The smoke has cleared and the dust has settled; our take on the Nokia N97
Provided you don’t live under a rock, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve seen the big announcement from Nokia World this morning. That’s right folks, the N97 is upon us – Nokia’s savior – the handset that will propel the Finnish giant back to a more comfortable seat at the top of the mobile world after the intense slide it has taken in 2008. Right?
First things first; the inevitable comparisons with the iPhone. Ugh – when will it stop? Aside from the fact that both handsets have a touchscreen, they really have absolutely nothing else to do with each other. The N97 is infinitely more capable in terms of multimedia creation, multimedia consumption and versatility while the iPhone is infinitely more usable and geared toward the masses. Here in the US, the iPhone’s biggest market, the N97 will have absolutely no impact on its market share. Even if by some miracle Nokia manages to score a carrier agreement for the N97, the time frame will mean that Apple’s third generation iPhone will likely have been released (speculation) and we all know that Nokia couldn’t market a free space heater to an Eskimo here in the US.
Abroad, the N97 will do very well. Carrier agreements throughout Europe and the surrounding regions, subsidized contract pricing, advertising as far as the eye can see – it’ll sell like condoms at the Bunny Ranch… But Apple most definitely won’t be losing any sleep over it. The iPhone is a fantastically-positioned device. It’s sexy, the UI is brilliant and anyone, young or old, can pick one up and use it to its fullest extent in a matter of hours or even minutes. By comparison, S60 is dated, clunky and appeals to a much narrower range of users. Sure, for the time being it is far more capable compared to Apple’s mobile OS, but S60 Touch is hardly the revision Symbian needed to catch up in terms of appearance, usability or wow-factor. The new widget-style home screen UI is great but it’s hardly enough. In terms of appearance, S60 is to the iPhone OS as Unix is to Linux Mint.
So bloggers, please stop. The N97 has nothing to do with the iPhone and no, not every touchscreen device is a potential “iPhone killer”. There were touchscreen handsets before the iPhone and there will continue to be touchscreen handsets for decades to come. Apple’s mobile market share will continue to soar long after the N97 comes and goes. Deal with it.
On to the device itself… In a word, the N97 is sexy – there’s really no question about it. The design is fantastic and the size is perfect. Its 3.5″ 640 x 360 pixel display just begs for multimedia and the N97 can most definitely deliver in that area; after all, it is an Nseries. 32 GB of internal memory plus microSDHC support means there will hardly be a shortage on space for media files. Oh, and Slingbox on the N97? Yes, it will be glorious. As far as form factor goes, Nokia also hit this one out of the park. The tilt-up display is great and results in a much more comfortable typing position than flat sliding displays. The keyboard is sizable and the marriage of QWERTY and a touchscreen is what we will come to expect from any capable smartphone. We would like to have seen Nokia take the next step as far as the camera is concerned since its 5 megapixel Zeiss set it very old news at this point but hey, you can’t have it all. No matter though, WiFi and tri-band WCDMA seal the deal and basically guarantee that you’ll find a few of these bad boys floating around BGR HQ next year.
For clarification sake, this is not the Nseries QWERTY device we saw mock up images of almost a full year ago. At the time, our sources indicated that device was scheduled for release in late 2008 so today’s announcement is a pretty good indication that those plans were either bumped or scrapped completely. Rest assured though, the N97 is far sexier than what we saw so don’t shed any tears just yet. While the N97 is most likely the “Ivalo” referenced on the internal roadmap that was leaked not too long ago, we have a feeling the handset we spoke about might still turn up as the “Eitri”.
Lastly, congrats to Nokia on finally keeping a handset under wraps until it was officially announced. Sure, we might have had an idea that a touchscreen Nseries would be announced this year but that’s pretty much the beginning and end of it. In the end, the N97 is definitely going to be a big hit abroad and S60 fans here in the US will swoon over it as well. Is it going to single-handedly reverse Nokia’s slide? No, but it definitely represents the first stages of a good direction for Nokia to head toward. As much as it would like to think of itself as an internet company, handsets are where Nokia must continue to shine for many years to come if it hopes to remain the beast it is today. The N97 is a good first step.
christexaport: Dude, you are clueless.
sorry for the double post. Accidental CUT AND PASTE on my N95 8gb! Ouch!
