Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #39330 in Cell Phone Accessories
- Color: Black
- Brand: Nokia
- Model: N97 Black
- Released on: 2009-05-18
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 4.61" h x
.63" w x
2.18" l,
.30 pounds
Features
- This unlocked cell phone is compatible with GSM carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile. Not all carrier features may be supported. It will not work with CDMA carriers like Verizon Wireless, Alltel and Sprint.
- Unlocked quad-band GSM cell phone compatible with 850/900/1800/1900 frequencies and US/International 3G compatibility via 850/1900/2100 UMTS/HSDPA plus GPRS/EDGE capabilities
- Flip-out full QWERTY keyboard; A-GPS and Nokia Maps; Wi-Fi networking; Bluetooth stereo music; 32 GB internal memory; expandable via MicroSD
- Up to 9.5 hours of GSM talk time (6 hours on 3G, up to 430 hours (17.9 days) of standby time
- What's in the Box: Nokia N97, Nokia Battery (BP-4L), travel charger (AC-10U), connectivity cable (CA-101), wired headset (AD-54, HS-45), charger adapter (CA-146), cleaning cloth
Nokia N97 Unlocked Phone, Touchscreen, 3G, 5 MP Camera, A-GPS, 32 GB, MicroSD Slot, and Integrated Ovi Applications--U.S. Version with Warranty (Black)
Product Description
The Nokia N97 mobile phone provides excellent user experience for internet and entertainment by combining QWERTY keyboard with resistive touch screen. Integrated A-GPS. 5 mega pixel camera. Video.A-GPS is a network dependant feature that requires a data plan. Additional charges may apply Personalize your homescreen arrow Have all of your content and connections at your fingertips on the beautiful personalizable home screen. Manage and access your internet directly from the intuitive user interface and enjoy the experience through the 3.5" sliding tilt display. Touch and QWERTY for connections to people and places arrow Enjoy the fast and fun ways to connect to your friends. Discover, share and navigate with Nokia Maps and the integrated compass that keeps you facing the right direction all the time. Downloading maps and/or navigating with Nokia Maps may involve the transmission of large amounts of data through your cellular service provider’s network. Contact your service provider for information about data transmission charges. The availability and accuracy of GPS location services are dependent on wireless networks, satellite systems. It may not function in all areas or at all times. You should never rely solely on GPS products for essential communications like emergencies. Indulge in videos, music and pictures arrow Have all your entertainment on board with up to 32 GB of storage. Get more from Ovi Store arrow Download apps, games, videos, and widgets directly to your device.
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
306 of 316 people found the following review helpful.
By Ali Razeghi
Hello and thank you for reading this review.I am a phone app developer and have had some 'face time' with the Nokia N97. I'll let you know some of the more in depth details so you can decide if this is the right phone for you or not. There are many positive features about this phone, but a few potential pitfalls for power users as well. Average users will probably never notice any of the pitfalls, but probably will never use some of the best features of this phone either to justify the cost.This is the new Nokia flagship phone and it packs almost every feature anyone could ever want. It has a DVD quality camcorder with sample videos found here:http://www.vimeo.com/4352001Notice how well the mic picks up the creeks of the boats in Monte Carlo, and how rich the colors look. That is due to the Carl Zeiss lens Nokia has put in. The quality is also great and can be sent directly to the TV via the TV out cable, but I would recommend making a DVD from the memory card as the quality of the cable isn't as good as the DVD quality this phone provides. Video starts up quickly, which is an improvement from the previous versions.The pictures taken by this phone are of very good quality. Many consumers are fooled by 'megapixels' (mp). Well folks, after 5mp or so, mp doesn't mean much. All it does is make your picture size better, it does NOT increase the QUALITY. I assume most of us aren't pro graphic artists that need huge pictures to zoom in on the most minute detail, and if you are, then you probably don't need this review :PThe lens and picture quality of this phone is superb, but not as good as the Samsung 8 sadly. It is by far tho, one of the best mobile phone cameras around. You can notice some problems in darker areas and they went with a dual LED flash instead of the Xeon gas flash. The Xeon gas flash