The rest of market players didn't see the introduction of such a product reasonable - a price corresponding to such level of implementation would be outrageous, so it won't win an audience sufficient enough to cover the development costs. However the real life situation went quite the other way round when Nokia took the risk of developing and issuing a product like that. Over a short period of time Nokia N95 became a bestseller utterly regardless of the very high price it was sold at. This is the first product with a price over 500 euros sold in a quantity exceeding a million and a half during a sole quarter only! N95 is rapidly becoming a cult object opening a new era in mobile communication technology development.

But any company has to make further advancements on their market path in order not to be drawn back - there's no third variant, and this rule is twice as true for the hi-tech market segment. The lifetime cycles of hi-tech devices are becoming shorter and shorter accordingly to the inevitably increasing speed of further developments in the field, so it's easy to conclude that the target audience of such products consists mainly of rich people capable of and inclined to switching phones now and then just to be up to the times. Nokia N95 began its decline in public attention (though we dare not call it outdated) so the product line needs for a new flagship that would extend the lifecycle of the original device and cover more audience.

Another obstacle arises here, though. Nokia N95 is still too popular and asked for that something totally new and different will be a market failure and a huge waste of development investments. So Nokia decided to update the favored N95 with a few noticeable boosts and upgrades and pass to it the crown of N95. The name to this new model is Nokia N95 8GB.

	Nokia N95 8GB General Specifications
Telecoms:	EGSM 850/900/1800/1900, UMTS 850/2100, HSDPA 3,6 mbps
Storage:	128 Mb of user memory, 8GB of integrated flash disk storage
Screen:	2,8" , QVGA (240х320), 16M colors
Data transfer protocols:	USB 2.0, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, A2DP supported
Camera:	5 Mpix, 2592 x 1944 pixels, Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, video(VGA 30fps)
Battery:	BL-6F 1200 mAh up to 240 minutes of talk time up to 280 hours of standby
Dimensions:	99 x 53 x 21 mm
Weight:	129 г
Estimated price:	€570

Let's pass to the pricing issue now. It's obvious that that the process of design and development turns out to be much more expensive for totally new products than for devices basing off existing patterns and technologies. A slight modification to the time-proven concept would be the best option, so Nokia took to this path. The cost of construct elements also tells on this aspect, highly depending on the regular delivery volume. Speaking in a simpler way, Nokia N95 8GB is way more affordable to Nokia (and thus to the consumer as well) than something completely new and made from scratch. This doesn't mean that the manufacturer is going to sell the modified version at a price much lower than that of the original device - since the significant price margin is a major source of profit that is the primary goal of Nokia in this case - but at the same time this means that the new version won't break the price limit set by the original N95, the price residing somewhere about the price of the old version. Such a step as a part of the market strategy put into life is a good example of how Nokia optimize their production cycle, introducing the new profitable flagship model developed with minimal expenses.

Let's clear up some facts concerning the naming of the device. Why should it be Nokia N95 8Gb and not Nokia N95i or N96? The answer is quite simple, the magic sound of N95 is something very familiar to a consumer even faintly acquainted with the mobile telecoms market, it's clearly associated with something that has existed for a certain period of time and is quite successful, so the name is part of the franchise's goodwill and indirectly imposes the idea that the new product is just as good as its predecessor - a fact obvious to some and needing to be injected into the heads of others. The 8GB prefix only boosts the power of the N95 title, acting much more efficiently than the less meaningful "i" letter. Once you hear somebody say 8GB you understand that this stands for a large storage capacity rarely encountered on today's market.

It's too naive to think that the 8Gb of integrated flash storage is the only major improvement introduced in the new version, in fact a number of aspects have seen some serious improvements - both hardware and software related alike, as well as the exterior design has been revised. But on the whole the new model doesn't claim to be a totally independent creation, keeping much of the original essense and feel of N95. So we won't be reviewing the part of functionality that was left unchanged since N95, but the article will mainly be focused on the differences and improvements.

