Review: Nokia N91 3G SmartPhone

Nokia N91 Review

Phone rating:

Note: the N91 is now obsolete. For an updated version we recommend the Nokia N82 from Dial-a-Phone. Check out their Nokia N82 deals.

The Nokia N91 is the third N-Series phone to be released, and is designed to be a combined phone & music player.

The unique selling point of the N91 is that it is the first Nokia phone to be equipped with a hard drive. The hard drive offers 4 Gbytes of storage - enough to compete with the Ipod Nano and sufficient to store more than 1,000 songs. This may really be the first phone that can rival an iPod for music capabilities.

Nokia have given careful thought to making the music player an integral part of the device, not just an add-on feature. The music player supports a wide range of formats, including MP3, AAC and AAC+. Playlist management is easy. There's a dedicated music key for switching between the music player and other applications, and volume controls for the music player. Music pauses when a call is answered, then continues after the call. Audio quality, as you'd expect, is very high. Output is stereo of course, and the player is equipped with an 8-band equalizer. You can listen to music on the Nokia headset (supplied) or your own headphones via the 3.5mm audio jack, or connect the phone to external speakers. In addition to the music player, the N91 comes with an FM stereo radio with Visual Radio.

As well as being a superb music playing device, the N91 is an all-round multimedia wizard. The camera is excellent, with a 2 megapixel still camera plus a video recorder. The camera lacks the Carl-Zeiss lens features on the Nokia N90, and is also missing a flash, so if photography is your priority, then the N90 is a better choice. The display is high quality: 262,000 colours and high-resolution (176 x 208 pixels). The N91 is a 3G smartphone, so is capable of video calls, streaming video and fast data transfer, and it supports a wide range of third-party Symbian and Java applications.

The connectivity of the device enables data (music, etc) to be transferred from a PC with ease. There's a choice of Bluetooth, USB 2.0 and wireless LAN (Wi-Fi), so you can easily and quickly copy music onto your phone. Wi-Fi gives you free access to broadband internet, when used within a Wi-Fi home or hotspot. The phone comes with Microsoft Media Player 10 to help you manage your songs and playlists.

The physical appearance of the phone is very classy, with stainless steel used to protect the hard drive from shocks. The N91 should be highly durable, despite all the high-tech gadgetry.

There are a lot of positives here. The biggest negatives are the size and weight of the device. At 164g it's a lot heavier than the average mobile, although 3G and smartphone fans may well be used to this kind of weight. Still, it's not much more than an iPod, and if you consider the fact that it replaces two devices (three if you include a digital camera!) then it may be worth it. The software is also a little buggy and has a tendency to freeze. Like all series 60 phones, the UI can be slow too. You can buy the N91 free from Dialaphone with half price line rental or a choice of free gifts including an iPod Nano, a DVD recorder, a Sony PSP or a Nintendo DS.

Features of the Nokia N90 include:

• 3G smartphone (Symbian 60 operating system)
• 2 megapixel camera with 20x digital zoom
• Video recorder (MPEG 4; also supports playback in 3GPP)
• Display: 262k colours, 176 x 208 pixels
• Music player (supports MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, Real, WAV, WMA, M4A, AMR-WB, True Tones, AMR-NB formats)
• Visual Radio
• Voice recorder
• Integrated handsfree speaker
• Polyphonic ringtones, True Tones
• Voice dialling & voice controls
• Messaging: SMS, MMS, Email
• Compatible with Nokia Wireless Keyboard (sold separately)
• Java applications
• Advanced personal organiser features for S60 including calendar, contacts and to-do list
• XHTML web browser
• Memory: 4 Gbyte hard drive
• WAP, EDGE (236.8 kbps), WCDMA (384 kbps)
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 1.2, USB 2.0, WLAN 802.11b/g
• Triband plus 3G
• Size: 113 x 55 x 22 mm
• Weight: 164 g
• Talktime: 3- 4 hours
• Battery standby: 170 - 190 hours
• Music playback: up to 10 hours battery life

Nokia N91 Consumer Reviews

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Average rating from 100 reviews:

You can read more Nokia N91 reviews at RecommendedBuys UK.

