Nokia N96 Unboxed

Nokia's new Nseries smartphone, the N96, which should be now in stores across Europe and some Asian countries, has appeared in an unboxing video. Moreover, a semi-review (more like a first impression) of the N96 has been spotted on the Web. Thus, if you want to know what you will get after buying an N96.

http://gallery.techarena.in/data/614/n961.jpg

• The screen is great - good colours, good outdoors too (although not tried it yet in sunlight - chance would be a fine thing!)
  
• The size isn't as large as I'd expected. Admittedly I'm coming to the N96 from the E90, but I was still pleasantly surprised. The N96 is shorter and easier to hold than the Apple iPhone, which I also have.
  
• Build quality is good, with a solid slide, but the back is plasticky, especially where the stand is, and the whole thing is a fingerprint magnet.
  
• Build quality is good, with a solid slide, but the back is plasticky, especially where the stand is, and the whole thing is a fingerprint magnet.
  
• The battery life is much better than expected, the N96 lasted a full day of me fiddling around with power hungry activities.
  
• USB is fast, much faster than the N95 8GB or E90.
  
• The music quality is very good indeed, especially over Bluetooth/A2DP.
  
• The built-in speakers are very loud, a good thing.
  
• Browsing the web on a QVGA screen was very disappointing after the E90 - but this was to be expected!
  
• The camera's very good, here are some photo samples, click each to enlarge/download/print (etc).

The N96 is being sold for 550 Euros (790 USD) free of any contract – a hefty price, nevertheless, but Nseries smartphones have always been expensive, and the newest one had to keep the tradition. If it's worth it or not is only for you to decide.