Review: Casing the Nokia N95

Life used to be so easy for phone case manufacturers, with devices coming just in monoblock form. Then the ideas started - sliders, clamshells, twisty bits, and so on. All super for the end user but a nightmare for a case designer. The N95's particular challenge is that it's a slider and, worse, it's a two way slider. Not a problem for holsters, but an issue for form-fitting cases, as we'll see.

As with my E61i case roundup, there are too many cases on the market to obtain and review them all, but at least this will give you an idea of what to expect and look for.

In no particular order (as they say on TV):

• The Proporta Alu-leather 'Flip type' and 'Book type'. Thanks to Proporta for going the extra mile and sending me both versions to review. Look, neither of these are dreadful cases, they'll both do a job, but they're not that elegant and they both have the same issue.
   
  The Nokia N95 is already a fairly thick phone, around 20mm, but each of these wrap around solutions add a whopping extra 15mm, taking the overall thickness to 35mm. Just about acceptable, I guess, if you planned to keep the case in a briefcase or pocket, but adding the optional belt clip is surely a no-no, as the protrusion from your hip would then rise to 50mm or so.
  I loved the leather build and the magnetic closures, but the 'four finger' clasp of the N95 is a bit of a kludge and holds the phone further away from the case back than is needed. Plus there's my usual gripe about whether a bulky aluminium insert is necessary in a case to protect a smartphone without a fragile touchscreen... Score for each: 70
   
• The Noreve Tradition N95 case has more technical elegance and less thickness, adding just 8mm to the N95's lines, while accomplishing the same job as the Proporta design above.
   
  
  While embracing the N95 on all four edges, the fit is both more snug and more secure, with a feeling of very high quality throughout. There's a magnetic catch again (yay!) and a slightly strange back hinged flap that has to be kept back with your fingers when taking photos with the N95's 5 megapixel shooter. Neat pockets for two spare microSD cards are appreciated, although I'm not sure I'd trust a valuable card to any pocket in such a case... The Noreve case would have earnt top marks if it hadn't been for the appalling belt clip. As with the E61i case reviewed last week, the clip is 100% secure but 99% impossible to remove with one hand. Maybe I'm being fussy, but when mobile I'd like to be able to unclasp my smartphone with my phone hand and answer it while the other hand is occupied (kids, shopping, whatever). Score: 84
   
• Querying the Krusell site for a case for the N95, I was pointed towards the 'Universal Blaze, size M' and this was duly requested.
   
  As ever, the Krusell case was utterly immaculately packaged and finished. Unfortunately, it also utterly failed to fit, the N95 being tough to insert and tough to extract. There's a leather back, an elastic side and neoprene front and top securing strap (again with a magnetic clasp, albeit a weak one). A bit of a mis-mash of materials then, but it looks very stylish and modern. Just a shame it didn't fit. Score: 40 
   
• The Body Glove Scuba Cellsuit sounded the real deal but was a huge, huge letdown.
   
  
  Made out of form-fitting leather-effect neoprene, with stitched plastic panels of transparent plastic across the front, the Scuba Cellsuit fails on every single level possible. With much pushing and shoving, it's possible to get the case onto the N95, with the press-studded loop closing round the bottom. But then the litany of sins becomes obvious: the top strap makes it almost impossible to press the power button, the top plastic strap annoys through the middle of the N95's screen, the bottom strap doesn't fit under the screen slide like it's supposed to and just gets in the way, the belt clip on the back is almost unusable in real life and the clip's body intrudes on your photos unless you remember to rotate it out of the way. Apart from that, it's perfect(!) Score: 20
   
• The Crystal Case has been something of a recent innovation, the idea being that you use the phone 'bare', in your pocket, etc. but with a hard protective, transparent shell around it. Proporta sent over their N95 Crystal Case and it really impressed me.
   
  Only adding an extra millimetre or so all round, the Crystal Case is almost invisible in use, has cutouts in all the right places, works perfectly with the N95 slide and generally provides a hard-working shell for your N95 to live in for its entire life. And, at only £5 to buy a new one, if it ever does get scratched and scarred then it's a doddle to replace. Highly recommended. Score: 86 (score amended after anecdotal reports of case cracks)
   
• As with the E61i case roundup, the official Nokia accessory was mightily impressive at a bargain price. This is their CP-191:
   
  
  It's a well finished 'book' style case, along the same lines as the Proporta one but better fitting, a snugger fit all round and adding 8mm in thickness. There's Nokia's favourite (noisy) velcro fastening and the case offers good protection to the screen, for in-pocket use. There's no belt clip option though, the only disappointment. Score: 83
   
• More disappointment, I'm afraid from Krusell with their Dynamic Multidapt for N95. Although in theory a perfectly designed form-fitting case, with quality leather fold over and great press-stud fastenings, there's a whopping design flaw:
   
   
  The problem is that the plastic-fronted bottom section, into which the N95 keypad slides, is so tight that it depresses the camera shutter button all the time. So when you come to use the camera, there's no focussing ability at all. I'd also take issues with some of the Dynamic's dimensions - sliding the N95 keypad into the plastic section was very fiddly and stressful, while some of the leather/plastic joints simply looked messy. Still, if they could provide a tweaked design with camera shutter aperture they'd be onto a winner. As it is.... Score: 20
   
• Also submitted from Krusell, and much more useable, was their Vertica S-Wide. Although it's not specifically designed for the Nokia N95, it's listed as appropriate and is a practical fit, if not a tight one:
   
  It's a generic leather holster, with elastic side panels and actually fits almost every smartphone I've tried (it's perfect for the slightly larger N93, for example). The N95 rattles around a little but it's quick to insert and extract and both can be done one-handed. Score: 80
   
• After a tipoff in the original story comments, I bought the CaseandPouch 'Nokia N95 N80 Vertical Real Leather Phone Case Pouch' (phew!) at only £7 plus £2.50 postage:
   
  Despite the low price, you know what? It's a perfect fit. An unashamedly simple holster, there are good cutouts for grip, a nice strong magnetic closure and a very tight fitting belt fixing. A very minimalistic case but it's now my favourite of all. For my needs anyway. The score's slightly lowered by the cheaper build quality than, say, the Noreve case, but this shouldn't be an issue for most people. Score: 89

Given the range of styles and scores, it's tough to pick an overall winner. The Proporta Crystal Case was the best fitting and most generally useful, although a few user stories of cracks have dented my confidence in it, while the Noreve one would be a quality belt case of choice, despite the difficulty in detaching it one-handed. But I plumped in the end for the cheap 'caseandpouch' case from eBay as my overall winner... until the next review update, anyway!

Steve Litchfield, AllAboutSymbian, updated July 24th, 2007

 

 

Reviewed by Steve Litchfield at 17:15 UTC, July 16th 2007