Reviewed by Jason Parker from UK on 23rd Jul 2006
HAD NOTHING BUT PROBLEMS WITH THIS PHONE. HARD DRIVE KEEPS FREEZING, CAUSING ME TOLOSE ANY ITEMS STORED ON IT. PHONE WONT ALLOW ME TO FORMAT THE HARD DRIVE SO CANT EVEN WIPE IT CLEAN TO START AGAIN. THE WORST NOKIA I HAVE EVER OWNED. AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE
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Reviewed by Andy from UK on 20th Jul 2006
Had this phone for a couple of weeks now and it is outstanding. Someone obviously thought a lot about the design; it all works together well. Good points: music and phone, camera is ok, browser works probably as well as you can achieve right now on such a small device (although I do run out of memory so have to clear the cache every now and again) - and you can connect to your local (home or office) WLAN for browsing. You can use your uploaded music files for ring tones and they actually sound good. Most people mention the downsides of size and weight but I find its no problem.
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Reviewed by Andy from UK on 20th Jul 2006
Absolutely packed with features, sound is fantastic even with head phones But My Samsung D500 takes better pictures, the Video Messaging although clear makes no sense, You have to turn the phone round to see your contact and then back again so they see you (or they get a pic of the floor !!) Could of done with front and rear camera (earlier Nokia models have this feature) Also Very Buggy and keeps coming up with strange messages Sorry Nokia - this needs a rethink !!
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Reviewed by Russ from Uk on 19th Jul 2006
This phone is simply too big and heavy. Factor in the slowness and you start to see it's another flop for Nokia. I don't say this with any glee as a have never had a phone that wasn't a Nokia. I love their usability (glitches aside) and they are all i've ever known. However enough is enough and I'm sending it back and getting a SE800i. It looks better, is smaller, lighter and has a better camera. Just hope i can use it!
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Reviewed by James from England on 19th Jul 2006
This phone is the best phone i have ever had, it has the lot, MP3 player, video player, camera, bluetooth, memory card slot etc... The lot. Buy this phone as it is the best mobile that Nokia have made in there whole making of phones. Buy this phone
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Reviewed by The Onion from England on 18th Jul 2006
The worst phone i have ever had, it isnt the size that is the problem its everything else, the software is rubbish it crashes every 2 minutes, the camera has no flash, the interface is more scattered then it has to be. If i was you stay away from this nightmare.
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Reviewed by matt from england on 18th Jul 2006
very good features but the phone its self is a bit big and weighs a big too much for me
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Reviewed by GEE from AUSTRALIA on 14th Jul 2006
OK.... BOUGHT MY 1ST SE 810I 1MONTH AGO IT IS NOW UP 4 SALE BOUGHT A N91 NO DISTORTIAN FROM THIS BABY SOUND IS UNLIKE ANY THING IV HEARD I AM A DJ AND KNOW HOW IMPORTANT MUSIC IS 2 MY EARS HAVE DOWLOADED FULL ALBUMS HAVE HEAPS OF MEMORY LEFT AS WELL WELL DONE NOKIA UV 1 ME THANK YOU 4 SUCH A GREAT PHONE KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK...........
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Reviewed by Bogdan from England on 12th Jul 2006
i have recently bought 2 phone and in my point of view 2 of the most popular the Nokia N91 and SE W550i and i would like to say that compared to the W550i this phone is completely an embarresment to all nokia's and no matter what people say I will always say KEEP AWAY! ITS A BRICK IT WEIGHS LIKE 5kg and the sound is TERRIBLE! But remember this no matter what people sa W550i is and always be supirior to its 2 tuners W900i and W800i because a)the sound and bass is way better. b)It's light and camera features will NEVER let you down. Well my overall rating and saying is that if your comparing phones and kinda stuck with which one to get im telling you get the SE W550i not W900i or the W800i trust me listen to me and you really would not regret it.
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Reviewed by GREG from AUSTRALIA on 6th Jul 2006
WHAAAT!!! HOW CAN ANY 1 DIS THE N91 I MEAN WHAT A PHONE:) SOUND IS SUPERB TRIED OTHER MP3 PHONES BLAHHHH... BATTERY LIFE IS GREAT. WEIGHT IS NO PROBLEM LOOKS GREAT I MEAN WHAT A CLASSY LOOKIN MACHINE STAINLESS STELL MMMSEXY...I ALSO HAVE A SHARP 903... WHICH IS ALSO A GREAT PHONE I GIVE THE NOKIA N91 5 STARS
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Reviewed by Geoff from England on 4th Jul 2006
The Nokia N91 is easily the best phone I have ever owned. 4 gigabytes of memory is incredible for a phone and now I'm never going to be worried about running out of memory! The 2 megapixel picture quality is great. Surfing the web is easy as well and is very useful when you are unable to access a computer! What's even more brilliant is that you can listen to music whilst doing other things on the phone which is a big step up from my Samsung D500! The only downside of the phone is that it's going to take me ages to learn how to use the numerous other functions on the phone! This phone is also pretty expensive, but it has been more than worth it so far as it's replacing an mp3 player, a camera and it has an Internet browser!
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Reviewed by David Crofts from United Kindom on 3rd Jul 2006
This phones is amazing have had it for 2 weeks now, i also own the Sony Ericsson W810i, this is also a great mobile, but the N91 sound quality is in a different league, the screen is not as good as the W810i, and nor is the loudspeaker, but put the headphones on and WOW !!!!!! the W810i is good sound quality but with LOW output volume when set to MAX, the N91 has plenty! it does occasionally freeze, but with new firmware this will sort this problem out.. WELL DONE TO NOKIA !! my only complaint is it is rather large! BUY THIS PHONE ! YOU WONT REGRET IT !
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Reviewed by Leena from UK on 3rd Jul 2006
I received my N91 last week from Vodafone. Its brilliant! People say its a mans phone but I love the look and feel of it. Its a bit heavy (thats whys it lost a star) but Im a mucis lover ans I have never heard sound like this. Its un believeable and I now have an IPOD for sale :). I even dropped the bloddy thing onto a woood floor yesterday and no problems at all. Vodafone has been very helpful as well in getting me started. Cheers
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Reviewed by Paul from UK on 2nd Jul 2006
I think there are still bugs that need sorting
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Reviewed by X from UAE on 1st Jul 2006
My brand new phone keeps freezing/hanging very frequently.
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Reviewed by faisal abdi from uk on 30th Jun 2006
ive got to say this phone is da best i got yesterday and it has everything i need. u can put alot of songs on this phone.
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Reviewed by Vimal from India on 28th Jun 2006
Cant say anything bad about this 'Big Daddy'. Its music playback is outstanding and is surely the best-BUT ONLY WHEN U COMPARE IT WITH OTHER NOKIA PHONES.This wont be applicable when u compare it with SonyEricsson W800 or W810.Should be excused for Nokia tried their best to cope with its competetors, adding mamooth memory, 3g feature etc.But in my personal view having N91 after using W810 would be like listening to a 2.1speakers after hearing a song in HomeTheater.NOKIA FANS XCUSE ME 4 this is the fact.
