.
  
• Self-timer – off, 2, 10, or 20 seconds
  
• Sequence mode – single shot or consequent shots with a user-configurable time interval of up to 15 minutes.
  
• Exposure compensation – setup in a ± 2EV range; 0,5 EV step
  
• White balance – automatic mode works rather well, white color reception under artificial light is possible to setup, too.
  
• Color nuances – a standard set: standard, sepia, black & white, negative, and an additional vivid color mode.
  
• Light sensitivity (ISO) – you can set it low in order to eliminate noise; this way, however, the shutter speed is lower; or vice versa. Available are three sensitivity levels and an automatic mode. Setting the ISO manually is a good step forward, but it works best only when combined with manual exposure setting, which Nokia N95 lacks. If you hold the phone still, switch on the self-timer, and set up a low sensitivity level expecting a nice night shot, you will only get a dark photo. The automatic mode does not allow you to extend shooting time too much preventing the image from getting blurred. In other words, manual exposure settings in photo mobiles remain a matter of future solutions that are still to come.
  
• Contrast – suitable in case of a dull scene; it makes colors more vivid. Since Nokia N95 creates images of rather high contrast, this function is likely to be used rather seldom. Sometimes it may even require you to lower the contrast levels.
  
• Sharpness – the phone software can make contours more pronounced or, on the contrary, blur them a little bit. Whether you should use this option or not is up to your
  

VGA video

Nokia N95 can be also used as a video camera. You can record videos of average quality in 3GP format, suitable to go into MMS as well as high-quality videos in resolution of 640 × 480 pixels; the latter speed up to 30 shots in a second. High-quality videos are recorded in MP4 format, but they use an enormous amount of MB – half a minute of such a video “eats up” approximately 10 MB. Videos maximum length only depends on the available free memory.

Viewfinder in video recording mode

Video camera menu and its setup options

Video function menu is somewhat poorer than the camera one. Here you will find shooting mode settings, white balance, and a number of color nuances. You can zoom in digitally while recording, but zooming is not fluent, and most of all, it worsens the overall image quality. The microphone can be silenced if you wish. Another unusual function in the menu is the so called image stabilizer, but its influence is almost invisible.

Here is a Nokia N95 sample video.

Videos look brilliant both on the phone display and on a TV screen. On a PC screen, however, they come out much too colorful, with a far too high contrast. Nevertheless, for the moment this is the best you can get from a photo mobile on the market.

Music and video

Pros: 3.5 mm connector for earphones • state-of –the-art music player • special control keys • FM radio • online station search • videos can be played in full-screen mode • access to online video archives • video streaming

Cons: earphones enclosed in the retail package are very bad quality • earphone connector is located on one of phone’s sides • album images are not automatically open • no RDS in the radio application

Nokia N95 is fully equipped to entertain everybody. After all, providing fun is one of its basic missions. One of its key functions is the music player controlled through special keys for quick and efficient control. These keys are located on the smaller, sliding half of the phone. They are functional, even when the music player application is minimized. In case that the music player is off, pressing on the “ Play” button will make it run from the last played piece of music.

Music player: selecting artist and album

Playing • player functional menu

The music player is able to read music from any directory; it then sorts it by artist and album on the basis of additional details from the music files. You can organize music by genre or composer as well. Music files can be organized in playlists. Besides, the player automatically generates lists of frequently played and last added tracks.

Repetition (of one or all songs) and shuffle functions are available too. There is a detailed equalizer for finer tuning in all frequency bands. A very interesting detail is the visualization. It is identical to the one we know from computer music players: curves surge or columns gambol in the rhythm of the music. Visualization can be played in fullscreen mode. After you lock the keypad, however, visualization stops. Another interesting option is playing music and viewing images from the gallery simultaneously.

Setting up the equalizer

As usual, the music player shows song and artist name. You can also set it to display album images in the top left corner of the display from the context menu, but it is a bit awkward. For example Sony Ericsson models visualize album images automatically, as long as they are part of the album directory.

