Nokia N96 16GB Sim Free / Unlocked Mobile Phone (Black)

I bought this phone from PLAY. The first one I got had a manufacturing defect so it went back, but Play exchanged it in double fast time. I have owned many models of Nokia handsets over the years, including handsets from the NSeries N70 & N95. The N96 is a fantastic hand set. The video play back quality is amazing. I have encoded many DVD'S to the handset, which can even handle HD play back (the N95 could not). Contrary to what some people think, the N96 can and does play live TV, however, by far the best providers of this LIVE service, is the BBC. The BBC iplayer feature (which is already installed on the handset) is also an excellent service and feature. This phone comes with version 1.0 of the iplayer, but when you connect for the first time the handset automatically upgrades to version 1.6. (Note - LIVE TV and iplayer are two separate features). I upgraded the OS on this phone as soon as I got it. The latest version is on the NOKIA web site. There are also lots of subtle, yet… more »

I bought this phone from PLAY. The first one I got had a manufacturing defect so it went back, but Play exchanged it in double fast time. I have owned many models of Nokia handsets over the years, including handsets from the NSeries N70 & N95. The N96 is a fantastic hand set. The video play back quality is amazing. I have encoded many DVD'S to the handset, which can even handle HD play back (the N95 could not). Contrary to what some people think, the N96 can and does play live TV, however, by far the best providers of this LIVE service, is the BBC. The BBC iplayer feature (which is already installed on the handset) is also an excellent service and feature. This phone comes with version 1.0 of the iplayer, but when you connect for the first time the handset automatically upgrades to version 1.6. (Note - LIVE TV and iplayer are two separate features). I upgraded the OS on this phone as soon as I got it. The latest version is on the NOKIA web site. There are also lots of subtle, yet excellent improvements that this phone has over the N95. I would highly recommend this phone for people who like to use all (or mostly all) of a phone's features. This phone will read your text messages out loud; it has WIFI, internal GPS, voice activation... the list goes on.
However, if you only use a mobile phone to make calls and send text messages, then this phone would be wasted on you. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

OK, so overall this is a very impressive piece of kit and is surprisingly light given its huge feature list.

The screen is a great size for viewing photos/videos and browsing the internet. I was very impressed by the Wi-fi capabilities of this phone, it is quick and easy to navigate.

The camera: Bit of a dissappointment. This is exactly the same camera as the original N95 which was released 2 or 3 years ago...surely they could have put an xeon flash in or a couple more MPs?? But still, 5 MP isnt bad but certainly wont replace a stand alone.

The GPS is very user friendly and accurate- the N96 seems to have a good GPS reciever (unlike the C905's which is hidiously poor). You get a free 3 month trial of the GPS after which Nokia will skin you £90 for a 12 month GPS lisence, cheers for that :/

The tv out feature is a great feature and allows you to view photos on a full size tv screen and you can even make a simple slide show presentation.

The music player… more »

OK, so overall this is a very impressive piece of kit and is surprisingly light given its huge feature list.

The screen is a great size for viewing photos/videos and browsing the internet. I was very impressed by the Wi-fi capabilities of this phone, it is quick and easy to navigate.

The camera: Bit of a dissappointment. This is exactly the same camera as the original N95 which was released 2 or 3 years ago...surely they could have put an xeon flash in or a couple more MPs?? But still, 5 MP isnt bad but certainly wont replace a stand alone.

The GPS is very user friendly and accurate- the N96 seems to have a good GPS reciever (unlike the C905's which is hidiously poor). You get a free 3 month trial of the GPS after which Nokia will skin you £90 for a 12 month GPS lisence, cheers for that :/

The tv out feature is a great feature and allows you to view photos on a full size tv screen and you can even make a simple slide show presentation.

The music player is very good, obviously the 16GB memory (plus expandable) is a big plus point, making this an ipod replacement. The external speakers are surprisingly loud and sound quality is good.

There are a couple of minor issues with this phone- firstly, in true nokia style the battery life is atrocious, you wont get two full days moderate use out of this phone- and nokia realise this hence the in car charger supplied in the box!
There is the occasional freeze with the software, however if you turn the phone off and on every few days this should be avoided. The kick stand is a nice idea but im afraid it will break if i even look at it! The keypad is ok, allows for reasonably fast text messaging but the buttons are set in conjoined rows of three which makes it a little clumsy as you cant feel your way around the keypad as easily.

So overall it is a very capable multi-media device, it has lots more features that i wont go into but on the whole a very solid phone and a good buy.