Well well well, what do we have here? The N97 sure does look like a purdy phone, and I’m a big fan of Symbian – it’s powerful, tweakable, has tons of apps, but it does desperately need a facelift.
The widescreen ratio slide out keyboard put this sucker over the top for me, but I think the end of 2Q timeframe is going to really hurt this device. There could be a 32 GB iPhone out by then, thus somewhat negating the memory advantage. Plus, by then we should see or hear about the latest BlackBerrys, Android phones, and HTC does some darn fine things with Windows Mobile.
Ultimately, I fear this will suffer the same fate as the Xperia X1 in the United States. Symbian freak does point out that At&T is pickin up the E71 (which kicks all types of ass) and should be offering it at a good price. But even if AT&T did pick it up, I couldn’t see them subsidizing it more than 300, putting it at the $350 range. Still a bit too rich for my blood.
It is a good step forward for Nokia though, but I think they’re in transition until the open source Symbian hits the streets.
I wonder when the first slider came out did people call other phones the slider killer lmfao who cares what a phone look like or if it look like the other if it suits you go for it.
This phone will come out a couple of months before iPhone’s next iteration and will take a lot of current iPhone users with it. iPhone is becoming too popular that it is becoming the next RAZR. A lot of early adopters will jump ship at that point. I fly almost every week, and I keep an eye on what people are using. You won’t believe the amount of iPhone out there.
@HillBill
People said that about the ipod too, that other mp3 players will come out and take over.
Well, others have come and gone, but the interface/form factor of the ipod have made it one of its kind and thus still the most popular to date. I’d say the same is going for the iphone as well.
Lots of good points here. Bottom line personally i plan on purchasing this phone when it drops, but in the meantime I’m copping an iphone and plan to use both. The iphone is like the girl on the side, super sexy and likes to have fun, lots of variety.
The nokia is the reliable partner, fine and stable, goes so far, but not all the way nahmeen? But this N97 looks like she may have a lil freak in her. LOL
Stephen Glansburg said:
“People said that about the ipod too, that other mp3 players will come out and take over.
Well, others have come and gone, but the interface/form factor of the ipod have made it one of its kind and thus still the most popular to date. I’d say the same is going for the iphone as well.”
I agree about the popularity of the iPod, however I also know there are many iPod owners like myself that would use their iPod for batting practice if we could transfer our music to another mp3 device. Unfortunately, every time I hook my iPod up to any other computer, besides my 2004 Dell inspiron 1150 (my initial iPod hookup), I’m warned about losing all my music if I continue. I’ve found a few workarounds, but still, I can’t delete half the garbage I’ve got on my iPod without sacrificing EVERYTHING else that’s on it.
iPod = FAIL!
I’ll buy that silly Sansa MicroSD music player before I chain myself with another iPod
US population is less than 5% of the world population. An important market of course, but not that important for Nokia. In fact Apple has problems conquering non-US market share on any product they released. I live in Eastern Europe and I never touched an Apple desktop computer because I was not able to find one … and I am an IT developer for 15 years. I played a little with an Apple laptop and with an iPod touch (in an Apple Store) … that is about all my Apple experience. I also have two friends owning iPhones and other two owning Apple mp3 players. That is about it. The market share for Apple products here is very low (might be higher in UK, as UK seems to have more similarities with US market). In one of the biggest cities in the country there is one small Apple store opened just a year ago and an Apple stand and they are almost always empty. And we are talking about a country where mobile covering is more than 100% (many have more than one mobile phone) and 3G+/HSDPA is available in every city with more than 50.000 inhabitants. In fact Nokia is so powerful here that almost anyone had a Nokia at a certain time and most of them (about 60%) still do. The rest have Samsungs, Sony-Ericssons, LGs, Alcatels, few Motorolas. HTC and Blackberry are quite rare too. And I dont think this will change a lot in the following years. The typical high-end phone user here wants a capable multimedia phone which iPhone is not (especially on photo/video part). Also nobody wants to pay $70 per month here for an iPhone plan when full 3G+ internet plans are available from $12 + 250 minutes voice plans at another $10. Plus, here people really hate SIM locked phones. So the markets are very different. N97 will be expensive, but I bet Nokia 5800 will sell like crazy. Might not be as cool as iPhone but it has more features for sure and is much cheaper. I think even the expensive N97 will sell significantly more than iPhone here. And I think this will also happen in Asia, South America, Africa … so I think Nokia does not need to worry at all about conquering the US market.
