The Nokia N97 Mini has been around for quite a while now, and has been the phone I use the most since I started writing for NokNok. With Symbian S60 5th Edition OS, a resistive touchscreen and a 5-Megapixel camera, it may lack the cutting-edge features of upcoming handsets such as the Nokia N8, but in reality it’s still one of the best smartphones on the market. Read on to find out why…
The Nokia N97 Mini made an appearance shortly after the Nokia N97, and the smaller form factor helps to make it a lot more attractive. It may not be that much smaller than the Nokia N97, but every little helps, and the N97 Mini slips easily into pockets and feels like the perfect size when in your hand.
Resistive screen technology has come in for a lot of criticism of late, but the Nokia N97 Mini proves that it’s not necessarily just. The screen on the Nokia N97 Mini is bright, colourful and easily as responsive as lots of capacitive screens, with the added benefit being that you can also use it wearing gloves.
The keyboard remains my favourite part of the Nokia N97 Mini, and one of the reasons that I use it above all other smartphones. It’s much easier to hammer out emails using a proper hardware keypad, and there’s no opportunity for text correction software to incorrectly guess the word being typed.
Quality on the Nokia N97 Mini continues to impress – we’ve had ours since last year, yet it still looks as good as new – with no scratches on the screen or on the body itself. Granted, this is in part because of the protective case we use, but the tactile aluminium finish also makes you want to keep it looking as new. We’ve also had no trouble with the hinge mechanism – which is still proving reliable and firm.
The 5-Megapixel camera may not be a headline grabber nowadays – things have moved on a lot in the past six months, with the Nokia N8 a great example of how far things have progressed – but the quality of the Nokia N97 Mini’s camera still impresses. It’s proved a reliable stand-in for a dedicated camera on many occasions, and the Carl Zeiss optics help to provide detailed and crisp images rich in colour – with quality proving better than many 8-Megapixel rivals.
Other features are still suitably high-end, with the ability to use the GPS and Ovi Maps for free satellite navigation, and both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for wireless connectivity. 3G connectivity provides speedy web browsing times, and the 8GB of storage space can be easily increased via microSD card.
Overall then, the Nokia N97 Mini may not be the newest smartphone on the block, but when it comes to all-round usability it’s still definitely one of the best. If you’re in the market for a handset with a sliding QWERTY keypad, there’s definitely nothing we’d rather have.