Nokia has unleashed upon the world a slew of new flagship Nseries handsets with amazing multimedia capabilities with sleek, new design aesthetics. Featuring glossy-finished plastics that just ooze “cool” from every crevice, the Nokia N96, Nokia N85, and Nokia N79 are the hottest handsets to come out of Espoo yet.
Nokia was on hand at CTIA to let us get hands on the new Nseries and Eseries lineup, all with their own particular merits.
To kick things off, the Nokia N79 is the candybar/monoblock of the trio and features the 5 megapixel Carl-Zeiss shooter that’s used across all three of the latest Nseries handsets (the N96, N85, and N79). The camera is complemented by a dual-LED flash that should help light things up in marginal lighting conditions. With GPS, WiFi, and microSDHC card slot, the Nokia N79 is a true performer, but don’t let that fool you in to thinking the Nokia N79 is all business. The back-cover of the Nokia N79 is user-swappable, lending to its more fashionable roots.
If a dual-slider is more suited to your tastes, the Nokia N85 might be just the thing to satisfy your multimedia handset-needs. Slide the Nokia N85 upwards to reveal the smooth under-lit keypad, or slide it down to get at the slick under-lit music controls. The Nokia N85 is finished in a sexy, glossy black lacquer that gives the handset an understated elegance that is sure to stand the test of time. Just like its Nokia N79 counterpart, the Nokia N85 rocks a 5 megapixel Carl-Zeiss shooter with a dual-LED flash in tow. Add to that some GPS, 3G (HSDPA), WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, 2.6-inch AMOLED display, and microSDHC card slot, and you’ve got the makings of a serious handset. Basically, it comes down to your personal preference - candybar or dual-slider.
Now, if the creme-de-la-creme of the Nokia Nseries lineup is more your style (and really, who doesn’t want the baddest handset available), the Nokia N96 is the current ruler of the Nseries throne. The Nokia N96 is a dual-sliding media-monster just like its downrange sibling, the Nokia N85. But, with silver accents on the front face and more highly refined keys finished in the same glossy-black plastics that Nokia seems so fond of recently, the Nokia N96 is unquestionably sleaker and more high-end dual-slider from Espoo.
The Nokia N96 boasts the same 5 megapixel Carl-Zeiss camera that’s already been mentioned at length here. For media storage, there’s 16GB of onboard memory capacity, which can be expanded to 24GB with an external microSD card. A 2.8-inch display makes sure that you have enough screen real estate to watch movies or surf the web - or happily numb your brain with DVB-H mobile TV if available in your area. The usual complement of WiFi, GPS, and 3G (HSPA) makes the Nokia N96 the Nseries handset to rule them all.
For those with an affinity for business suits, the Nokia Eseries handsets have just recently come to market with a full suite of business features. Both the Nokia E66 and Nokia E71 use quad-band (850/900/1800/1900Mhz) GSM radios and dual-band (850/2100Mhz) 3G data connections to ensure worldwide network compatibility. The Nokia E71 sports a full QWERTY keyboard for messaging-ease, while the Nokia E66 offers a more traditional numeric keypad in a slider form-factor.
With the candybar Nokia E71, we see a 3.2 megapixel camera mounted on the backside of the .39-inch thick handset. Nokia Maps 2.0 pairs with aGPS to deliver pinpoint-accurate location data, WiFi complements the 3G data connection, and the E71’s sleek styling ensures the Nokia E71 isn’t going to be confused for any other Palm or RIM BlackBerry handset.
The Nokia E66 mirrors the Nokia E71’s feature set but packs it all in to that slider design that’s bound to turn heads.
Both Nokia Eseries handsets feature a “Profile Switch” feature that, at the press of a button, will change your Eseries’ homescreen between home and work configurations.
