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Nokia Open Studio Fall 2006

N75 N95 5300 Comments  30  

Sep 27, 2006, 9:28 AM   by Rich Brome

Hands-on with the new Nokia N75, N95, and 5300.

At a large event in New York City today, Nokia revealed the latest additions to its Nseries line of high-end flagship phones. The N95 is Nokia's first HSDPA phone, and also packs in just about every feature imaginable. The N75 isn't as ambitious, but still holds its own quite well, and - most importantly - should have the honor of being the first Nokia WCDMA phone offered by a major US carrier. It should also be the first Nseries phone with a major carrier.

 

The N75 marks Nokia's third attempt at bringing a WCDMA phone to a major US carrier. The first was the N80, followed by the 6282. We're hoping that the third time is a charm for Nokia.

To be fair, there's every reason to believe that the N75 will launch as planned. For one, it was designed from the ground-up for the U.S. market, instead of a spin-off of a European model as with past attempts. Hence the clamshell form factor favored by Americans, and more importantly the inclusion of WCDMA 850 for full compatibility with Cingular's 3G network. Nokia also took the unusual step of waiting until just a couple of months before launch to announce it; Nokia often announces major new phones further in advance of launch. It seems like they waited until they were really certain it would launch as planned.

Although Nokia can't officially discuss the carrier that will offer the N75, Cingular is the only one with a fully compatible 3G network, so they're pretty much the only possibility.

At first glance, the N75 seems like a cross between the N71 (an older clamshell Nseries phone) and 6133. The features are nearly the same as the N71, while the form factor is slimmer and sleeker, like the 6133. Technology-wise, the N75 doesn't add many features on top of the N71. Most notably, it lacks stereo Bluetooth and HSDPA. When asked, a Nokia spokesperson said the lack of both features was a time-to-market issue.

Nokia was quick to point out the more advanced external display interface and accompanying front and side control keys. It's easy to dismiss these as simply a larger display and media keys, but it's actually much more.

 

While it's not quite the full Series 40 interface that Nokia puts on the outside of phones like the 9300, the interface is surprisingly rich and sophisticated. It's made possible by a 128 x 160 color display (the same resolution found on the main display of cheaper mass-market phones) and media keys that double as soft keys, plus useful side keys for navigation.

A full music player interface is provided; not just previous / next track, etc. The functionality you can access without opening the phone rivals most standalone music players.

Pressing the camera button brings up a full camera interface on the outer display, so you can hold the phone like a normal camera, an unusual feature for a clamshell-style phone.

We also happened upon a calendar interface, and got the feeling the outer display could do even more if we had time to really delve into it.

Unlike many other color external displays, this one is extremely easy to see and read the time and date in idle mode when the backlight is off.

 

The N75 isn't quite as thin as a RAZR, but it's still relatively thin, and does have an overall thin and light feel to it, while still feeling very solid.

Look for the N75 to hit shelves around the middle of the fourth quarter. That should mean November, just in time for the holiday shopping season. As always, release dates are very subject to change. The price will be $399 unsubsidized, meaning it should be much lower with a new or renewed contract, rebates, etc.

About the author, Rich Brome:

Editor in Chief Rich became fascinated with cell phones in 1999, creating mobile web sites for phones with tiny black-and-white displays and obsessing over new phone models. Realizing a need for better info about phones, he started Phone Scoop in 2001, and has been helming the site ever since. Rich has spent two decades researching and covering every detail of the phone industry, traveling the world to tour factories, interview CEOs, and get every last spec and photo Phone Scoop readers have come to expect. As an industry veteran, Rich is a respected voice on phone technology of the past, present, and future.

Comments

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This forum is closed.

Phairoh

Sep 27, 2006, 2:02 PM

N95 Bands

I would just like to get clarification, if I could.

In this preview, you said that the N95 is Quad-Band GSM. I assume this is correct since I'm guessing you were there and asked that specific question. However, on the official N-Series site (www.nokia.com/nseries/), the tech specs say that it is tri-band GSM (EDGE/GSM 900/1800/1900 + WCDMA 2100 MHz networks).

So, to the best of anyone's knowledge, which is it?
It is absolutely, positively quad-band GSM.

The spec sheets handed out to press (paper, PDF, and PowerPoint) at the launch event say quad-band. The product people at the event said that it is quad-band. I also just confirmed yet again with a Nokia ...
(continues)
...
Does this discussion about N95 being quad band mean that it will have complete coverage on the Cingular network?
ghettoknight92

Oct 6, 2006, 10:22 PM

3G?? HSDPA??

