The Nokia N97 is set to launch this Friday but we’ve been lucky enough to have a unit for the last couple of weeks. We’ve looked at how the Nokia N97 handles, the quality of the keyboard and even given the camera a review. So, we felt it time to let you into a secret and tell you why we love the Nokia N97….
The Nokia N97, for those who need reminding, is a Nokia smartphone with a 3.5-inch touchscreen that runs the Symbian S60 5th Edition operating system. It packs in, alongside HSDAP, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS, 32GB of internal memory and a pretty sharp new interface.
Check out our Nokia N97 review
So far we’ve been more than happy with the Nokia N97, so we thought it a good idea to sum up what we love about it.
Homescreen
According to Nokia, the main screen on your phone is used 85 per cent of the time, which is why Nokia has created a new Homescreen, one you can personalise and dress exactly the way you want it to look. Based around six lozenges you can add your favourite apps, the people you need to contact the most often or just populate it with your most used social networking sites.
QWERTY Keyboard
Hidden away on an ingenious hinge is a full QWERTY keyboard that has a great balance and fit to your hand. We’ve found the design sits neatly so your thumbs naturally rest in the middle, so reaching out to any key isn’t a strain or a chore. What’s more, the navigation pad on the left-hand side works exceedingly well and is highly responsive. Check out our Nokia N97 keyboard review
Touchscreen
The Nokia N97 comes with a 3.5-inch touchscreen display. Some have bemoaned that it isn’t an AMOLED display or that it’s a resistive panel instead of a capacitive display but we’ve found it to be a bright and easy to view screen. Sure, scrolling isn’t as smooth as can be found on a capacitive panel but we’ve found accessing apps quick and trouble free, which is the most important part of using any device.
Camera
The 5-Megapixel camera comes with Carl Zeiss optics, which means you’ll get a cracking image nearly every time. The Nokia N97 also comes with a secondary camera that is great for video conferencing and pops up when you switch the camera on but you’ve forgotten to open the lens cap. Check out our Nokia N97 camera review
Symbian S60 5th Edition
While the Homescreen gives you a great impression of what’s on offer with the Nokia N97, it’s the OS behind it that really impresses. Symbian S60 5th Edition OS seems to have hit its stride with the Nokia N97. We’ve found apps load quickly and smoothly and moving about the device is a great deal easier than we were expecting. Overall, it’s an impressive start to life with the device.
If there is one thing we’re not too keen on at the moment then it’s Ovi Store. We’re happy it’s there and bringing all the Nokia apps together under one roof makes perfect sense. However, Ovi Store isn’t firing on all-systems yet and the range of apps isn’t as large as we were hoping. Things are improving all the time, making Ovi Store something to keep an eye on for the future.
So there we have it, the reasons why the Nokia N97 is the smartphone of the summer. What do you think, is it worth getting excited about the Nokia N97, let us know in the Comments below.