Nokia N95 review
The N95 almost justifies its hefty price-tag for the sat-nav alone. Despite a few bugs, Nokia’s handset succeeds as phone, camera, media player, PDA and above all personal navigator. If we had to rescue just one device from a burning house, it would be the N95.Every now and then a product comes along that promises to revolutionise the market. The N95 is such a beast, combining satellite navigation, a cutting-edge 5-megapixel camera, a media player and PDA functions in a handset that somehow isn’t the size of a brick.
If you look hard enough (and don’t mind an astronomical tariff) you can find the N95 for less than ￡50 on a monthly contract, but the SIM-free price is an eye-watering ￡630. There’s also an 8GB version of the N95 that has a larger screen and comes in a black casing. For more information read our full Nokia N95 8GB review.
Nokia’s GPS application — which goes by the rather dull name of ‘Maps’ — is very different from other portable navigators, or previous sat-nav phones from Mio and HP. Instead of storing street-level maps of the whole country, the N95 downloads local mini-maps, routes and even voice commands on the fly. Each map covers about 0.5 miles around you, so it’s essential that you’re on a reasonable mobile Internet tariff, and ideally an all-you-can-surf package such as T-Mobile’s Web and Walk or 3’s X-Series.
Like Google Earth, Maps opens on an image of our planet from space, swooping smoothly in once the GPS aerial locks on. It’s a jaw-dropping animation the first time you see it, but easily skipped if there’s no one around to impress. The map download can mean a minute or two’s delay before you’re up and running initially, but GPS sensitivity is generally good, with the N95 able to locate itself even through windows.