OFFICIAL REVIEWS FROM OUR BELOVED LYN MEMBERS!
missgeek:» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
I hope this is not another rumour. I hope it is 3K as mentioned for authorised unit. If you ask me, it doesnt matter as long as it launched. Say only but never comes out.
Well, I don't care anymore, hahah cos I already got my set EARLIER eventho it's AP, lol!
(edited: Good Ash got avaxx set at cheap price, might as well get that one, just add 130 only!)
Anyway continuation of my review, there is a bit I need to update.
1. GPS
First u really need to download the map via map loader because if not it will take a long time for the satelite to get your position. smile.gif (also will cost you A BOMB on your data charges, unless you already get the unlimited package from your telco). So I downloaded Malaysia and Singapore map, I tried it at home, inside... I get locked at my position in 10 secs. Showing the street of my home etc. I could also detetect the nearest cinema, starbucks, shopping mall etc.
In open area, tested in my office lobby, it's open space... I get locked to my position with maps etc in 3 secs. So the GPS is fast smile.gif The downside is, you have to hold the phone vertical to get good satelite locking, which is OK if you walk, but if you drive, I don't see how you can manage when the phone is flat on your dashboard.
2. Camera
I don't take pics yet... well I did but not really for testing smile.gif But so far I have no issues. I don't see a point posting it anyway since the quality is the same like the current N95. Huge improvement is on the pics processing time I think. The camera still load at 2-3 secs, but the processing takes another 1-2 secs.
I mentioned that I have issue with my EasyAccess, now it's working. No more Singtel tag stuff for my phone except for 2 things that is non relevant.
1. MIO themes, this is Singtel branding (I think).
2. Chinese dictionary is pre-installed. It can't be removed, it needs some hacking but it's no big deal. I can live with Chinese dictionary.
The rest are all now customised to local telco. I can access 3.5G speed at my house which is awesome. I can browse internet, upload pics to Flickr etc. Very very cool! Downside is the lack of touchscreen of course smile.gif
To play divx movies, you need Coreplayer smile.gif I tested one of the Japanese series it works awesome. Very nice indeed to watch your favorite movie/series on your phone!
The phone response is acceptable. I have a lot of things in my phone now so it's not as fast as when I first got it... and STILL the phone doesnt hang and crashed so far! I tested running all my application under Application folder at once, with music playing at the back, play games... it doesnt crash the phone, just some lagging smile.gif I also installed fring, using the one for Nokia N95, it warned me about compatibility, but it works fine.
CONCLUSION:
I am very satisfied with my AP set phone, hahahaha! At the end it doesn't matter. Of course as a precation u shud take the authorised set just incase your phone rosak, but if you are willing to take the risk, AP is fine. Also an important note, if you wanna get AP, get it now before it has been launched for a while because that time, u don't really now if it's really new or a recond.
So... FASTER GO GET YOURS PEOPLE! smile.gif AP or Authorised! If you can spend extra RM300... just go for the authorised set! icon_rolleyes.gif
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
Hi evryone..let's get down to business.
Before that, let me make it clear it is an AP set from Singtel.
Let me start with the most important stuff, I still have a lot to try, so will first tell about few important things:
1. Battery life.
After getting the phone, I saw some pre factory battery juice at 3 bars. Met few friends and play play with the phone without charging first tongue.gif Take pics, see sample videos, try everything. I realised it is tag with Singtel wap etc, so try to override all stuffs. Delete this and that. Come back home around midnight, install PC suite and get it connected etc first. Then start charging it to full (until the phone said it full).
When it is full (arround 3am), I do some back up via pc suite, install some applications, transfer songs, video clips, play play etc.
The next day (saturday) went out, try the phone, wifi searching ON, bluetooth ON, play a lot of music the whole day since my friends are also trying the phone etc, took pics, play games, view video clips. Went to Starbucks, try wifi, go online, view blogs etc.