would have provided much better lighting in low light situations, however as a phone enthusiast I feel it's good enough.View sample images from thesymbianblog.com:http://vaibhavsharma.wordpress.com/files/2009/05/nokia-n97-camera-photo-sample-01.jpgandhttp://vaibhavsharma.wordpress.com/files/2009/05/nokia-n97-camera-photo-sample-03.jpgJudge for yourself.This phone is a TRUE smart phone OS which means you can download apps for it such as VPN software to connect to your office network and apps such as PUTTY or RDP clients to remote control real computers at the house/office. With 3G speeds the potential is limitless.Now for the bad. Nokia decided to use the old ARM II CPU found in the N85, 95, etc. phones but increased the clockspeed (mhz) slightly. We were looking forward to the new TI cpu which would have provided much better speeds, at the cost of battery life. They also stuck with 128mb ram with about 80mb available after boot up. I don't know about you but after I load up all of my apps and get cranking, I eat that up. I was able to notice some slow down in the pre-build when I:-opened up several websites w/ flash content-ran the music player-opened up 'widget' applications-tried basic functionalityMost users will probably never do that. If you are a power user, then you probably already know about the Samsung Omnia HD which boasts of similer features, but also the new faster CPU and dedicated GFX chip which means you can play Ipod type 3d games with ease. The final point is with the potentially underpowered CPU, you will not be able to play the super high resolution videos the Samsung can play.Finally this phone has the slower 3G speeds which don't reach 7mbps, will you need 7mbps? Probably not. I think for 99% of users, the current 3G speeds offered by this phone are fine.I tried out the phone and pre-ordered, I can't wait to get it. I can't wait to develop some 'widget' applications for it and really see the power of this phone with the newer more stable build.Thank you for reading this, feel free to respond, yell, scream, or ask any questions!
79 of 82 people found the following review helpful.
By Tor Slettnes
[This is an updated review; some of the issues that existed when the N97 was first released have since been addressed. Also, I have moved some of the more elaborate details of the original text into a new review ("A Guide") that I created for the white version.]Nokia E- and N-series phones have for some years now had, by far, more capabilities than anything else out there - but they have not always been the sexiest or had the widest mass appeal. Plus, although Nokia sell more smartphones than anyone else worldwide, they have not targeted or marketed the US market very heavily (thanks in part to our combination of non-standard wireless technologies and frequencies, consumers' focus on style over substance, and Nokia's unwillingness to cater to the fairly heavy-handed branding and crippling of functionality demanded by US network providers).Much of that is changing with the N97. As you can see it definitely has the visual appeal. Also, its main enhancements over the most recent N-series phones (such as the N95, N96 and N85) are user interface centric:>> 640x360 WVGA LCD>> Touch screen>> QWERTY keypad>> Faster CPU (ARM11 at 420 MHz vs. 332/369 MHz in the N95/N85, and two ARM9 cores at 265 MHz in the N96)>> Configurable widgets for the home screenThere are a couple of other improvements as well:>> 32GB of built-in storage, µSDHC card slot for up to 32GB more (Nokia always advertise only the tested configuration, 16GB)>> Additional sensors: Magnometer (electronic compass), ProximitySo, yes, Nokia have finally bit the dust and moved onto the post-iPhone touch screen bandwagon. But whereas Apple borrowed quite a few UI elements from the Motorola Ming, and other manufacturers in turn tried to copy the iPhone look and feel, Nokia has taken a decidely different approach: They have taken most of their new design elements from their own Internet Tablets line (e.g. exchangable home screen widgets, keypad layout, etc). They have also done so while keeping the underlying OS from their previous smartphones, Symbian/S60.I don't care much for this direction. To this day, I would take the E90 any day over the N97, had it been released with support for North American 3G (UMTS) bands. The E90 does not have a touch screen, but does have a numeric keypad on the outside in addition to the QWERTY inside the shell -- this allows you to "type" with one hand using the native T9 predictive input, and mostly keep your eyes elsewhere while dri... eh... walking.As it is, Nokia ended up with touch screen phones (starting with the 5800 XpressMusic) kicking