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Reviewed by Tom from UK on 28th Jun 2006
I waited for Orange but they had no availability so I went to 02. The phone itself is excellent, more like a PC than a phone in terms of functionality. Yes there are a couple of bugs that still need resolving but I have not experienced any of the so called stability issues. I have the FW 1.10.30 so that seems to have resolved the previous issues. The other cool thing is that because it is a guy's phone the wife doesn't steal it from you.
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Reviewed by Dan from UK on 27th Jun 2006
I found out today that Orange have removed this phone from their range. They found it too unstable even with the firmware upgrades. Was advised to avoid this phone at all costs.
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Reviewed by Alan Cook from UK on 26th Jun 2006
Had nokia phones for aslong as I can remember however I swapped a Nokia 8800 for this brick and not happy! Slowest phone ever, and don't even get me started on teh size of the brick! Or i have decided to leave Blockia's and go for a Samsung. Already bought a E900 and can't wait for it to be delivered!
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Reviewed by Ram Varma from India on 26th Jun 2006
I have had many phones over the yrs and when I saw this 1 it was a must have. It is brill and it is not only a phone but a MP3 player. Photos are also brill. I wont be changing my phone for a while now unless a better one arrives. I must say Nokia are great phones to have. So go on buy one of these !!!!!!!!!
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Reviewed by Craig from england on 26th Jun 2006
I have recently purchased the nokia n91 and after a week i am exchanging it for the samsung e900 due to the phone being extremly slow when i turn it off to charge it my screensaver goes it turns itself of and is even slow at opening contacts. But on the plus side it has a 4gb mem (so what!!) avoid this phone
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Reviewed by Priya Kumar from India on 24th Jun 2006
Great phone...everything you need on the go in one! Would recommend, perfect for doing almost anything on the go with a couple extras.
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Reviewed by Wayne from UK on 23rd Jun 2006
Hannah - are you serious? the Nokia N91 is great, and you say you work in a phone shop? then you should know what your talking about! my phone does not turn itself off the sound quality is SUPERIOR to Sony Ericssons for playing MP3`s on, i had w810i, and the output volume was pathetic...and by the way you CAN have a song as a message tone! because i have it on mine!
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Reviewed by Hannah from UK on 21st Jun 2006
I work in a phone shop and therefore have experience with alot of phones. all i can say is that the ONLY thing good about the N91 is that it has a large memory. Although it has a 2megapixel camera, it is still not as good quality as the sony ericssons 2megapixels, it also does not have a flash. The sound quality is nothing compared to that of the sony ericssons k750 & w800 and these phones have been out for a long time now! Also the phone is slow, which hasnt bothered me that much yet. But what bothers me is that the phone has switched off on several occasions and has deleted ALL of my messages!! Also i like to have a song as my message tone, the N91 does not allow you to do this. Instead you have to use the tones that are already stored on the phone. The battery life is also rubbish. Have to recharge it every other day at the most, sometimes everyday! The only reason i am keeping this phone is because i like the look of it and i like the large memory!!
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Reviewed by Matzero_BOSS from ROMANIA on 20th Jun 2006
I just read the comentaries.For all that says nokia n91 is not a good phone, i tell you something.YOu don't have an original nokia n91.exist many fakes made on a steamboat or something like this.So be carefuly.Sory for my english.NOKIA ALL RESPECT!!!
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Reviewed by (GOfaizan) from ENGLAND on 19th Jun 2006
NOT A FONE BUT A BRICK !!! SOOOO HEAVY SOOOO BIGGGGG SOUND QUALITY IS POOR as compaired to SONYERICSSON WALKMEN PHONES IF U WANT A SOUND THATS R00KsSs THEN GO FOR SONYERICSSON WALKMEN FONES LIKE W550I ,W800I,W950I THEY ALL HAVE BEST SOUND QUALITY ALSO WITH THE HOT* MEGA BAAS ANOTHER PROBLEM WITH N91 IS THAT IT IS TO SLOW AND GOING RESTARTING SO I GIVE IT ONE POOR STAR
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Reviewed by Calvin from England on 18th Jun 2006
Nokia Are Back!! Ignore all the daft comments about this phone, cos this phone rox the sox! :O 4gb! Its better sound quality than an ipod video or the latest sony walkman...this thing rules. Its also damn nice looking. Just get it...
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Reviewed by Mike from UK on 15th Jun 2006
It's an ace phone. Big and Heavy it feels like a real mans phone. Music playback is great syncing with WMP is easy and I'm really impressed with the way the playback pauses when you get an incoming call and you can just talk into the remote control without having to touch your phone. If it's someone in your phone book it even tells you who it is. We had internet outage at work the other day so I used the phone as a modem via bluetooth connection and it was easy to do.
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Reviewed by juli from india on 14th Jun 2006
its an amazing phone. the audio quality is absolutee fantastic!!!! I LOVE IT
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Reviewed by sarath from srilanka on 14th Jun 2006
An outstanding phone with superb picture quality!!!!!!!!!!!
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Reviewed by rahim from london on 9th Jun 2006
good points: excellant buttons, music loud, very stylish,wireless is brillant i have wireless network at home it finds it instantly. i can surf the net even when outside my house. i have just installed msn on it and even instant mesaaging outside my garden. read email and even stream music. bad points: some time the phone crashes and freeze. i realise the problem is with the large hard drive. during plackback of video if you keep pressing button on the phone, it may start to lag or freeze, try not press anything whilst playing the movie unless you want to stop it.people saying alot of bad things about it, but i realise that this phone has meet my requirements. its a camera,phone,game console,music portal. give it 9/10
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Reviewed by MySWQL from UK on 7th Jun 2006
I bought two and sold them immediately. The problem is that the phone weights 2 tons, and is massive in size. The 2MP camara isn't upto standard, a 1.3MP Samsung D500 produces a better quality picture than that, very disappointing. I have always been a Nokia fan (and still is) but I feel really let down. And the phone takes months to switch on which is painful, I know it is normal for any Symbian phones, but come on I am sure it could be sorted quite easily especially this is the 3(?) generation of the smartphone. Also the Battery life sucks when comparing to any manufactures such as SE. Transferring data is as slow as a snail the USB 2.0 is a joke, make like a USB 0.5 to me. And when you have over 3GB of stuff stored in the phone, you have a slim chance of retrieving it as you won't be bother to sit and wait. For now after making some profits from selling the phones I am eagerly awaiting for the N73 which seems quite promising in the size, weigh and the camara quality, and the talk time. FingersX.
