Nokia N95 Mobile Phone

After seeing their market share under pressure for some time, Nokia are fighting back with the release of the much heralded N95. Many market observers are predicting that this top of the range smartphone will become the must have phone for 2007, although Nokia’s competitors may have something to say about this!

The Nokia N95 has a very fashionable look, with an impressive front display surrounded by a quality chrome finish. One of the main selling points is the excellent 5 mega pixel digital camera, which has taken mobile phone cameras to a new level. The dimensions of the phone are also impressive, being in the region of 99 mm x 53 mm x 21 mm, with the handset only weighing 120g.

While the Nokia N95 covers the majority of networks available, rather surprisingly the handset does not support US 3G networks, which was surely the perfect way to fully utilise the phones immense capabilities. However, the N95 does cover WCDMA (UMTS), GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 and 1900 networks, ensuring an uninterrupted coverage around the world.

The Nokia N95 has very impressive video and streaming functions that make full use of the 5 mega pixel camera. Auto focus, flash, 10 x digital zoom and 16 million display colour variations throughout the phone allows excellent quality pictures and video capture. The handset covers MPEG4 / 3GP VGA video capture with 30 frames a second and 640 x 480 pixel quality. The camera and video facilities are also complimented by a comprehensive picture / video editing system allowing you to adjust and touch up your material.

The design of the handset offers a two way slider that allows usage of the N95 as a standard mobile phone, and as a keyboard supported mobile communication centre. The phone and internet connections take in WAP, EGPRS, WCDMA / HSDPA connectivity with a download speed of up to 3.6Mbs - up there with the best on offer. When you add in an array of messaging services that include SMS, MMS and email you have the perfect mobile communication centre, ideal for both business and personal use.

As with many of today’s top handsets, there is a requirement to offer a range of both visual and sound systems, and the Nokia N95 is no different. The inbuilt digital music player supports all of the major formats including MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA and M4A and also has a graphic equaliser to perfect the output.

As you would expect from any handset packed with all of the latest functionality, the Nokia N95 does suffer on the battery power front. While standby time is still in the region of 215 hours, talktime is a slightly disappointing 160 - 240 minutes. As with many of today’s ground breaking products, the N95 seems to have moved quicker than battery technology - although it should not take too long to catch up.

Initially the Nokia N95 will cost in the region of $700 which is very expensive compared to more traditional handsets, although you do get what you pay for. As competing handsets slowly emerge from Nokia’s main competitors the retail price should fall, but it may take some time for other handset providers to catch up. Until then Nokia have the opportunity to create a niche market for themselves, although how long this “exclusivity” will remain is uncertain in this fast moving industry.