Nokia N97 - Has Nokia played it’s trump card already?

We happened to get a test piece of the recently launched Nokia N97 after attending the Nokia N97 Bloggers Meet at Delhi a few days back. The Nokia N97 arrived at just the right time - I recently did away with my Nokia E90 communicator and was looking forward to my next smart device - And for a change, there were only a few models which I was considering, which included the iPhone 3GS, Nokia N97, Blackberry Bold and a few recent models from Samsung and HTC.

The first thing you will notice about the N97 is its size – It is nice and compact, exactly as long as iPhone, but not as wide. The phone provides a good, non slippery grip. Slide it into a jeans pocket and it feels “just right”. The physical QWERTY keyboard comes out in a snap… I almost dropped the phone the first time I opened the keyboard. But once its there, it fits perfectly into positioning and does not tend to slip back. Key size and spacing is comfortable, good for typing long emails. However, the 4 way direction key is on the left, which could be problematic if you are used to navigating a phone’s menu with your right thumb. The spacebar is oddly placed but I got used to it in sometime.

The screen is resistive touch, not the capacitive touch found in the iPhone and a few upcoming models from Samsung and HTC. So if you’re used to the touch screen on your iPod touch, you’ll initially find it difficult to use but will get used to it in a couple of hours, after which you can sense where and how hard you need to press to navigate through the menu. I must add that using the touch screen with the stylus was still much easier than using my fingers.

Then there’s Ovi, Nokia’s first attempt to provide downloadable apps right from the phone, which is obviously inspired by the popular App Store by Apple. Apps did exist for all Symbian devices even before Ovi, but there was no one place to find them. One typically had to download apps from specific websites, or download them to the PC first and then install it on the phone. The experience of the Ovi store on the N97 was better than on the E90. But the app quality and numbers are no-where in comparison to Apple. One needs to browse and try a few of them to sort the good ones from the bad ones.
Some apps are preloaded, including Facebook, YouTube, RealPlayer, JoikuSpot (an amazing software to convert your phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot) etc. The one thing I like about Nokia devices is that they make the home screen actually useful, compared to the iPhone where all you see is just the menu.

The good things:

+ Lots of internal memory (32GB) expandable up to 48GB via a memory card
+ OTA (Over the air) software updates, which is nothing new but still cool to have
+ FM transmitter cum receiver, which provides an amazing way to couple it with your car’s stereo system
+ Customizable home screen (with “widgets”), not just a “active standby” like other Nokia devices
+ 5 mega pixel camera with flash
+ A much better browser compared to previous Nokia models, although panning and zooming is not as cool as the iPhone

The not-so-good things:

- Inconsistent UI - Some features work on a single click and some work on a double click. Confusing at times
- Scrolling menu’s with finger touch is terribly hard. Have to either use a stylus or pull out the keyboard
- Green/red calling buttons are not sensitive enough. Since the UI does not respond very quickly, it’s hard to guess whether you’ve pressed the button or not
- Stylus does not slide into the main device
- Symbian OS just doesn’t seem right for a touch screen device. But don’t think Nokia will ever have much of a choice here, considering their recent acquisition of Symbian worth half a billion dollars
- On screen keyboard is not full QWERTY, Therefore, typing on a full QWERTY keyboard with one hand (like say, E71 or the iPhone) may not be possible
- Terribly expensive at Rs. 36000. Nokia, what were you thinking?

The perception of a mobile phone has dramatically changed after the iPhone. Nokia’s tagline “Live online 24×7″ is exactly what people now want to do on their mobile phones. The N97 did a lot of things right but still there is no one-thing which I can call an iPhone killer.

Apple’s iPhone has set the direction and is of course the clear winner in the segment right now. But the exciting part is that the competition is yet to open up. Everyone is warming up for this big battle of becoming the #1 in this space. Google’s Android platform, the newly launched Palm Pre and a few upcoming models from Blackberry are certainly worth keeping a lookout for. Samsung and HTC are also trying for the top-spot with their Windows mobile range. Has Nokia played its trump card with the N97? Or is there more to come?

Final verdict? The N97 was a good first attempt but I am sure Nokia can do better than this. C’mon Nokia, yes you can. We know it. Come back stronger tomorrow. Shock us. Put us in awe. You need to prove the world that it’s not just hard but impossible to beat the #1 in the world (or else, its Game Over).