I’m very excited about this device… Can’t wait for it to come out to the U.S. with U.S 3G.
Europeans are so lucky in the mobile phone world.
Dan T,
tell ‘em…
And for Mr. Hopkins,
your assessment is backwards. The iPhone will do well skimming the surface, but the Nseries are well known for their completeness, and they definitely go farther than any iPhone. I put an Nseries from ‘06 against the iPhone 3G and its not a landslide affair at all. Against the current Nseries and this N97? No competition. And I review phones for a living, by the way, not just use them a few minutes or weeks. The iPhone is nice, but no beast. Try an Nseries for 3 months with a couple firmware boosts and you’ll see.
Buyers are not fools… they notice that Apple “evolves” or should i say “revolve” new products every 6 months with little or no improvements in major features yet creating marketing hype way too much that Americans get fooled. This is one of the reason why Apple has 5% market share overall and windows… lol 95% and iPhone is so popular in the US of course.
Capacative Touch screen is neighther a new technology nor a revolution in fact it is so 1997! In those days we used to have it as an option. An option of capacitive / resistive touch screen for multimedia kiosks. The screens (films) were “pasted” over standard CRT monitors (yeah they were XGA 800×600 monitors).
Surprisingly, no one in those days utilized the potential of Z axis, even though the touch screen drivers supported it. I would assume that it was mainly because the desktop processors were 150 – 300 MHz (Yes MEGA Hertz) SLOW and it required a LOT of power to process multimedia and fade effects.
Capacitive touchscreens later on failed to make a mark on market due to the fact that they were ‘in accurate’ when compared to ‘accurate’ resistive screens. Capacitive touch screens were also ‘in accurate’ as it used to register multiple touches.
Major feature those days was ability to ‘draw’ things with a ‘pen’ on resistive screen due to its accuracy! people soon cashed in and a lot of touch PDA’s and later on WinMo Phones launched.
Apple in 2005-2006 with iPhone (and 500+ MHz) processor finally utilized the ‘z-axis’ with the available processing power and this combined with a good UI effects… and whoa there you go, an outright success.
Thanks to Steve Jobs for turning ‘failure’ old technology in to a ’success’.
Yes did any one forget the Apple Newton? :p … just teasin … Apple iPhone was a product of capacitive touch screen, Newton & revolutionary OSX.
by the way I am a N82 user and absolutely love it. Wish Nokia would come up with a N Series candybar phone with detachable keyboard.
I can’t wait till this phone comes over here! at&t service will fly on this baby!
Christexaport.
Being a software developer. I develop for S60 as well as OSX on the iphone and am now dabbling in the Android segment.
You miss the whole point of the iphone. The N97 is vastly inferior to the iphone. The most important aspect of the iphone is the OS. S60 is like comparing a regular phone to a smartphone. The iphone being a smartphone. Features are just that “features”.
The iphone is essentially a mini-computer, not a smartphone. The N97 is a smartphone. The iphone can run desktop quality applications like google earth, Netters anatomy etc. It can help doctors diagnose a patient with any of the Radiology applications available in real time, and change from a CT scan to a Xray with just a swipe of the finger. It can run Lexi-comp in conjunction with a Hospitals mainframe and sync with their version of Lexi-Comp running on their computers in real time.Lexi-comp is a very powerful application that comes in many forms all available on the iphone. This is a desktop class application, a very powerful application.
The applications bring so much functionality to the Iphone that are not possible on a Symbian device or any other smartphone for that matter save for the G1 which also runs a desktop class OS. So when you try to bring up copy-and paste, MMS, Flash, etc. you are bring up features, which can be added to the iphone at any time with a simple firmware update. And pale in comparison to the functionality the desktop class applications bring to the iphone.
There is not one N series device that is out selling the iphone, not one device that Nokia is selling that is selling better than the iphone. The iphone is almost outselling the whole Nseries lineup “combined’. It is now the second best selling smartphone OS in the world. Symbian is dying, and Nokia is trying to save it. Instead they should invest in OS 2008 and make that their new OS. How much market share did Symbian gain since the Iphone was released? None.Zero. Now why is that?