Can someone explain to me how this phone [Nokia N95] has HSDPA but is not 3G? I don't understand the qualifications for either, because the glossary makes it seem as if it should be 3G because HSDPA is an upgrade of UMTS or WCDMA...

Thanks...
Who said the N95 is not 3G? 😕

You are correct that HSDPA is 3G, so the N95 is definitely 3G.

However, the N95 only has 3G for European bands, so if you were to buy it for use here in the US, it would not work in 3G mode here.
...
Invader J

Oct 2, 2006, 10:10 PM

"version for the US", har har.

Please, their version of the N95 for the US is more than likely going to be on Cingular. With no high-speed, only EDGE, because the GSM providers are the damn losers in the speed race. I'd ditch my contract and move to Cingular, despite less-than-stellar NYC reception, just for the US version of this phone - but only if they keep the feature set in parity with the overseas one.

Not likely.

😢 😢 😢
the liklihood of this phone landing in cingular's hands is about the same as was the n80 - it's not happening.
Can someone tell me if the N95 is really coming to the US.
Rich Brome

Oct 12, 2006, 6:42 PM

New size-comparison photos

We just added some extra photos of the N75 and N95.

For the N75, we have some more shots of the external display camera interface in action, plus some additional side-by-side shots of it next to other phones for size comparison.

We also added a couple of additional N95 size-comparison photos.
jsmith9147

Oct 10, 2006, 4:27 PM

what megapixel

is it a 5mp?
The N95 is 5 megapixel.

The N75 is 2 megapixel.
temptemp

Oct 5, 2006, 9:31 AM

when does N95 launch?

i know that it launch in Q1 2007,but someone told me that it have in Finland ready. i wanna know it launch or not.
Etix

Sep 30, 2006, 8:16 AM

5300??

Are those faceplates so you can change the color, or are you stuck with red??
mmc4009

Sep 29, 2006, 12:18 AM

N95 traffic and weather for navigation?

I was wondering does the navigation on the Nokia N95 has traffic monitoring and weather updates on the maps?
I think the default mapping application on the N95 is TeleAtlas. Some versions of that do support traffic:

http://www.teleatlas.com/Pub/Products/Dynamic_Data/i ... »

...although I don't know specifically about the N95 implementation.

The N9...
(continues)
...
Sam K

Sep 28, 2006, 12:21 PM

Confused about WCMDA / HSDPA capabilities in N75

The article states that the N75 supports WCDMA but "lacks HSDPA". I thought they were the same but after looking at the PhoneScoop glossary, it appears that HSDPA is an upgraded version WCDMA. I thought that Cingular only supports HSDPA. Does that mean that they also support WCDMA kind of like how EDGE phones also support GPRS? Can a WCDMA capable phone like the N75 take advantage of the HSDPA capabilities on the Cingular network but just at a slower speed?
WCDMA is a top speed of 700kb per second. while hsdpa is 1.8mb per second. they are based of the same principals but hsdpa is significantly faster. think of the way that edge and gprs phones are. gprs may be available but it does not mean they are edg...
(continues)
Sam K said:
The article states that the N75 supports WCDMA but "lacks HSDPA". I thought they were the same but after looking at the PhoneScoop glossary, it appears that HSDPA is an upgraded version WCDMA. I thought that Cingular
...
(continues)
tribalb

Sep 28, 2006, 10:24 AM

N95 rocks!

good god that phone is off the hook...whats gonna suck is the price...with all those features i cant imagine that not being more than a grand. sigh...guess ill wait another 2 years when the price drops. least then when i do get it i wont have trouble finding programs for it.
themightylife

Sep 27, 2006, 10:05 AM

End of the PopPort?

Thanks for a great recap. The best I have seen from the show.

I still have not been able to tell if the new N series have the horrible PopPort. Nobody took pictures of the bottoms of these phones..

Please get rid of the PopPort Nokia!
The N75 has a Pop-Port on the side:

https://www.phonescoop.com/articles/nokia_nx5/index. ... »

...behind the door near the top. We didn't take a photo of the bottom because there's nothing there.

The N95, like the N91, uses ...
(continues)
im gonna go with.... wEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! 🤣
...
ajpprc

Sep 28, 2006, 12:05 AM

Complete Roundup of N-Series Coverage

www.mobile-penguin.com
 
 
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