and screaming - it kindof shows. The user interaction paradigm is a little odd at times -- probably mostly due to the S60 legacy. [Lipstick/pig joke deliberately omitted here]. For instance:>> You need to double-tap on icons (once to select, once to open)>> They still retain "soft keys" on the side to access menus an the like (though now they are located on the display itself, and occupying quite a bit of space). The home (previously "standby") screen has three soft keys; the left and middle are always "Options" and a a dial pad, while the right one is configurable ("Contacts") by default.There are some other usability issues with this phone as well:>> Copy & Paste functionality is a bit more cumbersome. There are no keypad shortcuts; with the keypad open, cut/copy/paste are only available via the menus! Moreover, not all text input screens have such a menu available - in which case you need to close they keypad in order to bring up a virtual numeric keypad with a context menu at the top of the screen. Or, if you use an external Bluetooth keyboard, you can press Ctrl-X/C/V.>> The keypad layout is a little unusual at first. The navigation keys are on the left (which some gamers like, but I don't). The space bar is in an odd location on the right. Mixed alpha/numeric input is cumbersome because the digits 0-9 are "shifted" via a key on the right side of the keyboard, while the standard shift key is on the left. Plus, in some dialogs you get a helpful numeric keypad on your screen, but it defaults to text input (2=abc, 3=def, etc) rather than give you quicker access to digits! (Why, Nokia? You already have the keyboard? What are you thinking?). That said, the tactile feedback is good, not too "firm" or "clicky", but with a good feedback.>> There is a nice E-mail status widget for the home screen, but you can only have one of these. If you have multiple e-mail accounts (e.g. for work/home), you can only monitor one of them. The same goes for some of the other widgets too.>> Direct media controls are gone (the N95/N96/N85 had a dual slider design giving ready access to play/pause/previous/next). There is a home screen widget available, but it is hardly as convenient (e.g. if you are using an application, typing a mail, etc).Some other limitations that I found so far when compared to their previous N-series phones:>> The amount of available RAM (dynamic memory) available for applications is low (around 55MB, versus about 75MB in the N85/N95). UPDATE 2009-07-01: This may not be an issue after all. With the latest firmware update from Nokia, the available memory seems to have increased to about 65MB - and in general, the only time I have had a "out of memory" error was while running RoadSync, which explicitly warns that it is not compatible with this phone.>> Adobe Reader is no longer included in the price of the phone. It is still preinstalled, but now only on a trial basis. If you want to continue using it after some days (about 3 weeks I gather), you need to purchase it - similar to QuickOffice.>> The number of applications available for this phone is somewhat more limited; this is only the second Nokia phone to use the new S60 5th edition user interface w/touch-screen support. Although most of the older applications will still run on it, there may be some that don't. Notably, Nokia Internet Radio is not included, nor is it available for download yet. :(>> Synchronization of phone contacts/events/todos is not yet supported on the Mac, as Nokia have not as of the time of this writing released an iSync plugin for it. (You can still synchronize with Microsoft Exchange, use the built-in "Switch" application to copy contacts from another Nokia phone, or you can transfer contacts as vCards from another phone).>> Getting Bluetooth Stereo Audio (A2DP/AVRCP) to work with your Bluetooth car stereo is hit and miss. More on my experiences in this regard in the "white" model review.>> The UI is generally a bit "sluggish" - moreso than my previous phone, the Nokia N85, despite a faster processor. The touch UI probably has a lot to do with this. (Then again, both the N95 and certainly the N96 did not break any speed records by any stretch of the imagination).All that said, most of these issues are software/firmware related, and will improve over time. As it is, the N97 is perhaps the most capable phone on the planet today -- a jack of all trades, if you will. It certainly has improved over previous N-Series phones in a number of ways as well:>> E-mail reading is dramatically improved - especially in clients with HTML support (e.g. System SEVEN). Also, because most of these integrate into the "Messaging" application, messages are listed much more nicely in the mailbox -- the larger screen is used very well here.