Also, the processor on the N97 is a joke, AGPS the 3g iphone has had that for a while now. Resistive touch screen, no thanks. Optical quality glass with a capacitive touch screen is far superior. 32 GB wow that’s great, but the next iphone will be out by the time the N97 arrives, so not much of a big deal there. How about a 1ghz intel atom processor and a 5MP camera to match which Apple can do easily.
Nokia is coming to the game with far too little and far to late.Your living in a dream world, time to wake up and smell the coffee.
Well well, this is turning out to be quite a thread…
It all comes down to this one question? Do we want Smartphones or Pocket Computers?
If the answer is Smartphones, then Nokia have a better than average chance of keeping their majority market share well into the next decade. If the answer is Pocket Computers, then Nokia have about a 5% chance of survival unless the start making Android devices with the next 6 months.
The ‘iPhone is a toy and Americans are Smartphone idiots’ brigade can complain all they like, it won’t make even the slightest difference. When it comes to computing, North American firms are a completely dominate force.
OPK, please do the right thing and sign for Android before it’s too late!
@mike
the iphone is a joke! the only reason it sold was because of bogus marketing shemes by apple, which they’re good at doing!
the only thing Nokia needs to invest in is matching apple’s marking tactics and let the whole world know that what the iphone offers they’ve already had 5years ago. I guarantee you that the N97 is just a quick bark by Nokia at showing the world that noone can match their brain power in terms of making phones.
Coming soon you will see phones by Nokia which will let the competition only dream about.
Nokia has the money, the market share, the brain power and is instantly recognized world wide where as Apple has no market share, only one phone, an OS that people don’t want (look at their pc market share) and have no experience in the mobile industry.
I see a winner here and loser. Which one do you think will win?
@christexaport
you’re correct. I made a bad choice of words. I didn’t mean that it doesn’t go all the way so far as ability, features, etc… But S60 is like your girl, been together for years, u know everything about her. Every now and then she throws on sumthin sexy but it’s still the same ole girl. No complaints tho. Iphone tho is the sexy neighbor who got u rushing to take a half empty bag of trash out when her car pull up. LOL! But trust me I love S60. Hell, I type most of my comments while surfing from my E62, and my previous phone was a 6682. Was saving for the E71, but i’ma wait for the N97…maybe.
This is interesting.
@ JakeyBoy…Please tell me what leap the iPhone made when it jumped to the 3G version besides adding 3G…you can’t because it is the same phone so why would it have taken 2 years to accomplish?
Steve Jobs is not an idiot because if he was the iPod would not exist, and neither would the iPhone or macs. Yes he is not the brainchild behind them all, nor is he the marketing genius either. However, he is the CEO of the company and that is who u credit with any product that does well.
The iPhone, IMO, will never touch Nokia in terms of marketshare. This is simply because Apple is only good in America. Abroad people either hate it or have never seen one. And that goes for all the Apple products too, including their PCs. Windows is successful abroad because of familiarity and longevity, the same goes for Nokia’s cell phones too. Apple is really playing catch up no matter how well the iPhone is doing. There are always great technologies that change the market. Windows was one, the RAZR was another, the ipod was another and now so is the iPhone. However, the iPhone should become another razr soon. This is simply because everyone and their mother wants one and most likely does have one, just like an ipod.
You can’t enter an NYC subway station without seeing an iPod, iPod touch or iPhone somewhere in the vicinity. This is the double-edged sword many companies have come to see, however. The RAZR had the same phenomenon when it came out. So much so that up until about a month ago it was still the best-selling phone; and guess who bested it this time around…the iPhone. It will only be a matter of time until something else comes around and does the same thing to the iPhone so we’ll just have to wait and see. It has a great UI but just like their laptops, it is so restrictive that people will soon shun it because there is no costumization. They only provide you with apps to compensate but that does not address the main problem.
So from my post here is my replies to all:
Steve Jobs is obviously not an idiot. I’m just trying to seperate myself from the Apple “fanboys”. I do own and iPhone, I do not however any other Apple product.
As far as the jump from 1st gen to 2nd gen on the iPhone, the added features and design change were significant in the “Apple World”, even when talking about the software changes that came along. Yes, the added 3g, but they also added an AGPS chip and other major design changes(metal to plastic change, batter soldiered in versus removable wihout soldiering…). I still have my 1st gen iPhone as a backup, but will use the 2nd gen iPhone because it is far better in design.