Design and ergonomics

Speaking of design, it's necessary to mention that the 8GB version of N95 retains a lot in common with the original N95 design. The physical dimensions were mostly left unchanged - save for a slight increase in thickness. This is due to a rearrangement of inner parts to provide an even thickness all along the body, while N95 had a protruding piece around the camera module though the rest of the casing was slimmer. This peculiarity caused increased wearing and scratching to the area around the lens, and this nuisance is at last eliminated in the new version. The product is only issued in black color, though that does have really good looks - more strict and solid than the silver-colored N95. The design is quite neutral and is in keeping with the classic Nokia theme also found in a number of mostly business-oriented models. No designer experiments are observed in the case of N95 8GB, the company can't afford even the least risk of harming the established product image. The device gives the hand a friendly and solid feel, yet it's a bit too big, especially concerning the thickness. It's hard to slim the device up, though, given the amount of features confined within the phone's body. It will take some time for Nokia to develop more compact functional elements, so a slim all-in-one solution is more of a dream today than part of reality.

The double sliding mechanism of Nokia N95 is proven by time. Initially there were certain concerns about the reliability of the double sliding mechanism circulating around, yet time is the best eyewitness - N95 proved to be durable in operation and almost no cases of double slider breakage were recorded. The lack of "one touch, full way" automatic sliding isn't a critical factor for N95, the two parts of the device smoothly slide aside when pressed all the way along manually. Also there's some doubt about the necessity of auto sliding in double sliders: for instance, the double slider Samsung i450 is known to have the auto sliding feature, yet the mechanism is too tight and clumsy to operate. The only drawback about the opening mechanism of N95 is the slight play between the moving parts which was most pronounced in the very first shipments of the product, yet a very few complaints were made about it on the part of the customers, the play didn't exceed any reasonable limits. The new N95 8GB has its play minimized to the maximum possible extreme, the difference can be seen at a glance. The device produces an impression of something like a monolith rather than a wobbly gadget. This owes much to the quality and nature of the materials used for the casing, which were changed.

The plastic used for the upper part of the device has a glossy surface, though it's not polished - the fingerprints are harder to spot so they're less annoying. The back surface and the side edges sport a soft-touch plastic coating, that's really very useful solution which helps to keep the looks unharmed by time - contrary to Nokia N81, for instance, which has a glossy back which is exposed to scratching. On the whole, the materials are greatly improved, the very feel that you get on touching the soft-touch surface is great.

By increasing the size of the screen, the upper part of the slider got wider - now the handset is equally wide at any point while the original device had a narrower bottom panel and a wider upper part. This fix also helps the device look as if it was imbued with a bit more harmony.

The block of controls was scaled down as well - though if you take a closer look you will see that it's only the menu and multimedia menu buttons that had been squeezed while the rest of the keys are of the same old size. The numeric keypad went through no changes, it's still easy to operate thanks to the large size of buttons. The backlighting is of an even white color. The multimedia buttons are now embossed, which means a more comfortable handling.

The rest of the controls are also unchanged: the rocker button acting as the volume control on the right edge and the nearby the camera launch button along with the gallery switch. The left edge got rid of the memory card slot, which is quite natural for a phone that has an integrated 8Gb flash disk storage. The standard 3,5 mm socket for plugging the headset is found just nearby, which also fits the TV-out cable. The stereo speakers are located on both sides of the phone.

Probably the most dramatic misses of Nokia 8Gb is the lack of the lens guard - which was a concession to the necessity of a bigger battery that had to be squeezed inside. To launch the camera application, the N95 only required to set aside the lens guard; now you have to stroll through a few menus or keep the camera button pressed for a few moments to do that. The lens itself is sunken into the casing, so the risk of scratching the lens is minimized; though the user is highly advised to clean the lens regularly.

All in all, the new Nokia N95 primarily is a major fix to all the bad things found in N95, if we might say so. Everything enjoys a better and more reliable implementation - though at the sacrifice of the lens guard. The posh exterior look, a huge screen, brilliant ergonomics - these are just the main points about the novelty that clearly state that the novelty will follow its predecessor's path, winning tremendous success and keeping the flagship status for many months ahead.

«All in all, the new Nokia N95 primarily is a major fix to all the bad things found in N95, if we might say so.»

