Why I’m Passing On The N95
First and foremost, if you’re part of WOM World or Nokia’s Blogger Relations and were considering sending me an N95, please do so still. I can promise that I will work it to death, so that others can have help making the decision to get it or wait for the next best thing.
However, assuming it’s at my personal financial cost, I’ve decided to pass on the Nokia N95. "That’s crazy!" you say, "You’re the Symbian-Guru, you need to have the most up-to-date Symbian devices." True. However, I feel as though I have great reasons….
1. FP2 - only announced recently, but they said at the announcement
that it should show up on phones towards the end of this year. With the
new FP1 browser being available soon as a download for non-FP1 devices, I just think I’d
rather skip FP1, for the $$.
2. Watching Steve’s Smartphone show about the N95, I realized that it
still has the limitations that pushed me away from the N80. Namely, the
weak battery (considering all that it does and that I’d be using, I’m
way spoiled with the N73) and the camera delay (Steve showed a SEVERAL
second delay. I just can’t handle that).
To further illustrate the weak battery, take my weekend. I charged my
phone fully Thursday night. Used GPS for about an hour on Friday,
played Snakes for ~2 hrs, sent/received ~50 SMS, talked on it for about
an hour or so, and did about 3hrs worth of Internet, with the IM client
connected in the background the whole time. Didn’t charge it Friday
night, woke up, played music for about half an hour, another 30-40 SMS,
2hrs worth of calls and another 4 hours of internet usage. GPS for 2
hours (1 driving and 1 with the Sport Tracker) with music playing
during my walk. At the end of all that, I’ve still got 3 bars of
battery left. That’s simply incredible.
3. Ngage - I just think that Nokia’s going to have a
couple Ngage-optimized handsets for the launch. Knowing that my N73 will be Ngage-compatible, I’m not in a big rush to replace it. There very well could be
an "Gaming Edition" or "Ngage Edition" collection, similar to the Music Editions (this is actually more likely than an actual new
Ngage, but I’m just interested to see what shakes out).
4. US 3G. I’ve had it, and I want it back. I think that once the April
9th thing with Qualcomm has come and gone, Nokia will be more assured
of what they should and shouldn’t do in the US market. Also adding to
this is that design center they setup in San Diego is about a year old
this summer. I don’t think any of the current handsets have been a
product of that, so I’m interested to see what’s going to be born there.
So there you have it. Those are the reasons that I’m content with my N73 for now. Again, if someone wants to shoot me an N95, I’ll be more than happy to wear it out, and give it a good run against my N73, which I currently think is the King of the N-series right now. But for the money, if you’re in the market for a new S60, I personally say wait a few months and save your pennies.
(photo curtesy of Google Images and NewMobile)
I would personally like to see more Olly and the Guru.
I don’t blame you. It looks like a great device, and if I could have one for free, I’d use it to death. But that is a lot of money for a phone that lacks the US 3g network. By and large wifi makes up for a lot of that, but wifi is power hungry. I’d also like to see it have the ability to use gps maps over 3g while on the phone with someone. which wouldnt work in the us without 3g.
I’m still waiting or the n75, i’d keep my n73me and use it as my primary phone. but there are definitely situations (like business travel) that i would prefer to take the 3g device.
Interesting . . . and probably a wise decision.
hmmm….a blog post eh? What a brilliant way to talk yourself out of an N95!
@Christina: There will be more to come, I promise, my life just has to slow down enough that I can actually have a conversation with Ricky again lol!
-olly
well olly i thank you b/c your conversations were very intriguing. I look forward to the conversations ahead.~Christina
Olly, You’ve talked me into it! I’ve already got an N73 that I like a lot, and I’ve been on the fence about the N95. Yes, it’s the best damn phone out. But, ugh, it’s expensive. The camera upgrade isn’t worth it to me. The WiFi would be nice, but how often would I use it? I’d love to play with Samba on the N95, and if Python could access the SMB bits, that’d be really fun. But I don’t want to spend 600 - 900 on a little better camera and WiFi.
750dollars is 560euros whith sim free its really cheap
N95 over N73:
* Better camera/camcorder
* Integrated GPS
* Hardware accelerated 3D
* Better browser - including embedded flash
* HSDPA
* WIFI
* Standard headphone jack
* TV-out jack
* Standard USB jack
N95 is a huge upgrade over the N73.
@Syke - Not all those things are that big of an upgrade. The integrated GPS, while nice, isn’t much different than the LD-1W that I already have. The better browser, well, as linked above, that’ll soon be available on the N73. HSDPA, not in the US, where I am. WiFi, to me, is about as useless, as I only have a hotspot in my home. None at work and none in other places I frequent. Plus, I have unlimited data with Cingular. The headphone jack doesn’t matter much, either, given that I have a N73 ME, which came with a pop-port to 3.5mm adapter.
SO really all it’s got is TV-Out and an accelerated graphics processor. In my opinion, that’s not worth an extra $300-350. Also, in my post I didn’t really compare them based on features alone, but with what’s coming down the pipeline. I personally think there’s something better than the N95 in store for 2007.
Nokia has already shrunk the San Diego facility by about 50% and it’s rumoured that they will be closing in completely, so don’t expect much from them in the future…..
Dec 19th, 2007 at 7:19 am
[...] nearly 9 months, and really really loved it. You may recall that at one point, I thought there was no way it could be better than my longtime lover, the N73. However, after Nokia Blogger Relations sent me an N95, I [...]