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Reviewed by Ovie Albert from Omoku, nigeria on 7th Jun 2006
The Nokia N91 is a very good phone no doubt. But after several weeks of using it one is in a right position to say it's short comings. When MAss storage function is on One cannot receive or make calls. This is a shame for a smart phone of Nokia N91 high end sandard. Even the Samsung D600 can receive calls when Mass storage USB function is activated and active. The device is also quite heavy. Weghing almost 165 grams. It would definitely sag in your pockets. Resolution of the screen is a miserly 176 by 208. Many phone now come with a QVGA (240 by 320) resolution, so why the downgrading of standards by Nokia? Even the preceding Nokia Phone N90 comes in a far higher resolution. The Bluetooth connection between phones and PC is fair. But is pertinent to mention that the phone (N91)does not support A2DP bluetooth profile and as such you will be unable to use wireless stereo Bluetooth headphones with it. Well, enough of the cons. Now some Pros. It is good to mention that with the 4 gigabyte microbyte the N91 is second only to the Samaung i310 in a large memory. But no expansion slot for memory card. But one could at least argue that 4 gigabyte memory is large enough for any user... Well a memory card could help in some pretentious users... . Multi-tasking and a lot of media format are supported. Also Wi-fi is present. In all I give the nokia N91 3 stars because of the shortcomings. But if you do not mind the weight, and resolution etc, i should say that it is a nice phone.
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Reviewed by matt from usa on 4th Jun 2006
i bought it and right away i had the problem with it restarting and shuting off but i found the problem is the battery conection after you use it for a day or so the problem goes away. the other problem i had is my speaker blew up it rattels(not good) i had the same problem with a motorola and i went thru 3 of them and had the same problem i hope it is not the same problem with this nokia. but i am the person that has the volume up all the way all the time and i have had the phone for less than a month. they shold have never made if capable of blowing up the speaker. other wise i am happy with it. i have chubby fingers and i have no problem with the buttons.
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Reviewed by tom from england on 3rd Jun 2006
Got it on the contract and week later sellin it cz im done with it.battery life is rubbish,my old d500 could go 4 a week without chargin,this one hardly does 2 days,picture quality-rubbish,again,d500 took better pix with 1.3mega px.Radio doesnt seem to work,i cant even send a text message as i require some code,songs are dissapearing from the list aswell as pix,the whole phone is very complicated,loads of useless stuff that one is never gonna use.Im back to samsung where evetythying is where it should be,clear and simple,not a overpriced heavy brick that doesnt fit in your pocket
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Reviewed by Mike Roch from England on 2nd Jun 2006
Major dissapointment. I bought this phone with very high expectations and it did not deliver. I took my 1st one home to find the corner of the screen had cracked, back to the shop. Got my second and found after 28hours charging, it had no battery!! Very dissapointed with Nokia after ive always used one. :(
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Reviewed by Qasim raza from BLACKBURN on 2nd Jun 2006
if you like this phone and think its the one for you then just go for it and dnt listen to the people dissing it cause they talking rubbish. this phone has style and class and just cnt be beaten. i mean 4gb yessss.... 4GB memory what more do you want? so go for it and dnt listen to people chating rubbish they just saying it because they cnt afford it and are jelous, you get it and show it of. it absolutely beutiful you know
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Reviewed by Ryan from Indonesia on 2nd Jun 2006
Great phone!!outstanding sound quality...
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Reviewed by Sam from UK on 2nd Jun 2006
Great phone but it keeps freezing up and I have to switch it off and back on again. It has also dropped calls when I have tried to answer them meaning I have to call the person back after rebooting the phone. Very unreliable. I am now waiting for a replacement. I hope that I just have one of a bad batch and they are not all like this or mine will be in the bin. It is also very big and very heavy as it is made of metal, was there any need for that?
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Reviewed by Phil from UK on 1st Jun 2006
Had the phone for two days now and am very impressed with the features. The 4GB memory is plenty for everyday use, the music sounds good and the phone looks great. One thing I'm not sure about wether I can download videos from my PC and how this is done. Can anyone help?
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Reviewed by JATT SINGH from UK on 1st Jun 2006
OH MY GOD , THIS PHONE IS AMAZING ITS TRULY QUALITY! EVERY SINGLE FEATURE IS TOO GOOD, AND ITS SOUND QUALITY IS BRILL !! AND ITS LOUD IDEAL FOR PLAYING MY BHANGRA TUNES ;) LONG WAIT THE UK THOUGH !
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Reviewed by curly from uk on 30th May 2006
the n91 is outstanding phone i put my music on by bluetooth it is qiuck also the build qaulity is the best i have seen
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Reviewed by Jake B from england on 29th May 2006
Best phone I've ever encountered - Brilliant
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Reviewed by Ed from philippines on 29th May 2006
On my N91 "retry or data will be lost" this always appear on the screen. i'm not doing anything, it would just appear. interval of 2 minutes, sometimes takes 2 days and it would happen again. It's been happening since the 2nd day i've bought it. Reformat, reboot, wont work, same problem occur.
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Reviewed by paul from uk on 28th May 2006
All my dreams come true Pros: Everything buy it now, WiFi Hello ? Cons: tiny glitches in firmware that will be resolved. Full user opinion I received my N91 yesterday. It is a phenomenal device. It has replaced my iPod, digital camera,SD video camera Oh & Phone ! in my bag of tricks. ( I am a graphic designer ). Yes there are small fixable problems with the OS but I am confident they will be addressed in the firmware update. I use Mac OS X & am very demanding but this device has blown me away, even works with iSync. Have just been out on my bike with my bluetooth Plantronics Pulsar headset like a child on Christmas Day. I can't believe that people are still saying "it would have been great if blah, blah..." Yes it would have been great if it turned in to a jetpac to get me home from work, get over yourselves, it's a fabulous device. Well done Nokia, Fantastic.
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Reviewed by lumo from UK on 27th May 2006
This is an amazing phone. music capabilities are great, not sure why people are complaining about volume, i have it on less than half all the time as its too loud, storage is ample, if u feel the need to carry more than 4gb of music, get a dedicated music device, the n91 is great for the 30 or so albums i listen to all the time, leaving the ones i never listen to alone. camera is great as is java and real player capabilities. only 2 negatives, uses symbian os9 which is not backwards compatible with earlier symbian programs, so all the great programs i had on my 6600 i have to wait to be recompiled for the new os, and temporary negative as already smartmovie has been made, so all i need now is vampent and tomtom to get a move on and problem solved. other negative is slow loading of the gallery due to the fact it loads the music tracks into the gallery too, which is just stupid, but a minor problem considering how great the rest of the phone is.