Screen

There were many people looking forward to a change in screen matrix type for N95 8GB that would possibly beef the resolution up to the VGA standard, though this was deemed useless by the Nokia engineers - the pixel size would be scaled down to a value at which the browser fonts, for example, would become too small for comfortable readint. Of course, the screen image would turn out smoother and more precise, though there are no practical reasons for implementing that in a device already overloaded with all sorts of advanced features which, naturally, take enough space within the casing to make the existing build of the device a bit too thick. So adding an VGA screen would probably turn the N95 8Gb into a piece the size of one of Darth Vader's life support gadgets that he used to carry on his belt - an apparently failing market solution that would enjoy very little popularity among customers. The Nokia engineers are laying some groundwork to provide for future implementation of VGA screens in models that will follow (probably even for models based off the current hardware platorm) but even the brightest forecasts put the appearance of the first VGA-supplied smartphone no earlier than the final weeks of 2008. Nokia N95 8Gb utilizes the traditional QVGA matrix sporting 42x56 dimensions (2,8'' diagonal). The screen size is the same with Nokia E61, we'd guess that even the same matrix is used in both, for Nokia are known to stick to the same type of details for different models as much as possible. The matrix controller, however, seems to have been improved - the contrast and brightness are visibly better. The pixelization is quite noticeable in comparison to models supplied with 2'-2.4' matrices.

The screen successfully wards off the sun - the sunlight protection is utterly perfect. The colors fade, yet all the information stays perfectly legible, in this aspect the new model is just as powerful as the precursor.

The difference lies in the presence of a thick protective glass, while the regular N95 only comes with a thin protective film. So the 8Gb version is much more resistant to physical damage.

Let's compare how well the two models are doing at color rendition (at the minimum brightness level) using special test pictures as test samples:

N95 8GB / N95

Let's have a quick comparison with the display of Nokia E61i. A comparable image quality can be observed, though the brightness of N95 8GB screen is better:

N95 8GB / E61i

It's interesting to note that the photos taken with the camera (same module for both phones, yet this is to discussed a bit below) look differently on the different screens - the original N95 renders a more natural picture due to the higher brightness levels of N95 8GB which may cause the colors in the picture to get overexposed or 'flared'.

Battery

The standard battery that comes with the phone sports a capacity of 1200 mAh, which is quite a fair result. As claimed by the manufacturer, the phone is up to 240 minutes of talk time and 280 hours of standby before the battery charge wastes away completely. The battery used in Nokia N95 has a capacity of only 950 mAh, and the short battery life was considered the most critical limitation by the majority of potential buyers. To be supplied with a more capacious battery, the device was deprived of the lens guard. The new BL-6F battery is identical to BL-5F in size save for the increased thickness and would even successfully power a N95 (though the battery cover won't fit, so the idea is generally useless).

We decided to have a battery life test during a continuous multimedia cycle (video playback, 640x480, 30 fps) with the FM tuner on (GSM network), a medium backlightining level in the player mode. The table below shows the results. Summing things up let's note out that the battery life was severely affected by the video playback mode. The advantage of the 8Gb model over its older cousin is considerable - it managed to stay alive twice as long as N95. Nokia N93, for example, stayed on for 3 hrs. 51 min., N93i that uses a battery very similar to N95 endured 3 hrs. 22 min. of continuous uptime. The player mode didn't reveal a really big difference, yet a certain advantage was on the side of N95. Nokia N95 is capable of roughly a day and a half of moderate duty cycle (up to 1 hour of talk time, 3-5 hours of listening to the music, an hour of working with camera, menus and using the rest of the functions), but a less intensive usage stands for over two days of uptime before the phone cries for recharging. Most active users are advised to recharge the handset at least once a day.

Nokia N95 8GB Battery

Model	Nokia N95 8GB	Nokia N95
Moderate Duty	1,5 - 2 hours	1 hours
Multimedia cycle, video (3GP)	5:09	2:50
Multimedia cycle, audio (MP3)	10:27	8:10

Communications

The model bears a standard set of communication features, the close-range data transfer functions include a USB 2.0 support. There are three interface slots in this model: the miniUSB slot for plugging the data cable, a 3.5 mm headset jack and a slim charger slot. MiniUSB accessories enjoy a considerably larger popularity among the customers, unlike the microUSB ones, so that's another dime in the bucket. There are three four interaction modes available for the USB connection - Mass Storage, PC Suite, Image Print and Media Player. Both the flash disk memory and the phone memory can be accessed in any of the modes (just like with Nokia N81 8GB). While used as a mass storage device, the phone retains its full telecom functionality instead of engaging the offline profile.

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. 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.