>> Web browsing - what a pleasure. This was the main attraction of the iPhone - but I think the N97 surpasses it. Kinetic scrolling, variable zoom, and quite a speed improvement. Of course the previous strengths are there too - the way the "Back" button brings up snapshot views of your previously viewed pages, Flash, etc.>> The phone has quite a "solid" feel to it, without feeling like a tank.To be sure, there are phones out there with better cameras (e.g. Samsung Pixon), more newbie-friendly user interfaces (iPhone), better support for a variety of corporate e-mail standards (Blackberry), and so on - but hardly any that have the combination of all these features in one device. The closest may be the close cousin Samsung Omnia HD, which:>> runs the same OS, has the same screen resolution and many other features>> has a better camera (yeah "megapixel blur" but also optics), HD video recording>> faster CPU (600 MHz vs 420 MHz)but:>> does not have good support for U.S. 3G frequencies, and>> does not have a keypad (QWERTY or otherwise).These two shortcomings pretty much kills the Omnia HD as an alternative for me.Also, aside from the N85, the N97 is the first Nokia phone to support tri-band UMTS ("worldwide" 3G). This means that you will get 3G speeds (mostly) where they are available: 850/1900 MHz for AT&T Wireless and other carriers in the Americas, 2100 MHz elsewhere (including Japan). That said, for complete worldwide coverage you would need "penta-band" UMTS, with the additional inclusion of 900 MHz for Europe, and 1700 MHz for T-Mobile USA. No phones currently support all of these bands. NOTE: There is also a "standard" version of the N97 for international markets, with support for 900/2100 MHz internationally and 1900 MHz for roaming in the Americas.You probably won't see this phone subsidized on contract by a carrier anytime soon. The primary candidate would be AT&T - but it looks like they have passed on it (perhaps they don't believe it has mass market appeal). Then again, if you are looking to get this phone, you are not likely to be the type of person who would accept their lockdowns in the first place. Look no further than the differences between the unlocked Nokia E71 versus AT&T's E71x for a prime example: In AT&T's version, various features are disabled (keyboard shortcuts for copy&paste, the S60 native e-mail reader, network selection), and instead a number of non-removable, non-renamable, non-movable AT&T specific applications are installed.Another upside of buying an unlocked phone like this is that it may cost you less in the long run. It seems I'm unable to get actual numbers past Amazon's editors here (see comments) - but if you have a standard SIM from AT&T, you can plug it into this phone and add a standard "data unlimited" feature. In contrast, if you get a smartphone on contract from AT&T, your data plan will be at least twice as expensive - which adds up over the 2-year contract term to cover (at least) the price difference between most of these and the unlocked N97. Plus, you would of course not need to renew your contract with an unlocked phone like this. AT&T's generally subsidize their phones a couple of hundred bucks versus the unlocked equivalent (except the iPhone, where the subsidy is closer to four hundred, but where the more expensive data plan is mandatory).Finally, if you take your unlocked phone with you abroad, you can walk into a store and get a pre-paid SIM -- that way you local tariffs, rather than pay (outrageous!) roaming fees to AT&T.Now for a couple of practical aspects and caveats:>> If you are looking for a unique look, go for the white model, not this black one. Some also think it is better looking.>>If you are going to use the N97 in your car, to play music or for GPS turn-by-turn directions, do yourself a favor and get a cradle/mount for it. For instance, there is a Brodit cradle (available from ProClipUSA) specifically designed for it; this is one part of a two-part mount, the second part will be specific to your vehicle; you can get one from either ProClipUSA, PanaVise, or Pro-Fit International - they are all compatible. Or, if you want a universal holder, the Bracketron Grip-IT works nicely for the N97, and can also be put on the same vehicle specific mounts.Finally, if you are looking to get this phone, it is important that you get it for the capabilities, not ease of use. Like other Symbian/S60 phones, getting used to it takes a little persistence and discovery, but it will grow on you over time as you explore it and learn more about its esoteric features.
66 of 71 people found the following review helpful.
