Features
FeaturesThe built in GPS is a nice added feature, the maps are easy to follow, clear, concise and easily updated. However, the device on most occasions took several minutes to find my location, and in areas of heavy tree or building coverage it was nearly impossible to receive an incoming satellite signal. The GPS touts free navigation, but if you want turn-by-turn voice instructions you will need to subscribe to
Nokia services, although several free programs are available. For what it was worth the GPS was a fun function to play around with, and it appeared to work better when the slider was open (The GPS is deep inside the phone) however a secondary Sirf III GPS receiver is recommended for quick, accurate, and reliable GPS navigation. The Nokia N95 manual suggests keeping the slider open when using the GPS application, I also found that doing so helped speed up the onboard processors search time.
A barcode scanner is available on the unit, but I have to admit, I couldn't get the device to work properly, after nearly two hours of research, I finally determined that the barcode scanner is a feature better left to Socket Barcode Scanners and other professional equipment. I work with a lot of cell phones, and the feature to be quite honest confused me.
The Videogame console was a value added feature that I rather enjoyed. I played the included games on both the unit and while hooked up to my television (through the phones TV Out plug, with included cables). The graphics were the best I have encounters in a Cellular device, not to mention the processor allowed the games to run smoothly and with very little load time. The 3D environment is definitely a welcomed addition to the cellular gaming world.
The phone also features QuickOffice a software edition that allows users to view MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents, the program also sets the pages for optimal viewing on the phone's screen, which comes in handy when viewing documents on the fly.
Finally, the phones 160mb onboard hard drive can come in handy if you purchase the phone without a memory card at first, or if you find yourself with a full 2gb memory card down the road, while still having a need for more space (This has happened to me several times now). Overall the added space is excellent for adding your own third party programs, or for emergency picture taking, video directing, or even backing up your favorite photos from your recent vacation.
Camera
The Nokia N95 features two distinct onboard cameras, the first camera is located on the front of the device and features Carl Zeiss Optics for crisp, clear, and concise picture taking. While the camera offers excellent 5.0 mega pixel images from up close shots, the zoom feature greatly reduced the quality of the pictures taken. Zooming even slightly caused an apparent blurring of images, while zooming long distances created pictures of an even less desirable quality. I attempted pictures with both the flash on and off, and in several different lighting situations, the quality on almost all of the pictures taken left something to be desired when the zoom function was implemented.
The camcorder ran into the same problems, while the video was fluent and easy to follow, the quality was not what I would expect from an $800 cell phone. In fact, if you're looking for a camcorder feature, I would suggest the Nokia N93, as its Carl Zeiss optics are more suited for video functioning, while the N95 offers much more clear still photos. While the picture quality is not perfect, it’s still the best quality I've seen so far, at least in terms of cellular devices. Another important factor to consider is the cameras capability to customize, the phone actually has too many customizations to mention, some important customizations included: contrast controls, white balancing, color tone and several distinct shooting modes. With the right eye for customization a user may find the camera to have better quality standards than my sophomoric customizations offered.
The secondary camera offers much lower quality, however the point of the secondary camera is not to take stellar digital stills, but rather to offer video calling and the ability to take quick self portraits. The camera loaded quickly and in the two video calls I made the video appeared to run smoothly and with very few delays, I was pleasantly pleased with the functioning of the secondary camera, as was my friend on the other end.
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