The old pearl still rocks! Meet the N95 8GB!

Since day 1 that I had this device that I thought: “Boy, I think I’m keeping this device for a loooong time”. And I wasn’t wrong at all! The things that changed were just the reasons to keep it. Want to know how the N95 keeps up against the N97 mini and N900? Well, read on!

When I got my trusty N95 8GB, I did so because of the huge screen (back then), nice keypad, the 5MP camera and the Wi-Fi capabilities. Boy, was I happy with it! I was playing with it all the time, installing all kinds of apps just because I could and hearing music using the still pretty darn good speakers! Well, time as moved on and new devices got released… Thanks to the fantastic guys and gals over at WOM World/Nokia I got the chance to trial 2 of the newest Nokia handsets. The “almost” flagship N97 mini and the Maemo beast N900. After trialing both and being back on my N95 I can only say: “Boy it’s good to be back!

Ok, let’s get to some comparing action!

1 – Texting

This is where most people would think that the N95 is out because of the lack of a QWERTY keyboard… Well, you are partially correct. I’ll explain:

The N900 has a fantastic texting app where it groups all your texts, IMs in a cool threaded view that is nothing short than amazing! And it has the QWERTY keyboard to back it up! The N97 mini has the same messaging app that you can see on the N95 8GB, but with the addiction of the QWERTY and the touchscreen. I wont lie, the QWERTY lives up to it’s name and is indeed a fantastic way of typing quickly, but let’s face it, both the N900 and N97 mini are pretty much stuck to two handed typing! The N900 only has support for landscape mode on the messaging app (or conversations as Nokia calls it) and the N97 mini in-screen alphanumeric keypad doesn’t work for me. I need to type without looking at the device and using only one hand. After saying this, I think that it’s pretty clear that the N95 8GB is my top pick! Don’t get me wrong, the N900 and the N97 mini are great for texting, but only at home where I can relax and text with time, but guess what? These are MOBILES and I don’t text only at home. In fact, I text more when I’m outside, and if we’re going to compare screen visibility in sunlight as well the N95 is the clear winner! Hardware wise, the N95 8GB isn’t the best in the spec-sheet, but it’s the best for my type of use! As for the the software vertent… I have to call the N900 a BIG winner here. The lack of a portrait mode is completely forgotten when you have all your SMS and IMs stores in the same app for your convenience! Genius! The N97 mini and the N95 are tied on this one as they’re messaging “apps” are VERY similar (bad sign that 2 years later, nothing changed, but that’s for another post!).

2 – E-mail
I was expecting that the N900 was the best in this one, but I was far from the truth. As for the built-in client on Symbian (both 3rd and 5th Edition) sucks big time for me! So I used the one Nokia suggests us to use: Nokia Messaging.

After using Nokia Messaging on both Symbian and Maemo, I have to say that the Maemo version is soooo bad! Any of you that have received an e-mail from Twitter would know that it comes in HTML with all that Twitter styling. Well, the N900 just doesn’t care about that… It shows text and images, but so much for HTML rendering! It isn’t there, period! Bad, really bad thing to do on an internet tablet. I was very glad that the N900 has such a powerful browser, because I really checked all my e-mail from the full Gmail website while I had the device.

Going back to the Symbian department I can only say that the N97 mini and the N95 8GB were veryyy close! Why? Well, Nokia Messaging worked flawlessly on both (although the N97 mini closed it for 2 or 3 times, but I think it’s more a problem with the device free RAM other than with the app itself), but the N97 mini better processor just made a difference! The e-mails opened way faster and everything was smoother, so the N95 8GB ranks 2nd here, but really close to the N97 mini!

3 – Multitasking

Oh yeah, here we go to the hard ones! The N900 has highly praised multitasking capabilities, but Symbian devices have been multitasking for the last 5 years (according to theyre own statement). It was suposed to be a clear win for the N900 with it’s 256MB of RAM… Not the case I am afraid… The N97 mini doesn’t have a chance on this one with it’s very limited RAM so it’s a “old vs. new” fight! The N95 8GB was praised back then for it’s improved 128 MB of RAM over the original N95 small 64MB. Let’s see if almost 3 years later, that is still enough! The N900 can indeed open all kinds of apps at the same time, but the usability decreased each time you open an app. Since the app is REALLY running on the background and not freezed the device processor has a LOT to work to keep everything running. For example, Skype call + Angry Birds + E-mail = laggy Angry Birds and that is just ridiculous! I can have a LOT of apps opened, but use a lot of them? Nah, not going to happen! The N95 8GB has the Symbian factor on it’s side! The device multitasks with ease and can easily be more functional and productive than the N900. I can open Opera Mobile + Google Maps + Gravity + Nimbuzz + Messaging + Nokia Messaging and do all of that at the same time with no lags on any of those apps. Why? Symbian freezes all the apps on the background and leaves the processor working only on the one that you are using. While that may sound bad to some, I  disagree. WHY do you need to waste processor power on apps that you are NOT using? I mean, come on… Symbian has the most efficient multitasking I have ever tried. So, sorry Nokia, but your powerhouse phone from 2007 still beats your most recent 2009 one .

