Nokia N95 8GB review

The Nokia N95 8GB is an updated version of the best-selling original N95 and while it's still rather chunky, there are a few serious changes to it that make it a significantly better mobile phone than its predecessor.

It's currently available for free on a monthly contract with almost all the major networks, including 3 and Vodafone.

Strengths
Packing a larger screen than the original N95, we really enjoyed viewing content on the N95 8GB, particularly watching videos and browsing the Web. The navigation keys at the bottom of the screen, although smaller, seemed easier to press too.

Nokia's got rid of the somewhat pointless media menu that appears when you slide the original N95 down and you can navigate the 8GB's start page normally. Overall, the interface felt snappier to use and the N95 8GB's boot-up time was far quicker.

The screen on the N95 8GB is significantly larger than the original N95's and flush with the casing

At the back of the N95 8GB, the fiddly camera cover is gone. The advantage of not having a cover is that you no longer have to worry about the camera accidentally being activated in your pocket, which regularly happened on the original N95.

A minor but noteworthy feature is the N95 8GB's black casing. It's amazing how a change of colour can bring out a phone's sexy side and we think Nokia may have sold even more original N95s if it had come in black.

But the N95 8GB's greatest improvement over its predecessor is, obviously, the 8GB of on-board storage for all your music and photos -- or any other data you want to tote around. The extra space makes it a multimedia mammoth, and importantly, lets you install many more applications.

Weaknesses
It might be a convergence king, but the N95 8GB is still as big as its predecessor and not a good choice if you value your pocket space. It is 'many things', as the N95 adverts suggest, but it's also rather a chunky monkey.

At first we thought the double slider was a cool feature, but it's worn off now and we would prefer not to have it. When you're pulling it in and out of your pocket the slider mechanism can move up and down, activating the phone.

Similar to the iPhone, the 8GB of on-board memory is non-expandable, which has its limitations. The main issue is that unlike a removable memory card, you have to use the USB cable and can't use a card reader, which may annoy some people.

Unlike the original N95, the 8GB doesn't have a lens cover, so it won't be activated in your pocket -- but it is more vulnerable to scratches

Conclusion
Upgraded mobile phones are usually disappointing, but the Nokia N95 8GB is a truly superb successor. The larger screen, 8GB memory and black casing are so seductive, we were sad to see it go back to Nokia. It's still pricey, however, and it's still really rather chunky.

Edited by Jason Jenkins
Additional editing by Nick Hide