Nokia N97 Reviews
The Nokia N97 is the new edition to the Nseries handsets which is packed with all the must have features. It has a large 3.5 inch touch screen and slide out QWERTY keyboard plus support for handwriting recognition. The smart handset comes with 32GB of internal memory which can be increased further using the Micro SD memory card. The N97 has a smart proximity sensor feature which allows you to turn your calls to silent simply by turning the phone over. Other features include a 5.0 megapixel camera with a Carl Zeiss lens, video recording, MP3 player, Bluetooth, GPS, web browser and much more. The Nokia N97 is a must have handset which is available to pre-order.
Overall
Design
Features Usabilitycovers all the needs and wants of a mobile phone
An excellent model Nokia manufactured which came out in June 2009 and sold a wopping two million handsets by September 2009.
The features are quite amazing consisting of a 5MP camera to capture high quality images and videos. The 32GB internal memory gives enough room to store from music to full MP4 format movies and also the hundreds of applications which are available from the Ovi Store.
The N97 contains a 3.5 inch touchscreen and is known to be a new smartphone by NSeries which has a unique slide with a Qwerty board on the inside to help speed up texting or even emailing. The N97 is known to be the Facebook phone with other amazing features to help compete against respected mobile manufacturing companies.
Many strengths of the N97 include the email service. The ability to go places with Ovi Maps and the high quality 5MP camera which could be comparable to digital cameras, and also the 3.5 touch screen which has had many test e.g scratch test, water test, drop test etc and has still met high standards.
However there are drawbacks like the camera which contains the digital zoom and not optical zoom, another downturn could be the operating speed, compared to other rival models, the N97 is technically slower but by a fraction.
In general I thought the N97 was one of the best phones Nokia has manufactured in many years as it covers all the needs and wants of a mobile phone and I would highly recommend it to people as a new generation technology at its best.
Overall Design Features UsabilityHas everything you need plus more
This phone is great. Has everything you need plus more. The design and sound quality is fantastic as well as having thousands of applications for everyones needs. The 5 megapixel camera is great for both pictures and videos and the touch screen makes the phone so much easier as well as having a keyboard if that suits you better.
Overall Design Features UsabilityFantastic size memory and a long battery life.
Not an all-round bad phone. Easy access to all features, Fantastic size memory and a long battery life.
The only negative I can really put forward would be; without having the software on the phone updated to the most recent settings, the phone has a habit of malfunctioning and crashing (I have the first ever settings).
Other than that I can honestly say that this phone is amazing and I would highly recommend it.
Overall
Design Features
Usabilitythe qwerty pad is it's best feature
Buying the Nokia N97 was probably the biggest mistake I made when buying a mobile phone. When using the web browser, it was often too slow, and it was frustrating to wait for pictures, images and data to load up.
The phone itself looks good, the qwerty pad is it's best feature. If you want to get a mobile phone that is value for money, I would not recommend buying this phone, hold out for the iPhone!
Overall Design Features UsabilityThe camera is good, but I'd rather buy a camera seperately
I'm not sure where to start, but here goes.....
For a flagship phone this is more like a submarine. A 32GB memory is all very well, but when you still have 27GB left and it wont allow you to send or receive text messages because the 'Memory is low' it does leave you feeling rather short changed.
After just a month, the screen lock switch which is situated on the side of the phone snapped off because it was so flimsy. And with Nokia not supplying courtesy phones while it's in for repair, I have to open the keypad up to unlock it everytime someone phones so that I can answer it.
The Accu Weather application only works when it wants to, and if you have the phone on Silent with the vibrate turned on, you take a chance whether or not it will vibrate if you're called or receive a text. I've missed many calls because of this.
The Bluetooth only stays connected for approximately half an hour. Handy when talking in the car.
I wont continue, but all in all, not very happy whatsoever. The camera is good, but I'd rather buy a camera seperately and have a phone which works.
As a loyal Nokia customer for over 10 years, I definitely wont ever have another.
