Classic look building on its baby brother
Building on the success of the Nokia 6700 Classic, the 6700 Slide is really a relative in name only. Running Symbian S60, the Slide has a more righteous claim on the label of smartphone than many of its rivals. However, it’s being sold as dumber yet feature rich to temp consumers into greater capability, without appearing too geeky.
Available in six colours from classic aluminium to (lurid) lime, the first notable feature is the solid metal casing. The screen is a small 2.2 inches diagonally, but gives a clear and vibrant display at 240×320. The shuttle features a large 5-way D-pad with 6 surrounding buttons and opens up to reveal a traditional 12 key alphanumeric keypad.
Nokia hype advertises the 6700 Slide to ’snap and share’, and it certainly has a respectable 5 megapixel autofocus camera with Carl Zeiss optics and dual LED flash. Unless you’re blowing images up to larger than A4, you’ll never need anything bigger.
Quad band with 3.5G, menu links and content from Nokia’s Ovi store are optimised to give quick and easy access to popular social networking sites. An FM radio and decent audio player complete the picture. Nokia claim 29 hours of audio playback but I suspect a charge will be needed around every fourth day of normal use.
A mid-range phone aimed at design-conscious consumers wanting to socialise and share with those closest to them. A classic look in some shocking colours, the end result is sure to be please.
Musical and imaging dream
There’s a lot going on in the W995 and it’s a treat to not have to choose an SE for either music OR a decent camera. Here we have the power of the Walkman brand twinned with a massive 8.1 megapixels and finished in classy brushed metal construction.
Four extra buttons around the D-pad make user navigation easier and the expected applications are all integrated, including Facebook and BBC iPlayer. The 2.6 inch screen really looks bigger than it is, just turn the phone side on for video.
You could improve the phones already fabulous stereo sound by docking it to the bundled external speakers. But you won’t as the speakers drain the phone battery and don’t have external power connections. Plug your headset into the 3.5mm jack instead of share your media around the house through DLNA. Music controls also glow in the dark, nice touch.
The flip-stand is an elegant plus. Simple, yet the W995i brings more panache when deployed on your desk or bedside. You can open an eyeball from the pillow to see it instead of having to grope around and wake up properly (Designers please note - add a voice command to put it on snooze and I’ll be a happy man).
The all-rounder
Friends will know I’ll be immediately drawn to the QWERTY slider and touch screen combo that the N97 presents on first look. One blink later though, and I’m startled at only having three rows of 11 keys. What’s this going to be like to type on? Turns out to be ok but the off-set space key on row three is certainly quirky until you get used to it.
Beyond cosmetic reactions, I’m quite impressed with the N97’s statistics. 32GB internal memory sets the phone up as a multimedia and download workhorse. The 5 MP camera with Carl Zeiss optics and autofocus takes nice snaps plus Facebook integration and customisable widgets all make the social networking and online experience smooth and easy.
The N97 was mentioned in just about every category of the recent Mobile Choice consumer awards. But it didn’t quite win anything. The networks need to cut the price to catapult the N97 into being a real bargain.
Nokia fan? Then snap it up. If you want a specific application to be perfect then hunt elsewhere. If you want a solid contender for just about everything then this one will do the job.
Update! An update and patch has been released via Nokia’s web site to offer a host of improvements and fixes. A mini version of the N97 is also due in Q4 2009 so expect the original to become better value soon.
