We have been using the Nokia N97 solidly for just over six months now and its fair to say that we have noticed one or two little problemettes with the device. Has the firmware update v21.0.045 kicked things into touch, or has Nokia just papered over the cracks? Find out with our Nokia N97 v21.0.045 review..

Nokia Firmware Update v21.0.045 was released about a month ago for update via PC link. The firmware patch promises to bring improved call reliability, smoother scrolling and improvements to the web browser.

Since the update we have had no (zero) weird hangs or unexplained reboots, something that used to happen to us on a semi-regular basis. Random mystery crashes are obviously rather tricky to test for, but the device does seem more stable and we are cautiously optimistic that the patch has fixed enough of these show stopping bugs that we will be able to just assume our phone will keep working from now on.

The biggest change we noticed was with the scrolling. We install a lot of apps here at NokNok - as you might imagine - and scrolling down through a long list of apps to reach the new ones at the bottom was often hugely frustrating as the thin scroll bar at the side of the screen would see to 'lose' our fingers and jump back half a screen, or just freeze mid-scroll. Now scrolling feels more finger friendly and a lot more responsive. The same is true for the phone as a whole, actually - response times for tapping icons or launching apps may only have improved by a tiny amount, but it is noticeable and most welcome.

The Music player has had a few tweaks too, although Nokia still haven't addressed our biggest bugbear - there is still no way to navigate back to the current album or playlist once you have hidden the music app. Sure, you can skip back and forth the first time you open it, but hide the app to let music play in the background and you will find that the 'back' button will just kick you out to the home screen from there on in. To be honest, we only really need to be able to do this to get around the fact that there is no 'next track' indicator in the Music Player app. Fix either or both of those in the next update please, Nokia. We'll love you long time.

Is the web browser any better? Hard to say, as we switched to SkyFire months ago for all but the most essential (software downloads, mainly) tasks. But then, that's the beauty of S60 - if you don't like the default apps, there is usually something equal or better to replace it with.

All in all, v21.0.045 isn't a massive leap forward or packed full of features, but it tightens the Nokia N97 up and makes it run that little bit better.