Overall Design Features UsabilityThe camera is good however the time it takes to focus is a little to long
I was very pleased with my upgrade to this phone. The screen is a good size to play games on, and has good music quality. The camera is good however the time it takes to focus is a little to long. I have had one problem with the phone freezing when trying to make calls however had the phone sent away and it has been fine since.
Overall Design Features UsabilityI find the interent pretty quick
Nokia N97 is a good quality mobile phone. Has alot of features on it like internet and gaming which are both really good. I find the interent pretty quick, so great when and about to check emails etc. Playing games are ok as the screen is not really small, it is a good size.
Overall Design Features UsabilityEvery time I send the phone back, it comes back still not working.
I love this phone, have had it since it came out. I have had many problems with it though and encountered people who are not willing to help. Every time I send the phone back, it comes back still not working. I am getting very frustrated with it as I love it and struggle to live without it but it has a mind of its own.
I have had 3 new batteries but I keep telling Vodafone there is something wrong with the phone not the batteries. Apparently connection error upon ringing out is phone signal? so why does this happen wherever I am and works when you turn the phone off and on again? Just make it work properly!
Overall Design Features UsabilityI could not make a phone call without my phone crashing
I just sold my N97 after 3 visits to the Nokia service centre, a complete rebuild and several lengthy emails with Nokia.
Pretty much the same faults as have been listed here by so many other people - it got to the point where I could not make a phone call without my phone crashing. Really, if Nokia insist on making a phone that crashes with such regularity, could they at least make it easier to pull the battery out of the back?
I ended up keeping a hair clip in the phone case so that I was able to get the battery out to reboot the phone quickly.
I gave up on using my phone to access the internet, it was more trouble that it was worth, occasionally the apps would work, more often they would not.
The thing that got me was the fact that Nokia are still denying that there is any faults with this phone whatsoever. I ended up using my husbands old E71 for a little while and then selling out and buying an Iphone.
Overall Design Features UsabilityI expected a lot from this device
I've had my N97 since June. Being a previous owner of a few Nokia's, including the successful N95, I expected a lot from this device.
The device was first shipped with some very unstable firmware. Reports from others about intermittant shut downs worried me, but I was lucky to get one at a cheap price so I went for it (being a girl who can resist a bit of shopping therapy!)
I was impressed with it but let down by the camera. Although 5mp like its predecessors, the N97 has a focus aid light even when you ask for no flash. This caused a lot of problems when taking pictures of my premature daughter, who was in special care for the first 12 weeks of her life, I'm sure she wasnt impressed by the bright light. Pictures came out great though, yet the N95 took just as good, if not, better pictures without a stupid focus light.
The N97 has a home screen capable of showing a good few widgets, but personally I feel it just starts to look messy. It runs on symbian o/s, so very familar to others and it doesnt take a lot to learn how to navigate through everything.
Nokia has brought out the Ovi Store, similar to Apples App store, and this is directly accesable from this mobile. Yet the prices are outragous and there is no way I'd spend four pounds on a mobile phone theme!
The Music Store however, I have liked. Nokia has been promoting it a lot and so far I've managed to wangle at least twenty quids worth of music from them.
Many users complain about the camera lens being scratched by its 'protective cover' I cant say I have experienced this after 6 months of ownership.
I have installed a Genisus emulator called Picodrive on this too, and playing games on this mobile is great with its slide out keypad and joypad! Love it!
If you're expecting something new from Nokia, N97 isnt the way to go (nor the mini, which is practically the same, yet smaller in size and memory), have a peek at the N900. If you loved the N95/N96 and wanted something similar with a touch screen, you'll be happy.
Overall Design Features
UsabilityJust got my N97 back today after it was away to get repaired
Its getting frustrating now. Just got my N97 back today after it was away to get repaired over xmas and new year.
Common faults to start with were, screen freezing, charging when not on charge, internet never worked, couldnt listen to music, kept saying my sms inbox was full when I had 3 messages and wouldnt let me send anymore. Kept saying I had too many applications open and had to close thm down.
Now after only a day of me having it back same faults and different faults hav appeared i.e. cant send sms, keys on the keyboard are sticking, touch screen works when it wants too.