4 – Browsing

That is the ONLY reason I ever though about upgrading my N95 8GB. I’ll have to be honest… 334MHz processor is not enough for me. Pages load awfully slow (it was rocket fast on 2007!), the lack of a touchscreen is a big pain and did I mention that it loads pages awfully slow???? So, long story short and since this isn’t a comparison between the N900 and the N97 mini, my N95 8GB just can’t keep up on the browsing department. BUT, how do I minimize this? For simple pages with only text and images I use the all-mighty Opera Mini 4.2! It’s blazing fast, loads everything perfectly rendered and it saves my data plan from disaster (yay!). For harder pages, the big brother steps up and Opera Mobile 10 beta 3 does the job. In case it isn’t working you have a lot more options! You can use Skyfire, UCWeb, just pick! The Symbian platform has loads of browsers for you to pick!

5 – Social Networks

I am so mad with the N900 on this point that I’ll be fast: it hasn’t a decent Twitter client! I used dabr.co.uk while I had the device! HUGE fail! I’m done with the N900 in this point. The N97 mini and N95 8GB obviously step up with Gravity for your needs! It’s really cheap and you get the BEST Symbian app ever! The N97 mini failed here as well, for one simple reason: RAM! It just can’t keep up with Gravity + Nimbuzz + Opera Mobile. Gravity and Nimbuzz come crashing on you and you are let alone with Opera Mobile opened… The N95 8GB lacks the great QWERTY keyboard you can get on the N97 mini, but it has everything else! A fast 3.5G connection to use anywhere, a Wi-Fi antenna for your convenience and a powerful 5MP camera to take your pics and share them! And if you’re a fan of Geo-tagged tweets and pics you won’t be losing that here as well. It’s capable as well thanks to the A-GPS support . I only use Twitter on the go, but for you Facebook addicts, the N95 8GB isn’t the best option. Nokia Messaging for Social Networks is about the best Facebook client you can get for the N97 mini and it’s only available (for now) to S60 5th Edition handsets. As for the Maemo beast, the Facebook full website should be the best you can get. But for my use, the N95 8Gb climbs on top once again.

8 – Usability in general

One of the most important topics in my opinion. The N900 isn’t very usable as a phone… That is a secondary feature. It’s a landscape orientated device so the N900 get’s pretty much excluded here from an usability point of view. It’s a device that always needs both hands to be operated and that kills the usability in most of the situations I face everyday. The N97 mini has some things that were ported from the Symbian 3rd Edition without even thinking. The calendar for example. With the bigger screen you could think that the squares representing each day on the monthly view would be bigger, right? Well, think again. They are just as small as the ones on  Symbian 3rd Edition. That’s one of the reasons I think that the Symbian OS isn’t ready for capacitive screens, like the one you see on the X6. You need a stylus precision level on some situations.

That leaves me once again looking at my N95 8GB! Everything is so stable and just… works! And for those making fun of the “ugly” UI on Symbian and the slow processor on the N95 8GB, I have some news for you. If I press “Play” on the same exact music at the same time on the N900 and on the N95, the N95 starts playing first (about half a second first). I can also launch the music player faster than on the N900 .

As for other points that you can be wondering such as GPS and Camera I’ll give you an idea. The GPS takes awfully long to lock on the N95 8GB compared to other devices, but only on 1st time use. If it has been used recently on the same location it will lock in about 20 seconds and more importantly, it will keep a lock very well. As for the camera, I still think that it is better than the other two on low light conditions. I’ll rephrase that: The flash isn’t as powerful, but the colours get much more real. In fact, the N900 hasn’t a good camera software at all. It’s poor in features and the image quality isn’t what I was expecting at all! I shot the same subject with my N95 8GB, N97 mini and N900 and the results were very awkward, at least for me. The N900 all mighty Cortex A8 processor obviously isn’t doing it’s thing as far as imaging processing is concerned. It processes the images very fast, but the quality is awfull (on Nokia standards that is! Still better than a lot of other cameraphones from other manufacturers). The N97 mini has a much more powerfull flash and can bright up the scene a lot more, but the image processing makes the colours look washed out. The N95 8GB can’t bright up the scene that much, but when the flash is enough, the colours on the photo just looks crisp.

On good lighting conditions I’ll have to remake my speach partially. The N900 gets the last place when compared with the other two. The N95 8GB and the N97 mini get very close, but I’ll have to give a slight edge to the N97 mini.

9 – Conclusion

As you can see there are some points where newer phones from the Nokia portfolio beat the oldie but goldie N95 8GB. I never denied they were there, but the point isn’t that. The point is that those differences are so small, that giving out around 480€ (N97 mini) or 600€ (N900) for a new phone isn’t really worth it for those that have any kind of love for money. But to be honest, I’ll happyly hand out 200€ for a 2nd hand N86 for example. That would fill on some of the gaps I have on my N95 (*cof* slow-almost-stoped browser *cof*).

But in these 2 years and an half of owning a N95 8GB I can assure that on 98% of the situations, I’ve been proud of it and an happy Nokia costumer.

I’ll leave you with a couple of Nokia slogans that I think fit the N95 8GB like a glove.

Entertainment. The next episode.

It’s what computers have become.

See new. Hear new. Feel new

It’s not one thing. It’s many
(Click on each one of the slogans to open an ilucidative YouTube video)

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