- The patented cantilever hinge used on the N97 (and then N97 mini and E7) is, you'd have to admit, something of a work of genius. It's mesmerising to play with still, ever after two years. And, after two years, the two N97s in my possession show not the slightest bit of 'play' in the mechanism - Nokia's engineering here was top notch. (Contrast it to that in HTC's 'slide and tilt' efforts, including the new 'N97 almost-clone' Desire Z, all of which showed mechanical worries from day one)
- The camera glass protective slide. Yes, I'm going to gloss over the way the first few million N97s had a sliding shutter that was mounted too close and which actually scratched the glass it was supposed to protect. But the thought and idea was there: a mechanical barrier to fingerprints, dust, dirt and damage. AND a way to launch the camera application without having to unlock the touchscreen and fire it up from software. I hear Nokia's arguments for easier augmented reality with an unencumbered camera glass, but I've seen too many fingerprint-ruined photos, even on the N8... Protected glass is the way to go on any serious camera phone.
- The use of Nokia's 'hero' battery, the BP-4L, also used in the E90, E61i, E71, 6650, E72, E52, E55 and many others. Using Li-Poly technology and rated at 1500mAh it's quite simply the most capable battery Nokia has ever shipped. And because it's used in so many phones, there's a great chance you'll already own a spare or two, meaning that you can take the likes of the N97 out for a weekend with plenty of power in hand, whatever happens.
- For the N97, Nokia went radical, producing a membrane keyboard (rather than using distinct mechanical keys) and minimising their number by doubling up on functions where necessary and by positioning the space bar off to the extreme right. This caused outrage at first but as someone who used the N97 (and N97 mini) intensively for months, I can state categorically that this keyboard really surprised me. Yes, I'm a right hander, and yes, a left hander would probably struggle, but for me I can say that getting used to the space bar position and also to the limited travel keys took only a few weeks, by the time I eventually gave up the struggle on the N97 (for memory reasons) and N97 mini (for battery reasons), I could type faster on the N97 than on the theoretically superior E90 and E75 keyboards.
- Putting in a 3.5" screen. At the time, this was a Nokia phone screen bested only by the original communicators (9210, etc). 3.5", now also used on the C7 and N8, is now commonplace, but it was large in Nokia's range for 2008 (the N97 appeared mid 2009) and Nokia deserve credit for thinking big at the time.
- Using transflective display technology. Yes, most of Nokia's non-touch S60 phones had transflective screens for years, meaning that they were fully visible in sunlight, but the first touchscreen S60 phone, the 5800, had gone down the transmissive TFT route and it was very hard to use when the sun was out. The N97's transflective screen is noticeably better, even though the resistive touch layer does dampen the contrast somewhat. (Interestingly, the N97 mini went back to transmissive TFT, possibly to show brighter colours indoors.)
- Retaining the d-pad. There's a huge trend over 2009/2010/2011 towards eliminating all buttons in touchscreen devices, but I deplore it - it's like throwing the baby out with the bathwater - buttons really are best for some things. Like hanging up calls. Or, here, for accurately nudging a cursor through text, for controlling a game or for navigating up and down a list of items. Every time I used the d-pad on the N97 (again, subtly changed for the N97 mini, sadly), a little smile crept onto my face.
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In summary, it should be acknowledged that no phone design is ever perfect. The liberal distribution of pros and cons for every model that's launched drives me to distraction sometimes.... And, in this case, I felt it was only fair to restore to the much-maligned N97 a shred of respectability, if not for '2011 suitability-for-purpose', then for 'at least we can see where the designers were coming from'...
Steve Litchfield, All About Symbian, 22 January 2011
PS. A challenge for you, the reader. Can you resist the temptation to be negative? Have you got a little 'secret pleasure' of your own related to the Nokia N97? Can we send it to its grave with just a little more respect? Comments welcome on the subject!