The Nokia N97 Mini takes everything we thought we knew about the Nokia N97 and compacts it into a slightly and slimmer casing. It also does a great job of bringing the latest version of the Symbian S60 5th Edition to life. How well does it do it – find out with our Nokia N97 Mini review…
Is the Nokia N97 Mini a marketing move or is it the start of a new trend? On the surface, the Nokia N97 Mini simply swaps out the 3.5-inch screen of the Nokia N97 and uses a smaller 3.2-inch touchscreen display instead. However, once you start to use the Nokia N97 Mini you find that it is very much a device in its own right and not just some ‘little brother’ model.
Sure, the Nokia N97 Mini looks a lot like the larger version but by shrinking the form factor down a little you suddenly find that it fits in your hand a little easier, it suddenly slips into your jean pocket and there is less hassle carrying it around. As we mentioned in our first impression piece on the Nokia N97 Mini, it’s the tactile feel of this smartphone that strikes you first – it just feels really comfortable in the hand.
Check out our Nokia N97 Mini Unboxing
The 3.2-inch screen is bright and delivers a standard screen resolution of 640 x 360 pixels. It’s a widescreen panel with a true 16:9 aspect ratio screen, so when you’re running video you’ll find it fills the full screen. You’ll find the screen is responsive and the latest Nokia N97 Mini firmware means that kinetic scrolling is included, so you’ll be able to move around a lot easier. The Homescreen is edited and personalised in the same way as the older Nokia N97 but due to the smaller screen there does feel as though there is less dead space, which can only be a good thing.
The keyguard on the side of the Nokia N97 Mini needs to be clicked to gain access to the screen. It also allows you to slide open the device to reveal the QWERTY keyboard. Like on the Nokia N97, the keys are individually mounted and are well spaced.
When the keyboard is closed, the Nokia N97 Mini Homescreen sits in Portrait mode. However, once you open the keyboard you’ll find it automatically switches to Landscape mode. It still offers the same Homescreen, albeit in two columns, and functionality is very much the same. When it comes to typing you’ll find the Nokia N97 Mini keyboard well spaced.
When it comes to responsiveness, we found the Nokia N97 Mini relatively quick. The Original Nokia N97 had a D-pad, which has now gone, and in truth you’ll hardly miss it. The Space bar is off to the right, which does tend to slow typing down but the spacing of the keys does mean that the average user will find their thumbs naturally resting in the middle of the keyboard.
One of the questions we’ve been asked is whether there is any real need for the Nokia N97 Mini? After all, if you want a touchscreen QWERTY keyboard then there is the flagship Nokia N97. We feel the compact nature of the Nokia N97 Mini will open it up to a more mainstream market.
We really like the Nokia N97 Mini. We didn’t think that shrinking the keyboard size a fraction would make a difference but it has, making the Nokia N97 Mini, in our opinion, a far greater mass market device than the Nokia N97 was ever going to be.
Check out our Nokia N97 Mini review image gallery:
