Handheld Reviews - Expert and user reviews

Nokia N97 Mini

As the name suggests, the Nokia N97 mini ($ 500 unlocked; price from 1/13/10) is a more compact version of Nokia’s flagship smartphone, the N97. The Mini also receive bonus kinetic film, “” displacement, which greatly improves Web navigation menu. However, the Mini has the same problems as its older brother: The S60 operating system interface feels out of date and lacks the ease of use found in other operating systems like Android, iPhone or webOS.

The Mini Nokia N97 is a bit smaller than his older brother, 4.5 by 2.1 by 0.5 inches (the original measured 4.6 2.1 0.6 inches). It is also slightly lighter, weighing 4.9 oz, or 0.4 ounce less than the original.

While seem little different sizes, the Mini is much more comfortable in the hand the N97 something bricklike. His body of high quality plastic feels durable. Two touch-sensitive buttons (discussion and final) are below the screen, like a hardware shortcut key for the menu.

The Mini call quality on T-Mobile’s 3G network was impressive. I heard no voice or static background hiss, and sounded sharp with a large amount of volume. Parties to the other end reported similarly. Even when I was in a corner of the busy city street, my contacts told me my voice was loud and clear.

In my review of the N97, I complained that the lower edge of the screen tilts too close to the top row of keys on the keyboard. I had this in the Mini, although I’m not sure if it was due to lower design, or if I’m used to Nokia N-series keyboards after reviewing many. The keys are raised and well lit, and despite the reduction in real estate, my fingers do not feel cramped when typing long messages on the Mini. The Mini also lose the four-way directional pad seen in the N97. I do not miss it, though, as I found it difficult to press.

The 3.2 inch screen (reduced from the N97 screen 3.5-inch) is resistant to the touch rather than capacitive touch technology droids 3GS Motorola and iPhone. Resistive-touch generally requires a little more pressure on the screen. The screen was more sensitive than the original N97. The Mini also has tactile feedback (a slight vibration when you tap an application), which helps navigation.

Displacement in the original N97 was a little sore, and I really had to push hard on the screen to scroll through a webpage or an e-mail. Fortunately, Nokia has taken note and gave the “mini movie” of displacement. Like the iPhone user interface, you can literally film the screen to start moving. The result is not as silky as the iPhone (which has to “film” a little harder), but definitely a welcome improvement.
The fifth edition S60 operating system still feels unrefined compared to webOS, iPhone and Android 2.0, and unfortunately the smallest screen (3.2 inches instead of 3.5 inches on the N97), only makes things worse. Fonts and icons are very small and vanish in the context of the screen. Opening an application requires two clicks - one to select the application and another to open. Double-clicking is aging rapidly, especially when you’re used to just about every touchscreen device out there with one click access to applications.

While the interface can not be the handsomest, the live-food players are useful if you want to quickly check the weather or to catch up with friends on Facebook. Players updating their personal Internet sources in real time on your home screen so you do not have to open another application to access them. You can have up to five widgets on your home screen (the clock can not be moved) and place them in the order they see fit. The Mini comes preloaded with a calendar, Facebook, Amazon, a widget that lists of contacts, and more.

Setting up your Web-based email account (like Gmail or Yahoo) is easy: Simply enter your username and password, and the Mini does the rest. The Mini also supports multiple accounts.

Google Mini is a web browser is fine for casual surfing, but it needs some refinement. To zoom to a detail page, you have to write it twice or rely on the zoom bar. Either way, still just touching the screen more than necessary. One more: The Google Mini browser supports Flash and Java - something that other smart phone giants do not yet.
The inspiration, but the music player capable of supporting a wide variety of file types like MP3, WMA, WAV, eAAC +, MP4 and M4V formats. No visual effects of displacement or the album cover (like the iPhone and Pre). However, it is very easy to use, with touch controls on the big screen. In general, music playback sounded very good. The video player is equally simple, but good nonetheless. However, you do not get DivX or XviD support outside the box.

The 5 megapixel camera has a Carl Zeiss lens (and a cover), a dual LED flash and a number of advanced features and settings. The image quality of my indoor shots I was disappointed. The photos looked grainy and too dark or too blown from the flash. Snapshots taken outdoors, fared better, however, with sharper detail and better color balance. You can record VGA video at 30 frames per second, my test videos looked decent, but I noticed some defects in some clips.

The Mini Nokia N97 has a solid set of specifications, a variety of multimedia functions that work well, and a solid design. And the addition of film movement is definitely a big improvement for navigation. Unfortunately, the Mini is hampered by the S60 Symbian operating system. Just lacks the user experience and have become accustomed in silky touch screen devices. In reviewing the Nokia N97 in June 2009, he had not yet experienced the explosion of Android devices as user interfaces or MotoBlur cool SenseUI HTC, Motorola. Together with HTC phones like the Motorola Cliq or hero, the Mini N97 feels dated, and that’s too bad, given all that this phone can do.

Pros
Displacement improves navigation Flick
Excellent audio and video support

Cons
S60 OS must be perfected
Hit-or-miss quality Camera

Bottom Line
Like its big brother N97, Nokia N97 Mini has reliable multimedia features, but the operating system desperately needs a redesign.