Nokia N96
Jonathan Bray
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Jan 15, 2009 10:30 AM
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Nokia | http://www.nokia.com.au
RRP: $1349 (time of review)
Performance: 
Features & Design:
Value for money:
Overall Rating:
User Rating: No user ratings.
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A real do-it-all device, but Nokia needs to do better to compete with the iPhone.
Despite the griping of the anti-Apple brigade, there’s going to be only one phone on the minds of the gadget obsessed – the iPhone. Although there are better business phones around, notably the A-Listed Nokia E71 and the RIM BlackBerry Bold, none has been able to match its all-round consumer appeal.
The N96 aims to change all that. Nokia’s flagship multimedia phone is packed full of features. Not content with cramming in all of the top-end hardware you could want, from fast HSDPA mobile data and 802.11bg Wi-Fi, to GPS, a 5-megapixel camera with dual xenon flash and 16GB of storage.
With the launch of the N96, Nokia has also teamed up with the BBC to offer a free, full season of a selected TV series to watch on the device. You can’t download over HSDPA, but over Wi-Fi programmes take a matter of minutes to land in the gallery.
The N96’s 2.9in 240 x 320 display can’t match the iPhone’s 3.5in 480 x 320 touchscreen, but it’s bright and colourful enough to enjoy video on, and we liked the kickstand on the rear – a real boon for watching longer programmes or movies. There’s more to come from the N96 on the video front.
In addition to its iPlayer ability, the N96 has a DVB-H tuner ready for mobile TV broadcasts, due some time next year, and SD video output via its 3.5mm AV socket.
Elsewhere, however, the N96 is a bit of a disappointment. Build quality, although better than the cheap-feeling N95, is still creaky. The flat, glossy backlit number pad feels plasticky, and the navigation pad is cramped.
Plus, battery life leaves a lot to be desired – you might just get three days out of the 950mAh lithium-ion battery if you try hard not to touch the video, music and GPS capabilities, but this would be missing the point.
With a fresh charge and pushing it hard, downloading a few TV programmes and watching just one, we barely crept over the 14-hour mark before it died.
A bigger battery and better build may have just tipped the balance, but as it stands the impressive N96 is neither an iPhone killer, nor worth its rather high $1349 asking price.