The other day, I was looking at the N81 in front of me and it hit me: there is no decent Nseries slider. I don’t mean this in a build-quality perspective (although it is true) but in terms of features offered. The most recent Nseries sliders offered by Nokia are the N81, N95 8GB and the N96. The first one is a handset I really digg, but let’s face it, its feature-set is extremely limited. The second and third ones are very high-end handsets that offer tons of functionality. Nothing in the middle. On the other hand, if you take a look at candybar Nseries, you see 2 almost identically priced middle-range handsets: the N82 which is high-end and the N78 which is a real mid-tier device.
It doesn’t make sense. At least the way I see it. Neither the N78 nor the N81 fit well in the Nseries picture, which is supposed to be the “Multimedia Computer” brand. They lack some essential features and are priced similarly to other more packed devices.
But let’s stop for a second and picture a mix between these 2 handsets: a slider device with the N81 design, multimedia playback keys and dedicated gaming buttons, with its high quality music playback feature through the loudspeaker or the headset, but that also packs the great 3.2 Autofocus camera of the N78, its GPS with automatic geotagging, as well as the cool FM transmitter. Put in FP1 or FP2 _it doesn’t matter_ at a price tag similar to the N78, and you have a handset that Nokia could have advertised as a true overall Multimedia beast for the masses.
I know this is sheer fantasy from my side and that there are probably reasons why a handset like this doesn’t exist yet, but I also know that fantasm aside, it would’ve made much more sense (and lots more sales and profit) if this device was released instead of the N81 or the N78. I believe Nokia totally blew the opportunity of introducing a real mid-range in the Nseries game. And if they were to release such a handset now, it would be too little too late, and won’t do anything but crowd Nseries, confuse the consumer, and make us bloggers yawn and say that it is another device that has some features, lacks a lot, and is overpriced compared to other handsets.
But just out of curiosity, what do you think of the mixed up device between the N78 and the N81? Would you be all over it, or if you go for high-end handsets yourself, would you have recommended it to friends around you?