As stated in the specs chart, the Bluetooth protocol version is 2.0 + EDR, all of the main profiles are supported:

The support for A2DP profiles allows to use a wireless stereo headset with the device, that works without any problems.

The Bluetooth data transfer speed approaches 130 Kb/sec. The Bluetooth visibility status is now adjustable - the visibility period can be set anywhere between a second and an hour.

The TV out is in (cable is bundled), the phone can be plugged into a TV set or a stereo system, which is a very tempting opportunity due to the integrated N-Gage support - the smartphone makes a decent handheld gaming console. Unfortunately this sin't supported by N81. In addition to the games, the TV screen can be used for watching films downloaded to the smartphone, e.g. the Spiderman III movie included into the sales package.

Similar to the rest of multimedia smartphones, the model comes with an integrated b/g Wi-Fi module, a WLAN wizard helping you to configure net connections. The security protocols are WEP, WPA and WPA 2.

The Home Media application allows to interact with various devices utilizing the UnPNP technology - this feature was massively improved in the new 8Gb model as compared to earlier models (N95, N93). The only function available to those was sharing content from the device's storage, N95 8Gb is now capable of reading and playing media content from other devices. We ran a few tests of this feature both in a phone&PC tandem or N95-to-another-N95 connection, and discovered no problems in the process. Once you set everything up, the Gallery menu receives the "broadcast over the home network" menu item, which allows for content broadcasting as described above.

Peformance and RAM

The performance level of Nokia N95 8Gb is the same with the classic version, there are virtually no changes, save for a number of minor stutters and lags eliminated. The camera functioning is optimized, and so is the gallery - a certain boost in the animation and graphics rendering speed is felt here. Thanks to the presence of a hardware 2D/3D accelerator the device comes winner in the corresponding tests. As compared to Nokia N81, the new N95 is maybe a bit slower in standard applications (mp3 player, message manager), but the difference is really hard to feel unless you spend a good deal of time tinkering with both models at hand.

Model	Nokia N81 8GB	Nokia N95 8GB	Nokia N95	Sony Ericsson W910i
Jbenchmark 1.0.1 Score	5618	4804	5311	7222
Text	1583	1311	1419	1964
2D Shapes	1451	1186	1303	1983
3D Shapes	697	559	640	873
Fill Rate	373	292	336	667
Animation	1514	1456	1613	1735
Jbenchmark 2.0.1 Score	595	532	568	978
Image Manipulations	379	385	410	321
Text	718	598	710	657
Sprites	535	485	520	505
3D Transform	906	810	817	662
User Interface	594	468	476	12617
Jbenchmark 3D HQ	203	839	973	371
Jbenchmark 3D LQ	376	876	1018	424
Triangles ps	52067	39296	48330	30619
KTexels ps	3452	5290	6393	1517
Jbenchmark HD Gaming Score	162 (5.4 fps)	609 (20.3 fps)	649 (21.6 fps)	151 (5.0 fps)
Smooth triangles	104296	286639	319569	28641
Textured triangles	83570	273788	288952	24299
Fill rate, KTexels	2189	10891	13322	1972

The model is operating under control of one of the latest revisions of the Symbian OS, namely v9.2, S60v3 FP1. There's no support for the Fast Boot feature, though the device takes only about 20 seconds to boot up.

The amount of free memory accessible to the user is about 86 Mb, the total RAM size equals to 128 Mb. The same numbers are observed with Nokia E90, the increase in RAM size is among the most improvements of the N95 8GB model. The original N95 hardly endured the launching of a few power-hungry applications, memory stack overflow caused one of the launched applications was randomly terminated which put the user at the risk of data loss. Nothing of the kind is observed in the case of Nokia N95 8 Gb, even if the number of applications launched exceeds 30 (including such apps as SmartMovie, HandyWeather, Office, Qreader and a number of simultaneously launched games). We experienced no lags or stuttering during such an intensive multitasking job, about 50 Mb of RAM was kept free during the process. We can't say that such an amount of RAM is redundant in the very essense of this word, but most users will probably find it to be such. Nokia E51 supplied with about 48 Mb of RAM doesn't experience any problems during intensive multitasking either. The memory dedicated to a particular running process (Heap size) and the maximum size of a Java executive (Jar size) are unlimited.