By John Newdick
When I first learned of the n97's release, I was excited. I had been waiting for Nokia to release another ground-breaking phone, like the n95 of years ago. The n96 wasn't it, nor was the n85. Then the n97 came - with a touchscreen and QWERTY keyboard to boot! I was sold at once, but did all of my research anyway and found it to be full of innovative ideas and modern must-haves. I bought it nearly two weeks ago at a reasonable discount from NokiasUSA after Amazon ran out of stock and jacked up the price.**If you read the specs, you will find all of the high points, but here are some more:-I found the phone to be fast and responsive when given input. The keyboard is phenomenal - the key spacing and feel is just right and the offset space bar is not as big of a deal as it is often made out to be. The only thing I could ask for is a little click to acknowledge the button was pushed, though if the sound is on, the phone makes a small noise. The keyboard could have been even bigger yet if they dropped the D-Pad, which I rarely find myself using as it is a touchscreen (maybe make it a secondary feature for other keys?).-The GPS unit quickly finds a satellite signal (faster than most Tom-Toms) and accurately places you on a detailed map. The turn-by-turn voice directions work well, except they do not read the street name. Best of all, it doesn't make you agree to do-not-drive-as-you-use-this-device waivers every time the program launches.-The call quality is excellent.-No contract and not bogged down with un-deletable carrier apps and tacky logos that remind you who bought your soul.**The bad and the ugly:-My first thought when I handled it was, "a little chintzy, eh?" It does give off the impression for a little while, primarily because of the battery cover. They used a plastic, snap-on/ pry-off cover whose snaps are easily bent out of shape, but did not break and easily bent back. The rest of the construction, especially the hinge, seems to be very solid now that I have used it extensively.-The 5MP camera takes remarkable photos and videos, unless you want to use the flash, which is too close to the lens and whites out a third of the image. Thinking about this more, I decided Nokia has used a very similar camera since September of 2006 when the first n95 debuted and such a quirk is unacceptable in something that has been around the technology world for so long.-The battery life is terrible. With normal use, it will most likely get 24-36 hours.-Reception is bad. The internal antenna does not pickup signal where my Blackberry does and my Samsung smartphone (4 years ago) before it did, to include my apartment in Boston (not exactly East Reeve, Wisconsin).-The FM transmitter is hardly worth having. After trying numerous stations I know to be unused in my area, the reception in my newer Audi with rear-mounted antenna was terrible unless I held the phone out the sunroof. I assume if you have a hood mounted antenna, it would be a little better (does anyone know?). UPDATE (4 July) - In two different cars with front mounted antennas and my home stereo the FM transmitter has still proved worthless. You can hear the music, but it comes through with more static than its worth.-The resistive touchscreen is outdated and somewhat unresponsive. Resistive touchscreens are great if you wear gloves, and if they are huge, but that doesn't happen on a mobile phone. Resistive touchscreens use a grid-like system to figure out where they've been touched, as they have invisible lines that make a grid across the screen. When the selected area is touched, the corresponding up/down and left/right lines are pushed against sensors on the screen's edge and send the information to the processor. Capacitive screens measure minute differences in its electric field cause by the conductive human body and are generally much more accurate.-The inertia scrolling is not as one would expect, probably because of the aforementioned screen. It does not matter how fast the screen is flicked, the information displayed travels the same measly distance and stops rather quickly no matter what, if it works at all. Navigating web pages is probably the only reason I would use the provided D-Pad just because the scrolling with the touchscreen is so terrible. UPDATE (4 July) - The inertia scrolling is not as terrible as I first said, but does vary with applications and takes some getting used to.-The accelerometer, which detects the direction the phone is tilted, is often incorrect and the phone is very slow to change the screen's display between portrait and landscape.-Oftentimes, the phone must be unlocked 2 or 3 times to get the LCD's backlight to turn on. This may be a software or a hardware malfunction, I do not know.-The talk and end button are not raised but should be, especially because the phone does not acknowledge them having been pressed for a second after. Plus, real buttons are always preferred.**Then there's the software:-The user interface is not so good. Every application has an options menu, but after the application has been customized, you probably will not find much need for any of the other options except exit, which is buried at the bottom of the menu and needs to be scrolled to.-The phone screen is inefficiently laid out. On the screen there is a "Call" and "End" button, both of which are physical keys on the phone itself, as well as a "Contacts" button which can be found on the previous screen. I would rather just see bigger numbers. Also, the phone is setup to display two lines of numbers and forces a single number from the area code on on the second line when I would rather like to see bigger number buttons and ALL US numbers on a single line.