Guest Blog - Max Arnold's Nokia N91 Review

My son Max is rapidly becoming a certified geek, and he's definitely the IT guy in our household. I've been lucky enough to evaluate the Nokia N Series phones, and have been using the N90 for some time, which readers of this blog would well know.

I recently received the N91, which is sleeker and more powerful. Max has basically taken this phone, befriended it, and I have seen very little of it since. So, in return, Max is sharing his view on the N91 in this guest posting.





He may just be a budding teenager, but in terms of a lifestyle demographic, he's an ideal user to evaluate this phone. There are several terrific reviews out there for this phone, but all are from an adult user's perspective. I'll bet this is the only one you're going to find out there written by a teenager. I really try, folks, to bring you content you won't find anywhere else! So here's the story, in Max's own words....


As soon as I opened the Purolator box, I knew it was gonna be one heckuva phone. Seeing that it was part of the Nokia N series, where I had already had a good impression from my Dad's N90 with its 2 megapixel lens, great layout, and features like Bluetooth. Only mine sported a 802.11 wireless network card to access wireless internet networks anywhere in the world, which came in very handy when we were up on vacation, and I needed to check my email, a 4 Gigabyte hard drive (about 170 times the size of the n90's storage space), dedicated MP3 buttons, and a 3.5 mm optical audio port on the top with an mp3 player-style �lock� switch on the top that puts the phone in keypad lock mode.

Another feature that I was particularly impressed with was the sliding keypad cover to make the phone smaller and have the number pad only open when necessary. When the sliding cover is closed, no space is wasted at all � the dedicated MP3 buttons are mounted on that cover, and still remain active and functional when the cover is open, so you could be halfway through dialing a number with your music playing, you could hit the pause button, and then finish dialing, unlike certain other electronic devices like this where you can only use one of those functions at one time.

Only things I disliked about the physical layout were that the mono speaker was placed right beside the volume switch, and when you're adjusting the volume, sometimes your thumb covers the speaker and makes the sound sound warped, I also disliked the placement of the menu button � on the right side, instead of on the keypad � very awkward.

Wired:
Wireless card allows you to access the internet at no cost from your carrier � whopping 4 gb hard drive allows you to store every video, picture and song you could ever imagine. Phone looks great while charging in the included cradle.

Tired:
Still full of glitches. Occasionally, the media gallery empties itself, and you have to re-point your files from the file manager, which can be quite a pain. Also, a mono speaker doesn't do much when it comes to playing multimedia.

Bottom line: once this thing is fully edited for bugs, re-places its menu button, and gets stereo speakers, this phone will have reached its full potential as a smartphone.

Next steps: If Nokia makes a higher-grade model of the N91, judging by its features, I say it could do even better having a larger screen with touch-screen on board, and maybe even a built-in email client.

Finally, a photo taken at our local diner, showing some nice depth of field from the N91:








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