Experience Mobility: The Nokia N-90 Experience

A Very Different Kind of Phone

Introduction

Several months back I received a call from Andy Abramson of Comunicano , a public relations firm representing some of the products in the Nokia line. In short, Andy told me about a unique program he was starting with some strong support from Nokia. Andy was reaching out to a series of active “bloggers” and popular sites like Experience Mobility and Mobilitysite asking if they would like to participate in this new program.

So what was this program about?

I was impressed with the concept because there were no restrictions. He wanted an honest evaluation on the product --- its pros and its cons. He was specific in saying that the phone was on loan and would have to be returned but that the length of time that I could keep the product would be based on my desire to use it. I liked that! I liked the fact that I could take my time and if I chose to write about it, I could and if I decided not to write about it, that was fine to.

I was clear at the outset that I was an avid HP fan but that I was starting to break out of my shell and was looking at other manufacturers. Coupled with that, I was a Microsoft devotee. I indicated that I had little experience with the Symbian OS and frankly, had little desire to learn anything about it. After all, if it wasn’t Windows….it couldn’t be good. To my surprise, Andy’s reply was: “that is exactly why I would like you to look at it”.

I was immediately impressed with his openness and willingness to loan a phone to someone that could write anything he wanted to write. He must have been pretty convinced that this phone was so superior that it didn’t make any difference who looked at it. I liked what I was hearing, I liked the openness and the honesty and I liked the fact that I could do it using my timeline so I said OK, I’ll look at it. Within a few days I had a package at the door so I was about to begin the Nokia Experience!

Nokia N-90 Impressions

For those of you that have been following my reviews, you know that I have a distinct like for packaging. It’s not that a package “turns me on”, it is what gives me the “first impression” about a product. If a vendor really believes in their product then they are going to “dress it up” so the user will begin their experience at first sight. Of course, a good looking package doesn’t mean that you are going to have an outstanding product but it is going to give you a little insight into the manufacturer and to me that is important. Needles to say, I was stunned as I removed the box for it shipping container.

Appearance

Opening the box, I was able to easily slide the phone out from the plastic window and I began my experience with the Nokia N-90. The first thing I noticed was its weight, 6.1 ounces but that was very quickly overlooked as I began to see what this phone was all about.

This is not a normal looking camera phone; it truly is an art piece. Unlike any other phone I have ever seen, this device you just can’t put down. I spent quite a bit of time admiring its look and function and couldn’t help but think about who the person was that designed the phone. They must have an amazingly creative mind!

A combination of a high quality black and silver plastic housing accented with a shinny metal on the sides gave the casing an appearance of strength as well as a rich look. On the top of the flip, there was a small exterior screen surrounded by a mirrored chrome border. The screen is an active matrix and has 65,536 colors (128 x 128 pixels). The right side had a 5 function toggle and adjacent to it was a white push button for the camera. The left side had an input for power and a covered sync port.

The exterior of this phone is awesome! My descriptions can not adequately describe the solid, rich appearance the device has; nor is doing justice to its unique design. I can only hope that the accompanying pictures give you enough of an understanding as to why I was so enthralled with this initial experience.

I had to laugh at myself the first time I opened the phone up. I flipped it open not realizing that it had a dual hinge. As I opened it, I though what a dumb design, you can’t clearly see the screen and the keyboard and then all of a sudden I realized that it was not entirely open. It was not a dumb design….it was a dumb user!

The keyboard has black keys with white numbers that are clearly visible during the day and light up perfectly at night. Besides the typical 12 key array, there are 7 additional keys and a five way toggle button. The additional keys are for left and right selection of pre-selected functions, making a call, end call/closing applications, number/symbol/dictionary selector, clear key, and a main menu key. Functions vary according to the operation mode but all are easily understood as you progress through the options available.

At the top of the screen, there are two selection buttons that are activated for use when the screen is rotated into imaging mode. It is a very slick interface designed for ease of use when using the imaging mode.

