N95 Gets an Upgrade & Damages Report

I wrote this post some six weeks ago. Like many it was in the hopper unlinked and almost ready to post. In the meantime news that iPhone users are doing up to 50 times the browsing versus other smart phones has my attention. Screen size matters! So here it is…

How do you make a great phone (Nokia N95) better? You provide a software update (20.0.015).

Update N95:
I was simply stunned by the speed improvement switching between applications (on-demand paging). As I’ve been switching back and forth between a N81 and the N95 recently I’d really begun to notice some differences. The N95 update again puts this phone back in my “love it” category. Speed and now the menu appears to mimic the N81.

If this makes the battery life better too (claimed) then I’ll be really happy. I’ve just ordered a new Nokia battery for it. The current one no longer holds a charge (when WiFi gets enabled by Truphone) and is dead in that mode in a couple of hours. While shopping around I also looked up to see if a larger memory card was available. Turns out Scandisk has recently launched an 8gb micro SD card. I ticked the “buy” box on that too; despite the expense ($70 approx), it will certainly increase the utility of the phone (music capacity for my car!).

Now I have something that will keep me away from an iPhone for much longer. Although playing with my daughter’s iPodTouch is just so cool and the price plan for the iPhone is no more than I’m paying currently on T-mobile. The browser is just gorgeous! I wrote a review on the N81 recently and many of my thoughts remain. Still if the iphone had a 6+mpx auto focus camera and at least the 8gb memory and was more open, came with predictive text then it would be more interesting.

In the meantime I’ve got these phones printing wirelessly to my new HP C7280 printer. Take the photo and one click and the printer just makes a copy. Neat trick. The combination of a new printer and the press to print button has changed photography in the household over the Xmas period. Similarly the Nokia upload program now works sending photo’s quickly to my Flickr account. I’ll have to pay a little more attention now to the Ngage game pieces too.

Damages:
I do wonder what the life of a mobile is today. I drop a phone at least once every six months. I gave up cases long ago. So it’s probably fair to put in a damage report.

I have a slightly broken N80. The screen is cracked (small across a corner 1/4 inch) after it was dropped unfortunately in the stands at a sporting event. Phone works fine however the WiFi capability has died. Been meaning to follow the YouTube directions and take it apart!. Not sure what parts are required. Schematics suggest that the glass has nothing to do with WiFi. Perhaps something is loose.

I just replaced a keyboard joystick (ordered via eBay to Hong Kong) on an N73. The joystick lasted only one year under my daughter’s regular texting. The case suggests it gets a hard life. (no other problems with the phone.) YouTube directions used again. (amazing the self-help directions appearing there!).

I accidentally juggled and dropped the new N81 on our Pergo flooring as I scooped it up. It flew approx 5 ft before landing on a corner. It’s now got a hairline crack across the corner approx 1/4 inch. Phone works fine, not very obvious although I’m waiting to see if the small piece falls off.

The N95 is a little scuffed on the corners. Some chrome is coming off the answer and call keys. It’s hit the ground at least 5-6 times. The prongs on one side of the backplate are now barely locking it in place.

I’m not alone in dropping phones, just google “dropped my iphone” or similar.

See also:

Nokia N95 update speeds apps with virtual memory | Reg Hardware
The N95 classic hits v20 firmware