Nokia N95 8GB review: Multimedia King (See all reviews)

Nokia N95 8GB is designed to operate in EGSM 850/900/1800/1900 networks as well as in WCDMA 850/2100 ones, no unexpected features on this front. HSDPA support is fully present, as well as in the original N95. Unfortunately HSDPA is not available all around yet but development of this network is planned and worked on.

The telecom capabilities of the device are extremely high, the user is granted access to almost anything imaginable from this domain, including an IrDA port and Wi-Fi with UPnP support.

The device is standard delivered with Nokia PC Suite software to help you manage files like photos, music and ringtones. The Nokia N95 8GB can be connected to the computer via Bluetooth v2.0 (with A2DP) or via USB v2.0. Both connections are fast and the computer recognizes the handset straight away.

As with any other Nokia smartphone, loading and viewing a standard HTML web site is a pleasant and easy job. No matter how rich a web page is, it will perfectly fit on the screen and look almost exactly like on a computer.

The doubled amount of RAM is definitely helping the browser, as it is one of the most RAM-demanding applications. Now, even if you load very rich web pages and have a few applications running in the background, you are extremely unlikely to run out of RAM.

The virtual mouse cursor makes browsing a real pleasure. It is easy to control and works great. A mini-map can be activated to help navigating your way around large sites where lots of scrolling is required. The zoom level is also adjustable with just a few key presses.

The Organizer tools of the Nokia N95 8GB are really great. The Calendar comes with three different types of view: monthly, weekly and daily; and four types of events available for setting up: Meeting, Memo, Anniversary and To-do. Every event has its own unique fields, some of which allow an alarm to be activated at a preset time to act as a reminder.

A new added feature to the organizer is the Share Online function, which allows you to share your pictures or to write in a blog system via the websites Flickr and VOX.

The other included organizing and time-management applications are: the unit converter, calculator and voice recorder, as well as a Notes application.

So, during this review we have seen quite a list of changes from original N95 to 8GB version. Most of them are positive, but it's also worth noting a few of the negatives, which may, just may keep people using the original handset. There is the lack of a lens cover, which may be an issue if you are rough with your mobile, there is the lack of a built-in video editor and the fixed flash memory, with no option to take out a card and stuff it into a printer. The lack of an optical zoom is also a real miss.

But there is no doubt, on balance, that the N95 8GB is better than its predecessor. The improvements in speed, battery life, free RAM and screen size all stand out as highlights.

As a conclusion we would say that buying a Nokia N95 8GB is a decision you are very unlikely to regret. After all, there is hardly any feature that this handset doesn't have.