Review of GSM/UMTS-smartphone Nokia N95 8Gb

Finally mobile-review have posted their Nokia N95 8GB review. The review like always, is very extensive and full of pics and clips. Here is the final impression.

Impressions
The reception quality provided by the N95 8Gb is up to Nokia’s standard, nothing to worry about here – the sound in the earpiece is clear, and people on the other end of our calls reported no problems. The vibro alert is pretty average strength-wise. The volume of ring tones, all thanks to the phone’s stereo-speakers, is over the roof, you will hear it from your bag, not to mention outerwear. Compared to the Nokia N95, the top volume level has jumped even higher (subjectively, by 10-15 percent).

There are a lot of ways to think of the Nokia N95 8Gb – some will see it as another Nokia N95 that has had all its flaws dealt with, and some might reckon it as a brand-new offering. But since it was initially planned as an addition to the Nokia N95, its arrival is neither surprising nor shocking. The market will have both versions of the handset, whose ways will be crossing only on open markets, like Russia. Carrier-driven regions won’t allow for conflicts between these two phones.

Actually, the foremost benefit you get with the Nokia N95 8Gb is its RAM volume, which is now twice the size of the original N95 – this lends a whole new feel to the device, renders it much easier to use. The current version of the Multimedia menu brings no exciting touches – it still hasn’t replaced the main menu in the NSeries devices and isn’t really popular as of today. In fact we are now being told this menu is possible and also shown the way it might look.

The model comes in as a video-savvy solution, hence its huge diagonal and storage space. For the time being, Nokia doesn’t focus the audience’s attention on that, but video is what this phone is all about. Among all NSeries-branded solutions, the N95 8Gb fits in the role of a pocketable video player best. Furthermore, it is pretty much in line with contemporary players, being second to, well, only the Apple Touch – the king of video-inclined portable players.

In Europe the handset will retail for around 570 Euro (before taxes), while in Russia the official sales kick off at the level of 750-800 Euro. The reason for a gap this big is not exactly in VAT, but in Nokia’s strategy, when the company openly overprices its products for Russian distributors, increasing its wholesale prices by 10-12 percent. There is a multitude of reasons for that, yet we won’t go into detail in this particular write-up. The bottom line when officially supplied N95 8Gbs will still be profitable is 700-730 Euro – the market will reach it by February. At the same time, unofficial supplies of the handset from other regions will offer more affordable prices – even today these units go for 700-750 Euro, and are expected to get even cheaper (around 600 Euro) in the future.

If you don’t own a Nokia N95, but consider this device for your next phone purchase, here is a piece of advice from me – grab a Nokia N95 8Gb, it is the safest way to go in our case. And if you already have a Nokia N95, and by and large you feel content with it, the new model is definitely not for you; given the substantial price gap it won’t be an adequate replacement. Better wait for the end of summer 2008 to buy the company’s next flagship.

The Nokia N95 8Gb faces no direct competition on the market, expect for the NSeries offerings we listed above. The best thing about it is that today consumers are offered to pick the feature pack and the form-factor they need from this line-up.