The back of the phone has the battery cover that had a different means of holding the cover on. It took me a couple of seconds to figure out how the cover came off but once you do it, it is very easy. Removing the cover, the SIM can easily be inserted. It was a different type of locking system than I had ever seen before but it works…that is all that matters. The battery, which has a neat hologram on it, easily slides and locked into place. Placing the cover back on, I was good to go!

Initial Connection

It just so happens that where I live, it is rare that I can get a signal. To my dismay, that was the case with this phone…oh, how I was hoping that was not going to be the case. So off to my car and a short ride up the street to the top of a hill where signals are prolific! BAM…it connected and I had full strength. I made a quick call home to my wife to see how it worked…she hates me doing that. It’s the old “hi hon, just calling to see if you can hear me”. Of course, she always answers, “yes, I can hear you and it's fine”. Cool…it works and the sound on my end was excellent.

I decided to try the internet connection and see if I could set up my email. Of course, I had no idea what I was doing because this was a totally new interface for me to work with but it had to easy to set up so I thought I’d give it a try. Of course, I didn’t bring the manual with me so it was truly going to be trial and error. To my surprise, the interface was pretty easy to use…initially I didn’t think it was too user friendly but as I “played around with it” it all started to make sense.

After setting up one email account, I was able to send and receive emails easily so I setup the rest of my accounts. As I set up each account, it became easier and easier and my comfort factor with this new OS was definitely increasing. My only complaint is text entry. I do find it trying to say the least but I am sure practice will make it easier.

The Camera

Devices today are continually changing to meet the needs and demands of users. For a long time, cameras have been incorporated into many phones but none have ever met my needs. Frankly, I always thought it was a gimmick that I would never use. Picture quality was always questionable but some devices slowly started to incorporate better cameras and you started to get decent pictures that were acceptable for web use. Not so with this phone!

It has been a lot of fun working with the camera using both the still and video modes. I have been pleased with the ability to lock the focus on an object, press the capture key halfway down and have it automatically focus. I would never have expected that ability in a camera phone (frankly, I never expected to see the kind of quality that has been consistent throughout my use of this device).

The Phone

The voice quality is terrific. I have no question that there was some serious effort placed into the design of the phone and the electronics that control it. I have been really pleased with the quality of the sound and the ability to hear each call clearly. For me, that is particularly important because of hearing issues. The volume and clarity at virtually every signal strength has been exceptional…that makes me happy.

I have enjoyed the conference call function which has been very easy to activate (and some what fun to utilize). The voice dialing feature is also very good. I have over 150 contacts so it would have been a problem if I had to train each one. The voice system supports enhanced voice commands which are not dependent on your voice but rather the device creates a voice tag for your entries in contacts. It appears, as you use it more, that the device seems to recognize the voice commands better. I have liked that feature except when I have several numbers for a contact. I have yet to figure out how to get it to use other numbers that might be listed.

There is a Video call feature but unfortunately I don’t have the ability to use it…that is a feature that I am really looking forward to using. Hopefully it will not be too long before that happens! As for other features, there are many…too many to review at this writing but suffice it to say that I keep seeing new features and have found their use easy to deal with.

As much as I like the sound of the device when the phone rings and as much as I absolutely love the notification alarms, I am disappointed that I do not have the ability to have a vibrate mode. To me this is an absolute must have in a phone so it was a disappointment but I have begun to live without it…albeit painfully so. Vibration mode is so important to me that if I could only wish for one added feature, that would be it.

Personalization

As with most devices, the ability to personalize it to your individual tastes makes it just that little extra bit nicer to use. The ability to change the pictures on both screens with my own personal pictures has made looking at the screens a very pleasant experience. Customizing the clock alarm tones, the phone ringtones, and changing the shortcuts that are assigned for the different presses of the scroll key and the two selection keys while in the standby mode make the device what I want it to be….I like that.

