Nseries War - Part 2 "Battle Of The Kings" at Saturday, September 20, 2008

Nokia N95 8GB "The mammoth All Rounder" vs Nokia N96 "The King Of Entertainment"


Nokia N95 8GB
Nokia N96

My last post about Nseries war is between Nokia n95 8gb and Nokia n82. There are no winner, both phone are really good at their job and it is up to individual suit.

Now, Nokia n96 just on sale last week in Malaysia. It is the newest Nokia smartphone in the Nseries range of products. It is the official successor to Nokia N95. The handset was publicly announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona 2008. What the question is.. Should we buy or upgrade n95 8gb or from n95 8gb to the newest Nokia n96?? Is it worth..?

Major differences between N95 and N96 -Wikipedia

Positive

• 16GB of integrated memory (as opposed to 8GB for N95 8GB), plus further extensibility via microSD memory card
• 2.8 inch display with 16 million colours (same as N95 8GB, versus 2.6" display for original N95)
• Camera flash is a dual-LED in the N96 while it is only a single LED in the N95
• New audio DSP for improved audio quality and longer playback time
• New version of Nokia Video Centre
• Longer music playback time (14 hrs) and video playback time (5 hrs)
• Windows Media WMV9 video codec is added
• Hardware acceleration for video codecs for H.264 and WMV (as well as MPEG4 as before)
• Location tagging (geotagging) of pictures, using the integrated GPS
• Mobile TV DVB-H receiver is built into N96
• New release of Nokia Experience Software
  • Maps 2.0 with satellite images, upgrade to pedestrian mode and voice-guided car navigation
  • Internet Radio pre-installed
  • Home Media Solution (sync with DLNA / UPnP devices over WLAN)
  • Online sharing of pictures with plugins for Flickr, Ovi Share and other services (Can be added on N95 with newer version of Share Online Application)
• S60 3rd Edition is upgraded from Feature Pack 1 to Feature Pack 2
  • Symbian OS is upgraded from version 9.2 to 9.3
  • The Java ME engine is upgraded from MIDP 2.0 to MIDP 2.1
  • User data is preserved when upgrading firmware (This feature is also present on the N95-2 as v21 installs UDP base files)
• The FM radio is upgraded with RDS
• Limited graphics acceleration (only for internal apps)
• N96 is a dual-band HSDPA (900 and 2100 MHz) while N95 was a single band (2100)
• MicroSD memory card slot (as in original N95, while N95 8GB has no card slot)
• No need to open the slide for optimal GPS reception
• USB charging with the CA-126 cable^[7]
• New design
  • Landscape-oriented design (landscape oriented speakers, connectors and buttons located optimally for landscape use)
  • Flip-out kickstand
  • Media keys available in all modes (even when slide is closed, for background control of music)
  • Media keys on short side can transform into gaming keys
  • Lockswitch (enables quick lock / unlock of keypad)
  • Thinner and lighter than N95 8GB
• N-Gage included. About 5 games preloaded and one free game coupon (varies by country).
• CPU downgraded to ARM9 264MHz for N96

Negative

• The lens in the N96 is 2.8/5.2, and in the N95 2.8/5.6 (N95 have more apperture)
• Same battery as original N95 (950 mAh), but the N96 reportedly has a much better battery life using the same battery (Nokia N95 8GB has 1200 mAh)
• No infra-red port on N96
• No Hardware 3D graphics accelerator for N96
• Built-in support for VoIP telephony (and thus cheap Internet Calling) removed from N96 (N95 has Nokia VoIP 2.1)
• Zoom is only x10 on N96, while it's x20 on N95 8GB

If you can compare the different above, it show that there was large amount of positive different of Nokia n96 to Nokia n95 8gb, but if you categorize it, you will notice n96 is better on Video playback. if you cut off all the video centre, nokia map application (because n95 can obtain via software update). Then you will notice n96 good for nothing except Video playback and s60 FP 2 compare to n95 8gb.

n95 8gb with 3D graphic accelerator make user have good time with N-gage gaming, but n96 don't have, it give poor gaming quality like n81 that I had before, plus.. with s60 feature pack 2 that featured Animated Icons and transition, how it could survive with no 3D accelerator like n81 does (n81 slide transition not very good with some laggy animation).

DVB-H is the featured feature in nokia n96, but in Malaysia, DVB-H only available via mobile operator 018 (U-mobile) that featured mobile TV, and Malaysia not really popular in DVB-H yet..

MOST features on n96 already featured in nokia n95 8gb.. and in Malaysia, the price of n95 8gb is around RM2300-RM2500, while n96 in Malaysia cost RM3399. Difference about RM1000.. is it worth to pay for more RM1000 for few feature on n96 that with no Xenon, 3D acceleration mobile?

If you like new and update product, Nokia n96 may a good choice for you, because it just released in Malaysia, if you can't afford that much, n95 8gb or n82 is enough for you.. still.. it up to individual need.

Remember, Nokia N95 8GB is still the "All Rounder Champion", while Nokia N96 is "True Entainment On The Go / TV Replacement" -Jinz