Display & Audio
The display on the N91 is good, but pales in comparison to screens found on other handsets in its price range, including those in Nokia's own N-Series. I'm not quite sure why Nokia built the N91 with a 176 x 208 display when they'd already released the N80 with an ultra-high resolution of 352 x 416. Reading text and viewing icons, images, and videos on the N91 is fine, but not on par with the experience yielded by the
N80 or even higher-resolution
E70. Again, for a phone display the N91's screen is just fine - but for a high-end multimedia handset, it left me wanting a little.
Nokia's Series 60 interface is clean and easy to navigate, offering a more PC-like experience than most mobile phones. Menus are viewable as lists or grids, and submenus are intuitive and logically laid-out. Themes, wallpapers, and text are all user-customizable, as is the previously mentioned Active Standby screen. The phone also features an ambient light sensor which automatically adjusts the screen's brightness to suit external conditions.
I tested the N91 on T-Mobile's network in the San Francisco Bay Area. Audio was clear on both mine and the other end of calls, and the phone had volume to spare whether on standard or speakerphone mode. The lack of an 850 band means that some GSM subscribers in the US may experience reception issues with the N91, though I had no such problems.
The speakerphone also worked quite well, which wasn't surprising considering that this, is Nokia's top of the line music phone. Music playback on the speakers was good for a phone, but not nearly as satisfying as listening on headphones or wired up to a stereo system.
The N91 comes with a wired stereo headset with an in-line remote control and microphone that worked quite well for voice calls and also pumped out pretty good stereo music. As mentioned, the 3.5mm jacks found on both the remote and the handset itself allow for the use of any stereo headset, and my tests with Etymotic ER-6i earbuds yielded excellent results.
Bluetooth headsets are supported, though A2DP stereo over Bluetooth is not, which is a testament to the N91's original design/announce date of Spring 2005. The N91 paired easily with a headset and voice quality during calls was quite good.
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4.2
