In a nutshell: The N97 Mini is a "lite" version
of the N97 smartphone. The phone is very easy to use, with the twin
benefits of a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and a large ultra-hi-res
touchscreen. The use of the word "Mini" is relative, as
the N97 is still an extremely powerful multimedia device, with a
5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, music, video, email,
facebook and other apps, and GPS. Connectivity includes WiFi, HSDPA,
Bluetooth & USB, plus the bonus of a 3.5mm audio jack. Slimmer
and lighter than its big brother, the N97 Mini also seems to have
more stable firmware, and feels like a more polished product. Best buy:
*Free* with half-price line rental from Dialaphone
(Black) or Dialaphone
(White).
Review:
November 2009. Last updated March 2010.
The
N97 Mini does what it says on the tin. It's a slimmed-down version
of the Nokia N97. The N97 is Nokia's
flagship phone, so it can afford to have a few features shaved off
in order to cut down on the size and the cost. There is no such
thing as the perfect phone, but the N97 Mini acknowledges the compromises
that have been made in cutting it down to a more manageable size,
and the design is intelligent and very usable.
The
N97 Mini looks almost exactly the same as the N97, except that it's
smaller. The sliding QWERTY keyboard is just the same as on the
N97, except that the 4-way navigation button has been removed to
shave a few millimetres off the size. Even the funnily-positioned
space bar is in exactly the same space, but the strange thing is
we've got used it completely and it feels quite natural now. The
screen is smaller, but at 3.2 inches it's in no way a small screen,
and is perfectly big enough for the job it has to do. It has the
same ultra-high resolution as the N97 (640
x 360 pixels and 16 million colours) and
is a superb display for watching videos, browsing the web or editing
documents. Having the benefit of a physical keyboard makes the requirement
for screen real estate less pressing, and the format works very
well indeed. We'd prefer the N97 Mini's keyboard plus touchscreen
combination to a pure virtual touchscreen setup any day.
Like
its big brother, the N97 Mini has an information-packed and customisable
home screen, packed with widgets streaming live information such
as facebook, email, texts, the date & time, weather forecasts
and RSS feeds. Yes, we know it's not an iPhone, but with the mature
Symbian operating system backing it up, there are more than enough
apps to keep most people happy. We love the way the home screen
gives one-touch access to most of the features that you'll use regularly,
and the integration seems to work well.
Browsing
web pages works very well. The screen is slightly smaller than the
N97 of course, so the font can sometimes be rather small, but there
are easy controls to scroll and zoom, and the web browsing experience
is generally very good. The always-on 3G internet connection helps,
and with HSDPA giving download speeds of up to 3.6 Mbps and WiFi
offering 54 Mbps, you can almost imagine that your using a laptop
rather than a souped-up mobile phone.
The
camera is the same as the one on the N97, which in turn is essentially
the same as the camera in the old N96.
But it's an excellent camera nevertheless, and outperforms most
smartphones. The sensor is a respectable 5 megapixels, but it's
the quality of the Carl Zeiss optics that makes it perform so well.
The dual LED flash isn't as powerful as the xenon flash on the Sony
Ericsson Satio, but it's more than a match for most camera phones.
Video recording is excellent too, with the ability to record at
VGA format and 30 frames/second. A secondary front-facing camera
is available for video calling too.
There's
a powerful Nseries music player included, and an FM radio with RDS
too. As you'd expect, the music quality is top-notch, and not only
is a good quality set of stereo headphones supplied, but the 3.5mm
AV connection lets you plug in your own headphones too. The
memory isn't as large as in the N97, but still, with 8GB of built-in
memory and the ability to add a 16GB microSD card, you can hardly
say that the memory is small. The maximum storage capacity would
give you enough space for between 6,000 and 10,000 music tracks
or a couple of dozen full length movies!
The
N97 Mini also has built-in GPS and a-GPS receivers, and you can
use these to find your location, to geo-tag photos and to navigate.
Nokia Maps is included, as well as a digital compass, and a 10-day
trial licence of a Walk-and-Drive navigation system.
One
compromise that the designers have made to reduce the overall size
and weight of the device is to reduce the capacity of the battery.
The battery is a 1200 mAh Li-Ion battery, instead of the 1500 mAh
one supplied with the N97. Despite having a smaller LCD display,
the N97 does suffer as a consequence, although the battery performance
is no worse than comparable touchscreen smartphones.
The
big bugbear with the N97 was probably the lumbering old Symbian
operating system under the hood. Symbian phones often have a tendency
to freeze or reboot at the most annoying times, and the N97 was
no exception. The Symbian OS is still present in the N97 Mini of
course, but it seems that Nokia have tweaked and polished it and
the whole system feels more robust and stable. But it's still prone
to crash from time to time. Frankly, it's about time that Nokia
started making phones that just work.
To
wrap up, we feel that the N97 Mini is a good example of an intelligent
compromise. Yes, the screen is smaller than the original N97, and
yes, the battery life is shorter. But the phone is significantly
slimmer, lighter and quite a bit cheaper too, bringing the power
of the N97 within reach of a whole new market segment.