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Reviewed by the shan from England on 26th May 2006
This phone would be truly excellant if it was not the size of a brick!! Too big and unwieldly!! What good are features if weighs a tonne.
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Reviewed by mike from Ireland on 25th May 2006
I have used this for a week, its brilliant. I cant believe the audio quality...and its loud - I love it Mike
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Reviewed by James from England on 24th May 2006
What an awful and i mean awful phone. It's the size of a brick and the weight is according. The software is slow, the USB connection is slower then royal mail at posting songs across! The battery doesn't hold the charge, the keys are too small and the slide shutter has been built in obstruction of the bottom keys. Don't Buy, Be Warned!! Im sticking to samsung!! PS Deserves 0 star, but wont allow
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Reviewed by leigh from uk on 22nd May 2006
what can one say but i love the phone does what i want and then more.The only thing i hate is i cant use the tom tom software i had on an old phone as the n91 has v3 os not the old s60 os
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Reviewed by Chris from England on 22nd May 2006
i think that this phone has real good quality's. i would recomend this phone to alot of people it is jst like an mp3 player. my girl friend likes it so much she trys to steal it off me. also it has good sound quality and it store loads of songs.
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Reviewed by john rae from UK on 22nd May 2006
I have had my N91 for about a month. I have actually dropped it twice while playing music onto the roadway, not a problem at all! The sound quality on the speaker is average but the via the headphones its brilliant. Someone stated that it is not loud enough, find that hard to believe, it louder than any IPOD I have. The wifi works well and I love to sit a pub and surf a while on people's open WIFI networks. I hav eonly had the "gallery slow" issue after I have loaded a bunch of songs or popped the battery out and the device has to rebuild the databsed the first time you open the gallery. I have watched the entire Fansastic 4 movie recently - looked good, sounded great. Also Nokia tech board said the N91 is the only Nokia device with the special internal audio hardware (N80, N90 even the new N series dont have this)....for a music lover this is IT!!!
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Reviewed by Aaron Alexander from Philippines on 21st May 2006
This phone is excellent.It sutes the new generation.Storage capacity,camera,speakers,all of its features are great.I was planning to buy N90 but this phone has greater features.N91 rocks!!!
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Reviewed by fin from UK/London on 20th May 2006
The NEGATIVES: 1 I argued with CLUB NOKIA UK for five calls, and about an hour in total, and NO the device is not USB 2.0, but a VERY SLOW/more like USB 1.1 transfer based device, even when in Hard Drive mode. 2. Battery charged fully yesterday at 10.05pm - then nothing used on it, bar being switched on, no telhone calls either to or from, but listened to radio or mp3's for total of 2 hours - and then did nothing on it, and by 1pm next day, battery flat, hmmmmm......anbd i mean totally dead, not even a switch on for a few seconds 3. This is me second phone, as having Not belived (1) above was possible, I had vodafone replace it, but this is still the same speed 4. MAC USERS: the device is not found in itunes, and the NOKIA software is total rubish - no way to stop it by default listing every track in your itunes and the phone, which for some daft reason takes c5 mins on my machine, and i have a 2gx macbook pro, sorted build etc.....and when transferring takes a LONG time (1) related issue - to put into perspective it took me 2 hours to transfer 3gb of music, now that is rubbish!!! 5. The video camera, if you put on FULL quality setting, the processor clearly cannot cope or maybe its the harddrive, with the date....dropped frames 6. In NON active standby mode view, the screen can sometimes keep refreshing the background, fixed by moving to active standby mode always 7. File browser seems sluggish at best when starting, not sure why The Good Bits 1. Phone looks very nice 2. Plays back a divx i reencoded down to the screen size very nicely, even though real player a bit slow off the mark to work 3.At the seriosuly riduclously low price i got this from from vodafone terminations dept, who cares, it rules! 4. Once you have mp3's on it, screw my ipod, as I was one of the people who has every gadget, but cannot be bothered charging X gadgets, and this one does it for me 5. Might sound daft but the radio helps (missing the obvious auto station searhc of a sonyericsson, no idea why) 6. Bluetooth/ WMP10 integration and overall Windows Xp integration expreience quite pleasant 7. Nice freeby desk charger, and additional cable to convert old Nokia chargers to work, so no need to rebuy another for your office 8. MIC - goes without saying - probably single best bit overall, now i can stick this in my shorts pocket, and attach my special running headphones (special ear bits t not have them fall off) wehn i run around battersea park in london 9. Dedicated music buttons. Overall I am PICKY as hell, and anyone who knows me will agree - i spend a FORTUNE on gear, distrust every review i every read as assume biased or the PR company has paid for it, and only writing this, as fairly surprised myself , after telling the Nokia Club Nokia guys to F off, they could take the phone and get lost, i am still using it 24 hours later, it must have someting going for it..... I stil have a no quibble return availble, and do think sonyericsson's 8mb November toy will beat this, but i have waited a while for this, and it will do me enjoy the review....
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Reviewed by BRHAAAAP!!!!!! from UK on 19th May 2006
IV WAITED LONG FOR IT! NOW ITS HEAR I CANT STOP PLAYING WITH THE N91! THE MUSIC PLAYBACK IS QUALITY! LOVE THE SETUP OF IT, EVEN THOUGH ITS LARGER THAN I EXPECTED IT IS A DECENT SIZE CONSDIERING ITS FEATURES! ITS LOOKS FLASH AND SLICK! NOT MUCH TO COMPLAIN ABOUT IT! THE MP3 FUNCTION IS THE BEST AND ITS CONTROLS HIDE THE BUTTONS! LOVE THIS PHONE! NOT MUCH ELSE THAT YOU REALLY WANT!
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Reviewed by Chris BP from Great Britain on 19th May 2006