I’ll admit, the Nokia phone looks might sweet. But I can almost guaruntee that once I get it in my hands, that sweetness will be overshadowed by the sour OS. I’ll post a retract if i’m wrong.
What ever happened to supporting USA companies? I think Obama should toss his blackberry and get himself an iPhone. Sure Apple makes its products mostly overseas, but just like Vizio, they can move their manufacturing closer to being all here. We need companies like this to thrive in this tough economic time.
If everyone wants Android, don’t they know that right now there are iPhones with Android? Not fully realised, but they are out there. Pocket computer versus Smart phone is the best comparison i’ve read between the iPhone and the N97.
I cannot, and neither should any of you, compare the N97 to ANY phone until i’ve tested it out. So at that, I rest. Let the Boy Genius sort it out.
@ JakeyBoy so the only thing worth mentioning is the AGPS chip and the 3G because design is really not something people look at in terms of purchasing a product when both look the same, no matter how much better one is than the other. Unless one tells you the two look identical.
And in the same light why don’t we add WinMo to the list since it’s a US company, even though the units are manufactored by overseas third-party companies, just like the iphone.
Thanks for the feedback.
You make some really good points regarding the N series ability to play back a variety of video formats and the added functionality of the web browser – and as i said in my post the N95 does these things well.
Where I feel the iphone excels in these two areas are;
Web browsing – the screen size, resolution and UI make up for the shortcomings in flash etc. Of course i would like it to do these things and when i first started using the iphone I did not believe it would replace my N95 for web browsing but over time i just found myself picking up the iphone for this feature.
Video playback – again screen size played an important role in my using the iphone for video rather than my N95. Access to good video content (via itunes) which is easier to obtain and to load also made a difference.
Dont get me wrong I am not about to give up my N95, and i suspect the N97 will address some of these issues (particularly screen size and resolution)
TOUCHE`
To be totally honest here, plenty of dollars have been poured into marketing the products you have mentioned. that being said, i see many people with Iphones and still carry their Ipods. If you ask me the marketing strategy employed by Mr. Jobs is great. Ask yourself, why would I purchase two or three items that are capable of performing the same task, two of which do not provide phone service.
Now, if the iPhone is so wonderful (not suggesting that it isn’t) to those that have and cherish it, why not use it for all multimedia functions? As I have stated earlier, I have seen people carry an iPod, iPhone and that video thing they make…why not just the phone?
As for other MP3 players falling by the wayside. I don’t think that is the case, once cell phones were able to double as MP3 players people (such as myself) opted to carry ONE device instead of multiples. Therefore, Mr. Jobs gained mind control and popularity via brilliant marketing. Once people begin to realize they are being given the same product with a little additive to stimulate curiosity things will change.
and for the record, I dont hate iphones they just don’t offer the things that I NEED and require from a smartphone.
@Likeabite
adding the 3g and GPS chip was a huge step in the “Apple World”. Meaning, usually it takes much longer for Apple to jump to a new anything. So in the case of the iPhone, it is a big deal. I looked heavily into design for repair purposes. The screens and LCD’s are very delicate. 1st gen iPhone was all 1 piece LCD and Touch screen, and changing it out was a complete hassle. The battery was soldiered in as well, making it a task to replace. The 2nd gen iPhone has a two piece lcd/touchscreen platform that is far easier to repair and replace. The battery is not soldiered, only by contact and a screw, so its way easy to replace. The plastic case is slight lighter in weight and is far more durable. The metal case was easily dented. Also in regards to the metal case, the speaker volume would reverberate the callers voice back to them, which doesn’t happen with the plastic back. I’m not trying to show you up, I just want you to see that there were many larger issues that were quickly addressed as opposed to 2 updates down the road. For me personally, all of these things are huge updates and make the 1st gen seem nearly obsolete(which of course it isn’t). But this really isn’t the best of places for this rant to be listed, so I digress. And yes, lets add WinMo to the list of USA companies. Its time for the United States to start supporting the motherland. We are all guilty of purchasing outside of the US, including myself.
@ Jakeyboy…I agree with you, just that most of these differences mean nothing to the average consumer, since there was no hike in camera mp level, no new design or things of that nature you know. But i understand, from a technical standpoint, why all the aformentioned improvements would mean a lot to you.