Nokia’s powerhouse N97 touchscreen, QWERTY keyboard-packing smartphone may have arrived to mixed reviews, but its new, rescaled Nokia N97 Mini stablemate offers a refreshed take on the device.

Its ‘Mini’ moniker doesn’t mean this is a heavily stripped down version of the original N97, however.

While it does pare down some elements of the N97 – such as a smaller screen and reduced internal flash memory from 32GB to 8GB – the N97 Mini is still a big hitter in the pure feature count department.

The N97 Mini is a full touchscreen smartphone device, running on Nokia’s Symbian S60 5th Edition platform – previously seen on recent models like the N97 and 5800 XpressMusic.

It has a 3.2-inch display, and has a slide-out full QWERTY keyboard with a tilting screen, and, geared up to be a web-orientated multimedia device, it supports high-speed HSDPA mobile data as well as Wi-Fi connectivity.

It’s loaded up with an impressive amount of applications out of the box, and as well as multimedia player capabilities it has A-GPS location finding with Nokia’s Maps software, plus a 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics.

But as we all know, particularly post-iPhone, smartphone success isn’t just about stacks of features – usability and performance are key to the touchscreen user experience too. So does the N97 Mini affirm the maxim that less can be more?

The typical touchscreen slab look of the Nokia N97 Mini is similar to the original N97, with a minimalist front panel sporting a trio of keys below the screen.

But the bodywork is smaller than the bulky N97 – the N97 Mini measures 113(h) x 52.5(w) x 14.2(d) mm and weighs 138g, compared to the original’s 117.2(h) x 55.3(w) x 15.9-18.25(d)mm, 150g pocket-bulging package.

That doesn’t make the Mini a miniature phone by any stretch – it’s still big, but it does cut a more pocket-friendly figure. While it’s thick for a touchscreen phone nowadays, this is explained away by the slide-out tray containing the QWERTY keyboard. Its build quality is reassuringly substantial, with some metal adding to the casing’s solid feel.

The display is scaled down from the N97′s 3.5-incher to a 3.2-inch screen on the Mini. It’s a 640 x 360 pixels, 16.7 million colour screen that’s lovely and bright, with a decent amount of clarity. It doesn’t have the pixel count of the very best touchscreens on the market, but it looks good enough on this showing for multimedia playback and browsing.

Like its predecessor, a resistive touchscreen is used on the N97 Mini – which means you don’t get the smoothly flowing multi-touch capability of the capacitive screens used on the iPhone and some Android OS-equipped models.

The screen is, though, more responsive to touch than Nokia’s earlier 5800 XpressMusic effort. It may not have quite the gentle-finger-stroke nimbleness of the iPhone but it reacts quickly to prods, taps, drags and swipes, and appears reasonably fluid for a resistive display.

Scrollbars on the side of menus helps scrolling through longer lists, and the operating system generally allows sufficient room to negotiate with finger tapping alone. Indeed, on this model there’s no stylus supplied (unlike the 5800 XpressMusic). It’s not the iPhone, but it’s decently usable.

Under the display, there’s just the touch-sensitive Call and End buttons plus a raised angled Menu key, which pulls up the main menu or (with a long press) shows open applications.

Around the body of the phone, there’s a lock/unlock sprung slider, volume rocker keys and a dedicated camera button. A microUSB port on the side takes care of data connections and charging, while thankfully Nokia has again included a 3.5mm headphone socket on the top of the phone.

A secondary camera for video calls sits on the front above the display, next to a light sensor (which is used to automatically adjusts screen brightness).

The main camera action, though, is on the back. Unlike the original N97, the Mini’s camera has no sliding lens cover to protect it. The lens and LED flash array still sits proud above the back surface though.

The screen still automatically tilts at an angle when the QWERTY keyboard slides out, with a reassuringly rock solid spring-loaded mechanism locking it in place.

The QWERTY keyboard has been given a makeover from the N97; gone is the five-way navigation pad, leaving a bit more finger-room for the 38 keys (which include direction keys). It has a much more usable feel, the rubber-like keys slightly less flush to the surface so you can feel more action as you type.

