Unlocked Cell Phones - Customer reviews - Nokia N95 8 GB Unlocked Cell Phone with 5 MP Camera, 3G, GPS, Media Player--U.S. Version with Warranty (Black)


Nokia N95 8 GB Unlocked Cell Phone with 5 MP Camera, 3G, GPS, Media Player--U.S. Version with Warranty (Black)
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Manufacturer: Nokia

List Price: $749.99
Our Price: $549.99
You Save: $200 (27%)
Refurbished Price:
Used Price: $508.74


Average Customer Rating: -

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Spotlight customer reviews:

Name: Tor Slettnes
Location: SF Bay Area, USA
Date: 2008-04-03
Customer Rating: -

Summary: The perfect
Comment: Beware that this is lengthy! I figure that if you consider spending $[...] on a phone, the more information the better. :)

The first thing to get straight about this phone is that it is not about form, but function. It is not the slimmest or sexiest phone out there, nor does it have the most awe-inspiring user interface compared to the likes of the iPhone. On the other hand, it has every capability that you will find on any phone these days:

* A 5MP camera with autofocus, LED flash, and VGA video recording, Carl Zeiss lens, and a 1/2.5" CCD (same as in most compact digital cameras). Various shooting modes (macro, night, night portrait, sports, etc...), ISO control, flash control w/red-eye reduction. Immediately send pictures via bluetooth, email, MMS, etc.

* GPS with Nokia Maps application and optional voice navigation. Various third party applications (e.g. Google Maps for S60) support its built-in GPS as well.

* 3.5G (HSDPA) connectivity (see note about models below), This gives clearer voice and much faster data downloads (theoretically up to 3.5 Mbps; in practice I have seen from 900 Kbps to about 2.2 Mbps, depending on location and time of day).

* WiFi (802.11g) with WEP, WPA/WPA2, and EAP/802.1x authentication (for corporate environments)

* Support for nearly every Bluetooh profile in existence: A2DP for stereo audio, DUN for tethering the phone's internet connection with a laptop (for on-the road use), OBEX to send/receive files and browse the internal filesystem from a computer.

* 3.5mm headset jack, infrared port w/send/receive utility, FM tuner.

* "Dual slider" design: Slide display up to reveal numeric keypad; and down to reveal four multimedia buttons (Play/Pause, stop, rewind, fast forward). Sliding it down also changes the display orientation from portrait to landscape; sliding it up switches it back.

* Symbian S60 smartphone OS: In addition to thousands of available generic Java (J2ME) mobile applications, there are also nearly an equal number of native applications that can access additional functionality/hardware on the phone (for instance, there is one that uses the built-in accelerometer to control your computer's mouse cursor by simply tilting the phone, and another one that uses the built-in GPS to "geotag" pictures with your location as you use the camera).

* Built-in applictions include QuickOffice to read Microsoft Office files (DOC, PPT, XLS), Adobe Acrobat Lite reader (PDF), RealPlayer (most media files/streams), home screen "Search" applet to search the Internet and local content, various organizer apps (clock w/unlimited alarms, phonebook with unlimited entries, calendar w/unlimited meetings, todos, memos, reminders..), calculator, unit converter -- you get the picture. Notably absent, though, is a Timer/Stopwatch application; however you can easily download a third party one (e.g. from [...]).

* Other S60-specific applications include Nokia's Internet Radio to stream live radio streams, "RotateMe" to automatically rotate the screen depending on your phone orientation, "Fring" mobile Skype/AIM/MSN/Google Talk/etc.. client, Google Maps with GPS support, Google home screen search applet, Mobile Weather app, "ExtGPS" to share the internal GPS information over bluetooth (e.g. to the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet), YouTube player, emTube (also for YouTube access), etc.

* One of the best mobile web browsers out there. Based on AppleWebKit (a.k.a. KTML, the web engine used in the likes of Apple Safari and KDE Konqueror), it renders web pages "as they were meant to be". And unlike that other phone that claims to do the same, the N95 also has a built-in Flash Lite player - so web pages that use flash will work as well. Plus, you are of course free to download and use other browsers, such as the excellent and bandwidth-saving Opera Mini (from [...]).

* Mail client with POP-3 and IMAP support (including IMAP-IDLE, a.k.a. "push mail"; alternatively it can poll at specified intervals).