Features
of the Nokia N97 Mini include:
S60 5th edition Symbian interface
5 megapixel camera (2592 x 1944 pixels) with
Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, dual LED flash, 4x digital zoom
and geo-tagging
Video camera: MPEG4/3GP VGA video capture at
640 x 480 pixels and 30 frames/second, 4x digital zoom and video
light
Front camera for video calling: 176 x 144 pixels
Display: Resistive touchscreen, 16 million colours,
640 x 360 pixels (3.2 inches) with orientation sensor, proximity
sensor and light sensor
Digital music player (supports MP3/AAC/eAAC/eAAC+/WMA
formats) with playlists and equalizer
Stereo FM radio (87.5-108 MHz/76-90 MHz), RDS
Built-in GPS navigation with Nokia Maps application
and digital compass
Speaker independent name dialing
Voice commands
Voice recorder
Integrated hands-free speaker
Speed dialing
Messaging: SMS, MMS, Email (SMTP, IMAP4, POP3,
Mail for Exchange)
Viewing of email attachments – .doc, .xls, .ppt,
.pdf
Java games (DJ Club Tour included)
Advanced contacts database with support for
multiple phone and e-mail details per entry
Memory: 8 GB plus microSD memory card slot (up
to 16GB)
Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR, USB 2.0,
TV-Out, (WLAN 802.11 b/g), 3.5 mm stereo headphone plug
Internet: Full web browser with Flash video
support, RSS reader, WAP, GPRS class A, WCDMA/HSDPA (3.6Mb/s download),
WLAN (up to 11Mbps/54Mbps)
Quadband plus 3G
Size: 113 x 53 x 14 mm
Weight: 138g
Talktime: 240 minutes (3G) - 430 minutes (2G)
Battery standby: 320 hours
Nokia N97 Mini
Consumer Reviews
Love
your mobile? Hate it? Please share your experiences to help other
people choose the phone that's best for them. Please do not review
this phone if you have not used it. This is a review site, not a
forum, so please don't just ask questions. Please do not use swear
words or offensive language, and please, no advertising!
Average
rating from 81 reviews:
Reviewed by Dave from UK on 2nd
Sep 2010
It's a big shame that this phone suffers from so many bugs. When
it works well it is a good phone, call signal good, call quality
excellent, keyboard really helps when using the internet / gaming
and texting. However, it's (many) bugs begin to annoy after a while
- it's constant freezing, slowing down, sudden loss of battery etc.
ruin what could be a good phone. I'm going to the evil of Apple
as soon as can afford it, but if you get one of these which works
and want a simple, easy to understand smartphone it's worth considering
I think. Rating:
Reviewed by tom from U.A.E on
26th Aug 2010
its a great phone but begins to slow down after a while but if ur
patient its fine and i suggest u download spb as well Rating:
Reviewed by shazad prick goo kar from
sparkbrook birmingham on 24th Aug 2010
i really like the fne its my favourite fone, i hope i can make the
fone my buddie Rating:
Reviewed by tt from uk on 19th
Aug 2010
Interesting reading others reviews, it appears that if you get a
good one its 5* and if not it's rubbish. I have a good one, never
freezes, it doesn't drop calls, camera's great, web browsing is
good (especially with the Mini Opera browser)and the Sat Nav is
an amazing freebie. The music player is excellent. Watching movies
is another feature that is an amazingly good experience. All in
all this is an amazing device and unlike most smartphones is the
right size to be comfortable in use and to carry in your pocket.
And I love the keyboard. There is always a but, the Symbian operating
system shows its age and roots in pre-touch sceen technology, as
such it is somewhat clunky compared to say the HTC Legend, but get
over this and the package is certainly one of the best phones around,
so long as you get a good one. I can honestly say that I will not
give this device up easily. Rating:
Reviewed by Mo from UK on 17th
Aug 2010
The only thing going for this phone is that it has a nifty keyboard
built under the screen. That's it. It freezes, restarts on a whim,
has a bad signal and touch screen is so much inferior comapered
to some other phones (BB storm 2, iPhone). DON'T GET THIS PHONE,
YOU WILL HATE IT, JUST AS IT HATES YOU!!!! Rating:
Reviewed by Tonio from UK on
11th Aug 2010
What a total nightmare of a phone (for me anyway) got my 1st one
just before christmas, it had to be master reset various times &
had other problems. Managed to get a new phone of them, because
it wasn't a month old. It too has problem, ranging from 'refusing
to connect to internet, battery goes flat after 2-3 hrs even though
i havnt been making calls or anything. it takes about 2mins to send
a txt, cuts out during phone calls, & other faults like a flashing
phone number on the main screen, where im supposed to select my
profile. I read reviews & ignored them about this piece of junk,
wish i had listened!! Now i have upgraded to a HTC Legend, the difference
is unreal, love it. No more stone-age Nokia for me!!! Rating:
Reviewed by Kasim from Scotland on
6th Aug 2010
Ive had this phone 5 months now, and duran the 5 months it became
faulty and i sent it away to get it repaird and since i got it back
its been good as new the only thing thats annoys me is the battery
runs out so fast other than that the softwares good its like my
computer, amazing phone Rating:
Reviewed by TG from UK on 2nd
Aug 2010
Brilliant phone, excellent software, well designed, ergonomic, etc,
etc What a pity it simply doesn't work!!! It freezes all the time,
sometimes during calls. I would have thought that a phone must be
reliable whilst making a phonecall! I've tried everything. Hard
resets, soft resets, even debranding! The latter worked for a while
once all the vodafone software was removed, but it didn't last.
At the end, I recycled it for 150 and bought an HTC Touch Pro 2.
Amazing piece of communication. Still miss the mini's excellent
interface but.. STAY AWAY FROM IT! Rating:
Reviewed by Ter from Laos on
31st Jul 2010
I like it Rating:
Reviewed by Afi from UK on 21st
Jul 2010
I have had this phone for more than 6 months now. It started off
quite bad as after 3 weeks the phone just started vibrating so i
had to take the battery out to switch it off. But was unable to
turn it on again. Luckily i was within a month of my contract so
i got a brand new replacement. Since i have had the replacement
i have had no major problems and i love the look and feel of the
phone. The reception is bad in certain areas but i put this down
to orange as i have tested with an O2 sim card which shows maximum
reception. My main issue with this phone is the virtual memory which
is significantly low compared with other smart phones. There are
various apps available for this phone but due to the lack of virtual
memory the apps cannot be very complex e.g 3D graphics. There really
is no point of comparing apps on this phone to the iphone as apple
are miles ahead. What I love about this phone and all nokias in
general is that unlike the iphone there is a lot of freedom to transfer
files and images without having a software dictate what you can
and cannot transfer. To sum things up I would say this phone does
everything a phone should do e.g calls, messages, email, internet
etc and I actually think it does it really well. Its very stylish
and feels very sturdy. The only downside I see to it is the lack
of virtual memory and the lack of available apps. Rating:
Reviewed by aris77 from greece on
20th Jul 2010
i've had this phone for 6 months or so. never had any of the problems
that other reviewers mention. it is very easy to update the firmware.