Long awaited Nokia N91 still has problems. The N91 is a fantastic phone in many ways, in fact the best I have ever used, but it has a fault that frankly I just cant live with. The usual way Nokia stores music files is in its gallery section. The N91 does exactly the same, but there is no need for it to do that, as you don’t access the music files that way, you access them through the MP3 player functions on the front of the phone. (so you don’t have to open the gallery at all). The effect is, that once you have say 1gig of music in the gallery, it then takes 30 seconds or so for the phone to open any other gallery function (as it accesses the hard drive) that means with just say one picture in your gallery, you cant just show it to anyone without the 30 second wait till the hard drive finishes doing its stuff. Even when taking a simple picture, it means a 30 second delay before you can even preview it, which pretty much makes it unusable as a camera or video phone. With no music files on the phone, gallery access is instant. The upshot is that with the phones 4gig hard drive, it appears that loading 3 gig of music or 1000 songs (as Nokia keep banging on about) logically, it will take 60 seconds or more, just to access a single picture. I appreciate I am one of the early users of this phone, but Nokia have been delaying it and delaying it, but now its released, it just does not do what it says on the tin, but all because of how it sores its files. Great phone ruined by silly software issues. I contacted Nokia who were completely unhelpful and told me to take my 3 week old phone to a repairer (not happy with that) but I rang the Nokia approved repairer and they had never even seen a Nokia N91…………. I hope they will sort this issue as I know have communicated with two N91 users that have the same problem. MY ADICE, DON’T GET AN N91 YET, WAIT UNTIL THIS ISSUE IS RESOLVED, OR IT WILL DRIVE YOU TO DISTRACTION. 2 out of 10 Nokia – Can do better work.
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Reviewed by rahul from india on 19th May 2006
great phone thats what i can say about this phone. Storage capacity is Excellent!!!! keep up the good work nokia
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Reviewed by Michael from london on 15th May 2006
brilliant
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Reviewed by shady from india on 15th May 2006
it is a bomb...it is da best fone...i think it has no equal...fabulousr...mp3 and stuff...cooollll!!!
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Reviewed by Faisal from India on 15th May 2006
The looks of the phone is good but it has software issues, like you can not upgrade themes, the quality of speaker is avg not like a music phone, it is lowere in quality as compared to Nokia 6630. Connectivity (internet) with the PC is good but managing music is painful and sorting as well, as there are so many fields. It is good with the headset.
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Reviewed by Klevis from Albaniaa on 13th May 2006
for me this is the best phone ever! No phone before had a memory of 4 GB. its like an i-Pod! UNBELIEVEABLE!!!!!!!!
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Reviewed by Ntl Freedom from Wales on 12th May 2006
Yeah...nice phone Nice storage capacity Better than average Cam. But does it buy you a beer?..NO!
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Reviewed by jon from iceland on 12th May 2006
i like it i like it alot
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Reviewed by lee from england on 10th May 2006
this phone is out of this world it dus everything ive put 3,529 songs on it and there iz still loads of songs left its amzing u can make muvees and edit pics im still reading the manual us there is so much to do
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Reviewed by Ali from uk on 9th May 2006
Got this phone a fortnight ago and sent it back a week later!! First of all, if it did all the stuff it says it can it would be great, however it can't. After charging the battery all day and overnight before using the phone it still only lasted 24hrs with little or no talktime and limited use of the music player. The slider had started to loosen within the week but most annoying of all i had to remove the battery from the handset between 5 and 10 times a day while i had it because of software problems. I could understand the odd glitch with the music player or the hard drive but this thing had trouble opening messages from the navigation screen. Possibly a bad phone in the batch but i have a funny feeling Nokia are still releasing phones that are not thoroughly 'glitch-free'. I've now ordered an N80 as a replacement and if that has any problems i'm going to have to have a look at SE or Motorola even though their menus are rubbish in comparison
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Reviewed by Qasim Raza from u.k on 4th May 2006
this phone is just outstanding and the more you appreciate it the less it is. there is no phone like this i mean an ipod and phone for the price of just a phone. anyone thinking of buying one i advice you to do so and not waste time, its just a beuti.
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Reviewed by moses from london on 4th May 2006
you see i am a very difficult man to please. but ever since i had this phone delivered on April 29th 2006, i have not taken my mind off it. it is like a baby to me now. It is the first phone that have met my requirements. i donot not see anything wrong with any of its feature even the size considering other phones like sony ericsson P910i. it is a beautiful peace of engineering, eventhough i am not on a network yet, i am still enjoying its music, videoing and pictures. I am still exploring. i will advise every body to really take their time to explore the phone before making any comments. any negative comment against this phone should be liken to an offence of trison. this is outstanding as of all the exisating phones at the moment.
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Reviewed by Ajaz Nawaz from UK on 4th May 2006
Although I have hands-on experience with this device, I myself havn't aquired one of these just yet. One drawback right from the word go is the size of the number key's. You see, I always look at phones and try to see how it can be improved. Who knows when the N91i will appear and how much more improved it will be. It just seems the NOKIA and other phone manufacturers are always thinking one step ahead in terms of marketing. Take for example the SE P910 followed up by the 910i. So what can and probably will be improve the N91?, my answer; numeric keypad key size, screen size, 4gb upgrade to 10gb and reduction in the thickness of handset. Still not sure whether to buy or not...
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Reviewed by joshwink from uk on 3rd May 2006
Why are people compaining about music storage... its a phone for gods sake... these are the sort of people who complain that you cant make calls on an Ipod... if you want a music player, get a dedicated one!!! Wasnt that long ago that any sort of music on a phone was unheard of!! 4gb is more than enough for your favourite tracks... 1000 songs, at about 4 mins each, thats 4000 mins of music!! OVER 66 HOURS!!!
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Reviewed by Coops from Richmond, UK on 28th Apr 2006
Cindy, For general info the N91 is now out on O2 and I believe Vodaphone very shortly if not already. Cindy, after downloading/uploading tracks the phone needs to refresh for them to appear in the music player. This happened to me. If the phones doesn't do this automatically (this should happen after clicking disconnect after music transfer connection to PC and removing the USB cable) from the menu go into media, gallery then tracks then exit, this worked for me. When using Windows Media Player to synchronize music to the phone the automatic sizing is such that you will only fit a lot less than 3000 songs. Use the Nokia Music Manager will allow you to make the songs smaller in size to fit more on. I have found he phone to be excellent so far, you cannot grumble about a phone and personal music player in one for the price of a phone can you? I'll keep you updated on how I get on.
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Reviewed by Cindy Lim from Singapore on 27th Apr 2006
