12 January 2006
N93i Hands on Review from the CES 2007!
Well Guys, I've been using this device now for about 36h since it was given to me... Please REALLY bear in mind, that this is still prototype work, firmware will slightly change as I've heard - so please don't count on everything I say!
I won't give you a complete overview about that phone, cause you pretty all know the excellent N93 review, written by Apocalypso - I just wanna point out the improvements this phone have!
First of all, let me give you some N93i live pictures I made on tuesday morning..
First Impressions:
The first thing you realize when you get this beauty in your hand is the new design. The mirror finishis definitely a eye-catcher, negative point like on many of these designs is the fact, that you have fingerprints if you like it or not.
Turning around the phone you pretty fast realize that nokia didn't make this phone cheap again - the memory card slot as well as the pop-port are now integrated nicelyand not covered by that cheap plastic thingie that you lose after the first few days IMO ..
But wait .. pop-port? POP-PORT!? Yes indeed you're right, Nokia still didn't manage to
integrate
Mini-USB and 3,5mm Audio Jack in this device, this is just ridiculous, when you realize that the N76, which will definitely be cheaper than the N93i already has it!! Still we have to transfer stuff with that crappy, loose pop-port, which is one of the most annoying things.
External Screen - oh no .. Not again!
Nokia didn't use a delicious external screen like the N76 has, NO! They gave it a cheap, small display which gives you only basic infos, like battery, network, time, missed calls or stuff like that .. you can change the font colour on the external display in 4 colours but that's simply it .. Why Nokia, why .. the only colour you realize on that screen is on the boot-screen, the Nokia Startup Logo is coloured as well as the Hands .. but that's all
One LED - more Fun!
OK .. it has one good thing after all .. there's a little LED that flashes in different colours when charging, you have missed calls or received a sms message .. this is one trend nokia missed for a long time, i hope this is on all upcoming phones!
Joystick on the Outside
The next, and i think that's one of the best improvements on that phone: the little joystick(!?) next to the cam-button is now a REAL joystick, very good to handle, not loose or anything, it's way easier now to navigate in the cam mode, than on the normal N93 .. you know me guys, i'm more the critical guy, but this time nokia really did a step forward, very good work on that one!
New Keypad - what a hard-to-press Beauty!
When you open up yor phone in the normal flip-phone position you get an eye on the new keypad .. i can now hear some critics, calling this keypad a RAZR clone, but it's well known, that i always second such a design, which makes the N93i slimmer than the old one - which i personally prefer!! the only thing i didn't like that much about it, the buttons are really hard to press, it took me ages to write a simple text message using the N93i .. i think that's a problem many people when have when they used N73 like i am, which has kinda loose keypad! i still dunno which one's better, i like both in one way, but therefore i didn't have the prototype long enough!
More Colours - more Fun!?
Next "Improvement" which i always like to call a nice marketing joke is the colour increasement from 262k to 16 Mio. Colours .. Is the human eye good enough to realize it!? Mine didn't realize a difference, the other guys didn't find a difference as well and i believe you guys think the same .. just a trick to get some more customers, no doubt about that, i didn't even see a difference from 65k to 262k to 16 Mio Colours ..
Overall i have to say that the phone's hardware made a big improvement, definitely a step forward .. i think nokia would have done better if they started shipping N93i as N93 .. you know why?
Camera Improvement - YES!!!!
Because in my personal opinion, the camera made a improvement, there's no single doubt about that, we made a few comparison pictures between N93 (thanks to jay from mobileburn.com) and N93i and i think you will realize it pretty fast, that they really worked on it .. still the cam can't compete with N73 but hey, N93i is also called a camcorder with phone built in
The Flash leaves you in the Dark
unfortunately the flash on the N93i is just ridiculous.. what was Nokia thinkin when they built in that useless flash .. it nearly gives no light when it comes to night pictures - i first thought that i had my finger on the flash, but it appeared to be true that this thing has one of the worst flashes ever!
Afraid of breakin it ..:
One big thing that bothered me and i REALLY hope that it is a prototype issue was the fact that the display part was REALLY loose, i think i was able to move it nearly 1 cm, without putting big pressure on it, and that was DEFINITELY too much! it's well known that this part of the phone needs some space, but that was too much, also when you moved it into laptop factor, it was more than noticable - still i hope this is proto issue because otherwise i see a lot of returned N93is!
Firmware Comments
The firmware didn't make that much differences between the two N93's, you are now able to upload videos as well on flickr, a nice thing, but still only usable for wifi or unlimited GPRS users, because the video quality is still amazing but the files are just extremely big ..
unfortunately i can't tell you more about N93i's firmware, i didn't have a N93 in my hands before .. overall the firmware was pretty stable for a prototype device, only had 2 crashes while switching from video to picture mode but that's simply it ..
Positive Impressions:
-
Newer, slimmer design with mirror finish
- Protection for miniSD slot and pop-port improved big time
- Joypad (!?) has gone for cam usage and got replaced by an excellent joystick
- Newer, slimmer keypad
- Colours are now 16 Mio. instead of 262k
- Flickr Video Uploads
- Camera Improvements overall
- Light Indicator for charging/missed calls/sms
Negative Points:
- No fingerprint-secure finish, so keep your polishers ready
- NO MINI-USB AND 3,5mm AUDIO JACK!
- Small, kinda useless external screen
- keypad is hard to press
- Flash is there, but too less powerful
- Display part had way too much space
Conclusion:
Many good and bad things on the Nokia N93i, still it'S a very impressive phone which i'd definitely recommend before the old N93!
It became noticable slimmer, the LED, the new cam joystick and the camera improvements takes this phone on top - i hope ... Still nokia didn't manage to give it a mini USB and 3,5mm audio jack, unbelievable, but it's fact! the flash is one of the worst ever - no doubt about that...
So my final result: get N93i before N93, i think you won't regret it - the more i used it, the more i loved it!
Exclusive Hands on Review from the CES Event in Las Vegas - Pictures are all shot by me, if you want them full size, feel free to PM/mail me --
Copy those Pictures ONLY with link to symbian-freak.com!!
SF Review: N93i - Improvement or Useless!?
Originally posted: 11.01.2007
Last Updated: 11.01.2007
Author: Michael Hell (AKA BeerBong)
Copyright: Symbian Freak 2007; all rights reserved
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