battery life is decent, never dropped a call and is a very responsive
phone. i was very reluctant before buying this phone due to some
negative reviews, but after extended use, i can say i am very very
happy with it. Rating:
Reviewed by Dale from UK on 19th
Jul 2010
The N97 mini has a decent camera, is good for music and videos,
and the keypad was useful. On the other hand tho it has the worst
signal (around half the signal my 6020 gets) and comes with a few
bad common faults. The first big problem I had was the phone would
say close applications to start an application even tho there was
none running, to get round this i found taking the memory card out
worked an annoying fix. The second big problem was the screen colours
getting got mixed up, and a fuzzy display, this would sometimes
go for a while when opening or closing the keypad, eventually nothing
helped and I had to use the pc suite just to be able to get my numbers
off there before sending it for repair. The only question is do
I sell to get a different phone as soon as its repaired or put up
with the poor signal and hope the problems don't happen after the
repair/replacement as I'm on a 24 month contract. Rating:
Reviewed by Paul from UK on 18th
Jul 2010
I got the N97 mini six months ago, thinking it would be the perfect
upgrade from my brilliant older N82. I was wrong. And there lies
one the main problems. The Symbian OS is perfect for Nokia's non-touch
phones such as the previous N and E series. But it simply can't
cut it to compete with the current generation of touch phones. It's
clunky, slow and messy eg do I single or double click here? Nokia
then also underpowered the N97 mini (and maxi) with a slow processor
and low RAM especially. Meaning that it slows down (even further)
or crashes when just running 3 or 4 apps. It even crashes or 'memory
full' occasionally without multi-tasking. Firmware updates improves
things (such as touchscreen responsiveness), but still doesn't completely
solve the problems and I don't think they ever will. The inbuilt
web browser and email are just as clunky too. The good points about
the phone are the solid build, the good slide keyboard (which what
drew me to the phone), decent camera (N82 was better though with
Xenon flash), and the free Ovi Maps with navigation which was useful.
But I'm afraid the bad points outweighed the good. As a flagship
device, this is a failure for Nokia, especially compared to the
competition now. I'm now using a HTC Desire, a truely fast, powerful
smartphone that makes the N97 mini feel dumb. Rating:
Reviewed by venu from india on
15th Jul 2010
This will be a good choice in touchscreen phones. Rating:
Reviewed by Mogadonen from Norway on
13th Jul 2010
- Update service not in function - Freezes when you pick up a call
- Update of firmware can only be performed by sending it in for
service - All in all a buggy telephone which make you loose calls.
Avoid this phone Rating:
Reviewed by Mike osborne from UK on
7th Jul 2010
Do not buy this phone ,not worth 1 star also contracted for 24 month
. Will buy new sim free asap Rating:
Reviewed by Sandy from England on
6th Jul 2010
Worst phone I have ever had...Its bulky, it constantly freezes and
I have to turn it off all the time, texts disapear, its sticks on
vibrate and again I have to turn it off to get it working again,
it blocks messages coming through due to memory when I have nothing
on it? I have had it for a month on a 24 month contract...Gutted.
Rating:
Reviewed by Stelwalker from UK on
4th Jul 2010
worst phone ever. buzzing ear piece, creaking screen, constantly
freezing up and even when showing full strength signal I was unable
to make or recieve calls or connect to the internet. symbian os
slow. avoid at all costs and go Android... Rating:
Reviewed by Tage from Norway on
18th Jun 2010
When I first bought this phone I was sure I had hit the jack pot...
that this phone would blow my mind and give me everything I needed
in one package. Then, after some weeks I discovered that the phone
would freeze and start playing the Nokia tune at the highest volume,
no matter if I had chosen another on low volume. Make no mistake,
this was not popular among my colleagues during meetings. I waited
impatiently for an update of the firmware, which is a promised feature
for this phone, but nothing happened. I delivered the phone for
repair and got it back 14 days later with firmware version 11.0.100
(or something like that). Obviously they had fixed some issues and
the phone felt more responsive and stable... at first... until I
discovered that it began restarting when i received incoming calls...
which is not popular among my customers and colleagues. So, now
I have delivered it once again for repair and still waiting. As
several has commented, the reception is poor for this phone and
the browser is slow. It looks like a million dollars, but that is
all, unfortunately. I hope Nokia has been able to fix the issues
with this phone because it look great, it's sturdy and has a great
keyboard. There are no competitors out there when it comes to the
physical build quality, but that doesn't help when the phone sucks.
Rating:
Reviewed by gargoyleprotected from England
on 6th Jun 2010
When I first got this phone I thought it was amazing. It has some
wicked features & is generally easy to use. However, it is slow
to respond & freezes often. It also has a major fault with assigned
ringtones. I have several caller groups & like to have specific
ringtones/songs set for each so I know who is calling me. Unfortunately,
wherever the songs are stored in the phone or on the memory stick,
80% of the time the phone reverts to the default nokia tune when
someone from a caller group rings me. Not just annoying but embarrasing.
I have had sony ericssons & motorolas in the past that have cost
me a fraction of the cost of the N97 mini & have never come across
this problem before!! The Battery life is also very disappointing
& lasts about a day at a time. I have noticed that the handset gets
very hot when in use too which is quite worrying. Certainly not
worth its current price tag. Rating:
Reviewed by jj from LT on 28th
May 2010
awful phone. constantly looses the connection in medium reception
area when you are holding it in hand, where other headsets have
no problem. and if you browse internet with opera mini you have
to restart browser every time n97mini looses the connection. Rating:
Reviewed by t from uk on 26th
May 2010
awful phone, poor battery life (less than a day), terrible email
client, slow web browser, freezing half the time, bad signal, calls
disappear in the middle of a conversation, vodafone branded is even
worse so I had to debrand. stay away from the n97 mini! Rating:
Reviewed by neal wareing from great
britain on 23rd May 2010
yes it an amazing phone for text messages but in my opinion it is
extreamly slow and hard to use phone Rating:
Reviewed by Cris from UK on 22nd
May 2010
I've had the the N97 mini since November 2009 and it is an excellent
smart phone. OK, so it isn't as slick as some of the competition,
but generally these 'better' smart phones are much bigger and heavier.
