- Demystifying The Nokia N97
- Demystifying The Nokia N97 – The Typing Experience
- Demystifying The Nokia N97 – The Form Factor Experience
- Demystifying The Nokia N97 – The Ovi Experience
- Demystifying The Nokia N97 – The Widget Experience
- Demystifying The Nokia N97 – The Connected User Experience
- Demystifying The Nokia N97 – The Power User Fiasco
- Demystifying The Nokia N97 – The E71 Fan Experience
My last article on the Nokia N97 looked at it from a connected user standpoint, finding it pretty perfect for someone looking for a tool to stay in touch with their friends, family and internet buddies through Facebook, Email, IM, Twitter,… But given the N97′s great resolution touchscreen, full QWERTY, S60 5th Edition, it is regarded by many as a device for power users. When the N97 was announced, many persons were happy to see that Nokia had finally released a handset that could appeal to their advanced needs. So how does it perform in that regard?
Despite the N97 being capable of handling a lot of power user needs, I ran into 3 big issues with it. I might as well call them THE 3 issues that make or break the power user experience.
Battery Life and Power Handling
The N97 is a handset that begs to be used, be it the huge touchscreen, the nice slide, the connected widgets homescreen or the qwerty. Everything about it demands to be touched, utilized, and that means more and more battery consumption. Unfortunately, despite all the advances in today’s tech, we’re still stuck with the same battery systems and limits that we’ve had for years now. Of course, Nokia put their best battery in the N97 and I bet they optimized the N97′s power consumption, but let’s face it, there’s a world of difference between the capabilities and the usage of the Nokia E90 (the first handset that had the BP-4L 1500mAh battery) and the N97. So no matter how good this battery is, it still can’t really handle the drain that the N97 is capable of making.
Another issue with battery life, that I faced on my unit, is probably software related. I would notice, everyday, a sudden drop in the battery bars from 7 bars to 3 or 4 bars, then another sudden drop to 1 or 2 bars. What puzzled me the most was that the N97 showed 7 battery bars, even after 4 or 5 hours of continuous usage and connection. I thought that a reboot would show me the real battery life, tried it, and still got 7 bars displayed. Since my E71 takes the same BP-4L battery, I decided to place the N97′s battery in the E71 and see what the E71 would show. Surprise! The E71 showed 4 or 5 bars. I put the battery back in the N97, and still got 7 bars! I believe the N97 is overly optimistic in regards to battery bars display, since half an hour later, it would drop to the accurate 3 or 4 bars.
Internal Memory
Whoever decided that around 70Mb of internal memory for the N97 is enough, should be fired instantly. I mean yes, thanks for the 32GB of built-in memory, but the whole OS is on the little memory, and all the Widgets and applications are preinstalled on that tiny little thing. Add to that all of Nokia’s add-on applications like N-Gage, Nokia Messaging, Ovi Contacts, Nokia Maps 3 and the new Java Runtime which can only install to the internal memory, and you end up with 30Mb or so. Leave Nokia Messaging running for a few days, or install a couple of N-Gage games, and you can kiss your free internal memory goodbye. I had to remove Nokia Messaging and reinstall it twice during the course of 4 weeks with the N97, to gain back internal memory since I was down to 100Kb free. ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS!
Two other things I noticed were that there is a 2Mb video presentation of the N97 saved on the internal memory, and not the 32GB of storage, as well as… oh brace yourself for this one… a 2Mb installation file for Mail For Exchange. Some N97 users must have noticed that the menu’s Applications folder holds an empty MfE folder. What they didn’t know is that there really is an installation file for MfE if you know how to look for it. Stupidly enough, there’s no access to it, since it’s on the C drive (internal memory) under a special folder which CAN NOT be accessed through the usual File Manager, but through a 3rd-party application like Y-Browser of X-Plore. Whoever decided to put that MfE installation file under that hidden directory is retarded, and whoever decided to include a folder for it in the menu structure without it being installed is a long way past retarded. This is pure and plain bullshit.
Free RAM
One more issue with the N97 is the ridiculous amount of free RAM available. If you have a couple of widgets running on the homescreen, and you keep some applications open in the background, then you’re bound to find the N97 closing all applications when you try to open a new one. Another issue is with handling big video files, where anything over 100Mb won’t open and you can’t email any video if you have 4 or 5 apps open in the background. If you limit yourself to 3 or 4 applications open, then you won’t face any of these issues, but try going over that and it won’t be pleasant.
As a conclusion, you can see that even though the N97 is praised for its connected user experience and even though it looks like it can handle a lot of power user needs, it fails at the 3 aspects that any serious power user requires from a handset: battery life/power management, internal memory and free RAM. Stay tuned for Friday when I will publish my thoughts on the N97 from the viewpoint of an E71 fan and addict. This promises to be interesting.