The space bar is still shifted over to the right rather than central, and while that may not satisfy the touch-typist, it’s very easy to get used to. And, in practice, it’s rather useful when you’re thumb typing when holding the device.

The keyboard buttons have a responsive action, unlike some stodgey phone keyboards; it’s comfortable to type accurately at a reasonable pace, even with our large digits.

The angle of the screen with the keyboard out makes it ideal for typing when sat on a desk. The phone is reasonably well balanced for desk typing – though there is a touch of wobble in the left-hand corner owing to the raised camera lens on the back of the bodywork – something that might have been easily remedied with a slight tweak in the casing design.

Nokia N97 mini Specifications

Design

Dimensions

* Side slide with tilting screen
* Dimensions: 4.45 x 2.07 x .56 in
* Weight (with battery): 4.87 oz
* Additional size and shape information: sliding tilt mechanism

Display and User Interface

* Size: 3.2″
* Resolution: 640 x 360 pixels (QVGA)
* Up to 16.7 million colors
* Resistive touch screen
* Brightness control
* Orientation sensor
* Proximity sensor
* Ambient light detector

Personalization

* Customizable home screen:
o Widgets
o Themes
o Icons
o Shortcuts
o Menu
* Customizable profiles
* Ring tones: mp3, AAC, eAAC, eAAC+, WMA
* Video ring tones
* Themes
o Wallpapers
o Screensavers
o Ring tones
o Installed themes
o Changeable color themes

Hardware

Power Management

* BL-4D 1200 mAh Li-Ion battery
* Talk time (maximum):
o GSM up to 7.17 hours
o WCDMA up to 4 hours
* Standby time (maximum):
o GSM up to 320 hours
o WCDMA up to 310 hours
* Video playback time (nHD, 30 fps, maximum): up to 3.5 hours
* Video recording time (VGA, 30fps, maximum): up to 2.83 hours
* Video call time (maximum): up to 2 hours
* Music playback time (offline mode, maximum): up to 32 hours

Operating Frequency

* Quad band EGSM 850/900/1800/1900
* WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100
* Automatic switching between GSM bands
* Flight mode

Sharing & Internet

Browsing and internet

* Full web browsing of real web pages
* Web browsing with touch control
* Supported markup languages: HTML, XHTML MP, WML, CSS
* Supported protocols: HTTP v1.1, WAP
* TCP/IP support
* Visual history, HTML and JavaScript support, Flash Lite 3.0 and Flash video support
* Nokia Mobile Search
* RSS reader
* Support for Nokia Download! to discover, download, and install add-on applications and widgets
* Support for streaming video
* Photos with view by tag cloud, month, album, slide show, and photo editor
* Online Share with connectivity to popular sharing services
* Nokia XPressPrint: direct printing via USB connection (PictBridge), Bluetooth connectivity (BPP) or via online printing
* Video call and video sharing support (WCDMA network services)

Navigation

GPS and navigation

* Integrated GPS, A-GPS receivers
* Compass and accelerometer for correct orientation of display
* Nokia Maps
* Nokia Maps loader application via PC
* 10-day Walk and Drive navigation license included (some variation by region)*

Photography

Camera

* 5 megapixel camera (2584 x 1938 pixels) with Carl Zeiss optics
* Still image formats: JPEG, EXIF
* Autofocus and dual LED flash
* Zoom up to 14x (digital)
* Secondary camera for video calls (VGA, 640 x 480 pixels)

Other

* 8 GB internal memory, expandable to up to 24 GB with microSD card
* High-Speed USB 2.0 connectivity

Video

Video cameras

* Main camera
o 5 megapixel with Carl Zeiss optics
o Take high-quality 16:9 videos
* Video capture in MPEG-4 up to VGA at 30 fps
* Video clip length: up to 90 minutes
* Video file format: .mp4 (default), .3gp (for MMS)
* Settings for scene, video light, white balance, color tone
* Secondary camera
o QCIF for video calls