Very annoyed as every other phone I have had from Nokia has been excellent. I have now had to buy a cheap phone to replace my N97 since Nokia would not provided me with a courtesy phone.
Overall Design Features Usabilityyou can buy a laptop cheaper than an N97
I was tempted to buy the N97 for the pull out keyboard, that was a disappointment, if it is dark, the backlight takes too long to light up the keys and you are halfway typing through a text message before it lights up.
I thought it was really easy to use but wasn't long before it gave problems, very disappointing when you pay nearly £500 for a phone. Often the phone was not showing incoming text messages and you don't realise until you try to make a call and find it has frozen, screen shows you ringing out and when the person answers the call but you can't hear them and they can't hear you, no matter how many times you ring them.
The only solution I found was to switch the phone off and back on again, then the phone would be ok for a while but not always obvious it had frozen, then you get loads of text and emails all at once.
It is a good feature having friends in phonebook you can allocate their own ringtone and picture individually assigned in the directory but maybe there are many other phones with that feature. I have had many phones in the past, including Nokia but have never had problems like the N97 being so unreliable, although I suspect the more technical a phone is, then obviously there is a lot more to go wrong with the phone.
Bearing in mind you can buy a laptop cheaper than a Nokia N97, I would expect good reliability from a phone like this, considering how long Nokia have been making phones now.
I have problems with messages saying there are too many applications open, when I am emailing or using internet, even though there are no other applications open, that is quite annoying.
I bought a leather case to protect the phone from getting scratched, with it having quite a large screen but every time I tried to carefully slip the phone into the case, it would take photographs inside the case with the side buttons being so sensitive, also found you catch them easy with your hand as well.
I expected more than 1 game with the phone, for what I paid, so had to download a lot, which I had charges for, only to find a lot of them that I downloaded, were only for a trial and you had to purchase them if you wanted to play them again.
I would still like a phone with the pull out keyboard but at the moment there aren't many phones with this feature, something I thought would have caught on by now from other phone companies, so guess this is the only reason for keeping this phone, as I have been so used to phones being reliable, it's quite annoying to find a phone that crashes and freezes too often, so to replace this phone at the moment would be quite difficult.
I think it has put me right off Nokia now though, even though I have owned so many in the past, this has got to be the last one now, quite annoying when I thought I had spent so long researching phones before I purchased this one. So I am a bit lost at the moment to find one which has more features than the N97, with a pull out keyboard.
Nokia really does have to improve their reliability for the future, or I suspect their sales will begin to fall.
Overall Design Features Usabilitywhen it works I love this phone
Had phone for 3 weeks and taking it back for the second time today, when it works I love this phone but it has crashed and wont go pass the Nokia screen and once again I'm going to lose all my music apps, and worst off all my christmas pics of the kids, not impressed.
Overall Design Features UsabilityWhat a sad end to my affair with Nokia
If this phone actually did what it was supposed to it would be excellent. Allas, the phone suffers from having a processor much too small to do the job. No matter how many software updates Nokia issue, they will never overcome the recurrent bugs and faults due to the processor problem.
I am on my second N97 in three Months, which again suffers from all the problems everyone else has mentioned. The knock on effect is that after nearly everyone stopped calling me and I stopped calling them due to the all too familiar 'connection error', I have returned to using my old faithfull N95 8gb.
What a sad end to my affair with Nokia, this is quite simply the most unreliable phone I have ever. I look forward to taking delivery of an HTC HD2 on Tuesday.
Overall Design Features Usabilitywas pleased at first although it was a little bit buggy
Got this phone and was pleased at first although it was a little bit buggy. Finally was able to upgrade but now I have real issues.
Phone will not get past Nokia loading screen when turning on unless I take the battery and memory card out and keep restarting till it comes on, don't always work and have had to hard reset 6 times in 3 days to get phone to come on, phone won't restore after back up which sucks, widgets won't work properly and not all applications are listed for use on homescreen anymore, won't work majority off time, locks up and won't unlock, freezes, won't always connect to internet, applications start and stop by themselves.