The camera is better than most (much better than iphone 3GS) and
the guidance satnav (ie it's like a dedicated in car satnav system)
is brilliant - and its free for worldwide maps (the phone's worth
buying for this feature alone). The only thing that has been an
annoyance is that the branded Vodafone UK handset that I have still
does not have the software update released by Nokia in February.
So I've de-branded the phone to a UK vanilla product (Google 'de-brand
n97 mini' if you want more info) and with the update the annoying
lock ups have gone. Rating:
Reviewed by msf from UK on 21st
May 2010
I bought this N97 mini two months ago. Find the features good and
keyboard very handy. Battery life is rubbish. nokia couldnt come
up with a proper application for facebook. you just cant upload
the photos. Rating:
Reviewed by nilufer from india on
18th May 2010
The N97 mini is a fantastic phone except for a few drawbacks like
it does not have an edit label when u want to enter the contacts
and it does not have a full qwerty keypad on the touchscreen otherwise
its gooood. Rating:
Reviewed by Tom from UK on 23rd
Apr 2010
Had two of these and they were great phones until they froze. sent
back to virgin and got a htc hd2 which is a better phone, but i
miss the slide out keyboard. would get 5 stars but unreliable, if
you get one that works you'll love it. Rating:
Reviewed by david from USA on
10th Apr 2010
It sucks,and it keeps restarting!!!!!!!!!!!! Rating:
Reviewed by Mac from England on
8th Apr 2010
Bought the N97 mini direct from Nokia and what can i say except
its absolutely perfect ive had no problems with it and the touch
screen is brilliant and easy to use (ok i admit it is my first touch
screen phone) the only downside ive found is that the phone manual
could explain things more but saying that the phone is quite easy
to use i even use for reading ebooks which is a big bonus Rating:
Reviewed by John from Philippines on
6th Apr 2010
Best all-arounder phone available + its built quality is superb!!!! Rating:
Reviewed by s from UK on 6th
Apr 2010
Second review, the screen is not responsive as iphone, turns it
self off, slow, satnav does not work and very boring to use. I will
consider getting the iphone when the contract finishes and will
never buy nokia again. Rating:
Reviewed by garry from uk on
3rd Apr 2010
utterly, excellent, great features, fast, best phone i have ever
owned, far superior to my old iphone 3gs, iphone had far fewer features
and the sale of it easily paid for a new one of these :) Its a no-brainer
Rating:
Reviewed by John Craig from England
on 19th Mar 2010
Last week I wrote a review on the N97 Mini, saying that for me the
jury was out on the performance of this phone. Sure, it had its
problems, and yes, this was my second one in 2 months, but hey,
benefit of the doubt and all that. Let's face it, how often does
technology (Laptops, TV's, coffee makers, etc) actually live up
to the gold seal of consumer approval? We buy something and expect
it to be nothing short of brilliant, yet quite often we end up with
a gormless expression of "why the hell did it just do that!" on
our faces. Ladies and gents, in this past week the jury has returned
on the N97 Mini. I'm going to be as diplomatic as possible here:
It's rubbish, total and utter rubbish, without a doubt one of the
worst smartphones on the market. To name but a few problems: screen
feezes all the time, calls drop and web browsing is painfully slow.
These problems are annoying in their own right, however now the
thing has decided to kill calls whenever it so chooses, which has
elevated my frustrations to new levels. Now all of this is bad enough,
it's a rubbish phone and that's that. But now I seem to have a new
problem, my mobile phone provider! I called them this afternoon
and suggested that I need help ASAP with my mobile phone. The response
from Vodafone has been less that helpful. The best way to summarise
the response is this: "Dear Sir, thanks for your call. Now put up
or shut up!" Not the response I was looking for, given the hundred
quid plus I spend with them on a monthly basis. To be fair to them,
they have given me the option of either taking a third N97 (no thanks!),
sending the existing one in for repair 9for how long....) or opting
out of my contract, assuming I pay them nearly £1400! So, in summary:
Nokia, the N97 Mini doesn't work! Attempt to salvage your reputation
by removing it from the market as soon as possible. Vodafone: You
may want to consider your customer approach. You have punted a completely
terrible product in the N97 Mini and should take account for selling
rubbish. Your "deal with it or pay us a fortune" approch has won
you no favour. When I cancel my standing order this month and you
call up wondering where your £130 is, I'll be sure to pass this
message onto your accounts department: "put up or shut up!" Rating:
Reviewed by barry smith from uk on
18th Mar 2010
This is the worst phone i have owned so far, the first was replaced
within the 30 day time period because of defective bluetooth and
it wouldn't always display who was calling or their assigned ringtone,
so along came the second phone and all was fine for 2 weeks and
then the bluetooth started to play up again and the email system
would delete old messages whether they had been read or not and
now it has started sometimes to not display who is calling or their
assigned ringtone and occassionaly the phone doesn't even ring and
then i get a text message to tell me i have a new answerphone message,
So it went away to be repaired and all was fine for another couple
of weeks and now it has developed the same faults again and one
rather more annoying one in that when it is synced with my parrot
kit it will mute the stereo for about 30 seconds and then allow
the music to play for about 5 seconds and then mute the stereo again
until you turn the bluetooth off and on (just what you ne ed to
be doing whilst you are driving) so it is going back again. Other
than the faults i have mentioned the music player is rather poor
and with the headphones on and the volume turned to full it is not
loud enough unless you put it on the most basic setting and then
you lose what sound quality you had. The keyboard is good as is
the display and the camera takes an excellent picture and the battery
life for this sort of phone is acceptable, the operating system
is notchy to say the least and it just does not work smoothly, other
than that i would not recommend this phone to anyone. To say i am
disappointed with this phone is putting it mildly as i had waited
for it to come out for quite a while, so now i have purchased a
iphone 3gs 16gb. Nokia had a good oppurtunity to make a great phone
but they ruined it again. Rating:
Reviewed by john craig from uk on
14th Mar 2010
The jury is still out for me with this phone. I've had it about
three months now (this is my second one, I hasten to add. The first
kept freezing and had to be replaced) and I'm generally quite happy
with it. It's reasonably fast, has more than enough memory and does
pretty much what you expect from a smart phone. The pull out keyboard
is awesome (in fact I'm writing this review using the QWERTY keyboard).
