Review 1 – Touch and Feel

This is going to be the first of a series of reviews. Inside review 1 you will find my opinion on what is found inside the box of the new N97 and the touch and feel of the device.

      

Before I get started let me thank WomWorld  for sending me this device, it’s been great so far.

Inside the box of the N97 you will find the following included:

• Screen cloth 
• Ovi Suite CD
• N97 device
• Phone Changer (wall plug version)
• Mini USB charger/Data Connector
• Mini USB Charger extension.(fits on small/large nokia charges)
• Manual
• Battery (?????)
• Stylus (Nokia’s pen version)

and the following not include: (things you would have liked)

• The Beautiful Nokia case (included in the Indian version)
• TV-Out cable. (You can still use you old one)

I’m not going to go through the whole spec of the phone, as most of you are already up to spec on the details. see here for more information Full N97 Spec

Weight: The phone has a great weight feel to it, I found it to be heavier than the 5800(109g) but very similar to the iPhone(133g) and N95 8GIG(128g). Some friends of mine have said it feels to heavy , but personally I like to know my phone is in my pocket. I weighed mine and it was 148g.

Size: I’ve taken some comparison pictures below for you to see yourself. The phone/keyboard does look smaller than I first expected it to, from all the online images that have been floating around. In conclusion I like the size and the feel and weight, I do have big hands so maybe it’s just me.

Look: This baby is sexy, my girlfriend immediately said “I want one". So there is definitely a physical wow factor about this phone. I’ve had looks of people staring on the train and bus, so yeah enough said.

Headphone Jack: Ok I must say I love the fact that it’s on the top of the phone. My N95 had the head phone jack on the side and drove me nuts for ages. Makes the phone sit easier in your pocket while you plugged in listening to the 32GIG’s worth of music.

Speakers: The positioning is good, in that if the phone is open in front of you while you watching a movie or talking in loudspeaker the speakers are facing you and hidden away. The sound quality I have found to be good, I haven’t had the chance to do much comparison but I will revisit this part of the phone when dealing with video and audio

un\Lock switch: Currently found on the right of the device, so opposite to the 5800. This I would say is purely a preference thing, I have no problem with it where it is. I must say that it does feel very platicy and I sometimes worry that I will break it off. (I did read a review over at SF where someone did actually break it off the first day they had the phone oooops)

Camera Button: Found where you would expect it top right like the 5800 and most other Nokia camera phones. I do wish they had kept the gallery button like on the N95.

Volume/Zoom button: Also found in the normal place. I’ll go more in the quality of the pictures and the video sound quality in a later review.

Menu button: This is the only “hard” button on the front of the device and very well positioned. I say this because if you have the keyboard open you simply lift your right thumb and BANG you there.

Mini USB: I like the placing of this as well, it’s in the front between the left speaker and the unlock switch. The reason I think it’s good is because you can have the device open sitting on the table begin charged/connected and still watch a movie. (this is based on the fact your computer is in front of you :-) )

Camera\Shutter: Nice and solid, and moves easily enough, I must say I am a bit worried about dust getting in there, but it is a great protector and much need for the quality of the lens. (This was missed in the N95 8GIG and 5800)

Slider: OMG it’s great, the sound the feel the look, it not only impresses you and those around you , but it really does make you feel confident that it’s not a dodgy Nokia slide like many of the other slide phones before it. It’s so firm that at first it wouldn’t open and I thought I was pushing the wrong side. So you need to give it a GOOOOD push until you get used it, which takes about 5minutes…

The screen auto rotates when you open the keyboard, and the speed is pretty good. I’ll go into speed and auto rotate in later reviews.

Keyboard: Ok there has been a lot of talk about the keyboard some good and some bad.  I like the keyboard and the full QWERTY is indeed an awesome feature. The Space bar as some people have complained about I find no problem with (placed the bottom right of the keyboard). At first I thought the function key was a problem, but worked out that pressing the key twice puts you in permanent function mode so you can type symbols and numbers as you please, nice little touch, thanks Nokia. The D-pad is great it’s good for games and I use it sometimes in web-browser as well, it is basically the controller for the mouse icon on the screen. The typing will take some time to get used to if you haven’t had a keyboard before on a phone, and I must say that with my big thumbs typing  is not a problem.

Stylus: Personally don’t like the stylus that comes in the box it’s a rectangular shape which feels awkward to hold, so I’ve stolen my girlfriends DS one, thanks Mish.

Sim Card/MicroSD and Back cover: The back cover is very poor quality, it feels like plasticy, mine moves around, as do many others, and when you try and open the back cover I am honestly ALWAYS scared that I’m going to break it. (My heart doesn’t like it). The sim holder also feels somewhat fragile, and I worry that this is a bit weak but it’s forgivable as it shouldn’t be used very often. The Mini USB Holder is under the cover to the right of the Camera lens, so it’s pretty save to say it won’t fall out.

Mini USB Charger extension: Don’t laugh cause I know it’s just a small thing but I like this little extension and it fits with both old original chargers and new smaller Nokia chargers. One thing I have noticed though is that it gets really hot after charging for a while.

Over all I’m very app happy with the Look and Feel of the device. It’s always something that is hard to review as a lot of it comes down to personal preference and needs….

Here are some photo’s comparing the N97,5800 and iPhone 3g

       

Thanks for reading this first of many reviews. If you a have questions please leave some comments, I will try and get back to you as soon as I can. Future reviews will be broken down as well. The next to come will be the Touch Screen, Home Screen and Menu’s.