I bought from M1 Shop, Bugis Junction, Singapore, on 22nd April 06. Overall, it looks as good as its functions. I still love it. However, just in 5 days, i have been restarting N91 since while swapping between the music player, radio function and other functions. It hangs time to time until I can't even play the MP3s anymore. It shows 4GB memory full but no songs display in my N91. I have not even drop the mobile. Eventually, I am waiting for my "one-to-one exchange" with M1(Local Telco) since there is a 7 days exchange program. I hope the 2nd N91 works better...
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Reviewed by Jim from UK on 27th Apr 2006
Great phone! How can people say 4Gb is not enough? An average mp3 track is about 4Mb, this means you can get 1024 such songs on there! You don't need your entire CD collection on a phone! And as for these idiots asking dumbass questions like "Why not make it smaller/lighter/come with more storage etc" you need to understand how things work. Why has no one made a car that does 1000 mph and never needs re-fuelling? Because it isn't possible moron.
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Reviewed by Adam from Poland on 24th Apr 2006
Overall good phone. Good functionality and design. Key drawback - LACK OF MUSIC POWER! It is too quiet even when volume is maxed out. Those using it on the tube watch out - this is not for you unless you buy an additional amplifier. Also it is a rather heavy phone.
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Reviewed by the guru from UK on 20th Apr 2006
Good features excellent audio quality through the integrated 3.5mm headphone port- up there with my ipod shame about the lack of memory expansion ports- 4gigs is not enough. and for anyone who didn't know, this phone is MASSIVE- don't drop it on your foot, or you'll break your toes!!
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Reviewed by cespian fothergill from UK on 17th Apr 2006
LOOKS GOOD, AND I LIKE THE COLOUR ( SILVER ), BUT I WOULD PREFER IT A BIT SMALLER
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Reviewed by Deepak from UK on 13th Apr 2006
man this fone is awsomee...got it tdy!!....apart from the screen size...its a fone with all features possible..AN EXCELLENT BUY
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Reviewed by chris from uk on 9th Apr 2006
After all the delays this could have been so much better. Its a great phone in thats it a Symbian S60 and has Wifi, but there are 2 problems. Firstly the microdrive isnt big enough. 4GB is to small now, it needs to be at least 10, and more likely 20GB. That however isnt the biggest problem. The biggest problem, and the deal breaker, is the screen. Why are they giving it the now very old and outdated 208x176 S60 standard screen?? This phone should have the N90s 416x352 screen. That would make it a good movie player to. If Nokia had fixed those 2 problems it would have been a rival for the video iPod, as it is its just a Series 60 with a lots of memory. Im sticking to my N90 because its a great movie player and with just 4 tiny memory cards in my pocket i can have just as much memory as the N91.
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Reviewed by kg from uk on 8th Apr 2006
great features but nokia make horrible looking phones, SE better them everytime in the looks department, whats the point of having a great phone when it looks as shocking as this
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Reviewed by Manjinder Ubi from England on 4th Apr 2006
I got this phone from an uncle of mine in the trade. Looks good, plays tough....but...its just not girly enough for me. If they had it in pink then i would have added another star, but alas you cant get everything you want. It is a very heavy phone but i guess its good to know you have something in your trousers. Buy it if you like gadgets, but dont if you want a sexy, curvy look.
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Reviewed by Darren from UK on 27th Mar 2006
All the reviews of this phone say it's the best thing since sliced bread. Why not get a N70 and stick a large SD card in it? You get a better looking phone and one that'll actually fit in your pocket. Just a thought
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Reviewed by Michael from Singapore on 27th Mar 2006
This is the best phone ever. It has EVERYTHING!! Except an affordable price.
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Reviewed by Henry Pratama Putra from Indonesia on 24th Mar 2006
N91 is the one of the must-have-gadgets today. Excellent! It's much more difficult to find people who dislike it than looking for a needle in the bush. Yet, I think it's not to be wise to compare N91 with iPod (especially iPod Movie with its built-in 60 GB micro drive) although Nokia has claimed that N91 is a music-smartphone (why not 'just' a super smartphone etc.). I'm just afraid Nokia keeps launching phones with poor sound system inside, as usual. It's smart enough as a phone, but not big enough as a portable music and data drive. Why don't Nokia make a quantum leap by creating a smartphone with a built-in monster giga drive for phone in this era(such as 100 GB or more), so that the product will be the real iPod competitor (not 'killer' I hope, coz iPod Movie has filled my days and times-- hehehe). A next Nokia Series surely. Just wait and...BUY!!!
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Reviewed by Lav Singh from India on 11th Mar 2006
i dont have words to appriciate this cellphone..oh sorry i called it just a cellphone its an ipodphone..4 GB hard drive !! is'nt this a good substitute of discman , i-pods ..besides its 2mp camera , stainless steal body , unlimited call list entries it has some astonsihing features.. (1) can play music for more than 7 hours continously at high volume(actually after 7 long hours my endurance is finished).. (2) works same as any other USB-drive.. (3) navigation through hard drive is similar to PC.. (4) sound quality is amazing.. these r the features which i explored in just 2 days.. take my words its functionality & features can force one to give way to its price & weight..
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Reviewed by Martin Mwangi from Kenya on 6th Mar 2006
Got this phone yesterday & is one of the best phones money can buy.The music player is very easy to use and the camera has very good clarity.The best phone yet.
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Reviewed by MINIME from South Africa on 5th Mar 2006
My dad saw the n91 fone and got it for me, not one, but two. UHH? he said that i needed it. other than that, i also have the N80, not yet released publibly. But they are both good, if you lookin for a fone which looks nice the n80 is the one, if you want the ipod encrusted phone then n91. I only have the n80 coz my dad is the nokia representative in south africa, so he can buy them earlier than anyone else. Wifi is amazin! Thanx
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Reviewed by MightyMo from UK on 16th Feb 2006
its a great phone, my dad went to da us a couple days ago and bought it for my b'day. da camera is great and im still tryin 2 fill da memory with songs, da memory seems neva endin. I've also got da w900i but dis phone is definately beta
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Reviewed by Leo Klipper from Sweden on 8th Feb 2006
I jave been testing this phone for almost a month now and i hav to say its amazing, it beats my old d600e firlmy and when it is released properly, i will defo buy it as i havt to sadly return this prototype
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Reviewed by issy from pakistan on 8th Feb 2006
