I missed the 1-year anniversary of my dear Nokia N95-3 because I was too caught up with being wanted by graduate schools. But to compensate for that oversight, I’ve decided to write up a nice little report with some key experiences that I’ve had with my N95. This might devolve into a rant on mobile OSes on more than one occasion, so please bear with me.
The N95 is the first smartphone and the 5th Nokia I’ve ever owned. Symbian and the S60 platform have their critics, but I think the only thing wrong is that the UI appears dated when put next to new OSes such as the iPhone OS, Android, modified Windows Mobile (TouchFLO, etc.), and even Nokia’s own Maemo 5. Beyond that, personally, I feel Symbian is still a capable mobile OS if you don’t want a touchscreen device. One thing I’ve come to realize over the past 18 months is that the N95 (and other S60 phones) really come to life when you give them a data connection to feed off of. You can get your email (even Exchange!), browse the web with support for Flash, use Assisted-GPS/Google Maps, chat with friends on multi-protocol IM clients and lots more. While Nokia’s Ovi Store is only just getting off the ground, apps for S60 have been available for ages through other channels. Thus far, I’ve found free apps for almost everything – web browsing, IM clients, controlling your PC over Bluetooth, Mail for Exchange, Gmail….the list goes on. Quality themes (free and paid) are pretty easy to find as well.
The phone is a nice, unified device for multimedia and web applications. I use it as a relatively good music player (with okayish stereo speakers) when I don’t need to carry my entire music library. It has a GPS unit which along with Nokia/Google Maps has come in handy several times. I use the camera every now and then to capture 5MP pictures and 640×480@30fps videos when I don’t have my trusty Canon with me. The battery life has been pretty good (2 days for my normal usage patterns) since I don’t make a lot of phone calls. But my favorite aspect is that this phone is not carrier-locked. It did not come with any carrier crapware, was not castrated in terms of its feature set, and will work with any GSM carrier anywhere in the world. Sure, I paid more up front, but at least I can do as I please with the phone, rather than doing what my carrier (or Apple if you own the iPhone) pleases.
The N95 has taken a few falls in its stride with the only casualties being a scratch or two and a creaky slider mechanism. The chrome plating on the front buttons is intact, the screen is safe courtesy a screen protector I put on it the day I received the phone, and the Nokia Nseries branding on the battery cover is still mostly there. I wish there was a camera lens cover – I’m still using the flimsy, protective plastic film that came with the phone. Also, the 3.5mm jack with TV-Out is nice and all, but it should’ve been at the top or bottom of the device. While the 2.6″ screen is fairly large, it looks positively tiny compared with the 3″ behemoths on new touchscreen phones. Last, but most definitely not the least, call quality and reception are excellent!
Nokia needs to sort out its software issues, however. Almost all their top-end phones have buggy firmware at release, leading to instability and overall sluggishness. On the desktop front, Ovi is a step in the right direction and an improvement over PC Suite. The newly leaked Maemo 5 screenshots promise plenty and I hope Nokia can deliver on that promise. It is my estimation that Nokia will move S60 to mid-end devices, replacing the aging S40 OS used currently, and put Maemo 5 on their high-end devices to compete with other smartphone operating systems on the market. I’m pleased that so many different smartphone OSes are now jostling for market share – it means greater choice for the consumer.
I hope to make the N95 last for at least another two years if it doesn’t break irrevocably before then. However, I’m already excited about what my options will be when I replace it. Without Exchange support on non-Enterprise plans, BlackBerry would be a no-no. The iPhone’s out unless Apple give up their control-freak nature. I think that leaves Maemo, Android (Sense is yummy), and customized WinMo. From the current batch, the HTC Hero is appealing despite the lack of a hardware keyboard. Upcoming phones like the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X3 and Nokia N900 should be interesting as well.
P.S.: This post might be updated over the next couple of days I remember something to add.