Review: Nokia N95 mobile phone

Nokia’s hugely anticipated smartphone has a five-megapixel camera and satellite navigation

Since its announcement last September, the Nokia N95 has been eagerly awaited.

Its specifications were outstanding and it was a reasonable size for an N-series phone.

Earlier N phones had threatened to tear your pocket apart at the seams, but not this one.

The N-series is the bells-and-whistles range from Nokia that is so advanced the company bills this model not as a phone but 'multimedia computer'.

The N95 certainly crams a lot into a small slider-phone case. And even the slider has a trick up its sleeve.

First, though, there’s that camera. At five megapixels, it’s the most powerful yet seen on a mobile phone in the UK (the X-Cute phone also on sale uses a three-megapixel camera and guesses what the in-between pixels would be – so calling it a six-megapixel camera isn’t quite right).

The Nokia N95 still doesn’t have an optical zoom but at least the lens is courtesy of Carl Zeiss, and is auto-focus, rather than fixed focus. Sony Ericsson’s earlier flagship cameraphone, the 3.2-megapixel K800i, was let down by an erratic lens cover which tended to pop open and drain the battery.

This phone’s lens cover solves this by swivelling open. Images were sharp and detailed, but there’s some shutter lag – the time between pressing the trigger and the shot being taken – which can be annoying when taking spontaneous shots.

Since this is a 3G handset, there’s also a camera peeping out next to the screen, ready for video-calling. Don’t all rush at once.

More interesting is the aforementioned slide mechanism. Push the screen up to reveal a decently-sized backlit keypad with regular keys that are ridged to make them easy to hit. Slide it back and it clicks back into place satisfyingly.

However, slide it further down and dedicated Play/pause, Stop, Next track and Previous track buttons are revealed at the top end of the phone. The screen image reformats to landscape and you’re into the multimedia menu.

Along with the music player, you’ll also find the video player, and on this screen, capable of displaying 16 million colours, video really shines. The multimedia menu also gives access to the internet, blogging software and a demo level of a fast-moving 3D space game, System Rush.

Then there are the maps. Phones with satellite-navigation capabilities are still rare. Nokia’s maps are bright, detailed, clear and, most importantly, free. They cover 100 countries, some in great detail. You can use them to plan a route, with maps or turn-by-turn written directions.

The maps don’t update quickly enough to make them a credible driving tool, mind. Voice directions are possible, but you have to pay for them. In short, it's not going to replace your Tomtom.

There’s also Wifi, accessed with consummate simplicity from the main screen – just one click to switch it on and off. The large screen is ideal for surfing the internet and the only thing missing is a Qwerty keypad, which would make text entry that little bit easier.

The N95 is a spectacular piece of mobile technology. Nokia’s right, 'phone' doesn’t do it justice. It’s not perfect, though; phone operation and menu navigation is generally excellent, but, be warned, closing the slide mechanism doesn’t hang up a call, as you might expect. This can’t be configured to do so, either.

Of course you can get used to this and, if you're web surfing or using sat nav while you're making phone call you can close the slide to switch to landscape view without ending the call, though it's still irritating.

That aside, it’s certainly the most satisfying, advanced, good-looking N-series device yet, and its range of features, mostly brilliantly executed, is deeply impressive.

Vista compatible: N/A