* Mac OS X users: Although the phone does not come with bundles software for Mac OS X, you can download "Nokia Multimedia Transfer" (to synchronize photos and music with iPhoto and iTunes) and an iSync plugin (to synchronize the address book, calendar, todo etc) with your Mac - both from Nokia's web site. Also, setting up your Mac to access the Internet via the phone (providing that you have a data plan, e.g. the $15/month "MEdia Net Unlimited" from AT&T) is super-easy: When you first pair with the phone, the needed WAP/APN information is pulled automatically from your Phone's SIM card. (Ironically, this works for nearly every phone, except Apple's own iPhone; this one has a very crippled bluetooth stack, and does also not support tethering).



MODELS:
=======
There are 5 subflavors of the N95 released to date:
* The original N95 (a.k.a. N95-1, a.k.a. RM-159) targeted mainly the European and Asian markets; while it had quad-band GSM (2G) support for use in nearly every country, including the USA, it had support only for the international W-CDMA (UMTS/HSDPA, a.k.a. 3G/3.5G) frequency (commonly referred to as UMTS-2100). Nonetheless, this phone was later made available for retail in the USA as well, through Nokia's flagship stores, online site, and 3rd party retailers. It had manual shutter lens protection (you would slide it open to start the camera), 64MB of runtime/dynamic memory (RAM), and a 900 mAh battery. Common complaints about this phone was that it would often run out of memory when several applications were open, and that the battery life was too short.

* The N95-2 (a.k.a. "N95 8GB", a.k.a. RM-320) increased the screen size from 2.6" to 2.8" (diagonal), increased RAM from 64MB to 128MB, increased the battery size from 900 mAh to 1200 mAh, removed the slider mechanism for opening the camera lens, replaced the µSDHC card slot with 8GB of internal flash, and replaced the silver faceplate with an all-black design. However, the bands supported were the same: W-CDMA 2100MHz, GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz - so although it will work fine with both AT&T Wireless, T-Mobile USA and Rogers, it does not support 3G/3.5G network speeds in North America. Nonetheless, as with the N95-1, Nokia has sold this phone in North America as well until just a few weeks ago; so possibly, this is the phone sold here (Unfortunately, Nokia's own sales channels do not normally make this distinction, and Amazon's product description is also somewhat lacking).

* The N95-3 (a.k.a. "N95 NAM", RM-160) is the first model targeted for North America. Most of the exterior design is similar to the N95-1 (Silver faceplate, 2.6" screen, µSDHC slot), but like the N95-2, it has 128MB of RAM, a 1200 mAh battery, and no manual slider for the camera shutter. The main reason for its existence is that it swapped the original UMTS-2100 (WCDMA) frequency for UMTS-850 and UMTS-1900, so that it would work with AT&T Wireless's 3G/3.5G network. Until just a few days/weeks ago, this would have been the "best" choice for US customers.

* The N95-4 (a.k.a. "N95 8GB NAM", RM-421) is identical to the N95-2, except that like the N95-3, it swaps UMTS-2100 for UMTS-850/1900. It was released just a couple of weeks ago, though, so if Amazon got their inventory of "n95 8gb" devices from Nokia prior to this, it would have been the N95-2 rather than the N95-4. (The exterior and labeling of both is the same). Also, the firmware revision numbers are different, so some utilities (like the "Nokia Multimedia Transfer" application and iSync plugin for Mac OS X) do not yet recognize this phone.


* The N95-5 is for Japan; it is a stripped-down version of the N95-1 (e.g. no WiFi).



COMPARED WITH OTHER PHONES:
==========================

N95 vs. iPhone
==============

This is almost an irrational comparison, given how different these devices are:

* The iPhone is almost entirely about "sex appeal": Polished, slim, with a large screen for viewing content, multi-touch user interface (we've all seen how to zoom in and out using finger pinches, do inertial scrolling through a list of contacts, etc). As such, it is very big on "usability". The N95 is not even a touch-screen device. (Personally I actually prefer "hard" keys w/tactile feedback; having used the touch-screen based Motorola A1200 MING in the past. Touch screens are not very good for, for example, dialing a number without looking at the screen).

* The iPhone feature set is, at best, mediocre. Yes, it has WiFi - so does about a hundred other phones. Yes, it has a "WYSIWYG" web browser; again, so do so many others (including the 3-year old Motorola A1200 MING, another touch-screen phone by the way). However, it lacks: 3G support, GPS, Infrared, FM Radio, decent camera functionality (no flash, video recording, etc), 3rd party application support (e.g. no Internet Radio, GPS navigation, etc), or even a usable Bluetooth stack (to do silly little things like transfer files or enable internet access for a nearby laptop while on the road). Even the otherwise crappy Motorola RAZR line (e.g. RAZR v3xx) do most of these things.

