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Smartphones are the fastest growing segment of mobile phone market with Nokia, Research in Motion (i.e. RIM, makers of Blackberry), Apple, HTC and Android-based smartphones being the major players. Currently, Nokia has the highest market share in smartphones but is fast losing ground to RIM, Apple and Android.

Smartphone users can be roughly divided into two categories:

1. Business Users:  Smartphones for this category of users are an extension of the office laptop. Hence, the key functionality for a business user is email support and fast typing. This segment is dominated by RIM’s Blackberry and Nokia business phones.

2. Casual Users: Social networking, browsing, chatting and gaming are the primary uses of a smartphone for this class of users. A casual user looks for ease of use and the wow factor. This segment is dominated by Apple, HTC and Android.

The growth of the smartphone market is being fueled by the casual users. N97 Mini is the second attempt by Nokia to capture casual users and keep pace with its competitors. The importance of smartphone market to Nokia is clear by the fact that N97 Mini was pushed out of door in November 2009 merely 5 months after N97 which received largely mixed reviews and was considered a flop. So is Nokia N97 Mini worth your while? Read on to find out

Review

Looks and Build Quality

Nokia N97 Mini is the typical touchscreen phone with a candy bar looks and with only 3 keys in front for calling, disconnecting a call and for accessing Menu. At first glance, it seems too thick for a smartphone but the thickness is because of the slide-out tray with the QWERTY keyboard. N97 Mini build quality is pure Nokia with a sturdy feel and decent weight (138 grams). N97 Mini radiates the "A fall will not break me" aura that all Nokia phones have.

Rating: ****

User Interface

Post iPhone, the success of a smartphone is determined by its user interface as much as its technical specifications. Nokia N97 Mini has Symbian S60 5th edition as its Operating System which is an adapted version of Symbian OS for touchscreens. Symbian OS was not built for touchscreens and hence, its capabilities are limited when compared to other touchscreen optimized OS like the iPhone OS or Android.  The User Interface is decently fluid and reasonably fast. Nokia N97 Mini can mimic the most used multi touch functions like swipes and drags which will be enough for most users. A major plus for existing Nokia users is the familiar menus, icons and controls.

The home screen allows the user to install widgets which makes it easier for the user to get quick information without opening the application e.g. Facebook widget updates the facebook status on the screen directly without the need to open the application.

Rating: ***

User Input

Touchscreen

Nokia N97 Mini has a resistive touchscreen compared to capacitative touchscreen of iPhone. This limits the responsiveness and multi touch capabilities of N97 Mini but Nokia has done a commendable job of providing a decently fluid user interface. Resistive touchscreen allows the use of stylus which keeps away the annoying finger prints so prominent on used iPhones.

Rating: ***

QWERTY

Touchscreen is one half of the user input mechanism of Nokia N97 Mini. The slide out QWERTY keyboard makes up the other half. The slide out motion of keyboard locks with a reassuring click and the screen automatically tilts at a fixed angle to allow for typing. The keyboard is a 38 key QWERTY including direction keys with decent spacing between the keys. It takes approximately one to two days of typing on the QWERTY keyboard to reach speeds close to laptop keyboard

Rating: ****

Camera

N97 Mini has a 5 MP camera with Carl Zeiss optics and LED flash. There is no lens cover to protect the camera lens. There is a dedicated camera button to activate the camera and camera operations are pretty straight forward. The phone is capable of taking good pictures in well lit conditions and  decent ones in low light conditions. User also has the option to shoot videos at 30 fps. N97 Mini has in-built geo tagging of photos. Also, there is a low-resolution, front facing camera for making video calls over 3G networks.

Rating: ***

Media

N97 Mini has a screen resolution of 360 x 640 pixels and 16:9 aspect ratio which provides a good viewing experience. The angled screen position with the keyboard out provides a good handsfree position for watching videos. N97 comes bundled with the RealPlayer App but does not support DivX and Xvid video formats.

The music player is same as the Nokia N series and supports MP3, AAC, eAAC and WMA formats. There is support for cover art and the interface is intuitive with a draggable timeline. The audio performance is quite good and the bundled earphones are better than most mobiles and even iPod earphones. N97 has a 3.5 mm headphone jack for trying out personal earphones although unless you have a Bose or Sanheiser, it would be better to stick with the bundled earphones.

Rating: ****

Internet and email

N97 Mini is primed for internet usage with onboard Wi-Fi and 3G support. WiFi networks are easy to detect and once set as an access point can be accessed without having to re-enter the password.

Nokia browser is part of the standard package. Standard touch buttons can be used for zooming in and out, scrolling etc. N97 Mini comes preloaded with Facebook, MySpace, Hi5 etc for social networking needs.

N97 Mini includes the basic Nokia email client. However, installing Nokia Messaging is a better option if you plan to use N97 Mini for all your web based email. It supports POP3/IMAP and setting up email account involves just entering the user ID and password. The email client takes care of the rest of the settings. N97 Mini has mail for exchange for corporate email support and hence, business users can use N97 Mini to get their work emails too.

Rating: ****

Calls and SMS

The call quality on N97 Mini is beyond compare. N97 Mini provides excellent call quality with great clarity and brilliant network handling. Calls can be made without using the slide-out QWERTY by using the on-screen touch keypad.

The QWERTY keyboard makes typing SMS a breeze. However, one can type SMS without the keyboard also by using the on-screen keypad or using the decent handwriting recognition.

Rating: *****

Miscellaneous

Battery

N97 Mini includes a 1200 mAh which can provide upto 310 hours of standby and 4 hours of talktime.

Rating: ****

Business Software

N97 Mini comes preloaded with Organizer, Quickoffice document viewing software, Adobe PDF viewer, Active Notes, Calculator and Dictionary. The bundled Quickoffice provides read only capabilities and needs to be updated for document creation capabilities.

Rating: ****

GPS

N97 Mini includes GPS and A-GPS. This combined with Nokia Maps/Google Maps can be used for turn by turn navigation. Also, N97 Mini has an inbuilt compass which modifies the map view to reflect the direction you are moving in.

Rating: *****

Other features include Bluetooth, 8 GB Inbuilt memory, Micro SD Slot supporting upto 16 GB memory, proximity sensor, light meter, accelerometer for auto rotate, compass and micro-USB 2.0.

In a Nutshell

Nokia N97 Mini is a feature packed device and a brilliant smartphone for both business and casual users. It has a decent touchscreen, great QWERTY keyboard, lots of goodies and the most complete set of features in any smartphone. It combines the famed Nokia build quality with a performance to match.  The only limitation is the Symbian S60 5th edition and the resistive touch screen which curtails the user experience a little. However, these will be minor irritants for first time smartphone users. The power-packed features, Nokia durability and the attractive price tag make it the perfect choice for any user looking to purchase a smartphone. Nokia N97 Mini is available for INR 20,300 at Univercell outlets which is less than its major competitors: iPhone (INR 35,500) and Blackberry Storm 2 (INR 30,288).

Rating: ****