Is New Always Better?
For the past 6 months I have been seduced by my wonderful Nokia N95 Classic, my first Symbian Smartphone, and certainly the best phone I have had. But this week I pulled the plug on my Classic to switch to the newer “improved” N95 8GB.
After first getting the phone, the absence of the microSD card, meant that I was unable to use my 8GB card from my classic in it. This meant if I wanted everything on the 8GB I would have to spend (literally) dozens of hours copying it all off the card and back into the built in memory, not worth the effort (for a week anyway). Nokia's use of USB 1 speeds for all their S60 smartphones is frustrating enough at the best of times, but the mass memory in the 8GB version is slower still... Not a good start.
The one thing that attracted me most to the 8GB model was the black finish - compared to silver and ‘plum’, black was way more stylish and looks so much more impressive. When you have them next to each other, the classic looks cheap in comparison! The bigger screen allows more to be displayed, but everything else on the front of the device looked so small! The small joypad keys were my first criticism, but the weight difference (128 grams compared to 120 grams) didn’t matter, I personally preferred the heavier one - the weight made it seem like it was worth something.
The two devices, side by side, from AAS's original N95 8GB review...
Buttons
Now, my main criticism with the new device comes in the joypad area, the big menu button on the classic looks great and is properly ‘thumb’ sized, easy to press and confirmable under the fingers, but then when it comes to the 8GB model, Nokia have cut the button in half, making it small and uncomfortable under the fingers, I really don’t see the need for it. The rest of the joypad also isn’t great, the navigation key feels and looks cheap and flimsy [I have to step in here and say that I disagree with Andrew here - the 8GB version's d-pad and surrounding keys gave me no cause for concern at all - Steve], and using the edit (pen) button to copy and paste is more difficult because the buttons are closer together. The (numeric) keypad buttons are better, white on black works well and stands out better than the black on silver of the classic. I also like the multimedia keys on the 8GB, they are set out as separate buttons, as opposed to on the classic, where they're more like one big button and it’s hard to press the correct one without looking.
Screen
Now along with the black finish, the screen is another of my favourite features, it’s flush (unlike the classic, mine's already building up dirt in the corners) and when gaming on it you can really see the difference in size. When web browsing, page content is easier to see, bringing you closer to the full web experience (especially through Opera Mini).
Performance
Overall, the 8GB version, with double the RAM (around 80MB free after booting), was amazingly fast in comparison to the classic, start-up time was over 15 seconds quicker, and the 8GB allowed more applications to be open at the same time than the classic N95, which, at times, wouldn’t allow me to run N-Gage and the Music player at the same time. The bigger battery in the 8GB also meant that it lasted longer, without the need for charging, compared to the classic, which always needed a charge after a full day of use.
Sound
After a week of listening, I couldn’t notice any major difference in the quality of sound, through the speakers or using headphones, and the volume of the two was very similar.
Camera
Another feature of the 8GB which lets it down is Nokia’s removal of the lens shutter over the 5mp camera, with the camera lens so close to the rear face of the phone that within days it was covered in fingerprints, from when my finger slipped over it. This didn’t really effect the picture quality [that you could tell at first glance - I'm betting I could tell them apart - Ed] though, and the time taken to process the images was much improved in the 8GB - even with firmware updates the Classic's photo taking is still slow.
Roundup
Overall there are many reasons to buy the 8GB over the N95 classic (screen, battery, RAM). But I'd argue that in many other ways the classic is still better - and with 16GB microSD cards on the horizon, the slow and ultimately limited built in memory definitely isn’t a good reason to go with the 8GB.
Andrew Galpin, All About Symbian, 3 May 2008