The original earphones enclosed in Nokia N95?s retail package are a real shame taking into account the high quality of the phone. They distort sound, which come out with aggressive heights and with no basses. Their shape is inconvenient too: they tend to fall off your ears frequently. We recommend you to get yourself another headset leaving the original one aside. The earphone connector is universal permitting the purchase of practically any model. As expected, the tests made with Sennheiser PX-100, HD-212 Pro and Koss Porta Pro came off excellently. The results were brilliant. Since no sound output works with all earphone models in the same way, the built-in equalizer is much appreciated at the moment of fine tuning.

Enclosed earphones do not play well • but they can be replaced by any other type of earphones since the connector is standard

On the other hand, the use of earphones different form the original ones complicates remote control from the cable (otherwise very practical). The cable of the original earphones is short; the rest of it starts with the controller and finishes in the phone. Everything is designed with the idea of carrying the phone in your pocket: the remote control is fixed to your breast pocket or pined to your collar and the earphones lie down into your ears. The remote control also has a standard head-phone connector, but if you use headset of your own, you can loop the rest of the cable around your neck. That’s why we recommend you to use the following combination – the first part including the remote control from Nokia, the rest – any earphones from the competition – Sony Ericsson walkman’s for example. I use the headset of Sony Ericsson HPM-82; they cost 30 euros. This combination of brilliant earphones on a short cable is optimum even if Sony Ericsson remote control will remain unused.

Remote control

The remote control features forward and backward keys as well as a pause/play key. Volume and call control keys are available too, of course. There is also a switcher for activation of the key lock and a fixing clip.

Music player in horizontal position • selecting visualization type

YouTube in the phone

If you get tired with your own music, switch on the radio. The radio only works if earphones are plugged into the phone as these serve as an antenna. Once you have activated it, it is also possible to divert playing from the earphones to the loud speakers in the phone. The radio offers manual input of frequencies and automatic station search. It also provides 50 saving positions for favorite stations, which you will manage to occupy immediately thanks to a special online service: you select the country, the region, and the city you live in and ask the phone to download the entire list of all available stations. Then you can edit this list adding new stations, for example. If you need to switch from one station to another, use the music player keys on the smaller sliding plate.

Radio: listening • list of stations • online station search

Videos are played in Real Player – a well known application from older Symbian smartphones. Apart from standard video playing in full-screen mode, Real Player also manages streamed videos and music. It works with MPEG4, 3GP and RealVideo formats. Here again you can use the side keys to pause, forward or backward videos.

An old acquaintance

While you are watching videos you may want to use a cable to connect the phone to your television converting Nokia N95 into a video player for mass entertainment. Standard television sets do not usually need any special high resolution so videos look pretty well. The above mentioned cable, however, does not suit only videos, but also allows you to view pictures from your trips, browse the Internet on a big screen, or even browse documents. None of the above functions is new, though. Nokia N93 would manage them successfully, too.

Cable for TV connection

The innovation brought by Nokia N95 is called Videocenter – a function providing direct access to video archives on the web. The greatest lure is the beta-version of the mobile YouTube: you connect to the server, look through the last videos menu and play the one you like. The original guide-post for this service is Nokia Video Service Catalogue – a simple webpage with links to all offered services. Besides YouTube here you will also find Reuters news-bulletin, for example. As you can see, Videocenter is basically a classical videopodcast.

Videocenter – what about a mobile YouTube

Navigation

Pros: GPS in the phone • sensitivity meets common user requirements • map fundamental details and basic navigation are free of cost • a practical application for tourism • navigation software is synchronized with the phonebook

Cons: GPS chip is located under the keypad • lower chip sensitivity • full navigation is not free • chip does not work with third party applications

Nokia N95 features an integrated GPS navigation chip, able to localize anything anywhere on the Earth. In the phone menu there are two applications that play upon navigation: the simpler one is called GPS data and provides basic navigation details. It works without using maps.