What is pretty annoying is how slowly it is when using the internet.
The phone really seems to struggle on the proccessor front. Compared
with the Iphone 3GS the N97 is not half as fast when your online.
Overall, not a bad phone but Nokia really need to research faster
proccessing capabilty and make the user interface less complex..
Finding stuff can be a nightmare Rating:
Reviewed by drdave from uk on
26th Feb 2010
had many problems when i first got the phone but since the software
update it has been a dream. not one issue with it since. a very
capable phone. Rating:
Reviewed by iangriff from uk on
25th Feb 2010
great mobile, one simple flaw though so be warned.the signal antena
is placed at the bottom right of the phone, so when you hold it,
the signal will disappear. many many reports of this on many forum
sites. try putting both hands over the bottom and watch your signal
bars go out. very poor design fault in my opinion. whats the point
of a mobile if you cant make or receive calls?? Rating:
Reviewed by Sonia from England on
23rd Feb 2010
I love this phone i really do, but i have to say it is awful. i
have already sent it back once i got a new one but am now sending
it back again it's even worse that the first. everything on the
phone is all you could ever need its such a shame that it freezes
and isnt very quick. I am 16 and all my friends at school think
its obviously an amazing phone until they take it off me and use
it and realise it just isnt fast enough. I would understand freezing
etc from a cheaper phone but these are selling for around £300-£400
its crazy. Thats a lot of money and i just do not believe it is
worth it. fab fab fab! design however absolutely love the design
really original and is so different to other phones out there. What
a shame. but anyway i still love it :) Rating:
Reviewed by Max from England on
21st Feb 2010
I have had this phone for just under a month now and it has completely
gone. I can no longer use the phone due to all of the touch functions
are dead. The phone switches on alright but cant use the thing.
I think all N97 Mini's have problems with them. A couple of my friends
have had then not that long ago and they have all broken. The phone
is excellent in all other ways except the fact that they will brake
in 1 way or another. I really did expect more from Nokia. Rating:
Reviewed by mark from uk on 20th
Feb 2010
To be fair to this phone I do really like it except for a few annoying
issues. The first is the low hardware specs - there's just too little
ram which does slow the system down a bit and often when using the
browser it will suddenly exit, a problem I haven't had since my
old n73. The processor could also do with a big boost. A dedicated
3d graphics chip would have been excellent as found in the n95 8gb
and my last phone the n82. The device is still OK though all in
all, it looks beautiful and definitely feels expensive. It handles
all features although you may want to upgrade to opera mini as the
built in browser REALLY annoys me with its text size that can only
be changed on mobile sites for some reason. Photography is excellent
and music quality is impressive. Overall a good phone but it could
have been so much better! Rating:
Reviewed by dan from england on
17th Feb 2010
Brilliant functions, no problems with software, satnav is now completely
free for this phone with ovi maps, with a cheap satnav mount it
can be used as an excellent satnav system and is far better and
quicker at finding any location than my friend's navicon satnav!
Brilliant camera, wifi, qwerty, and the apps.... wow great apps
to be honest, far better than the iphone and feels like a solid
build in the hand and runs like a dream, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Rating:
Reviewed by hamza from uk on
17th Feb 2010
very good... but a bit to slow Rating:
Reviewed by Fish from UK on 15th
Feb 2010
This is a nice phone that should rate highly but I second the remarks
from another poster about a serious problem with holding onto a
signal. Breaking up and dropped connections have proved a real hassle
with the N97 mini. I guess this is a good example of why paying
too much attention to internet review sites is a mistake. After
a month of owning hte N97 mini on Vodafone, I find this website's
review of it to be woefully misleading. Rating:
Reviewed by Pesmi from England on
14th Feb 2010
Seems great to start, but I had 2 and they both broke, now I have
a htc hd2 which is much better Rating:
Reviewed by scoobydoobydoo from england
on 5th Feb 2010
i was really looking forward to this phone as an upgrade from n96
which has been a fantastic phone, but sadly, very disappointed.
the thing just constantly freezes requiring the removal of the battery
to get it going again. this happened mostly after a call ended with
the screen still saying incoming call. looks great but just doesnt
work! sent back to vodafone and sticking with n96 for now :( Rating:
Reviewed by Brian from England on
4th Feb 2010
All the reviewers here must spend their lives within 20 yards of
a phone mast! If you read the user forums over on Voda or Nokia
you will see that there is a serious problem with this phone (and
with the N97) - it's ability to hold on to a signal is appalling.
