Talk about ridiculousness. Mobile-Review managed to get hold of a prototype Nokia N96 (due out in Q3 2008) a couple of months early.
What happens when you get a phone months ahead of release? A huge freakin’ review, that’s what.
Don’t want to read Mobile-Review’s super-duper N96 phone review? Here’s a short summary of their findings:
- Big, wide, and heavy (sounds meaty) (“its pocket-stretching casing won’t fit just about any jacket or trousers”)
- Attracts grease, dirt, fingerprints and other fun gunk on your fingers
- Kick-stand is pretty sturdy and quite handy a la N810 (“at least, I pressed, pushed and abused the N96 in all possible ways when the stand was out and still couldn’t break it”)
- Good quality mobile TV viewing
- Navi-wheel is a failure – again
- Decent battery life considering that it’s a 950 mAh, same as the original N95 (“In Moscow, the N96 stayed online for around 2 days when we were heavy on its features”)
- No substantial improvement for sound quality with the 24-bit DSP
Keep in mind that this was a prototype model, and the build quality wasn’t exactly up to final product standards. The camera wasn’t working either, so it looks like that one’s still up in the air.
Pricing: The Nokia N96 phone will retail for 550 Euro (currently $868 USD). This is a serious phone for some serious cash.