Nokia N95 (8 GB) Cellular Phone Review

First of all i would have to say this phone has the best speakerphone i have ever had on a cell phone. Very crisp, and can be turned up extremely loud. I've had it for almost a year now, and I haven't had any problems with it. it works great, you can use one hand to operate it and it's jus that easy. It has everything you would want in a cellphone well i believe. Batterylife, well, I only make calls when needed or if it's really important. because it consumes your battery more than if you will send text messages. Instead. I highly recommend it. It offers a lot of options. However I would have to say on the other hand the call quality of using the handset is above average to me. Even when the volume is turned all the way up, it is sometimes easy to hear who you are talking to on the other end, and that can be annoying lol depending on who it is.. (:-) . Sometimes I am forced to turn the speakerphone on when I would prefer to use the handset when in the car without blue tooth. The downloadable applications are very impressive, alot of options as far as those are concerned. The camera takes great pics. The battery does get used up fast when you are using the applications. One other thing is that the lcd screen will scratch and show marks, so I would highly recommend some type of shield or screen protector. Overall a solid phone, I would say above average in most aspects. let me tell you before buying this phone i did alot of research on a number of phones and i chose this one.I had a list of things I wanted in a phone and I have to say, this phone not only had everything I've ever needed, but I was surprised on things I didn't know about! For instance, I didn't even know it had an accelerometer when I bought it! But for now I'll just list the major features and review them:

CAMERA(s): The main 5MP camera takes great pictures. Obviously it's not the same quality as a stand alone, say Sony Cybershot of equal quality. But the different scene shots and bright flash make up for that. (portrait, night shots, fast-moving, etc) Video is as good if not better than a Sony Cybershot point and shoot camera. (You can even edit pictures right on your phone!)

CALL QUALITY/SPEAKERPHONE: Call quality has been very good. Speakerphone is VERY loud thanks to the pair of high quality speakers.

GPS: The assisted GPS antenna on the device is pretty good. When using Nokia Maps to navigate, it takes very little time to connect (5-10 secs mostly) You have to keep the slider open however to get good signal. If you don't like nokia maps, you can always buy/download other software like Google maps, TomTom, etc. Very handy.

BLUETOOTH: Basically like any other bluetooth. It can connect to headsets, other devices, computers, and it also is compatible with A2DP

EMAIL: It its own email client that you can set whatever address to or you could use the free Gmail app if you have gmail. (thats what I do)

MUSIC PLAYER: 8GB memory. To today's standards, thats not a very big size for a primary music player. However, when you transfer music to the device from Nokia's PC Suite, it asks you if you want to convert the songs to a smaller format (~5 times smaller) which is very helpful in storing more songs. Other than that, its a great player with many features. (Playlists, shuffle, album art, EQ, etc) Great speakers too.

WiFi/3G: WiFi connects very quickly and smoothly. 3G signal is great too. Every now and then it will cut out but will automatically continue. Even reaches 3.5G speeds (HSDPA) on AT&T's network.

CALENDAR: Nicely laid out with many viewing options. Can add new memo's, tasks, meetings, and anniversaries. Can also sync with computer. (Assuming outlook, but don't use)

ACCELEROMETER: VERY cool to have. Enables the phone to auto-rotate when phone is flipped sideways. Also automatically straightens pictures that were taken sideways. And MANY more applications that you can download that use the accelerometer like games or cool apps like Step Counter.

COMPUTER SOFTWARE: Didn't realize this was a big thing until I tried to sync a Blackberry to a computer one time. Not very user friendly. But Nokia's PC Suit is the most simple, yet powerful sync program I've ever seen. Can easily use phone to connect your computer to the internet with the touch of a button. Or you can read, sort, and reply to your text messages on your computer. Very, very nicely designed.

BATTERY LIFE: As the N95 was my first smartphone I've ever had, I didn't realize this was as big of an issue. But sadly on the N95, the battery life is terribly underrated for the many features this phone has. I charge it every night and even when doing minimal things on the phone, it will usually die around 6pm. Nokia knows this, which is why they offer different types of portable battery packs and ways to charge your phone. Gets very irritating at times but just make sure you carry an extra battery or 7 around with you. :)

So overall, this phone has been everything you really need in a phone. I get comments all the time on the lack of a touchscreen and full keypad. Truth is, you really don't need either. The predictive text function does the job good enough and touch screens don't do much for me. This phone is focused around applications. There are hundreds and hundreds of applications (usually free) you can download that do anything from make your phone into a portable lightsaber to turning your phone into it's own WiFi Hotspot. The options are limitless with apps."