Phone tells me I'm running too many applications at once when trying to do something but nothing is running at the time, camera is poor, I could go on.
Loads of bugs now and I'm not impressed. It was bad enough that Nokia released a phone with software problems but to do it again with a poor update is really disappointing. Was liking this phone and had got used to it's minor faults but now I'll be contacting T-Mobile to change this handset.
Overall Design Features Usabilityspoilt by basic faults and poor software navigation
A good concept spoilt by basic faults and poor software navigation. If my phone rings in locked mode sometimes it unlocks to allow me to answer but most times it does not. As this is a key part of the phone's use it is very disappointing. On this basis I cannot recommend.
Overall Design Features Usabilityits ok as a cameraphone but have seen better
Got the N97 a few weeks ago, its ok as a cameraphone but have seen better like the Samsung Pixon, doesnt seems as usuable as the N95, not tried the N96 but hope the N98 will be a improvement as Nokia is foremeost the easiest phones to use, not with n97.
Overall Design Features Usabilitysent the phone to Nokia care centre for repair more than 10 times
Bought the N97 in late June 2009. After 4 months of tormenting torture by the phone, I sold it 2 weeks ago.
I'd sent the phone to Nokia care centre for repair more than 10 times. Not only they could not resolve the problems, to make matter worse, they created other new problems whenever they thought they'd fixed the old problem.
The problems I encountered were:
Battery could not stop charging for >8 hours eg from 11pm - 8am. A fully charged battery suddenly went flat without any usage (ie, just ON it, but no call, no sms, not playing the video/music/games)
I backed up my data using Nokia PC Suite (everything was perfectly fine except battery issue), but when I restored it (everytime after Nokia 'repaired" my phone, I could not run any video clips (not even simple default nokia clips) and I was told by Nokia support not to restore my data. What is the back up program for, if we cannot restore the important data back to our phone?
Backlight of the QWERTY keypad against white light, the alphabets on the keypad were hardly visible especially in the night on the bus or rooms with white fluorescent lights. This problem only occurs in white model, black is ok.
The screen suddenly rotated to landscape mode despite being held vertically I've to shake it real hard to tilt it back.
Other issues included, double images, eg 'shadow' appeared behing text, phone suddenly hangs, the camera came on when I press the STOP button for the alarm clock (amazing bug!), plus many silly design/GUI problems.
Nokia support (tech and customer service) don't seem to understand how to fix their phones problems and the customer service staff kept beating round the bush with me by asking me to send the phone down for check-up (which I did for 10 times) and kept asking me to write to them if I'd further issues (of course I did - my problems were never solved at all and I'd also written 10 times, had I not written enough?.
When I insisted and asked them to give me a concrete answer on how are they going to help me resolve this teething problem, they practically ignored my feedback. My friend had the similar experience with her old Nokia phone a few years ago, her phone problems are still not resolved until today.
This is the worst mobile experience I've had in the past 20 years. It's the third Nokia phone which I paid a bomb for but ended up a total disappointment. The 8310 kept hanging and N70 had echo problems, Nokia pushed the fault to my service provider, and my service provider pushed the fault to Nokia, so it became my problem. I've changed the SIM card, and the problem still persists in both N70 and N97.
Friends are asking me - what phone are you buying next? Nokia??
Overall Design Features Usabilitywords cannot describe how bad this was for me
I upgraded from my Nokia N95 to the magnificent Nokia N97, not! I wish I stuck with my N95, this was a better phone by miles.
Let me say if your thinking about going for the N97 dont! words cannot describe how bad this was for me, so many times I wanted to throw it a brick wall. Its that bad I got rid of it and replaced it with the LG Crystal a more reliable phone by miles and I'm happy with the LG. Ok its no smart phone but lets just say its smarter than the N97 and the LG works.
I will list the many issues I had with the N97.
Crashing, going back to default setting, not receiving text messages, emails. Error messages telling me to delete stuff from memory as its full but probably still had about 30GB still left. Unable to receive files via bluetooth, message came up not enough memory again, had 30GB spare.