Even picking the thing up to use it invariably loses you 2 bars
signal strength at least, not good when you are in a medium reception
area. On the plus side it looks good, the screen is great (although
I do have quite thin fingers, and unchewed nails, which helps!),
and if you are in the city centre it all works fine. Just don't
expect anything out in the sticks Only 2* I'm afraid - it is after
all supposed to be a phone. If they can fix the signal problem it
would be 5* Rating:
Reviewed by sam from england on
28th Jan 2010
Josh from the UK, i have also had this problem with the phone, i
researched it on the internet and found that it was a problem with
one of the applications from OVI store itself, i noticed that messenger
had been deleted for the nokia n97 mini due to it being incompatible,
this may have been the case for you, if anyone has this same problem,
do a google search for Nokia N97 mini hard factory reset. This will
reset the whole phone taking the applications back to how it was
when you got the phone new, took a few attempts for me to get all
the keys pressed at the same time for the reset, however my phone
is working perfectly now, as earlier reviewed, this is the best
phone out on the market, a must buy, despite this minor problem! Rating:
Reviewed by Bruce Henderson from England
on 27th Jan 2010
I have owned the N97 Mini for a while now and I am delighted with
the overall performance. I use the internet access all day everyday
for email and Facebook and I find the GPS very useful for locating
the nearest petrol station as I ride motorbikes most days. If I
had to pick a problem, the only let down I have had has been answering
calls, the swipe the phone to answer does not always work immediately
which can mean some calls have gone to answer phone. Overall I am
delighted with the phone. Rating:
Reviewed by josh from united kingdom
on 21st Jan 2010
please listen to this review i got a conrac out on he 30th of december
with a n97 mini, awesome phone great software really easy after
6 days i turned it off woke up in the morning to turn it on and
it freezes at the nokia screen, go to phones for you they give me
a complete replacement phone, take it home i drain he battery so
o give it a full charge phone turns off yet again wont turn on past
the nokia screen, i take it back i demend a completely different
phone but store policy is 3 phones then a non like for like can
be arranged, so i take another one home i let it drain but this
time ahaa i charge it just before it dies, the charger got so hot
the plastic outer casing started to go soft, i have now taken this
phone back and i am using a samsung H1 with the 360 software and
after getting used to it it is by far the best phone on the market.
as for the n97 mini software and list of stuff it CAN do brilliant,
as for it actually doing it you might as well not have a phone. Rating:
Reviewed by Jude from UK on 15th
Jan 2010
Am sorry but i find this hard to accept, this website rated the
satio for having very buggy firmware but the same holds for this
phone as well. Orange UK even stopped selling it because it was
unusable yet it gets 5 stars and the satio gets 2 stars despite
it being a 5 star phone this is very biased. Lets be hones upgrading
your satios firmware fixes its issues then y were u so hard on it???
This N97 mini is no better Rating:
Reviewed by nicholas from england on
13th Jan 2010
had this phone for two days now at first hard to get used to but
now got used to it this phone is amazing great sound and picture
quality good camera easy to install applications and a very stylish
and sleek looking phone.i would recomend this phone to anyone. Rating:
Reviewed by Benson from UK on
13th Jan 2010
The review didn't mention the missed feature of VoIP. On E63, N95
and etc, VoIP is a fascinating feature that enables you to make
call as usual but over the Internet and at lower price. N97 mini
and N97 has sadly removed the feature. It is said new firmware will
add it and there is also an official patch in SIS format. But, from
this, you can see the design of N97 mini and N97 is not flawless.
So, I'll only give them 4 stars. Rating:
Reviewed by qwertyuiop from ireland
on 12th Jan 2010
I have this phone and think it is excellent. My only concern is
if I see the n900 I may regret getting this one. I love how small
and solid it is though, it just feels great and looks beautiful.
I definitely recommend it. Rating:
Reviewed by Ponduri from Singapore on
12th Jan 2010
This is supposed to be the best from Nokia. Good Things- The touch
screen is the best among all other phones out there. Very stylish
phone in the market. Decent Photo quality with 5 MP CarlZesis lens
mini Views are new concept and makes the usage of phone very easy.
Overall Very Good Phone to get addicted to. The Bad: The quality
of the build is poor. The QWERTY Key board skin is coming out. Phone
will hang in booting if phone was unplugged from the system without
checking the saferemoval. This happens majorly if you are usig a
memory card (External). Rating:
Reviewed by Tom from England on
11th Jan 2010
Amazing phone, great keyboard, great music player, great homescreen
and fantastic messaging capabilities. Ovi store could do with more
apps but otherwise brilliant. Rating:
Reviewed by sam from england on
3rd Jan 2010
Wow. I searched for a while looking for a phone with all the features
i wanted. I first went for the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1, however
problems with a company meant that i did not receive it, this sent
me looking for better. The Nokia N97 mini had a much better camera,
better design, better keyboard, it basically has everything that
all other smartphones have to compromise on. I managed to get mine
for £300 brand new from Ebay making it a very competitive price
for the features gained. The phone out the box is particularly easy
to use, the wireless is excellent and the ovi store at nokia enables
a web browser to be downloaded, opera mini, this allows all webpages
to run out of mobile mode and as normal, which is great for a mobile
phone. The GPS is brilliant and will locate your position for free
and 10 days directional navigation is included with purchase of
the phone with extra days costing £1.50 per day, or a cheaper subscription
fee. The Nokia ovi store i think is brilliant and allows a very
wide range of applications to be downloaded for free with more to
buy. The best ones so far for me have been Youtube, iplayer and
msn messenger which is great with the wifi. The iplayer application
on a wifi connection allows hour long programs to be downloaded
in a few minutes. Nothing much else can be said apart from, BUY
ONE. Best phone i have ever used or owned, in every way better than
the iphone and with an epic amount of apps to be downloaded, excellent.
