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One Week With A Nokia N95


I’ve been using a Nokia N95 8GB (N95-2) for the past week. And I just took the SIM card out and put it back in my iPhone. Here’s why:

  1. The user interface feels outdated after getting used to the iPhone. It feels more like Windows than Mac if you know what I mean.
  2. It doesn’t have a full keyboard… only the normal 1-9 number keys. I didn’t know how much I would miss this.
  3. This version doesn’t actually have 3G data speeds, like I had thought. So, it’s still really slow on EDGE.

However, there were some things I really liked about the N95:

  1. The camera is really great. It has a macro mode which is great for snapping notes or text. It will also record pretty high quality video. There’s also a second camera on the front, so you can video chat… or record yourself.
  2. Qik. Broadcasting live video from Qik was fun. I hope I can do that on the iPhone soon. (you can see what I broadcasted at http://qik.com/rex)
  3. I finally found an application that lets me broadcast my GPS location to a website. Eventually I want to have a log of everywhere I go, created automatically, and of course private. (but that I could create scripts to send me notifications related to where I am, etc..)
  4. The wealth of available applications. This was my first experience with the Symbian mobile OS, and there’s a ton of stuff for S60 phones. Good looking 3D games, and other goodies.
  5. Also bluetooth syncing. I want my iPhone to do that. I don’t like having to plug my iPhone in all the time.

The 3G iPhone rumors abound, and predict all sorts of things. Like the launch date is mid-June supposedly. And that the 3G iPhone may support video recording, and even include a secondary camera, for video conferencing. Also maybe even GPS. Now, I don’t know how much of that is true, but you can just see for youself over at MacRumors. Anyway, I guess I’ll just suffer with my first-gen iPhone until this summer, when I’ll either get a 3G iPhone or a Google Android phone… or both. =D

This entry was posted on May 14, 2008, 10:12 pm and is filed under Mobile, Personal. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • Yep, I too had to give up on the Nokia N95 last month -- even though (unlike you) I loved it. Three days after I got it, a firmware update totally bricked it. That's when I learned how truly awful Nokia's US service & support currently is. When I realized how much risk and inconvenience they foist on their US customers, I packed everything up and shipped it all back for a refund.

    Fortunately, Nokia has started publicly addressing the myriad US service problems through their blog, conversations.nokia.com. Anyone who's interested in helping Nokia figure out exactly how they can improve their US service (so it's no longer an extreme obstacle to customers) should chime in on the series of posts currently running there about US service.

    I just posted a roundup of this public conversation so far, with links to Nokia's posts and elsewhere: http://urltea.com/37r2

    (Video version: http://seesmic.com/v/JzrmBidZ7d)

    I'm also waiting to see what the next-generation iPhone will bring. So far, it simply isn't sufficient as a pro-quality mobile reporting and blogging tool. Maybe the next version will be closer, maybe even close enough. And Apple's service is, of course, excellent. But it pains me that Nokia already has a great product for users like me, but their poor service is a dealbreaker.

    - Amy Gahran
  • It could brush my teeth and pay my bills but if it doesn't have a full keyboard it's a paper weight. :-(
  • Seriously... I really noticed this frustration when I got SMS messages, and
    wanted to respond quickly. But couldn't.

    The N95 does support Bluetooth keyboards supposedly, but still.
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