Sixty phones
news and opinions about Nokia Series 60 Symbian phones and other high-priced Finnish trinkets
Sunday, January 29, 2006
N90 in the flesh
I also played with the N90 at CompUSA -- wonder of wonders, they had a live model on display.
What I thought was the biggest drawback of the N90 -- it's size -- really didn't bother me very much at all. The phone is not that much bigger than my 6681 in height and width... the depth is bigger, but not grotesquely so. The phone was completely comfortable to hold in my hand as well as up to my ear.
The phone had many positives. The first was the display -- it has to be seen to be believed. It is really a beauty, and the pictures you've seen only begin to do it justice. The photos from the camera render beautifully, the icons are razor sharp, and the lighting element is perfect. Nokia really needs to make this screen standard -- its on the quality of the nicest Sharp phones from Sprint which blow me away every time I see them.
The second striking thing about the phone was the build quality. The thing opens and closes with a snap, no rattles. The twisting element felt comfortable and sturdy -- it gave me confidence that the body would hold up to repeated use. The joystick on the side of the phone and the shutter button both had great response and were firmly set into the phone. And the keypad was fabulous -- it reminded me of the 6230 but was even better -- nicer tactile response and less movement. I assume there were some bad N90s floating around early on in the manufacturing process, but the one I played with was one of the finest Nokia phones I've ever held in terms of quality.
The camera was totally satifying in terms of the form and the function. The autofocus seemed to work fairly quickly - I didn't detect a significant lag between pushing the button and either the autofocus element working or the shutter. The pictures and videos looked marvelous on the phone's screen, at least.
The real drawbacks to me for this phone are twofold: the external display and the clamshell design. I found the display to be embarassingly bad - it was irritating to use as a viewfinder, and I'm sure I wouldn't like looking at it on a daily basis for tasks like reading messages. And as a longtime candybar afficionado, having to open and close the phone fifty times a day to write emails and text messages would be a drag.
I'd highly recommend this phone for someone who puts photography at the top of their feature list for buying phones. Don't let the size scare you away.
I was quoted a price of $499 with a one-year contract extension, $799 without one, at CompUSA. The system said this "special" was good through 5/31, which indicates a price drop at that time, given the N80 should be finally on the market by then. ¶ 12:46 PM
I also played with the N90 at CompUSA -- wonder of wonders, they had a live model on display.
What I thought was the biggest drawback of the N90 -- it's size -- really didn't bother me very much at all. The phone is not that much bigger than my 6681 in height and width... the depth is bigger, but not grotesquely so. The phone was completely comfortable to hold in my hand as well as up to my ear.
The phone had many positives. The first was the display -- it has to be seen to be believed. It is really a beauty, and the pictures you've seen only begin to do it justice. The photos from the camera render beautifully, the icons are razor sharp, and the lighting element is perfect. Nokia really needs to make this screen standard -- its on the quality of the nicest Sharp phones from Sprint which blow me away every time I see them.
The second striking thing about the phone was the build quality. The thing opens and closes with a snap, no rattles. The twisting element felt comfortable and sturdy -- it gave me confidence that the body would hold up to repeated use. The joystick on the side of the phone and the shutter button both had great response and were firmly set into the phone. And the keypad was fabulous -- it reminded me of the 6230 but was even better -- nicer tactile response and less movement. I assume there were some bad N90s floating around early on in the manufacturing process, but the one I played with was one of the finest Nokia phones I've ever held in terms of quality.
The camera was totally satifying in terms of the form and the function. The autofocus seemed to work fairly quickly - I didn't detect a significant lag between pushing the button and either the autofocus element working or the shutter. The pictures and videos looked marvelous on the phone's screen, at least.
The real drawbacks to me for this phone are twofold: the external display and the clamshell design. I found the display to be embarassingly bad - it was irritating to use as a viewfinder, and I'm sure I wouldn't like looking at it on a daily basis for tasks like reading messages. And as a longtime candybar afficionado, having to open and close the phone fifty times a day to write emails and text messages would be a drag.
I'd highly recommend this phone for someone who puts photography at the top of their feature list for buying phones. Don't let the size scare you away.
I was quoted a price of $499 with a one-year contract extension, $799 without one, at CompUSA. The system said this "special" was good through 5/31, which indicates a price drop at that time, given the N80 should be finally on the market by then. ¶ 12:46 PM
