Loading ...Nokia, the N97 Mini, and the story of the nearly man
Ξ July 16th, 2010 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Me, Review |
Earlier this year, my company phone got upgraded. I used to have a Nokia N95 8gn, and it was really, really good. After a couple of firmware updates the GPS worked as it should – achieving a quick and reliable lock, the Symbian OS whilst not as flashy as some was stable and the few bits of software that I installed – primarily Viewranger – were useful and did the job.
The only thing that let it down in the ‘smart phone’ stakes was the fact that I had to rely on the standard phone-type keypad for typing.
So, to the replacement. A Nokia N97 mini. You may recall that the N97 bombed at launch due to a series of well-documented problems. Nokia then rushed out the mini. It was, as it’s name suggests, a little smaller. Still had the full qwerty keyboard, has 8 gig of standard memory (more available via card), runs Symbian 5th Edition and boasts a touch screen. All very nice on the box.
For sure, the keyboard is a gem. I can now write things properly – blogs, emails, Twitter etc – without feeling that I’m about to waste the best part of a day. It lights up nicely so that I can see where the keys are and they symbols etc are all easily and intuitively accessible. All this despite the fact that I have large hands.
The touch screen, however, is a total bag of nails. It may be that I’m so used to the capacitive touch screen on my iPod Touch, but the resistive screen on the Nokia is a hugely poor cousin. Not only is the interface not consistent through applications (even core parts of the phone itself), but the response is vague, false presses are registered all over the place and the flick to scroll is purely and simply piss-poor.
As an example, go to the “Applications” screen and try to swipe to scroll through the apps. All that happens is that the icon that happens to be nearest your finger is fired. Trying to use the scroll bars is even harder – requiring half your finger tip to be off the edge of the screen and lagging with each touch so that you end up having to scroll back up to get to where you want to be.
In fact, the response in general is poor. The potentially great Facebook widget often doesn’t respond, I find myself “clicking” several times on icons to persuade them to do anything and lock-ups occur all over the place.
Calls are pretty crisp and clear, and txting is much easier courtesy of the keyboard. Access to Exchange works well and the screen – as long as it isn’t sunny – is good. The phone is also a decent size, without making you look like you’re suffering from a hernia when you put it in your pocket. Battery life too, is acceptable….I can go a whole day on a single charge, and just about last a trip from home to Cary without needing to switch loads of functions off.
Apart from the shocking “touch” screen, the biggest shocker of them all is the abomination known as the Ovi Store. The total, complete, utter, one-hundred percent, sack of shiate that is Ovi Store.
Nokia, in their wisdom, decided to emulate the Apple iStore. A noble move. They have an open OS, gazillions of handset owners and a stable development base. Should be a winner right?
Should, yes. Is, no. First off, the jumping through hoops that requires your userid and password for every silo of non-connected online information that is Nokia. Second, the “known” bug that has Ovi Suite on your desktop unable to sync with the Ovi cloud. Next, the useless Ovi app on the phone that is usually unable to actually connect to the store. Followed closely by the woeful offerings in the store – should you be lucky enough to actually get there. All this bad enough but, assuming that you have the patience of a saint and manage to finally find a rare nugget in the inaccessible store, that is something less than totally useless you will find that you have to pay four time the iStore value for an identical app in Ovi. Way to go Nokia! Way to bloody go.
So. Would I go out and buy an N97 mini with my own money? No way. Am I happy with the phone bearing in mind it’s free? I can tolerate it. Would I swap it for an iPhone or Android? I’d probably rip your arm off.
Nokia. Get a bloody clue. Please.