i bought this phone for 450 english pounds. And i don't think i will ever change it. I put enough tracks on it and the speaka is a beast. People of the world invest in this. What a result by nokia. Jack Black shut your mouth.!
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Reviewed by Kudzanai V. Mujuru from Zimbabwe on 1st Feb 2006
Hell of a machine, better known as an all rounder. What else would you expect from Nokia? I used the trial version and it indeed was fabulous. I CANT WAIT FOR THE OFFICIAL LAUNCH, BELIEVE ME....
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Reviewed by Chris from Australia on 17th Jan 2006
I've had this fone for a while and its absolutly awsome. Great sound quality and the hard drive is great also. Oh and Jack Black, if you look closely it says Ciara form US. This fone has been out for a while in the states.
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Reviewed by Dave Graham from UK on 16th Jan 2006
Test model only, but phone seems stylish and full of features. It has the occasional crash and could do with a reset button. But it is only a test model. Has some lovely menu screens and is easy to navigate. The weight is a little off putting, as is the size of the keypad. Takes a HQ pic and video and gave a great first impression.
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Reviewed by john rodgers from scotland on 15th Jan 2006
look jack black........ this phone is avaalable in the uk,only f you are testing it...as for me i have had the phone for 6 months...... all i cn say it is the best phon i have had to test for a while... superb build.
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Reviewed by Jack Black from UK on 11th Jan 2006
Look, Ciara, you can't have got the phone. It still isnt out in the UK, let along in July. It isn't the first Hard-Drive phone in the UK, that crown goes to the Samsung i300. Those of you who wish it to be cheaper than the N90, it won't be, drean on. How do you know what the sound quality is like? There are hardly and Nokia N91 demo's about and they are all running old Symbian with old Firmware. We won't know until it is release what it really is like
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Reviewed by Aaron from Malaysia on 16th Nov 2005
It's not out yet, but like all Nokias, they do everything...without perfection. Let's see, with all those big buttons on the front, mp3 playback seems to be the main theme here. Okay, I'm sure we'll have to use our own headphones (Nokia can't make good headphones for high quality sound reproduction), so that's why they equipped it with a standard 3.5mm stereo jack. Sure 4GB is something, but don't expect it to replace a dedicated mp3 player, you'll need ample battery power for calls later (hey, it's a phone in the first place)and wi-fi just sucks the battery really fast. Anyway I don't trust this phone as a complete mp3 player (If you lived your life with Sony's portable music players since the dawn of cassetes to MiniDiscs to mp3s, I'm sure you'll know what I'm talking about). And the camera, well, 1 thing good about Nokia camera phones is that they don't generate a lot of noise, on the average...at the sacrifice of image sharpness and color reproduction. S.E does these very well. The only factor that determines whether or not i should BUY this phone is the price. If it's cheaper than the N90, I think I'll buy it (",). 1 more thing, I'm VERY SURE the keypads aren't that tactile and comfortable to use, since the * 0 # keys are too close to the edge of the sliding mechanism
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Reviewed by Jacky from UK on 11th Oct 2005
Its the best phone ever. It Has everything you need! Perfect. Its an ipod and a phone. Amazing. Well done nokia!!!
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Reviewed by mr ali shah from England on 6th Aug 2005
Well where shall i start this phone has so much to offer. It has an mp3, cmera, video, colour screen, and even a tv. This mobile is packed with hundreds of features. It also has the wide range of connectivity such as bluetooth, infrared and gprs. The camera quality of this mobile is absoloultley outstanding. If i was you i would go out and buy this phone, otherwise youll regret for the rest of your lives.
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Reviewed by mrY from Netherlands on 4th Aug 2005
Hello. I just received this phone from Nokia's HQ in Finland. I expected a regular cameraphone with an mp3player, such as Palm's PalmOne Treo 6xx-series has. Normal,little less than mp3 quality sound, and a nifty camera. But I was wrong. As soon as I unpacked the cellphone, inserted my simcard, and changed/edited my contacts in the new phone, I started exploring the device. I was really amazed of what this phone's capable of. I mean, Oh My Gooood !!! Let's start with the ringtones. Being the owner of Samsung's D410, I was amazed of what this device could regarding the ringtones. 64polyphonic. I was like w0w a year ago. And I loved the camera, although it was 0,3 mp, no lightning etc. The Nokia N91 also has 64 polyphonic sound, but in my opinion a better layer than the Samsung D410. The mp3player rocks too. OMG whát a sound. The 'speakers' sound like my older Trust 2.1 set. For PC's maybe a piece of junk, for a cellphone a real revolution. The camera is a 2mp thing, and I was amazed how the pictures look. The Quality is superb, even better than my Canon 2mp camera. Must be the Carl Seiz lens. The device itself is da bomb too. Pretty nifty stainless steel, so no real damage can be taken when you accidently (or on purpose) drop the phone. Also the organizer feature rocks. I tested it a couple of times, and different than the rest of the organizerdevices (with or without phone-feature(s), when you set the time, it gives 1 beep 5 minutes before the actual siren goes off. Pretty cool. Well, my conclusion is, that I will keep this device for about 2 or 3 years, because of the 4gb hdd inside the phone. The camera is good for years for me, as I have a 7mp fujitsu camera already. Anyways, I vote for this phone for everybody, because of all its features, and the design. ALthough the price is a little bit too high (+/- $800/¤680 (lowest price i could find), with an account with a provider (t for telecom, vodaphone etc), it'll be either for free, or for as low as 100$. I hope you find my review usefull. GreeTz
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Reviewed by Santosh kumar.B.A from Bangalore from INDIA on 25th Jul 2005
Well, this phone is outstanding with all the features you need. Looks ok but has every feature u could ever possibly want. You can use it as a phone, mp3 player, camera and ofcourse as a very good friend. I have been waiting for this phone from many......... days. I am a great music lover, so i always love to listen to music whereever i go. It was not possible to carry my discman whereever i go, but now i can carry this anywhere i want. Actually i was planning to buy an iPod, but i changed my mind the day i saw this phone on internet. I always believe in NOKIA. I can say that NOKIA is the best in this business. All the features are listed as below, Music player integrated smartphone with dedicated music keys Hi-Fi CD quality sound 4 gigabyte internal memory for storage of up to 1,200 songs Up to 12.5 hrs music playback time WiFi and Bluetooth™ enabled 2 megapixel camera with 8x digital zoom
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Reviewed by Ciara from us on 21st Jul 2005
hey! i love this phone! its so good. it has everything in one, mp3 player 2mp camera..i could go on forever!i got this fone a couple of days ago, i cant stop lookin at it! love it! nokia has produced the perfect phone. a great all rounder!
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Nokia N91 Links