Music & audio

Music features

* Nokia Nseries Music Player
* Music Recommender
* Nokia Music Manager (PC application)**
* Music codecs: .MP3, WMA, AAC, eAAC, eAAC+
* Music meta-data ID3 tags, album art
* Bit rate up to 320 kbps
* DRM support WM DRM, OMA DRM 2.0/1.0
* Stereo FM radio (87.5-108 MHz/76-90 MHz), RDS

By Phil Lattimore – TechRadar

The latest addition to the Nokia family is the first device running Maemo 5, a new OS that takes the best of Nokia’s internet tablet range and stuffs it into a phone-sized chassis. Featuring a huge 3.5-inch screen and full slide-out QWERTY keyboard, it’s also packing a seriously strong engine under the hood to power things along. Will the N900 shed the ageing image of Symbian and bring Nokia to the next level to match the likes of the iPhone?

The first thing you notice about the N900 is its size. It’s certainly hefty at 110.9 x 59.8 x 18mm, and the weight of 181g means it’s not going to win any slimming contests either. But it’s worth pointing out that Nokia hasn’t once said that the N900 is a phone, a successor to the N97 or anything along those lines – it sees it as super-charged internet tablet with phone capabilities, rather than the other way around.

That’s not to say it doesn’t have its phone-related charms, but you need to know what you’re getting into with the N900 – it’s a hackers delight and it’s got a huge screen for the internet, but compared to the likes of the HTC Hero it’s a lot, lot bigger.

But with great size comes great stability, and the N900 feels nice in the hand. Slide open the QWERTY keyboard and while it does feel like the key area should be larger, it’s a pleasing motion with a very sturdy feel to it. The large screen dominates the device, and for good reason – the keyboard is an ancillary addition, rather than key to the whole experience.

The outside of the phone feels very stark – as mentioned, the domination of the screen is such that it doesn’t leave any space for physical buttons – we’re not used to a Nokia phone that doesn’t have a call, terminate and menu button to keep us happy.

The outside of the phone houses the buttons (and we feel that a few of these may be in the wrong place). The top of the phone (when held in the landscape format, which you’ll be doing 99 per cent of the time) has, from left to right, the up/down volume key, the centrally placed square power button and the camera shutter too.

And – we know you’re going to love this – there’s an infrared port on the N900 as well. Infrared! We haven’t seen that in years, and we’re not even sure if it was ever really needed on any phone, but couple that with the old charger adaptor in the box and the N900 has a very old-school feel to it.

But dig a little deeper and you’ll see why. We’ve pointed out before how this is an ‘enthusiasts’ device, according to Nokia, and while the manual says that this port doesn’t control any pre-installed applications, it can be used by third-party developers. This means the N900 has the capability to do things like become a universal remote, which is pretty cool indeed.

Scoot round to the right-hand side and you’ll find the lock key, which is a little square slider button. This is where we have the biggest issue – finding this button with your finger requires you to shuffle the phone in the hand a little bit.

Below that there’s the headphone socket, which is raised slightly to allow flush connections with the jack. Given the amount of phones these days that have a curved socket, leaving the headphone connection exposed, this is a welcome change.

However this did bring up one problem in that when holding the phone with the headphones plugged in, it was very uncomfortable, with the plug right in the way of where you would naturally want to hold it.

On both the right- and left-hand side sit the stereo speakers, which offer some pretty decent sound for such a device. Also on the left-hand side is the microUSB slot, which has no cover and will likely get easily filled with bits (we have no idea what bits are, but we know they live in your pocket).

Below the headphone jack is where the stylus sits, easily pulled out using a fingernail. We don’t like its presence on the N900, and don’t really see a need for it, but if you’ve got a resistive screen you might as well use it on the odd occasion you can’t hit some icon or other.