Storage

The device sports an integrated flash disk with a capacity of 8Gb (7672 Mb available to the user) but no memory card slot is provided for. The read and write speeds are around the 900 Kb/sec value which isn't too fast, especially considering that you can't take the flash disk out and connect it to your PC via a card reader or anything providing for a faster data transfer rate. The only option is to use the data cable. No noticeable difference in data transfer speeds is seen in this case as compared to Nokia N81 8Gb. Activating the Mass Storage mode forces the integrated flash disk to be recognized by your PC's operating system as a removable disk, no problems arise here. A total storage amount of 8Gb is something standard for a phone planned to be extensively sold all through 2008, there's no practical need for any further increase in storage capacity as of today.

N-Gage

Nokia N95 8Gb comes with a preinstalled N-Gage application - actually one of the very first devices with full integrated support for the new gaming platform. All of the gaming functionalities of the N95 8GB model fully coincide with the same functionality found in Nokia N81, so to avoid annoying repetition, we better advise you to look for the N81 review to find out more detail on this feature, for that article features an extremely thorough analysis of the N-Gage service and its capabilities.

Nokia N81 Review: The comeback of N-Gage

The only thing that we'll mention here in particular is the unfortunate lack of the dedicated gaming controls in the model we're currently talking about, so the gaming ergonomics is by all means higher in Nokia N81. Both landscape and portrait orientations are available to game applications on Nokia N95. However the multimedia buttons can't be used as game controls, so the landscape orientation is something too clumsy to be used for playing on this phone. There are a number of possible explanations to such limitations: first of all, the N-Gage platform is a universal one and isn't designed to meet every model's specific features like the presence or absence of multimedia buttons and so on. So you could hardly expect the dedicated multimedia buttons of N95 8GB to become operative in N-gage games.

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The preinstalled game demos are just the same with Nokia N81: FIFA07, Asphalt 3, though the Space Impact Light game is missing. Playing games on this phone exposed no serious problems with ergonomics and neither we were able to identify any lags or other uncomfortable side effects. There's no difference in this aspect in comparison with the Nokia N81 model based off the Freescale hardware platform, the universal 2D/3D graphics accelerator integrated in N95 8GB can be used in a large number of games.

Interface

The peculiarities of software interface of Nokia N95 8Gb consist in the slight change in functionality of a few applications only, but on the whole everything stays the same way with Nokia N95. So we won't be describing all the basic features, shifting the focus more on the innovative side of the product.

Let's note that the applications are now operating a bit faster, this is especially true about the Gallery - all the small stutters and lags are now gone, even if you're browsing through a thousand of files, the images and text is rendered quickly enough not to trouble the user. Photos and videos can be also browsed through with the quick browse feature. The screen orientation has its impact upon the mode in which all the conent is viewed, in the landscape orientation all the photos are automatically shown full-sized.

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Similar to numerous other smartphones based off TI OMAP 2420, Nokia N95 8Gb lack the opportunity to display the menus using 3D profiles (Horsehoe and V-Shaped), however the menus can be animated by introducing SVGT icons (vector graphics). In devices built on the Freescale platform (e.g. N81, N76) the things are quite on the contrary - the 3D profiles are in and animated icons are out. These nuances also greatly depend on the device's posittioning, for example Nokia E51 has its multimedia funcitons implemented on a level more typical for the previous generation of such devices.

The completely reworked multimedia menu is the next point on the list of things to speak about. Now the multimedia looks as if it were taken right from a Nokia N81. (The original Nokia N95 used a circular menu and was accesed either by pressing the multimedia button or by opening the slider downwards. It's possible to customize the menu by specified which items to display, add a number of custom menu items, select the five images used for the menu background.) The new look of the menu is more ascetic, there's no support for custom background images, but at the same time it's significantly more comfortable and informative. Seven items are listed:

The list can't be customized, there's no way to add user items - the only option is to change the order in which the follow. Every item lists a few subitems, i.e. quick shorcuts. The Contacts tab lists the frequently called persons and acts as the speed dial list - you no longer have to look those up in the contacts book. The rest of tabs contain the corresponding submenus, each item comes with a specific assoicated icon (the thumbnail of the last gallery image or the cover of the currently selected album in the music player and so on). In general, the new multimedia meny is considerably more comfortable now as offers more information. To a certain extent, it substitutes the main menu.

