After the much adored Nokia N95, the Nseries has a new phone in its kitty, the Nokia N96. The highly anticipated N96 has finally reached the Indian shores and to know what it is all about, we tried our hands at this latest addition to the Nseries.
At the first glance, we gazed at its large 2.8†QVGA TFT display with 240 x 320 resolution that effortlessly slides in both the directions, one side reveals the keypad while the other side gives a clear picture of the media controls.
The screen automatically changes depending upon how you hold the phone, it gives a vertical view when you reveal the keypad and a horizontal one as you slide open it to view the media controls. As major companies are striving to bundle up the best features into a smaller and sleeker package, Nokia definitely needs to pay heed to the sleekness of its phones. We were disappointed looking at its bulky physique.
Some keys, including the four-way navigation key, are located on the front side below its screen. As you slide open it, the keypad is flat without any distinct border. It looks a little congested without much space. Well, it is quite ok to type and in some would get used to it.
One of the amazing factors is its 5 megapixel camera (2, 592 x 1, 944 pixels) and Carl Zeiss optics. It let us take as well as view some amazing pictures. The N96 also comes with the geotagging feature. Adding to our convenience were its settings for automatic, flash, serial shots, self-timer, color humor, white balance, contrast, exposure correction and help. We could easily access various applications as it comes with a help option which helps you to easily navigate through the applications. We enjoyed watching videos as well as listening to music with its 3D stereo speakers.
The N96 is loaded with goodies for the all the music lovers. Exclusively for Indian consumers, keeping in mind the love for Indian cinema, it is pre-loaded with 100 evergreen songs and the hit flick Om Shanti Om. It also comes pre-loaded with several English music videos. The sound quality is quite good. And the phone packs in some amazing games which are even more enjoyable on its huge screen.
You will never lose your directions while traveling as the Nokia N96 comes along with AGPS and Nokia Maps, it offers the maps of 8 Indian cities. All you need to do is activate the 3 months India Navigation License.
Weighing about 125 grams, it comes with highly impressive 16 GB storage capacity that can be further extended through a hot-swappable microSD memory card. You can conveniently store up to 40 hours of video and 12,000 songs. It supports Bluetooth 2.0 A2DP stereo/EDR, built-in GPS/A-GPS and TV-out (PAL/NTSC) and we could easily transfer data using the USB 2.0.
We have been a huge fan of Nokia handsets and this user friendly phone has successfully impressed us. We would like to rate it an 8 on 10. The Nokia N96 carries a price tag worth Rs. 34, 999.