* The iPhone is only available with a 2-year contract from AT&T; the N95 is only available SIM-free (unlocked).

In short: The iPhone is about form, the N95 (and Symbian devices in general) about function.


N95 vs. Sony Ericsson K850i
===========================

These are the only two 5MP camera phones available for the US market. Neither of them is offered by a carrier (AT&T, T-Mobile, Cellular One, Rogers...), so in both cases you will pay the full price for the phone. (The upside, of course, is that you will not need to renew your contract to get it.. :)

Also, both phones (in the case of the N95, some flavors of it) support the U.S. 3G bands, in addition to being quad-band GSM phones. The difference here is that the k850i supports all four GSM bands and all three UMTS bands at the same time, so you don't have to pick a "US" vs. "International" flavor. Finally, both phones have built-in FM tuners - though the k850i also supports RDM to display programming information transmitted in the broadcast.

Most comparisons of these phones therefore center around the camera functionality (e.g. PhoneArena.com, GSMArena.com, and Mobile-Review.Com all have head-to-head comparison reviews of the two). In summary: As far as camera phones go, these are as good as you get; they are both comparable to mid-range pocket cameras. The k850i has an advantage indoors, because it has a real Xenon flash in addition to the LED autofocus assist beam. However, in general, it has more "washed out" color reproduction than the more vivid N95; and it only supports video recording in QVGA (320x240) resolution compared to the N95 VGA (640x480).

The main difference between the phones lie in other areas. The N95 is a Symbian smartphone, and so can run a whole slew of native applications specifically written for this platform, while the k850i is limited to running generic Java (j2me) mobile applictions. Also, the k850i does not have a built-in GPS (but using an external bluetooth GPS receiver together with free GPS navigation software such as AmazeGPS, you can get voice navigation on this phone as well). The Java version of Google Maps (which is what you would use on the k850i) has a "My Location" feature that uses information from cell phone towers to pinpoint ROUGHLY where you are, within a couple of miles; similar to the iPhone. Various other limits exist in the k850i as well (1000 phonebook entries, 5 alarms, etc..)

On the other hand, the k850i does have a few built-in applications that are notably absent from the N95: A flashlight application (uses the LED autofocus beam), mouse/keyboard emulation to control your bluetooth-enabled computer (e.g. for presentation), and a stopwatch/timer app.

One last thing to note about the K850i: Although it uniquely supports both U.S. and International 3G frequencies, its use on the AT&T wireless network is sub-optimal. That's because there is an interoperability issue with its built-in media player and the MEdiaNet configuration - so streaming internet videos (e.g. from YouTube) does not work. This was the single most important reason why I ended up returning my k850i to the local store where I bought it, after having had it for about 2 weeks.


N95 vs. the Samsung G810
========================

The Samsung G810 was announced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February; it is another Symbian S60 phone with a feature set almost identical to the N95. It will be sold internationally starting this fall; probably not in the U.S. though -- it is lacking the GSM 850 MHz frequency used here. (In other words, it is only a "tri-band" phone). Maybe they plan on releasing a US version as well - I guess that depends on whether a carrier picks it up or not.

Other than that, for better or worse the G810 has a 3x optical zoom. "Worse" because that inevitably leads to compromises in the optics (the thickness of the phone is the same, so that must mean that the CCD sensor is smaller - meaning more noise). On the upside, it does have Xenon flash and a protective lens cap.

Early available specs also indicate that it will have 96MB of RAM - midway between the N95-1 and subsequent N95s; however, the RAM will be split up into a 32MB chunk for the DSP (GSM and W-CDMA radios) and 64MB for the Symbian phone OS/functionality. Thus, this could become an issue.

For now, anther Samsung, the G600, although not available for sale in the US, seems to have a better camera (in some reviews outperforming the N95 and k850i), as well as quad-band GSM support. (It is otherwise a low-end phone though, without e.g. 3G).