-The homescreen widgets do not update as freely as one might like, the AccuWeather is rarely connected and my Hotmail account will ONLY refresh manually, even with full service. The FaceBook app is good.-The homescreen has a button on it to change the sound profile, but tapping the power button brings up the same menu - Nokia should just get rid of the redundancy and dedicate the space to, well, uhhh, anything else.-No QWERTY keyboard option on the touchscreen.-Being able to run multiple apps is great, but switching between them shouldn't mean a fight with the options menu, there should be an external button to switch between them. UPDATE (4 July) - After further messing around, I found one can hold down the Main Menu button, the silver button to the left of the flat Talk / End buttons, for two seconds to bring up a menu with all open apps.-The homescreen has an option to compose a new message, but not one to read old messages. The button should be dedicated to going into the messenger application instead.-Half of the menus require a double touch while the other half require a single touch.-Plus a dozen smaller "Oh, that's silly" features not worth mentioning.-My phone has needed to be reset because one or more different things were not working correctly at least once a day, though it has never frozen completely. Once, strangely, the touchscreen would highlight the selected app/item, but fail to execute the command completely.--UPDATE (4 July)-One can hold down the Talk flat key for two seconds to activate voice commands which can do anything from call a contact to open an app. This is very slow and often incorrect and cannot be customized to one's voice. Once activated, there is a bar that runs for about six seconds, far longer than any command would take to say, and then takes a little while to process, before bringing back a series of possible matches. If you don't say anything else, it will automatically select the first option after another short duration. I could navigate manually to almost anywhere twice before the voice command finds the desired function, if it finds it at all. On the upside, users can customize what they want to say to the voice commands by typing (not speaking) the desired input to find some combination the phone can more easily recognize, though this is tedious and annoying.-When paused and exited from, the music play can remain on the homescreen with the Launch, Previous, Play, and Next options available.-The native video player has a very limited number of playable file types and I have not found a third party video player that works for the n97 yet.--END UPDATE (4 July)--UPDATE (23 July)I might be getting nit-picky with these software anomalies, forgive me, but I expect more from a $700 phone.The battery life, with average use, averages 48 hours now. I think eliminating the default AccuWeather widget from the homescreen helped out as it was constantly updating and crashing (and never that accurate).The new software update has been out for almost three weeks. It is an improvement and has fixed the backlight problem, amongst others, though not compeltely. Oftentimes, there is still a lengthy delay between unlocking the phone and the backlight turning on (2-4 seconds). Additionally, closing the screen will occasionally exit whatever program is running at the time. I notice this most frequently with the built in web browser and Nokia Sports Tracker. The GPS reception can be quick as lightning sometimes, but others it will not find a signal for an eternity.Compared to Opera Mini, the standard web browser is slow. Unfortunately, Opera Mini is quirky when dealing with the touchscreen. When it works, the SportsTracker is an excellent program, though Nokia has taken the n97 / 5800 version off their web page and it must be found through a third party.When the contacts menu is used to find someone to call or message, a new app is opened to perform the calling or messaging, thus when a second call or message is attempted to be made by navigating through contacts, the contacts menu opens as it was left with the last person dialed still highlighted on the screen.The symbol button is downright annoying. It accesses a list of symbols, most of which are already on the keyboard as secondary or tertiary options, and is located right next to the space bar and is hit frequently on accident. I would rather just see a bigger space bar than a useless key (at least I have never used it).--END UPDATE (23 July)--UPDATE (06 OCTOBER)I've gotten used to a lot of the quirks, though I'm still not entirely happy with them. The single most annoying feature is the inconsistency when turning the screen on - half of the time a message appears saying the key lock must be turned off when that is the only key I've pressed. It takes 3-5 seconds to go away, crippling anyone's intimate desire to use their ridiculously expensive phone on command.The phone's battery life seems to be much longer in Europe. I can go on a three day weekend, using the GPS, phone, and music features in moderation, without a charge. Maybe the European system is more efficient?--END UPDATE (06 OCTOBER)Overall, it is a good phone, but certainly not worth the money. I recommend you wait for the first (SECOND) major software update to be released and reviewed before purchasing.
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