Nokia N95 8GB smartphone

Hardcore handset that has the whole package

Tracks are listed in regular music player categories - all songs, playlists, artists, albums, genres and composers - and there’s a section to add podcasts. The neat two-way slider, with music controls on top, is part of the aesthetic appeal of the N95. The controls on the top slider still work fine, and take care of tune changing when the player’s on in the background. They can also be used to operate the well-implemented FM radio when headphones are plugged in.

Nokia has enhanced the satellite navigation capabilities of the N95 8GB by equipping its with Assisted GPS technology, which can use mobile network cell location data to speed up calculating your position.

Assisted GPS, anyone?

With 8GB of storage, there’s also more room on this model for map storage. The N95 uses Nokia Maps software, which downloads maps as you need them. The UK version of the N95 8GB has maps from the whole of the UK and Ireland stored on it out of the box, which is very handy, eliminating the need for the regular but sometimes slow over-the-air map updates we experienced on the original N95.

You can also download full maps for different countries using Nokia Map Loader and copy them over from a PC for free. In addition, Nokia provides add-on city and travel guide, plus a turn-by-turn voice guidance option that you can buy and download.

The sat nav system on the N95 8GB worked well in our tests, and was accurate and speedy in calculating routes. It also found our position quickly without hanging for long periods like some mobile sat navs we’ve used, and it was suitably responsive when travelling. The 2D or 3D visuals were as good as the best dedicated sat nav systems. As usual, there are thousands of points of interest listed too.

One of the other wow-inducing gadgets introduced by the the N95 was the five-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics. While there are now several five-megapixel cameraphones on the market, the N95 8GB’s shooter still puts in a high-class performance. It has an autofocus system, and a macro shooting mode for detailed close-ups, plus numerous controls to adjust image capture settings.