Huge memory. Combines touchscreen and QWERTY keyboard. Great screenCons
Looks a little chubby. No Xenon flash
All together nowRemember the halcyon days, when your mother selflessly baked all of your favourite foods for one glorious meal? The Nokia chef is serving up exactly that with this scrumptious, feature-packed N97 "mobile computer".
Tasty ingredients on offer include the touchscreen from the Nokia 5800 Tube - an overdue first for the N-series, plus a web-friendly slide out QWERTY keypad a la the E-series, and the fabulous camera and multimedia features you'd expect from previous N-series releases.
The Android-based G1 proved that a QWERTY slider is still coveted in the face of touchscreen mania and the N97 could boast the best yet. The arching action is ridiculously smooth, resting at a handy 45-degree angle, and the rubber keys are nicely spaced meaning less typos than the Oxford English Dictionary. The D-pad is also super-handy for web browsing.
Internet Access through Wi-Fi and HSDPA is swift, but the N97 is more for the social networker than the businessman as the interface is not quite as tuned to instant email access as on E-series phones like the new E75.
Like the N96, there's a 5-megapixel camera with a dual-flash Carl Zeiss lens for some super detailed pictures that can be easily geo-tagged through the A-GPS and uploaded through OVI-share.
Size-wise, the candy bar-shaped N97 isn't burdened too much by the array of mighty specs. It's longer, but no thicker than the N96 despite the addition of a keyboard and the huge 32GB (48GB with a microSD card) on-board memory.
Sadly, however, there's one or two bits and bobs conspicuous by their absence. Comes With Music has done another runner for a start. Nokia has backed itself into a corner with just how good of a deal the unlimited download service is, so it's unlikely we'll see it on flagship handsets anytime soon. It's still capable of blasting out some seriously loud tuneage, but the music player isn't as slick as the XpressMusic. Video looks superb on the 3.5-inch 16:9 screen, but on the prototype model we reviewed there was no sign of the BBC iPlayer, although it remains to be seen whether Nokia will add this when the full handset is completed.
While still a really great all-round player, the N97 isn't quite the sum of its brothers' and sisters' borrowed parts. It's still a case of choosing a phone that does everything very well, or a one that does a couple of things brilliantly. The N97 is the former, but is definitely Nokia's most complete handset yet.
There's still no definite word on the pricing or availability, however if eXpansys is correct, it will launch in June on the 23rd, for £699.99.
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