The Go-To active standby mode is standard, very few changes can be observed in comparison with the classic version of N95. The number of application shortcuts displayed in standby mode is now seven regardless of the screen orientation. The rest of the options work as they used to. One of the lines shown during standby is the Search function comprising local search and web search srvices. The application interface was slightly revamped as compared to the rest of latest Nokias, but the essence is virtually the same. Searching by a number of categories is possible, for instance in web / in local content / in messages / in calendar events and so on, to a certain degree the application is analogous to the Smart Search service implemented in Samsung phones. This is a rather useful feature which is now integrated into the active standby mode and is always at hand.

The GPS navigator interface was slightly improved and now sports better looks, the maps are now displayed in a more convenient fashion, the following photo is quite a good illustration:

The Smart2Go application was announced by Nokia by the title of Nokia Maps on February 8, 2007 - this application is utilized both in devices supplied with a GPS module (N95, E90 and so on) and phones deprived of one (for example, N81, E51, etc.) but in the latter case the option allowing to learn of your current location on the map is excluded. Nokia N95 8Gb supports the A-GPS standard (though the original N95 came to support it after the 12th firmware update) which allows the device to lock on the satellites and do positioning tasks faster, in places outside the reach of the satellites navigation can be performed by engaging the local operator's cellular network. The acquisition of coordinates works a bit different in the latter case. First the signal reaches the mobile phone then it is redirected to the base station which calculates the device's physical coordinates and then forwards them back. The accuracy of calculation varies from 5 to 50 meters while the regular GPS service offers a more precise positioning ranging from 0.1 to 30 meters.

Similar to the original version, the application is totally free and so are the maps, it means that you can install the Smart2Go program on any compatible smartphone. The application will be preinstalled on all the upcoming models by the company in a long-term outlook. As you know, the Nokia company is now in the process of purchasing NavTeq, the American company focusing efforts on producing high-quality maps, but the current models like Nokia N95 8Gb, N82 and similar ones the TeleAtlas maps are used. It's interesting to know that the same company was offered a deal of 2,3 billion dollars by the TomTom satellite navigation manufacturer, but Nokia are willing to purchase the company for a much greater sum - about 8,1 billion dollars.

All the standard functionality provided by the Nokia Maps (Smart2Go) service is fully preserved in Nokia N95 8Gb, the only change being a slightly improved interface.

The accelerometer

As you know, the latest Nokia models such as N95, N95 8GB, N82 are supplied with an accelerometer but until recently all of its functionality was nothing but the automatical screen aspect adjustment in the camera mode, it just rotated the image when necessary. Presently Nokia published a plugin allowing to include full functionality provided by the accelerometer in third-party applications and a set of documents describing how to implement different functions of that feature. So a large number of applications utilizing that functionality are expected to appear soon. This is especially important because the deal isn't only about such applications as the Passometer or the trivial screen orientation switch, but a full-scale support advanced control options. In other words, by declining the device at different angles, you will be able to navigate in menus, browse through the image gallery, play various games. The video clip below is a good illustration of this expanded functionality. The Nokmote software offering such possibilities is totally free and will be released in this December.

Multimedia Features

The multimedia features of Nokia N95 8GB went through no changes as compared to the predecessor, and this is perfectly true about the player interface, the sound quality and so on. The standard 3.5 mm socket allows for any standard headset to be used with the phone, but the bundled brand adaptor fully supports the original Nokia headset. The adaptor features an AD-54 remote control which is also found in the sales package of Nokia N81. The control has glossy smooth buttons with rounded corners - but here it comes clear that this is a sacrifice of ergonomics in favour of design. The remote control that ships with Nokia N91 or 3250 sports better ergonomics due to larger, traditionally positioned buttons, and the non-standard button layout of AD-54 is a bit annoying, making you glance at the buttons every time you want to press something. The headset included into the sales package is of a rather mediocre quality, it's the same one that ships with Nokia N81.

The interface is just the same with Nokia N81, such an arrangement of elements can be seen in all the recent devices based off the S60v3 platform Feature Pack 1 (e.g. Nokia N95, 6290), the only difference being the order in which the elements are shown on the screen. The controls are quite comfortable, the dedicated multimedia buttons are used for rewinding/play/pause and the navigation button also duplicates some of these functions. The name of the performer and track title are shown on the screen during standby, the side buttons are used for setting the sound volume.