Name: L. Di Masi
Location: NY
Date: 2008-06-02
Customer Rating: -

Summary: Nokia Lover but.....
Comment: I'm going to be honest here. I am a big fan of nokia. I've always had a nokia phone and would never purchase any brand. I purchased this phone because of all the reviews, the 8gbs, the video and screen size. The camera on this phone is great because its 5mp but at the same time since the lens is in the phone you tend to get red eye and if the person you are taking a photo of is more then 10feet away the picture is dark when in a dark area even while using the flash. The video on this phone is wonderful. The volume keys on the top right side of the phone are somewhat hard and you don't feel like you are pressing them sometimes. I really wish this phone had a keyboard on it. Honestly that's the only thing this phone is missing. I do agree with many people that this phone is way better then the iphone because of its web cababilites. Did I mention the gaming is insane? Yes, it does have N-gage but you can go to another site like mosh and get cool fun simple games. Tetris looks so hot on the screen. The GPS on the phone works great! Somethings that aren't mentioned a lot with this phone is that you can get AM/FM radio on it as well. Any jack can go into the phone unlike the iphone which only allows smaller ear pieces. The phone is super loud I can hear it 3 rooms away when its ringing. Another great thing is that the phone has flash player and like usual real player. I do have to say that for me the standby time could be a little longer. I did notice that my nokia 6682 did last longer then the N95 8gb, but I don't mind because this phone is sexy. The buttons are easy to press when you are text messaging. But again I just wish the phone had a keyboard granted I can get a small bluetooth one but why would I want to carry something extra in my purse?


Name: E. Du
Location:
Date: 2008-06-05
Customer Rating: -

Summary: The best cellphone in the market
Comment: I've been using the phone for over two months. Thanks to its 400MHZ processor, the phone's capable of many tasks. I install Garmin GPS on it with the latest North American 2009 map. I can now find satellite within 10 seconds with the pad slided up. The Nokia-Garmin bundle works perfectly driving around and this's almost like a dream only 5 years ago. Be aware that there's no way the CMOS camera can take equivalent pictures as CCD camera, even with the Carl Zeiss lens. The video shooting is amazingly fine though. Some people complain about no camera cover compared to older versions, but I've found absolutely fine with the glass protection. I haven't got a single scratch on it and I assume it's hard material. The symbian operate system provide extremely flexible expandability that you can almost treat it as a palm computer.

Pros: great GPS hardware, very loud speaker with decent music sound, acceptable camera, good battery life (w/o GPS turning on), nice audio and video playback

Cons: the front pad looks a little cheap

In all, this is a great great little gadget for cellphile. It's the assemble of functionality you can ever imagine.


Name: Vincent Wong
Location:
Date: 2008-04-03
Customer Rating: -

Summary: The Best All-in-One Device
Comment: The N95 has to be the best all around device. Everything works well. It's hard to imagine a device that small has all the modern day gadgets built in: Phone, GPS, Wi-Fi, bluetooth, 3G, Camcorder, and a fine camera. The N95 is quality built (unlike many high end Korean phones) with a very clear high res. screen. Battery life is excellent. I only wish the 8G device has an expandable storage like the non-8G models. I ordered from Amazon with one-day delivery and it arrived on time. Highly recommended to those who want an all around device that works. Set up is bit complicated but it's a complicated device. Be patient! Nokia website has good support. The software however is bit buggy for Vista-64 but works fine with XP. I spent a day setting up the N95. Once working, it's a small wonder. I also have an iPhone and the Nokia has far more features and is a better phone, esp. it's unlocked so that I can use it overseas - this restriction on the iPhone is the worst thing to an otherwise a great device of its kind. The N95 is well worth the $660 price!


Name: Michael Meer
Location:
Date: 2008-06-03
Customer Rating: -

Summary: Smartest Smart Phone
Comment: As an adult who held out from buying a cellphone for years, this was the first one I bought after carefully researching other phones. This model has many advanced features, not all of which I use. Overall, the model is an excellent, all-in-one, smart phone and will meet your needs for all uses (saving you money from having to buy other gadgets that provide the following services): phone, video, music, gps/navigation, digital camera, organizer, etc. I rate this model 4 1/2 stars instead of 5 for the following reasons. After 3 months of light phone-only use, the charger input hole disappeared into the phone and the phone could not be charged. I had to send the phone to Nokia Customer Service for repair. This issue was unexpected for a phone of this price calibre. The repair took 10 days including postal travel time. Unrelated, on rare occasions, the display will "freeze" and not respond to any commands. To remedy this, the only solution is to remove the battery from its compartment and reinstall the same battery. The display will resume after the phone is turned back on. These two issues are minor in comparison to the delight that this smart phone offers the user. If you are in the market for a unique and advanced smart phone, I would highly recommend the N95 8GB (even to first time adult users). 8GB is more than sufficient and I see no reason to have a 16GB. Best of luck to all.


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