Nokia N96 NAM Review

The Nokia N96 NAM, the older brother of the N95, is a more polished version of it’s predecessor. Although most components are the same, the N96 has a new look that makes it more stylish and in some cases more functional. But is this model worth the price, we shall see soon enough.

The N96, which measures 4.1″ x 2.2″ x .7”, is a dual slider with a full number-pad and media controls. These media controls are just four black plastic buttons, there is no text or symbols on them. What Nokia did was put lights under the plastic to make the media controls light up when accessed. This little touch adds a lot to the design. The backlit number-pad supports T9 predictive text which works very nicely. However, each row of numbers sits on the same strip of plastic which decreases usability.

Nokia went on to drastically improve the look of it’s product. The primary buttons on the front are no longer oddly designed chrome but flush, touch sensitive keys. Media controls also appear on the front of the device in the same fashion as the primary media controls. The 2.8” screen, which has a resolution of 240×320, looks great with its sharp colors and popping video playback. Overall, the spring loaded slider feels solid and well made and the device fits comfortably in my hand. (Hardware Tour)

Just like the N95, the N96 has all the connectivity you need. HSDPA networking, wi-fi, and bluetooth all work nicely. The N96 also has a good built in browser that, although a little slow compared to other devices, supports flash. However, the device consistently asks me what network to connect to even though I am already connected. It gets pretty annoying after a while and I have yet to find a way to disable those pop-ups.

This phone was designed with media in mind and Nokia didn’t skip a beat. The device allows you to listen to your content in three ways: the duel external speakers, from headphones connect to the 3.5mm jack, or wirelessly with bluetooth stereo headphones. Want some more music? The device also allows you to listen to internet radio as well as FM radio with an external, but included, tuner. There is even a plastic stand on the back of the device which makes it easier to watch your videos.

A really cool media extra is the ability for you to output what is on the screen of your device right to a TV or computer monitor. All you need is an input on the TV and the included component cables. This video can give you more information.

To store your media, the N96 ships with 16gb of internal storage. Plus, you can expand that with a microSD card. Just like the N95, the music player supports all the formats you would expect: W4A, AAC+, WMA, AAC,MP3, and eAAC+ files, as well as a few DRM-protected formats. Real player, the default video player on this device, can play MPEG-4 and 3GPP video. You can also play Divx video clips if you download divx mobile, which is free, to your phone.

But what kind of content can this device make on it’s own? Well, it can record video at 640×480 resolution at 30fps and with it’s two LED’s dark videos are extremely bright. You have auto and night modes as well as scene modes, white balance, and color tone options. One problem with video recording is that there is a slight hiss on all recorded videos which I assume is from the lens autofocusing. (Video Test)

Taking pictures with the 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss lens is amazing and is leaps and bounds better then any other mobile phone I have used. Colors pop, pictures look great, and the duel LED flash makes dark pictures possible (Image Sample). Nokia gives you total control over the camera so that you can take the perfect picture. From white balance, color tone, exposure, sharpness, contrast, and ISO settings as well as several scene modes and shooting modes. You can even geotag your pictures or video with the included A-GPS.

Moving on, the N96 has everything you need for email with IMAP4 and POP3 email support. However, from my usage I have found email is displayed as text only which is a bummer. Making up for it though is the ability of the phone to read you your email or SMS messages. Speaking of messaging, the N96 supports IM and MMS messaging right out of the box

A big concern for me going in was the battery which is rated at 950mAH. Nokia claims that the N96 can get up to 220 minutes of talk time and 220 hours of standby time. From my testing, you can get about 5 consecutive hours of video and 14 consecutive hours of music playback. The device has yet to die on me during the day.

To maximize the battery, Nokia under-clocked the CPU which does show in performance. Menu’s are somewhat slow to respond and apps take a good 4 seconds to simply start. You can have applications run in the background, which is cool, but this decreases performance even further.

So is this device worth the $600+ you are going to spend on it? If you are in the market for a mobile media power house then yes, it is 100% worth the price. It does media extremely well and content it produces is superior to other mobile phones. If you are just the casual user I still recommend the phone but it’s not going to be as great a value for you. Still check it out, but there are other less expensive models for you, the casual user.