GPS data constitutes of three components – the first one is called Navigation; here, if you’re connected to a satellite, you see a compass and your moving direction, and if you have stated a target, you see the distance and the direction towards this target. You can state your target by inserting its coordinates or select a target from the list of your own coordination points. Coordination points are gathered in a separate application, but database is common for both this application and the other one working with maps.

Main navigation application GPS data

The second component contains basic geographic data: latitudes and longitudes, alignment accuracy, altitude, altitude accuracy, and moving speed. The third component provides you with details on your current moves. At the beginning of your trip you can activate the recording function, which helps the program count the length of your route, your time, average speed, maximum speed, degree of incline, and the entire measuring time. Bear in mind, however, that this program is not suitable for distance measuring during high-mountain tours as GPS only takes into account the speed of your horizontal moves. This is most clear in direct comparison between GPS and a bike counter. While on plain terrain both devices show the same speed, when riding up or down a hill, the speed measured by GPS is lower.

Localization and itinerary details

The other navigation application using data from the GPS module is called Maps. It is basically the navigation program Smart2Go, which Nokia started to offer free of cost not long ago. It downloads map details from the Internet according to inserted itineraries. It provides the latest information, but you will have to pay the cost of downloaded data.

Application Smart2Go works with maps • the phone localized on the map

Pay and I will show you the way

The navigation program is able to localize Nokia N95 and show its position on the map. Map scale is user-configurable; a 3D visualization is available too. You can localize points on the map by address; besides, there is a database with points of interest sorted by categories. You can easily find the nearest restaurant, monuments or accommodation… Each point of interest is accompanied by detailed information including telephone numbers.

Searching a restaurant in the neighborhood

You can ask the program to show you the shortest way to the selected point of interest from your current location. The result can be visualized as an route or straight on the map. There is also an option of crossroads preview so that you can prepare for them. If you have a travel companion, you could even achieve full-function navigation. The con is that Nokia will charge you for such. If you pay for this service, Nokia N95 will not only navigate you everywhere, but it will even do so by voice orders. Prices are as following:

• Week license: 6.49 Euro
• Month license: 7.99 Euro
• Year license: 59.99 Euro
• 3-year license: 69.99 Euro

Let’s now get back to the application for archiving of points of orientation. It is accessible from both the application Maps and the program GPS data. Points can be sorted by various categories. Apart from showing location they can be loaded with details like address, phone, or even webpage. The application Maps goes even further and checks the addresses stored in your phonebook.

Archiving orientation spots

Searching by address • visualization is user-configurable

Various views at the map

The sensitivity of the GPS receiver has been one of the hottest topics in the mobile society lately. Nobody is certain about what will be hidden in the last version of Nokia N95, but it will most probably be the chip Sirf Star II. There is no doubt that the chip Star III, much praised for its sensitivity, would have suited a noble phone like Nokia N95 better, but the current situation is not bad at all.In order to make navigation in your car seamless and comfortable, fix the phone into the holder attached onto the front car window and make sure that its keypad is revealed as the navigation chip is located just under it.

Planning your route • route • selecting options • viewing the route on the map

Passing crossroads on the way to the target • you will have to pay for full navigation;

Hidden GPS

The built-in module suffers from one fundamental drawback: 3rd-side applications do not manage to identify it because they do not have proper controllers. They usually search devices connected via Bluetooth, and, quite naturally, Nokia chip is not among them. We tried to run TomTom Navigator or the Java application Handy Geocaching, but without success. If you want to use such applications, you have to attach an external GPS module to the phone using Bluetooth.

TomTom works • but an external module is required • Handy Geocaching is trying to find GPS in vain

So where’s the mistake then? Well, programs simply do not count the fact that there might be a chip integrated in Nokia N95. Even though we are sure that Nokia engineers would have easily programmed the chip to behave as if it was a GPS module connected via Bluetooth whenever an external application used, they have decided not to do so. It is a con that limits the utility of GPS in Nokia N95 significantly.