On the back of the phone is the camera and stand. We’d prefer to see said stand (like that seen on the N86 and N96) more central, as the weight of the N900 always makes the phone seem unstable. However, the sliding lens cover for the camera is sturdy enough, and the camera itself well packaged and nicely flush to the chassis.

But in the hand, it somehow feels right. If you’re a smartphone connoisseur (and we assume you probably are given that you’re looking at the chunky-yet-powerful N900) then you’re probably adept at using a touchscreen – and we’re so used to such as well that we often forgot to slide open the keyboard.

But when you do it simply feels right in the hand, both in one- and two-handed operation, although the pressure to use it in landscape mode for nearly everything is annoying as there are times when you want to scroll through a list or something with just a single digit, and it’s not easy to do so

While the depth might not be best suited to iPhone- or Hero-like singl- hand operation, it’s no problem to use the phone in day-to-day life, even if it leaves a more than unsightly bulge in the trousers. But if you want to put a positive spin on things, think of it as safety – at least you’ll know you haven’t lost the phone.

In the box

The Nokia boxes are fast becoming fun-filled arenas of gadget extras, and the N900 is no exception. There’s the now rudimentary microUSB connection lead, a similar charger (no environmental saving here for Nokia) and the so-so bundled in-ear headphones.

We say so-so as they don’t match up to ‘proper’ in-ear buds, but compared to most others available in the box with a phone they’re much, much better, with a range of tips for different ear shapes as well.

In keeping with the new Nokia high-end phone tradition, there’s also a TV-out cable, allowing you to pump whatever you’ve got on the phone onto a bigger screen to share with your friends. And last but not least, a convertor for not only the newer single-pin Nokia charger, but also the older one from donkey’s years ago. Whoever would have a Nokia from five years ago and then decide to move to an N900 is beyond us, but it’s always useful to cover your bases.

By Gareth Beavis – TechRadar

Nokia N900 Tech Specs

Hardware

Dimensions

* Form: side-slider
* Dimensions: 4.37 x 2.35 x .77 in
* Weight (with battery): 6.38 oz
* Volume: ~113 cc
* Additional size and shape information:
o Touch screen
o Side-slide full keyboard
o Kick-stand

Display and User Interface

* Size: 3.5″ touch display
* Resolution: 800 x 480 pixels (WVGA)
* Desktop with up to 4 personalizable views
* Landscape and portrait (for voice calls) modes
* 3D Graphics acceleration with support for OpenGL ES 2.0
* Brightness control
* Ambient light detector

Keys and Input Methods

* Touch screen with:
o tactile full QWERTY keyboard with word prediction
o virtual on-screen keyboard
o pen input option with stylus
* Dedicated zoom keys
* Dedicated camera
* Dedicated volume keys
* Lock key
* Notification light
* Camera key

Memory

* Up to 32 GB internal storage
* microSD memory card extension, hotswappable, up to 16 GB* (sold separately)
* Total available application memory up to 1 GB (256 MB RAM, 768 MB virtual memory)

Operating Frequency

* Optimized for WCDMA 900/1700/2100
* Quad-band EGSM 850/900/1800/1900
* Optimized for 3G networks on WCDMA 900/1700/2100 Quad-band EGSM 850/900/1800/1900

Data Network

* GPRS class A, multislot class 32, maximum speed up to 107/64.2 kbps (DL/UL)
* EDGE class A, multislot class 32, maximum speed up to 296/177.6 kbps (DL/UL)
* WCDMA 900/1700/2100. Maximum speed PS up to 384/384 kbps (DL/UL)
* HSPA, maximum speed up to 10 Mbps (DL), 2 Mbps (UL)
* WLAN IEEE 802.11b/g
* WLAN Security: WEP, WPA, WPA2
* WLAN wizard
* Designed for continuous TCP/IP connectivity
* Capability to serve as data modem via USB connection

Connectivity

* Bluetooth version 2.1
* Bluetooth profiles: HFP, HSP, A2DP, AVRCP, FTP, OPP
* UPnP support
* Micro-USB connector supporting charging and High-Speed USB 2.0
* TV out (PAL & NTSC) with Nokia Video Connectivity Cable (CA-75U)
* Support for MS Outlook synchronization of contacts, calendar and notes