Player settings include five presets of the eight-band equalizer and an opportunity to create as many user presets as you like. The rest of options are: balance adjustments, enhanced stereo playback, bass boost, reverberation, sorting tracks by performer, album, genre and so on, track repeat and random playback. The Album Arts feature allows you to associate an image file with any music album, so each track from that album will be accompanied by the album cover shown on the screen during playback. Similar to Nokia N95, the visualisation enjoys an excellent implementation, the visuals look great yet drain some extra battery charge while playing. Either the phone itself or the Home Media Server can be selected as the source for audio files.

The Music menu subitem now has a new subitem - Nokia Music Store, granting access to a database of more than million music tracks by all sorts of performers. The price of one track is 1 euro, an album costs 10 euros, a montly subscription for synchronizing the downloaded content with yout PC - 10 euro. The price is standard for this kind of offers by European operators, and time will tell how successful this project is. The 'Go to the Music Store' option was added to the playback screen, which upon activation redirects you to www.music.nokia.com. The Music Store offers a wide range of possibilities inlcuding full-fledged music track searching, access to top charts, statistics, the list of planned downloads, introductory listening, phone-to-PC synchronization via Windows Media Player. The service is already functioning now, though is temporarily limited to the territory of Great Britain only. All the tracks are downloaded in the .wma format. A track lost but already paid for can be downloaded again for any number of times free of charge.

The following media formats are supported by the device:

MP3	+
WMA	+
Polyphonic	+, 64 voices
XMF	+
AMR (Voice Tag)	+
AAC	+
AAC+	+
e-AAC+	+
i-Melody	-
SMAF	-
Midi (SMF)	+
SP-Midi	+
RealAudio 7,8,10	+
True tones	+
WAV	+
RA	-

During the MP3 playback cycle the device was able to stay up for more than 10 hours without recharging - a result quite expected for a Symbian-based smartphone, that's quite enough for most users. As compared to the original N95, the N95 8GB is a significant improvement in this field, though the boost isn't that critical as the one experienced during the video playback cycle. Let's pass to the sound quality now. Nokia N95, despite the presence of the standard headset socket, isn't positioned as a music-oriented model. The audio quality is fair enough yet inferior to that of core music phones by Nokia and other manufacturers. N95 8Gb is comparable in this parameter with its predecessor, this aspect experienced almost no changes, so we can state that Nokia N81 is still superior. The maximum sound volume is roughly equal in both cases. Comparing the device to a music smartphone by another brand, Samsung i450, we'd like to note out the slight advantage of the latter. The i450 model is based off the TI OMAP 2431 (the only difference from the base model 2430 consists in the lack of a hardware 2D/3D graphics accelerator), and the sound amplifier solution is a IcePower Mobile chip designed by Bang&Olufsen. The amplifier, quite expectedly, amplifies the power of the audio singal, leaving aside such procedures as tuning the dynamic range (the capability to transmit both high- and low-volume sound with an equal efficiency), the frequency range, the noise level, the nonlinear distortions and so on. But the maximum audio volume turns out to be nearly equal with Nokia N95 8Gb when you plug the wire headset via the standard 3.5 mm headset socket. The audio quality of i450 is superior, a certain lack of bass can be felt while listening to the music played on a Nokia N95 8Gb, just like with N95 and N82 models. If we add N81 to the competition, N95 8Gb turns out to lag behind the both, on the other hand N81 and i450 can't be called impecable music players either - all the three are in a way comparable when it comes to the quality of sound output, the real difference in quality isn't going to be noticed by the consumer majority. We'd rather advise you to try listening to each of the three before deciding on your pick since audio quality is a very ambiguous and personal category.

A large amount of RAM doesn't turn the device into a music solution by itself, which is obvious. Only Nokia N81 has grounds to claim itself to be one within the whole product line.

Camerа

The camera module used in the new Nokia N95 stays virtually the same, nothing has been changed in the hardware part save for the missing lens guard which allowed to launch the camera quickly just by moving it aside. Nothing gravely dangerous, just a bit more vulnerability to scratching and dirt. On the other hand, the camera application went through a series of minor improvements, so launching it takes less time (about 2-3 secionds), focusing is also done quicker. The difference from the original N95 can be easily felt, in a number of environments it proves critical at taking pictures. In addition to the increased performance, a