Nonetheless, there is another application that can be applied thanks to the integrated GPS module – Nokia Sports Tracker. It is very helpful for sportsmen and for runners, in particular. It is able to state a route and then export and display it on the map, in Google Earth, for example. We should also mention that Nokia offers this handy application for free.

Work with files, PC Suite, others

Pros: well-organized image gallery • images can be sent to blog • an interesting function of dynamic presentation of images • high-class service software PC Suite

Cons: Gallery opens slowly • only one and a half games

The phone features plenty of functions and applications using its internal memory (a total of 160 MB). Additional storing space is provided on the memory card.

Basic file management is done through a File manager; files can be moved, copied, deleted, etc… For better transparency the file manager is divided into two folders – the first one contains the phone memory, while the others one is reserved for the memory card.

Images are viewed in an application called Gallery. It takes the Gallery a few seconds to read and open image previews, but on the other hand, it rotates pictures in a flashy way and is able to show previous and following ones as thumbnails. A fullscreen mode as well as direct print is available too. Images can be sent out in MMS, emails or via Bluetooth and Infrared. Besides, Nokia supports Vox and Flickr photo blogs, and you can upload pictures straight from the phone.

Gallery • viewing images • placing images on the web

Pictures can be organized into albums. From camera settings you can even select the option of automatic filing into albums. Both fullscreen mode viewing and automatic presentation are available as well. An interesting option is automatic zoom and move, due to which presentation is no more a boring slideshow, but becomes a real dynamic spectacle.

In the Gallery the phone opens all the images it finds, which blocks user control and is therefore a little bit unpractical. For example, it would have been more energy-friendly if the images of music albums did not open together with camera taken shots.

Nokia N95 has a very good editor for additional image modifications. It offers crops, size modifications, contrast and brightness control, insertion of cliparts, suppressing of red-eye effect, color effects etc.

Viewing images on landscape mode • editing options

In the menu you will also find two games – a 3D snake and a 2-round demo version of the space 3D action SRE. A phone so expensive could have had a greater dose of entertainment potential, indeed. Further, there is an application called “Help” and a Flash player. From here you can also access the functions located on the SIM card (SIM toolkit), Chat (Instant Messaging), and PTT (Push to talk). One of our most favorite applications, Lifeblog, is also integrated in the phone.

Attractive 3D ride, but only a two-round demo is available

We tried to install the Java program Jimm for communication via ICQ in Nokia N95. It worked seamlessly.

Very high price, no competitors

Till today I have never had the courage to name any phone like the best one on the market with clear conscience. But Nokia N95 does deserve this label. It has no adequate competitors on the current mobile market: it is extremely rich in functions, has a comfortable and detailed user interface with plenty of settings, and on the top of it, it is a relatively light and compact.

The most notable drawback of Nokia N95 is its battery life. It will require daily doses of power, unless you limit its usage to occasional calls and messages, deactivate 3G, Wi-Fi, and GPS, and play no videos. In this case you may happen to postpone charging by a couple of days, but is such use worth the purchase of a phone like Nokia N95? The answer is no. Of course, battery life is an individual matter and depends on many factors. Nevertheless we can assure you that during our intensive tests we had no other option but to charge the device sometimes even twice a day.

Do you want me?

The first batch of Nokia N95 hit the market at a high price. Even so it was immediately sold out. The main delivery whose price is said to be a bit lower is being expected at the end of April. Anyway, the price remains rather high, perhaps due to the strong customer demand. Nokia N95 may be very expensive, but it also offers a lot and thus keeps attracting numerous prospective buyers. In this sequence of thoughts it is quite probable that in a few months, when the initial ecstasy falls off, the price of the phone will also fall down a bit. Be prepared, however, that drops in price will hardly be significant as Nokia N95 will continue to be the best phone in the world for a while and will thus manage to easily maintain its price.

Source : http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_n95-review-141p10.php