My N96/ N95 8gb comparison

[ramjam69]

I have bought a N96 to try alongside my N95 8gb. Looser's gonna be sold on ebay, so here's what I'm thinking...

I see a lot of 8gb owners are saying they wouldn't even think of owning a N96 over a 8gb, but personally, I think I would.
I prefer the 96's look - OK, it's marginally wider and taller (though no taller when the slide is open), but because it's a little but thinner, it sits better in your hand better and doesn't dig into your hand when you're texting single handed.
The slide's a million times better put together, no discernable movement unlike my 95.... I prefer the keypad too, the buttons are slightly bigger, and even though they are flat I find differentiating between them isn't a problem.
I prefer the back on my 95 though, I like the feel, and as some peple have pointed out, the back of the 96 feels, well, cheap.

Only had my N96 a day, so I'm gonna disappear and try and draw some more comparisons. I'll Let you know how I get on,

Mark

[TheBoffin]

Guess it depends how well you can live with the buggy firmware at the moment.

Coming from an N95-1 myself, in terms of look and style I think the N96 is mostly there .. i'm not so enamoured with the flat keys - I much prefer the N95 keypad, I also find the top row of keys a slightly less accessible than on the N95.

I also prefer the N95's case - just seems more firmly put together, less plasticy; having the lens cover over the camera was in many respects an advantage - albeit a hassle sometimes.

The N96 feels a little bit sluggish at the moment, is definately buggy .. but overall I like the phone and will put up with it's initial short-falls.

[Sp00k]

Good to hear that they've FINALLY sorted the slide mechanism out!

The N96 isn't sufficient of an upgrade AFAIC and the idea of leaving a Zeiss lens without a mechanical protective cover is ludicrous IMO.

I look forward to hearing your further opinions, both of you... :)

[jonbaker]

IMO you can't really compare the n958gb with the n96 yet as the firmware is pants compared to the n958gb. I'm running v11.101 which is much better than 10 but it still crashes when i do anything a bit hectic.

Looks wise n96 wins hands down imo.

The back of the n958gb i think is great, the back of the n96 is pants. But i think it's the other way around with the front, i find the front of the n958gb cheapy looking/feeling.

Coming from the n95-1 the n96 is a big upgrade. Although the camera on the n96 is pants in low light and when using the pants dual led flash, why cant we have a real flash!?

Yes i like the word pants when at work!

[ramjam69]

Well, that's it, just sold my 8gig for £200 to a nice man from Lincoln! Absolutely loved that phone though and I hope my N96 is half as good.

Obviously to have reached the above decision I must like the N96 enough. I must say that the battery life isn't as bad as some poeple have made out (or my N95 was......) as I got a day and a half from a full charge, unheard of since i upgraded to a N91 last summer.
One thing that does bug me about it though is the Active Standby screen. On the N95 it only showed the calender entries for that day, whereas on the N96 it shows the next 5 or 6 entries. Is there anyway to change this I may have missed as I find it awfully annoying!!
Absolutely loving BBC iplayer, works spot on. Just trying to download some videos in other formats (M4v) that didn't work on the N95. If they work, that would be the icing on the cake.

As you can tell, I'm very happy with my new phone, I suppose being so used to the Symbian OS helps!

[ramjam69]

Yes, it plays M4v video!!!!!

[ramjam69]

Well I've debranded the bugger and I'm as happy as a dog with two dicks! Had a moment whilst installing the update, but went ok in the end. Loads quicker and gets rid of all the Vodafone crap. Makes me wonder why I never did the 8gig, especially after doing it to all but one of the N95-1s I owned!

[glinja]

^^ a happy n96 user, jesus theres a first ;)

[mobilephil]

Well here's second I love mine .Having come from n95 8gb this is brill could not see the sense in n85 with the smaller screen . never mind what the experts say about the brighter screen .