Nokia N90 Review

Overall Rating

Build quality
Camera
Symbian operating system
Top quality internal screen

Weight
Bulk
Side joystick control
Battery consumption

I've just spent a week in the company of the Nokia N90 mobile phone, and it's been 7 days of mixed emotions!

I've used Nokia 'smart phones' before with their Symbian operating system, and I find them quite user friendly once you get the hang of them. The N90 is no exception on the O/S side of things; with a wealth of great features and a superb internal screen. The selling point though for this latest N-Series is its Carl Zeiss Optics equipped 2.0 mega pixel camera. This is mounted on the top of the phone on its own twist mount. This makes the N90 a little bulky to say the least, and also adds to its weight. The controls for the camera zoom, light balance and shutter release are located on the top right hand side of the N90, and I found them a bit difficult to use. Others are located on the top of the internal display, and they were very user friendly!

Away from the camera though, you can't forget you've got the N90 in your pocket, and the ladies did give me a curious look when I had it in my trousers! I think they were happy to see me.

The quality of the pictures and video from the Nokia's camera makes up for its bulk; with good clarity and vibrant colours on prints and video. When I compared its results with a Sony Ericsson K750 it appeared that the Sony still had the edge overall, but of course that is subjective.

In daily use the N90 is heavy and unwieldy, and its battery could only manage a couple of days with occasional calls and some use of bluetooth. Call quality was good, as was reception, but I can't get to like the intelligent voice controlled dialling system on the new Nokia's. I know it takes up memory, but I still prefer to record my voice dials on a 'per contact' basis!

So (In My Humble Opinion), if you want a 'Symbian' equipped handset with all the benefits that brings in terms of download-ability AND a good quality 2.0 mega-pixel camera, forget the N90 and buy an N70. If you want good quality pictures AND a compact phone with a top quality easy to use interface, then look no further than the Sony K750.