When I was finally home at 1am, the battery is still with 3 bars. At then at home try to do some stuff again, change themes, download themes try this and that. Get my 3G working since at first it failed cos of tag with Singtel. I finally charge the phone around 4am, with 2 bars left. While charging, I do a backup again since a lot of stuffs already installed.
For me, the battery life is super. I bet if i dont use the phone that much, I don't have to charge everyday. I never use the old N95 so cant really say how much better, but based on the postings I read, the new N95 8GB does have more battery juice than the older brother. thumbup.gif
2. Slider
The slider is sturdy. But I think not a lot of ppl has the creaky, lousy slider like the old N95. So i suggest u try first before you buy and if it's not to your liking, just ask for another unit. I didnt have a choice to ask for another unit since I bought AP via Renee BUT thank God mine is ok. It slide smoothly, not that hard and not loose either. No lights can escape from the side of the phone (as the problem with old N95). thumbup.gif
3. Screen
The screen is AWESOME. Really beautiful. I have no issues at all, watching video clips is awesome (but please make sure your video clips is in high quality if not lousy also lah). thumbup.gif
3. 128MB RAM
I installed a lot of applications. The pre-installed is nothing to shout about. So I tried running7 applications and including a music playing at the back. The applications running at the back while I play my music are: quickoffice, mobipocket reader, application manager, Sudoku, Ngage demo game (fifa), gallery, STILL not hang or slow down. While music is playing, I also start playing Fifa game, it went smoothly. No hangs etc, So I am not sure when it will hang. This is for testing and it is still not hang, I don't think with normal use u will leave that much applications running at the back anyway, so I don't think you will get any hang phone, ever. Hahaha! I also agree with Steve from allaboutsymbian review, he tried to 'hang' the phone also failed. So I think it is good on the doubled RAM. thumbup.gif
4. Sound
It is not bad. It has 3D thng and the sound is loud. I can't compare it with Sony walkman phone or anything because truthfully the walkman phone is SUPER. But I am very satisfied with the sound quality, at least it is A LOT better than my old phone Samsung D900, hehe.
5. GPS
I download the map loader application from Nokia website. Download maps for Singapore and Malaysia. Transfer it to my phone. Please make sure that your GPS is not allowed to access your data package from your telco or u will have high bills because they will download those maps when they can't find it. Unless u have unlimited 3G package, then it's OK. I will have to test more on the GPS.I just tried play play abit and cant really comment on the performance and how fast it can lock to the satellite. I tried once, it was pretty fast but then I think I better test more before I give any judgement. WILL UDATE THIS PART MORE.
6. Camera
This is no contest. I did a lot of pics taking and video shooting. I have no problems with the quality. BUT I will take pics for comparison and post it here later. Also will try the TV out and see if it is really DVD quality as it claimed. WILL UPDATE THIS PART MORE.
7. WIFI
My phone can detect WIFI very fast. Connection is also good. I have no issues with my WIFI. Surfing at Starbucks is easy. At home I don't have WIFI... but m phone can detect my neighbours hahahaha! They locked it so bad for me, if not can steal their bandwdth also, LOL. So far don't have any problem with WIFI. thumbup.gif
8.IM
I also havent tried the IM (MSN, YM) etc on my phone. I think I can try for free for a while but a good friend of mine will send me free aplications for it. So have to wait before I can fully test. I tested fring, but unfortunately they don't have Nokia N95 8GB compatible YET. I tested the one for N95, it doesnt work. It also could be because of my 3G havent set yet that time. Will try again and give comment.
Summary (for now).
If you buy AP set, you have to accept that your phone is not totally clean. There will be a lot of things already pre-installed by the telco, in my case Singtel. U need to clean a lot and configure your settings to avoid conflict (like 3G, MMS, etc). I also have a preinstalled themes from Singtel which I hate HAHAHAHA. I can't seem to remove it, and even when I use other themes, something like screensaver will still be the one from singtel if I use animation, so sian. I think I can find a way to override this, need to play play somemore.