Daniel

The N96 is a great new phone from Nokia, who have delayed its launch over many months. Around 18 months after the launch of the ground breaking N95 the somewhat sexier looking N96 gets into my hands. It's sleek, though still somewhat heftier than other phones, such as the Omnia and HTC Touch Diamond, and less of a pocket phone as such, due to its weight.

Whilst its support for Digital TV is made much of, it's unclear whether this is going to be of much/any use to us here in the UK. I like its compatibiltiy with the BBC iplayer service, the only other phone, apart from Apple's iphone to have this, so far.

The menu remains easy and clear to use, but I feel that this phone ought to have been launched around a year ago, and it has become more of a me-too amongst phones now. Even the N95's 5MP camera, which was ahead of its time, is now beaten on the N96, as Samsung have 8MP, with the Omnia, and other phones beating my new N96 are soon to be around.

SatNav works, though… more »

The N96 is a great new phone from Nokia, who have delayed its launch over many months. Around 18 months after the launch of the ground breaking N95 the somewhat sexier looking N96 gets into my hands. It's sleek, though still somewhat heftier than other phones, such as the Omnia and HTC Touch Diamond, and less of a pocket phone as such, due to its weight.

Whilst its support for Digital TV is made much of, it's unclear whether this is going to be of much/any use to us here in the UK. I like its compatibiltiy with the BBC iplayer service, the only other phone, apart from Apple's iphone to have this, so far.

The menu remains easy and clear to use, but I feel that this phone ought to have been launched around a year ago, and it has become more of a me-too amongst phones now. Even the N95's 5MP camera, which was ahead of its time, is now beaten on the N96, as Samsung have 8MP, with the Omnia, and other phones beating my new N96 are soon to be around.

SatNav works, though what we all want from Satnav today is voice guidance as standard. You won't typically get this with the N96, as it's an added feature to be paid for, unless you get a subsidised phone from a network, with this bundled in. I've worked in telecoms and the mobile networks world for 20 years, and I do recognise a quality product - and the N96 is certainly that. Let's hope that Nokia's launch batch are not riddled with bugs, as the earlier N95 was - it doesn't seem to be, which is a blessing for us when we invest so much money in our must-have gadgets.

An essential leap forward that should have happened is an improved battery, but the N96 comes with the same one as the N95. I've recharged many times, and performance is a little better, but it still doesn't let me get a day's useage from my phone - somewhat poor!!! So, if you intend to use a work-horse multimedia smart phone to the max, consider an alternative phone to this my friend. I'm forever recharging each day!

Final thought is that with the spring 07 launch of the N95, and the iphone launch in that year too, this phone ought to have a touch screen interface - as you realise it doesn't, another reason I feel this phone's launch is long overdue. ?Do you need touchscreen - not really, but it does make use of a phone somewhat easier!

I got the n96 back when it was first released. First impressions (having not owned a smartphone before) was that the operating system took a little while to get used to. As other reviewers have said, the battery life isn't great (you do have to get used to charging it up last thing at night), but i do tend to use the media functions quite a lot. The gps is fantastic (don't need another separate device), but i'm not willing to shell out bags of cash to carry on using the unit after the 3 month trial. The camera/video recording is really good, and with 16gb of on-board storage there's plenty of room for music/video etc. By far the best feature for me is the i-player functionality. Particularly for those of us that spend time on buses/waiting in the car etc, watching programs saved on the phone is an absolute delight. An hour episode will take arounf 7 mins to download, and then you're away.
However, first 2/3 months or so the experience was soured by the os freezing/running slowly… more »

I got the n96 back when it was first released. First impressions (having not owned a smartphone before) was that the operating system took a little while to get used to. As other reviewers have said, the battery life isn't great (you do have to get used to charging it up last thing at night), but i do tend to use the media functions quite a lot. The gps is fantastic (don't need another separate device), but i'm not willing to shell out bags of cash to carry on using the unit after the 3 month trial. The camera/video recording is really good, and with 16gb of on-board storage there's plenty of room for music/video etc. By far the best feature for me is the i-player functionality. Particularly for those of us that spend time on buses/waiting in the car etc, watching programs saved on the phone is an absolute delight. An hour episode will take arounf 7 mins to download, and then you're away.
However, first 2/3 months or so the experience was soured by the os freezing/running slowly etc. As i'm sure you've already read this can be really frustrating. However, a new version of the os (12.043) became available a couple of weeks ago and the performance is much improved! The unit really responds well, and there have been some other fixes to things like camera focusing etc. Overall cracking phone, not perfect in every way but undoubtedly the best all-rounder out there at the moment