The Nokia N96 is now shipping, for the before-subsidy (if you find any) price of 550 Euros, or about $794. An $800 cellphone? I guess that’s why Nokia is wisely calling it a “multimedia computer.”
To be fair, just looking at the specs sorta makes me say, “iPhone, what’s that?” Built-in 5-megapixel camera and 16GB memory (expandable to 24GB with microSD cards), live video, proper speakers, etc. It’s like, if all you’ve used is the iPhone and think that’s the pinnacle of mobile devices, interface aside, you might want to expand your horizon a bit.
Anyway, it’s shipping today. Seeing as though I just started using my N76 like it’s meant to be used, I eagerly await hanging out with people who have money so I can play with one for a few minutes. Dare to dream.
Iphone isn’t just about the specs. It’s about the multi-touch user interface. How does one zoom on a N96? Are all the fonts large and cleartype? Does the onscreen software keyboard resemble the pixelated mess on Windows mobile or is it as userfriendly as the large type keyboard on the iphone? Does it have large buttons? Does the browser execute JavaScript? Does it have an app store? Exactly. It’s hardly better than the iphone even if it has a better camera. I owned an AT&T Tilt before I bought my Iphone 3G and I remember how blogs touted that piece of heap over the iphone, when in reality, it was quite poor, despite the better specs.
I love the idea of the N96, but two things are driving me away from it:
1) the battery is only a 900mAh — I have the N95-3 with the 1200mAh, but the original N95 only had the 900mAh as well, and it’s battery life was horrendous.. the N96 can only be even worse given the bigger screen!
2) the N85 just announced, while lacking the massive screen (still a very large screen, just not quite as big) has the OLED screen which is SOOOOO much brighter and with better color, plus it has the 1200mAh battery in it.
-olly
$800 for a cell phone. Ok, if I skipped a car payment and not eat for the whole month then I will be able to expand my horizon a bit.
@hannibalchew — eh, everyone spends their money in different ways — I don’t understand people who bother spending 3,000 dollars on a gaming machine, but then I’m not a gamer. I have no issue spending 800 bucks on a cell phone, given how much I use it.
I could buy three iPhones for that price. Why *would* I want one?
@dwalk51: The iphone is a great device, but the real price is a but higher than you seem to think. The data plan is $15 / month more than a unlocked phone, which adds up to $360 more over 24 months. Meaning the base iphone really costs $560…
Have to agree with Olly, though — the N85 looks a lot more compelling than the N96. May be my next phone, as a matter of fact…