Rating:
Reviewed by JoshuaDinoTan from Singapore
on 30th Dec 2009
OUTSTANDING, but disappointing for a flagship device. Especially
from Nokia. Rating:
Reviewed by Cristiano Ronaldo from Spain
on 29th Dec 2009
Dis pone is really is goad. i have one today in conntract. must
is be a 5 star. Rating:
Reviewed by kukisan from uk on
29th Dec 2009
having used the mini for a month now all i can say is wow! after
sending back two satio's i was realy worried about the symbian os
but its faultless compared to the satio's sony take a leaf out of
nokia and build your's a bit better next time. Rating:
Reviewed by jude r anderson from united
kingdom on 28th Dec 2009
got this phone as an upgrade,i thought i would give nokia another
chance after having loads of problems with other n series phones
before,well after having phone an hour it began to freeze after
calls so had to turn phone off and on to remove freeze screen and
battery would"nt last a day,really hard to use i would not recommend
this phone to anyone,nokia has lost its way,same old problems as
with all nokia n series phones,i now have sony w995 brilliant phone
with no problems Rating:
Reviewed by S from UK on 27th
Dec 2009
Excellent phone***** Rating:
Reviewed by ? from USA on 23rd
Dec 2009
It is a really good phone i'm glad i brought it. Thx nokia Rating:
Reviewed by Ahmed Jama from England
on 17th Dec 2009
the best phone ive had so far. words cannot describe this phone..was
considerinng getting N900 but this is almost as handfful nd slightly
cheaper.amasing A must get phonne for christmas.. Rating:
Reviewed by Darren from UK on
16th Dec 2009
hate it.got it has a upgrade and it went back the following day.
some good features but not easy to use Rating:
Reviewed by Michael from UK on
15th Dec 2009
I received this phone from Vodafone as an upgrade to my contract.
I like the ringtone, which is a normal bell sound and business like.
I also like the camera which focuses on the subject and then allows
you to take a photo with one tap on the screen. The home screen
is also good, with widgets that give access to favourite contacts
and direct access to some features. The touch screen makes texting
the easiest yet. However, after a few days I noticed that when I
put the phone on to charge it would keep charging itself. The phone
will charge itself in the normal manner when connected by a USB
to my laptop ie stopping charging after a while. The headset supplied
has a 3.5mm jack pin, although the bezel at the base of the pin
is too large and therefore the pin will not push fully home. As
a result I found the headset suffered some interference and the
quality of sound was poor. Rating:
Reviewed by Oyvind from Norway on
13th Dec 2009
At last I found "My phone". The n97 mini does a great job, it's
sleek and performs excellent. Even the headset that follows the
package outperforms many of the expensive headsets you thought you
had to buy to make the mp3 player work optimal. Just remember to
change the equalizer settings to pop or something other than the
standard settings. After I had downloaded a free weather-program,
currency converter, Merriam-Websters English/English and some other
small stuff, I fell in love with the phone. It connects perfectly
to my bluetooth in the car and it fits right into the standard phone
care holder. I couldn't hope for more. I just hope it is sturdy
and will keep for some years. The way it's built gives the impression
that this never will be an issue. Rating:
Reviewed by simon from uk on
13th Dec 2009
I've been using this phone for about a week now and I cannot find
any major dislikes. I have never liked Nokia handsets before this
one and i have not gotten on well with many touchscreen devices;
omnia, iphone or lg. My last Nokia was years ago, it was the 6820,
I believe - it had a fold across keyboard (correct me if i am wrong)
and as I was someone that was constantly messaging; I had felt this
was the way forward. Since then it was replaced by a Sony ericsson
for a loyal 4 years, in this duration I had attempted to use up-to-date
touchscreens but i felt the omnia was let down by its OS and the
iphone novelty was not for me - that and messaging was tricky. The
Nokia N97 mini is fantastic, the physical keyboard is great and
makes e-mail and texting ever so fast. Infact, I am using it right
now to write this very review! The Nokia ovi app store has some
great apps, however I only needed the one, a countdown timer, which
was free. Bonus. I havent found a copy and paste command yet on
the device, battery life cannot be faulted, it lasts the day on
heavy messaging and moderate wifi internet browsing. Connecting
mailboxes and to wifi is very straight forward. Using the device
is very easy and navigating through menus is a synch! I absolutely
love this device. If you are someone that texts alot and are not
patient enough with doing all those texts on a touchscreen only
based phone - this is the device to get! Great job nokia. Rating:
Reviewed by Ali from England on
10th Dec 2009
This phone is one of Nokia best phones yet and I can see them competing
against the Iphone in the future. The look, style, slide open keyboard,
battery life, etc is outstanding and very impressive. The operating
system is similar to the N95 and could have done with abit of improvement
but I have to say I am really happy with it. If you are used to
Nokia's and there operating systems or Menu's, then don't look no
further. Its surprisingly stable and it has that unique style to
it that's made me glad to have bought it. I would love to see this
Nokia with a Android operating system, I can then see it competing
against the Iphone quite easily and over taking it. I have tested
the Motorola Blur, Samsung HD8910i and I have preffered the N97
mini over both of them. Nokia have made some good phones and this,
is one of their best phones yet. Nokia should consider integrating
with the Android operating system on their phones and they could
easily over take the iphone with their eyes closed. Rating:
Reviewed by Daoda S. Kamara from Liberia
on 8th Dec 2009
I like this phone. It's nice Rating:
Reviewed by Meri from London on
6th Dec 2009
I purchased N97 mini a week back, but I am really disappointed by
the phone. I was using iphone, I hoped Nokia must have brought a
good product to compete with the market, moreover I read outstanding
reviews on the net. The design is sleek and the phone looks beautiful,
but the touch screen is resistive and not comfortable to use. Web
browsing is not easy, the phone freezes in between. Screen resolution
does not look catchy, and the apps are nothing in comparison to
iphone. The best part of the phone is, the keyboard is very easy
to use. Overall the phone is an average and does not mark to the
expectation. After giving it a try for four days I have sent it
back and planning to buy HTC HD2. Rating:
Reviewed by Simon from London from England
on 1st Dec 2009
I got this hoping I could replace a Backberry. No chance. Pros:
The sound quality is pretty impressive, even the radio! Screen is
good, camera picture/video quality is excellent for a small devide.
Relatively easy to use. Cons: the menus in my N27 mini was different
to what was wriiten in the manual, even Nokia couldn't resolve that,
when texting or emailing it was difficult to get the input right
with touch screen keypad or handwriting (once you are used to a
keypad like B'berry), difficult to customise the main screen and
it keeps changing if you accidentally hit the screen, and so on.
