Nokia N95 8GB smartphone

Hardcore handset that has the whole package

Despite this, the menu keys are easy enough to prod. Similarly, the slide-out keypad with its finger-friendly rounded keys is a tidy piece of work.

The dual-mode sliding keypad action has been maintained. Slide the display down and you get a dedicated set of music player buttons. Slide it up and there’s the regular phone pad. On this model, slipping out the music keys doesn’t automatically present you with a multimedia menu or music player. It does, however, switch menu orientation into landscape format.

The dual-mode sliding keypad action has been maintained, down...

Round the back there’s been a change to the lens cover arrangement, which previously caused some users to accidentally activate the camera: it's been removed - cue more fuss about scratched lenses? The flash has also migrated to sit beside rather than below the lens when the phone's held in landscape orientation.

Most other buttonware and socketry around the phone is standard-issue N95. There are dedicated camera button and gallery review buttons, along with a volume/zoom control on one side, and a mini USB connector and charger socket on the bottom. The 3.5mm headphone jack is still on the side, though the original N95’s Micro SD card slot on the side is absent from the 8GB phone.

...and up

The lack of the MicroSD card expansion option reduces the simplicity of transferring or sharing content just by swapping cards, or upgrading sat nav software simply by slipping in a different Micro SD. Hooking up to a PC via the USB and transferrign content using Nokia’s supplied Nseries PC Suite software is likely to be the most used option with the N95 8GB. Alternatively, you can use Bluetooth.

Over-the-air downloading is high on the N95 8GB’s can-do list. It’s one of the first N series devices to come pre-loaded with Nokia Music Store software, providing an off-network way of filling up with more tunes, albeit at 80p a track.