You assign your own ringtone which never played, it just played that annoying Nokia tune. On speaker phone nobody could hear you. This is just a few things off the top of my head!
In a nutshell it just couldn't cope with multiple apps running at the same time, plus the more music and pictures you added the worse the phone got.
I will say its a nice looking phone, shame Nokia couldn't get it to work, from this experience I will never ever buy a Nokia again as to sum this phone up it just an expensive paper weight, that is all its good for.
Overall Design Features Usabilitymy battery is very good even on the internet it holds
I have had my phone 2 weeks and I love it, but last night it crashed on me and wouldnt go past the Nokia screen. I am now going to take it back and see what they say, apart from that it is very easy to use and I think it is a very good phone, my battery is very good even on the internet it holds out for a day but I charge it at night, I always have done with my phones. Overall a excellent phone.
Overall Design Features UsabilityKeeping the phone's firmware up to date helps
Had this phone for 2 months and once set up to how you want it, the phone is very good. Keeping the phone's firmware up to date helps.
Built in Sat Nav map software is a bit awkward but ok when you figure it out. On the downside, the phone is a bit bulky - you could do away with the keyboard and just use the touchscreen.
Good battery life and charging is more convenient as the micro USB socket is used for charging and data transfer. Overall good phone.
Overall Design Features Usabilitywhen everything works is a good phone
On my second N97 (soon to be third) and to be honest when everything works is a good phone, but most of the time something is not working.
My first n97 got taken back within a month because reception was rubbish no matter where I was. Second handset has its flaws; camera decides when it wants to work, switches itself off occasionally and sometimes just refuses to make calls.
GPS/SAT-NAV Nokia maps in my opinion is badly designed and very slow to connect and they expect you to pay £50 a year to buy all the SAT-NAV features when the N97 handset will not last longer then 6 months if your lucky. 32GB of storage is great but the music player cannot handle too many songs and freezes and becomes slow to respond when any other applications are running in the background.
All in all I think this is a poorly made phone with a lot of flaws which I do not think will ever be fixed, after my Nokia N-Gage QD I have had only Sony Ericsson phones and now I know why when Nokia try something new they rush and do not test there phones properly, I am angry at what they have put out there for customers to buy.
Overall Design Features Usabilityamazing phone all round, its stylish, easy to use
An amazing phone all round, its stylish, easy to use and you can download alot of files considering it has a 32gb byte memory and thats just on the phone. You can also use a 16gb memory card in there aswell,
would most definitely recommend.
Overall Design Features Usabilitystuck in an 18 month contract so will have to "feel the love"
Had the phone for about 5 months now and have had a love hate relationship with it ever since. When it works it is a wonderous machine, but alas an asthmatic ant can crawl up a hill faster than this thing can load an application.
Speaking of bugs, I have to phone 2 or 3 times every time before I get past the "connection error" on every attempt. Good job I'm not being mugged as by the time I got a call through I would be pushing up dasies! However the muggers would be able to get a lovely screenshot of me "going down" with the very effective camera and video on this phone. Would I buy this again... probably not but stuck in an 18 month contract so will have to "feel the love"
Overall Design Features UsabilityIf you use no apps then the battery last a good few days
I have had my N97 for almost 4 months and I'm having to send it back. The battery life is bad especially when using the internet and music features. If you use no apps then the battery last a good few days, as I have now found out. A week or so ago, the battery ran down, so obviously I plugged it in, recharged it, but when I switched it back on it was broken!
On good days I can receive texts and read them, I can't always reply, it will save automatically to drafts before I've even started typing. I can't use ANY applications, the screen freezes every time, I can't even use the camera. I can occasionally access my contacts. I can still receive calls. Until now I had no problems and was very pleased. Has anyone else had a similar problem?
Overall Design Features Usabilityif you have fat fingers then its going to be a struggle
My girlfriend got an N97 on contract and its a bit of a mixed bag and theres the good and the bad. The good is 32gb of memory, a massive amount of space for music, photos and documents. A 5.0 megapixel camera with the excellent carl zeiss lens, large touch screen for easy internet browsing and a pull out qwerty keyboard for fast typing.
