Mobile Tech Review compares the top three current NAM Nseries devices

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 3, 2009 by Matthew Miller

2 Comments » File Under:Nseries, Reviews;

My friend Lisa posts some of the best reviews on the internet for mobile phones and I always visit her site, Mobile Tech Review before I purchase my own device because I trust her opinion. She just posted a nice review roundup of the North American variants of the N96, N85, and N79. I have a European N96 on loan, a Nokia N85 I purchased (full review is under development), and am returning the N79 I recently checked out, but have never tried the NAM version of the N96. Lisa gave the highest marks to the N85 (4//5) so it looks like I went with the right one when I decided to purchase my own NAM Nseries device.

Nokia N96

I think the Nokia N96 would have been a more compelling product here in the US if the wireless TV functionality actually worked. Without it, you are paying upwards of US$700 for a device that has capabilities you just cannot use here. The N85 is $200+ cheaper and has an OLED display to boot so it is a pretty easy decision IMHO. I do have a couple of movies on the N96 and it is nice to watch them on the larger display with the kickstand propping up the device from time-to-time.

Which of these three do you prefer?

Marc
February 3, 2009

I’m considering the N85, but I’ve heard that a number of people have been disappointed with the build quality. The N97 looks good, but I’d prefer a slide-out QWERTY keyboard similar to the one seen in the Palm Pre demos. Might just have to stick with the trusty old N95 for a bit longer.

Alex
February 4, 2009

I prefer the phone where every little phone doesn’t require a different version of the firmware and thus have to come out on a different schedule, leading to NAM models being a year behind everybody else on software releases, and software vendors having to write different apps for each one of the 9 brazillion slightly different phones for Nokia makes.

The n96 is a sweet device and incredibly powerful device, but in a year the lack of software evolution will make it an overpriced quaint old toy, while the iPhone 3g will still have a fair amount of life in it.