I cant access my EasyAccess from Maxis. I think it's because of it tag to Singtel. I could be wrong, I need to call Maxis and found out. It could also be something wrong with my simcard. One thing I have to applaud Maxis, they alraedy have Nokia N95 8GB in their website for WAP,3G and MMS setting so no problem to start browsing away. It's pretty fast. My house area has 3G, not sure if it is in the HSDPA area. But so far, I can surf the web on my phone OK.
I can play FIFA in landscape mode, it's in the setting. Just a bit weird for the keys, have to get used to it. Unfortunately, Ngage and Nokia Music Store is not yet LIVE, so I can't really say how the phone will go with NGage platforms. So no comment on this.
What else to say for now? Hmmm... I LOVE MY PHONE!!!!!! Hahaha. I dont regret not waiting for the Zitron set. I have a feeling that it will not be less than 3K. BUR my advice is... BUY AP FROM SOMEONE U CAN TRUST. Also, if you want to buy AP, buy now before the phone is launched everywhere because then u could get conned with recond set too if it's already available everywhere. smile.gif So far I only know Singapore to have launched it in Asia Pacific. In Europe, few countries already have it.
So, that's for now. I wanna get back to my phone and keep playing and testing tongue.gif Now wanna check the firmware updates. Not sure if there's an update yet. hmm.gif
Garfie:» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
Nokia N95 8GB Overview
By Garfie
Introduction
The crown jewel of Nokia, the N95 that was released not too long ago, took a major step ahead with the rolling out of the N95 8GB. At the moment, the phone is only exclusive to Vodafone customers in the United Kingdom, so do expect it to hit other shores very quickly.
What you'll get in the package:
.1x Nokia N95 8GB
.1x Nokia Battery BL-6F, 1200 mAh
.1x Nokia Travel Charger AC-5
.1x Nokia Music Headset HS-45, AD-54
.1x Nokia Connectivity Cable DKE-2
.1x Nokia Video Connectivity Cable CA-75U
.Instruction Manuals
Design, Build & Ergonomics
The N95 8GB measures 99mm x 53mm x 21mm. At 21mm thin, it is no doubt that this is one of the most powerful Symbian OS phone in the market at the moment.
The Changes
.Compared to the N95's microSD slot, the N95 8GB featured an internally mounted 8GB flash disk, which will be treated as if it were a 8GB microSD card that is fitted into the phone.
.The system RAM has been doubled to 128MB, doubled from its predecessor, meaning now that after the phone boot-up, it will have approximately 95MB of free RAM to be utilized.
.The back of the N95 8GB has been deepened an extra millimeter to 21mm to accommodate the new BL-6F battery being used, as compared to the BL-5F battery that was used on the N95. The BL-6F battery rated at 1200mAh should be able to alleviate the need for daily charging of the phone.
.The screen has been widened to 2.8" from 2.6" previously, albeit the fact that the d-pad and the main controls had to be squished slightly to allow the expansion of the screen.
.The old physical shutter has been replaced by a simple recess, users may want to take care of the camera lens if they're rough with the phone. Camera start-up is still taking its sweet 3 seconds, albeit processing of a 5MP picture is relatively faster.
.The multimedia controls are now dimpled as compared to its predecessor, making it a lot easier when locating the buttons that you want in the dark.
The Menu
The menu is a standard, typical layout of a Symbian OS phone, which now has 7 quick launch icon slots as compared to 6 previously. Users are treated to an interactive flash menu as compared to the ones that could be found on the N95.
Users might be delighted to note one very outstanding icon in the menu, yes, it's the N-Gage games application. It comes pre-loaded with two N-Gage games, namely FIFA 07 and Asphalt 3.
Conclusion
Quite a significant number of improvements were made to the original N95 to come up with this new model. Though there are shortcomings, this phone is a definite to get if you're shopping around for one of the 'best phone ever made'.
This post has been edited by Ash: Nov 18 2007, 02:04 PM