Introduction

Last year, the Nokia N95 all-in-one multimedia Smartphone won the hearts of many mobile users with its intuitive two-way slide design, integrated GPS, 5-megapixel camera and support for high-speed mobile networks – HSDPA and WLAN.

The flagship model of the popular N series has many favourable reviews, even though there were a few complaints about its average battery life and sluggish performance. The latter could be enhanced via firmware upgrades using the proprietary Nokia PC Suite.

The response was so good that Nokia came up with an improved N95 8GB. The improved version came with 8GB of storage and a larger capacity battery. Unfortunately, this newer model does not have a memory card expansion slot.

This year, building on the success of the N95, Nokia launched the N96 that offers similar features and chic exterior design. Based on S60 on Symbian OS, the N96 is slightly thinner and lighter than the N95 8GB, comes with a huge 16GB integrated memory capacity, a microSD memory card slot for expansion, 2.8-inch display with 16 million colours, 5-megapixel camera with dual LED flash and integrated mobile TV DVB-H receiver.

Here's the specification chart of the N96 and for comparison the N95 and N95 8GB:-

Nokia N96 Nokia N95 8GB Nokia N95
CPU 264 MHz 332 MHz 332 MHz
Internal memory 16GB flash 8GB flash 160MB
Expansion memory card slot microSD/microSDHC NA microSD/microSDHC
Display size 2.8-inch (240x320 pixels) 2.8-inch (320x240 pixels) 2.6-inch (240x320 pixels)
Display colours up to 16 million up to 16.7 million up to 16 million
Operating frequency WCDMA 2100/900 (HSDPA), WCDMA 2100 (HSDPA), EGSM 900 WCDMA 2100 (HSDPA), EGSM 900,
  EGSM900, GSM 850/1800/1900 MHz GSM 850/1800/1900 MHz (EGPRS) GSM 850/1800/1900 MHz
  (EGPRS), DVB-H Class C, 470-750 MHz    
Talk time up to 160/230 min (WCDMA/GSM) up to 210/300 min (WCDMA/GSM) up to 156/240 min (WCDMA/GSM)
Standby time up to 200/230 hr (WCDMA/GSM) up to 11.5 days (WCDMA/GSM) up to 8.3/9.3 days (WCDMA/GSM)
Camera resolution 5-megapixel (2592 x 1944) 5-megapixel (2592 x 1944) 5-megapixel (2592 x 1944)
Digital Zoom 10x 20x 10x
Connectivity WLAN 802.11 b/g, USB 2.0 with Micro WLAN 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth, USB2.0 WLAN 802.11 b/g, USB 2.0 with Micro
  USB interface, 3.5mm stereo headset with Micro USB interface, 3.5mm USB interface, 3.5mm stereo headset
  plug, TV-out support (PAL/NTSC), stereo headphone plug, TV-out plug. Bluetooth 2.0, Infrared, TV-out
  Bluetooth 2.0 support (PAL/NTSC), Infrared support (PAL/NTSC)
Battery 950mAH 1200 mAh 950mAH
Dimension 103x55x18mm 99x53x21mm 99x53x21mm
Weight 125g 128g 120g