The bad is the slow menu and navigation, its almost as if despite the massive memory seems like Nokia have tried to cram too much into this device its always freezing up and mysteriously switching itself off. The qwerty keyboard is only good for people with thin fingers, if you have fat fingers then its going to be a struggle.
Overall a nice try from Nokia but if they want to keep up with trendsetters Sony Ericsson and Samsung then they will have to do better and produce something with a bit more WOW factor.
Overall Design Features Usabilitya phone with huge promise
This is a phone with huge promise but having just returned my second handset with software problems I am left feeling a bit disappointed.
As a smart phone in my experience it's not too smart!
I am pleased with the phone when it works, the functions and apps are very varied but not quite up to the iPhone apps store yet although it is improving. If Nokia could get the gremlins out this would be a fantastic phone, I wait somewhat patiently.
Overall Design Features Usabilityno problems at all except I'm still on v11
I got my N97 a couple of weeks after launch, no problems at all except I'm still on v11, as it's a generic UK phone Nokia haven't decided to give us v12 yet. Overall, better than the iPhone 3GS I had for 2 weeks and which promptly went back! I don't appreciate being burnt whle making a phone call!
Overall Design Features Usability2 firmware updates so the phone is much more stable now
I wish it had capacitive touch screen and little faster processor. Otherwise it's great. I love the keyboard. The battery is very impressive. I guess the slower processor is a tradeoff for the longer battery life. I got the phone 2 months ago and there were 2 firmware updates so the phone is much more stable now. It looks like Nokia is serious about FW updates.
Overall Design Features Usabilitya great handset to compete with the iPhone
Received this phone on Vodafone UK contract. Version 10 software proved to have quite a few bugs. I had a camera problem whereby videos shot using the handset would not play back. An update to version 11 software sorted out most bugs but not the video issue. A replacement handset running version 11 software is working great.
Great to use with many great features, especially the FM transmitter which allows you to play music through any FM radio / car radio. A few of the pre loaded widgets do not work. Overall it is a great handset to compete with the iPhone.
Overall Design Features Usabilitythank god there was a firmware update as it sorted most problems out
So far I'm not impressed, I've had fault after fault, getting so bad that when I turned my phone off last week when I turned it back on it would not load passed the Nokia screen after about 10 attempts of taking the battery out it finally worked again.
Nearly all the apps have or have had problems but thank god there was a firmware update as it sorted most problems out but the first time I installed new firmware my microphone stopped working so I restored the phone as advised by Nokia. I then installed new firmware again and the mic now works and the phone is running alot better minus 10-15 apps, but on the bright side nearly all problems have gone.
On the whole I think the Nokia N97 is a good phone but the apps that are installed had problems and a few problems with Nokia apps.
The slide feature is great but your fingers and thumbs will ache from using the device, when I first got the phone it was the best phone I have had but after a week it all went wrong, I think there was a lot of bugged apps on Ovi store which cause these problems as Ovi have removed loads.
Overall Design Features Usabilitylook out for software updates soon
I couldn't wait to get my new Nokia N97 delivered...two days later I sent it back! Very disappointed in the battery, the software is typical N-series and so is very slow. Worst of all it completely crashed and the internet froze on me several times. My 2G iphone does all of this without even blinking!
Come on Nokia - I thought this was flagship! On the upside, the camera is brilliant and the idea of having live internet feeds on your home screen is a great idea, just a shame they can't get it to work properly. If you have bought this phone, look out for software updates soon because you'll need them!
- Slide
- White
- Colour Screen
- Memory Card Slot
- Built-in GPS
- Video Recorder
- Touchscreen
- Loudspeaker
- QWERTY
- Bluetooth
- USB
- Wi-Fi
- GPRS
- EDGE
- 3G
- HSDPA
- HSCSD
- 5.0 Megapixels
- Quad-band
- Symbian
- MP3 Player
- 32 Gigabyte
Standy Time: Up to 430 hours
Talk Time: Up to 6.6 hours
A list of related Nokia N97 websites.
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