I wish I could keep in just for sound quality and for the camera.
But my email/text more important, and it is not easy to manage them
with this phone. Hence it got to go! Rating:
Reviewed by shrey from UK on
30th Nov 2009
this is awesome phone. i just love it! Rating:
Reviewed by sid stannard from wales
on 22nd Nov 2009
excellent unit. Upgraded from an SE c902, and it's far superior,
with all the features one could need; experiencing short battery
life though... Rating:
Reviewed by Dave from UK on 22nd
Nov 2009
I was due an upgrade from my n95 and wasn't even sure if I wanted
to upgrade as I was happy with it. i had been looking at several
phones for a while and opted for n97mini. Copying contacts, messages
etc was so easy and done via bluetooth in minutes. The new screen
is so clear and slide out keyboard good for longer text, like this
review, which I am doing on my phone. The touch screen took a bit
of getting used to, but so did riding a bike. I am very happy with
this phone and think I made a wise choice. I upgraded at Phones4u
who were fab. £50 trade in on a ve y old phone. Rating:
Reviewed by Raj from UK on 20th
Nov 2009
This phone has put my trust back in nokia. I hated all the N series,
until i upgraded to N97 mini. I tried very hard to look for faults
in this phone as i am very fussy and send it back. But after 7 days
without any problems i can honestly say this is a excellent phone,
not on the same par as the iphone, but will give it a good run for
its money. A nice size, good touch screen and battery life is sufficent
enough for a smartphone. Rating:
Reviewed by Harry from England on
19th Nov 2009
I just bought the phone yesterday; and to be honest i was very impressed.
for one the screen quality is amazing and the touch screen response
is instant and i haven't had any faults with the phone so far. my
uncle had the original n97 and to be honest that wasn't as great
as it regularly crashes and you have to take the battery out etc.
broadband speeds with the 3G and accessing emails is so easy and
fast. the QUERKY keypad is an much easier way of typing rather then
using a touch screen keypad. overall i am so impressed with the
n97 mini and do not plan on replacing it for another phone for a
long time (partly because i have a 24month contract ha ha) Rating:
Reviewed by Rob from Uk on 19th
Nov 2009
This phone is certainly not an Iphone killer as suggested above.
It's a good phone but just too similar to the original N97. Its
almost what the N97 should have been in the first place. Its more
like a 5800 with a key board and updated home screen...nothing more
nothing less...an overall good phone but certainly not excellent
or outstanding. Rating:
Reviewed by - from UK on 12th
Nov 2009
Excellent phone, no complaints Rating:
Reviewed by Mick from UK on 11th
Nov 2009
First impressions - I've had my N97 Mini for 4 days, a free upgrade
on Orange from an N95 (it's an unbranded phone, I upgraded via Phones
4 U). So far I'm very happy with it. Basic usability - calls are
clear and easy to make and take. A minor issue is when calling automated
lines which request the first or fifth letter of your password (Orange
was the guilty party!) - the dialler in call mode does not have
letters displayed which makes life a bit difficult! Texting is straightforward
and input is easy, both via that onscreen alphanumeric keypad and
the qwerty hardware keypad, I prefer the latter for long messages,
the onscreen keypad is better for a quick reply. The contact list
is standard Symbian, very flexible and easy to use. I find the qwuerty
keypad very handy when browsing the internet, and when onscreen
links are too small for my fat fingers (the keys are quite small,
and the top row is slightly masked by the phone body) the arrow
and enter keys work fine. The browser itself is the standard Nokia
offering, adequate if not terribly exciting. I also installed Opera,
which occasionally throws up an out of memory message (but continues
to work normally). On the subject of memory, I read in reviews and
forums that the standard N97 suffers from inadequate space on the
c: drive - reports of between 20 and 40 mb free. Nokia appear to
have addressed this in the Mini, and I have 240 mb free on my c:
drive. The mass memory is 8 Gb which is plenty for me, but you can
add a hot-swappable card up to 16 Gb. I just have an old 2 Gb card
that was in my N95 installed. The camera is on a par with my N95
- fine for snaps in reasonable light, and can replace a dedicated
camera if you're not too ambitious, if you want to take lots of
low light or action pictures then you need to take a proper camera.
Music player will be familiar to anybody with a recent N-Series
- I find it intuitive and does the job. The headphones are adequate,
and there's a standard jack if you want to use your own. The touchscreen
is responsive, and the menu structure will be familiar to anybody
coming from an S60 phone, but the double touch to open a menu item
in a list is slightly counter-intuitive at first, (icons open on
a single touch) however it becomes second nature very quickly. Some
items have moved around, however, and it took me about half an hour
to find the sync settings to synchronise my new mobile with Google
- but once I found it, it all worked seamlessly. The calendar again
is familiar to Symbian users, intuitive but slightly inflexible
- you can't schedule something to repeat on a 4-weekly or 12-weekly
basis, for example, you're stuck with weekly, monthly and annual.
The display is bright, clear and sharp with excellent colour reproduction
- November in the UK sadly does not provide conditions for me to
comment on its performance in bright sunlight, but in normal conditions
it is excellent. The battery lasts the day, but with not much to
spare, although to be fair I have been playing around with the phone
a lot. I guess it's no worse than the N95 battery, but certainly
no better. Overall, and on brief exposure, I'm very happy with my
new phone and would recommend it. Rating:
Reviewed by josh traynor from u k on
9th Nov 2009
best phone ever ipone killer Rating:
Reviewed by MINT from ENSLAND on
8th Nov 2009
EXCELLENT PHONE , HAD N95 BEFORE AND THAT WAS GOOD BUT THIS IS THE
ONE ITS GOT IT ALL ,ON VODAFONE AND NO PROBLEMS WITH CRASHING ,CAMERA
LENS ,BATTRY LIFE , PS LITTLE TIP GET THE BLACK HANDSET NOT THE
WHITE LOOKS A LOT BETTER , GET ONE YOU WILL LOVE IT . Rating:
