CTIA 09: Hands-on impressions of the Nokia N97
My posting on CTIA was a bit lighter than planned because my wife’s 90-year old grandmother passed away and I had to leave a day and a half early to fly home and attend to matters. That said, I am trying to catch up and post thoughts on things I saw that are related to Nokia and the S60 platform. I was able to get my hands on the Nokia N97 a few times and I have to admit my desire for the device has cooled a bit, while my enthusiasm for the Nokia E75 has increased so let me explain below.
The Nokia N97 is not a shirt pocketable device, but that isn’t a criteria that I personally care too much about as I want a device that pretty much does it all and can be carried in my pants or coat pocket. The N97 has a very nice display and like most all Nokia products is very well constructed. I am not really sold on the value of the widgets available on the Home screen since there is very little information that is actually viewable in the widget itself. It is a nice way to quickly see if something has been update and to quickly launch the full widget for more details, but I prefer to have a home screen like I what you see on the Nokia E71 or E75 with upcoming appointments, email status, notification pop-ups, etc. and find this type of information more valuable than 4 widget status updates.
I am pretty adaptable to most QWERTY keyboards on mobile devices, although I think the one on the Nokia N810 is pretty poor since I constantly hit the wrong key or multiple keys when entering text and it is too closely mounted under the display. I have only spent about 15 minutes total with the N97 keyboard, but overall I am not impressed with it. There are only three rows of keys and I personally consider four rows the minimum, with five rows the optimum for fast text entry. With only three rows you are going to be using the Function and Shift keys a lot to enter punctuation, numbers, and other characters. I also find the right side placement of the space bar a bit odd. Unlike the FANTASTIC keyboard on the upcoming HTC Touch Pro2 (this device will be mine) the QWERTY keyboard is also laid out a bit strangely with the Q directly above the A which is directly above the left shift key. HTC is now getting it right with their keyboards that have offset QWERTY keys similar to what you find on a real keyboard.
One thing I did not know about that I discovered at CTIA is there is currently no support for software keyboards like the two found on the Nokia 5800 (mini QWERTY and full screen QWERTY). This means that you will have to open and slide the keyboard out to enter any text on the device, similar to what we see on the Palm Pre. I would rather see Nokia give the user the flexibility to use software keyboards and keep the device in closed mode if they desire. I think there were a couple of options (handwriting and a phone keypad) that were supported though and am now wondering if the particular software build on the devices I saw just had the two other keyboard modes removed or if this is what we will see when the device ships out in a month or so. I’ll have to keep my eye on this functionality. There is no stylus silo on the N97 either so it seems Nokia hopes you use your fingernail for navigation and keyboard for text entry.
Check out my full first impressions of the Nokia E75 to see why I am really enjoying this device. The device is zippy and responsive, while also giving me just about everything I could ask for in a smartphone. The Eseries all have excellent quality and the E75 continues that tradition with an exterior that makes you want to hang on to it all the time.
I am also really liking the Nokia 5800 and think this can easily fill the role of a touch screen Nokia device rather than paying double for the Nokia N97 with keyboard I really don’t think I will like. The 5800 display is beautiful and this last weekend I watched an Amazon Video On Demand movie, Office Space, that played flawlessly on it. The retail box is packed full of goodies and you should really consider this device if you are looking for a touch screen Nokia. The camera is not that great though and I am actually finding the E75 camera to be quite good. I plan to post up comparison shots of the E71, E75, and 5800 3.2 megapixel cameras here in a day or two.
16 Comments to CTIA 09: Hands-on impressions of the Nokia N97
No stylus silo? Hm, that seems like a risky move on Nokia’s part- this is a resistive screen device, right?
Yep, resistive screen. I found that a bit surprising too. We’ll see how this goes over. Maybe if there was some kind of joystick or slick controller to navigate around with.
danApril 8, 2009
Im liking this device less an less the more is read about, that keyboard never struck me as being useful.
Too big for a phone, too small for a MID me thinks and i dont want to always have the screen in an upright position.
Unfortunately Nokia isnt offering anything else thats going to capture my attention, seems like that damn Pre is going to get my money.
[...] at Nokia Experts, Matthew Miller has been getting hands on with the N97 at CTIA , as well as providing some great photos of the [...]
GordonApril 9, 2009
Too bad on the software keyboard. From the videos it does look a bit large. Will wait and see what Apple brings out in June. OS 3.0 brings it closer to Nokia.
EricApril 9, 2009
Actually, it looks like there are several different options to input text, much like the 5800
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbiazxZg2CU&hd=1
Starts at around the 1:50 mark.
Yes, there may be the same options as seen on the 5800. I mentioned in my impressions that these were not available on the N97 I saw, but that the firmware may change and we will have to see what is shipped from Nokia.
April 10, 2009
[...] months – the Nokia XpressMusic 5800. In June, the Finnish handset giant is posed to deliver the Nokia N97, a device that is a feature monster, packing a touch screen and full QWERTY keyboard for data [...]
I am kinda disappointed by the keyboard size.
April 13, 2009
[...] E75. The Nokia N97 is the flagship product coming soon from Nokia and we had a chance to get some hands-on time with it at [...]
DavidJune 11, 2009
Understanding what you said in the beginning of your article and that you may have been distracted, I found your article highly inaccurate. Some information was just plain wrong and then focused on only cosmetic issues. While you certainly have the right to buy a phone based on your personal specifications, at the same time, if you are going to stand there and openly review a product before launch for the public, perhaps you might want to considering broadening your scope a bit.
David, I just reread this article and I am curious about what you think is inaccurate. Everything there was just facts about the device and software build at the time I was checking it out. I wasn’t reporting anything inaccurately and like I said this was just a first impressions after 15 minutes.
I paid good money and pre-ordered a Nokia N97 for myself (hasn’t arrived yet) where I will give you all the details on the device as it is currently configured. The scope here could not have been broadened because I only had about 15 minutes with it and this article is not made as a full review of the device, but it is accurate.
DavidJune 11, 2009
“I prefer to have a home screen like I what you see on the Nokia E71 or E75 with upcoming appointments, email status, notification pop-ups, etc. and find this type of information more valuable than 4 widget status updates.” You can get this information on your home screen by choosing to switch it around. That was the whole selling point of this home screen. You get to choose what you want to see and don’t have to have the widgets unless you want them. This was an important point to know when reviewing the system and it was available to see and change around on the model you had because the other reviewers pointed this out on the ones they reveiwed for the pre-release. Also, “There is no stylus silo on the N97 either so it seems Nokia hopes you use your fingernail for navigation and keyboard for text entry.” The device does come with a stylus but you don’t need it because the screen is designed to be totally finger friendly. Also, the pad on the left of the keyboard makes the whole point of a stylus not necessary. You didn’t even mention what this button did for the user. An important point when reviewing the keyboard. Finally, “This means that you will have to open and slide the keyboard out to enter any text on the device, similar to what we see on the Palm Pre.” The device is capable of text on touch screen. The other reviewers found this on their pre-releases as well. You did say you only spent 15 minutes with the keyboard, you did not say with the device as a whole. Maybe I am being cranky here but I would expect more research on your part for an accurate description if your website is called, “Nokia Experts”? Your expert opinion was negative with only 15 minutes of review and the effect shows by your readers reactions to your review by what they stated in their responses. If you were accurate then fine, no problem, but you weren’t in my opinion and professionally I think someone should point it out to you.
David, the software build on the one I played with did not have any software keyboard available and I was told it was still being worked out as to whether or not this would be included in the device.
My own N97 arrives on Friday so stay tuned for some REAL IN-DEPTH thoughts and experiences as I dive into the device.
DavidJune 12, 2009
That I will and looking forward to it. I imagine that you like the rest of us have been checking your inbox hourly for the e-mail stating when it is shipped. lol, I hope for all of us, it is worth the wait.
abcyesnJune 13, 2009
Hey everybody..
First off, I really can’t wait for the Nokia N97 but!! Does anybody know when it will be released in Australia?
I have been looking everywhere for the release date for AUS, but I cannot find anything. I’m hoping somebody knows.. I’ve been on the Aus Nokia website but that doesn’t say; it only says coming soon.. So does anybody know the actual release date for the Aussies?
I came across a website for the Nokia N97 owners http://www.NokiaN97Forum.com let’s help each other on this great phone.
April 8, 2009