Features

There are a host of features that make using this phone a great experience. I was particularly happy that setting up my Bluetooth headset was an absolutely painless experience. Contacts, Calendar, Messaging, and the Web are my most used options on a phone but with the added feature of a superior camera coupled with some cool software for editing; the Nokia Experience has been terrific!

I didn’t expect to see too much in terms of an “office” experience but Nokia has provided some essential tools that are useful and important to maintain your ability to have a continued good feeling as you carry this device with you. The ability to take notes, have a To-Do list, a voice recorder, and a calculator are important. The ability to make unit conversions as in measurements or with different currencies is a neat tool to have but I never imagined that I could view my Word and Excel files…I thought that was very cool.

I wish I could edit the documents but being able to view them is important. What I was able to do though was to pair my Think Outside Bluetooth Keyboard and could easily enter text into a note. At least if I wanted to have changes on a Word document, I could enter text easily on a note and then insert it at a later point in time.

I have used the keyboard numerous times and have found it to be very convenient. I would like to have the ability to directly edit documents and hope that in future iteration it will be enabled.

Overall Impressions

I guess I am fortunate to have a variety of devices and phones that I use as the spirit moves me. I am rarely without one of my iPAQs; I don’t think I could survive with out them especially my 4700 which has virtually everything I do on it. I would have never imagined that I would use a non-iPAQ much less a non-windows device.

I have found that the experience with my Nokia to be a good one although I readily admit that the learning curve for me was a little harder than I expected. For the most part, I can easily find and do what I need to do but there are still those occasions when I want to do something special and I just can’t figure it out right away but it eventually comes.

An example is the conferencing feature on the phone (I really like it). I was chatting the other day with a friend and I said for him to wait a second while I got someone else on the phone…it took me a couple of minutes. Of course his reaction was: “that was a long few seconds buddy!”

The ability to keep my calendar and contacts always up to date with Outlook has been a breeze. Synching with the Nokia PC Suite is significantly faster and easier than Active Sync. How many times have you synched with active sync and wondered what changes were made…you don’t know. All of a sudden you see that there are 7 changes in your calendar and you don’t remember what they are. With the Nokia, you get to see what changes were made…that is very cool!

With all the devices I have, the fact that I have continued to use this device on almost a daily basis tells you something about it. I have no question that part of it is because it is such a well made device….absolute superior quality. It just feels right…it looks right…and it performs right. How does it compare in size with other devices on the market? You be the judge...I think its size is perfect for me. What I like even better is that when I have it open, I can easily rest it on my shoulder and use my hands for a task...something you just can not due with smaller devices.

There are so many different devices on the market, each designed to meet specific needs of the intended user. The Nokia N-90 is certainly a device that fits a special niche but I would suggest that that niche is a rather large one. The ability to make calls easily and clearly, check and send email, surf the net for that special piece of information you are looking for and to take high quality pictures and videos meets the needs of a large audience.

What is the Nokia Experience?

To me, it was dealing with a high quality device that easily allowed me to perform the everyday functions I want in a smartphone plus a few added very neat features.
The Nokia Experience has been very cool journey into a whole new world!

Cost:

$699.99 (without a plan)
(Reviewers comment: Price will vary according to plan. With rebates, it should be somewhere in the $400.00+ range)

Pros:

Extremely high quality product
Very “cool” flip/twist transforming design
Outstanding screen resolution
Carl Zeiss Optics (creating outstanding pictures and video)
Audio from speaker is surprisingly good

Cons:

Weight … just a little heavy (but not enough to give up using the device)
No vibrating mode
Will not play WMA files
Bluetooth synching difficult

Rating:

4.8 out of 5

You can visit the Nokia site by clicking here to learn more about the Nokia N90 Phone where you just twist and shoot.

This device is a superior phone, camera, and video-maker. The Carl Zeiss Optics make for crisp, bright images you can view, edit, print and share with others.

Do you want to know what others are saying?

Visit the Nokia Nseries N90 Blogger Relations Blog site where you can read what others are saying about the phone. You will find it very interesting!

Here are some additional photo's that I took with the N-90