Design

Personalization

* Customizable profiles
* Panoramic Desktop with up to 4 views
* Widgets
* Ring tones: .wav, .mp3, .AAC, .eAAC, .wma
* Pre-installed themes
* Panorama wallpapers
* Shortcuts to websites, contacts, and applications

Software and applications

Operating system

* Maemo 5 software and user interface with direct touch logic, 3D accelerated graphics, and multiwindow multitasking menu logic

Applications

* Maemo Browser
* Phone
* Conversations (SMS, Internet Messenger)
* Contacts
* Camera
* Photos
* Media player
* Email
* Calendar
* Ovi Maps
* Clock
* Notes
* Calculator
* PDF reader
* File manager
* RSS reader
* Sketch
* Games
* Widgets
* Application manager for downloads

Other

* Data transfer application for transfer of PIM information from other compatible Nokia devices
* Update the latest OS software and applications with the automatic over-the-internet updates. Maemo update notifies you every time new free software is available.

Communications

Email and messaging

* Supported protocols: Mail for Exchange, IMAP, POP3, SMTP
* Support for email attachments
* Support for rich HTML
* SMS and instant messages organized as conversations
* Support for Nokia Messaging service
* Instant messaging and Presence-enhanced contacts
* Multiple number, email and Instant Messaging details per contact, contacts with images
* Support for assigning images to contacts

Call Management

* Integrated hands-free stereo speakers
* Call waiting, call hold, call divert
* Call timer
* Logging of dialed, received and missed calls
* Speed dialing via contact widget
* Vibrating alert (internal)
* Side volume keys
* Mute/unmute
* Contacts with images
* Conference calling with up to 3 participants
* Internet calling

Sharing and internet

Web browsing

* Maemo Browser powered by Mozilla technology
* Rich internet content:
o Adobe® Flash® Player 9.4
o AJAX support (Javascript 1.8, XML)
o HTML, XHTML, CSS
* Rich gesture based interactions

Photography

Camera

* 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss autofocus camera with dual LED flash (4:3 and 16:9 ratio)
* CMOS sensor, Carl Zeiss optics, Tessar lens 2.8/5.2
* Image formats: JPEG/EXIF
* Dual LED flash
* Autofocus with two-stage capture key
* Focal length: 5.2
* Focus range: 10 cm to infinity
* Full-screen viewfinder
* Active toolbar
* Dedicated camera key
* Sliding lens cover for protection and camera activation

Other

* Photo editor on device
* TV out (NTSC/PAL) with Nokia Video Connectivity Cable (CA-75U)
* UPNP via WLAN supported
* Tag, geo-tag, edit and share photos and videos
* Add context to your photos with tag cloud:Tag format support: XMP, IPTC

Video

Video Cameras

* Main camera
o Wide screen video recording at up to 800 x 480 pixels (WVGA,.mp4: MPEG4, AAC)
* Front camera: VGA web camera

Video sharing and playback

* Video playback file formats: .mp4, .avi, .wmv, .3gp; codecs: H.264, MPEG-4,   Xvid, WMV, H.263
* Video streaming: H.264, MPEG-4, Xvid, WMV, H.263 in .avi, .mp4, .wmv, .asf and .3gp containers
* Video playback in landscape format
* TV out (PAL and NTSC) with Nokia Video Connectivity Cable (CA-75U)
* UPnP via WLAN supported

Music and Audio

Music playback and streaming

* Media player
* Music playback file formats: .mp3, .wma, .aac, .m4a, .wav
* Audio streaming, UPnP music streaming
* Ring tone formants: Wav, MP3, AAC, eAAC
* Dedicated volume keys
* 3.5 mm stereo audio connector
* Integrated stereo speakers
* Music meta-data: ID3 tabs, album art
* Bit rate up to 320 kbps
* FM Transmitter
* FM radio requires headset to be attached.