One of the best communicators of 2010, according to experts and users, is the Mini N97. Nokia in this case significantly redesigned its flagship device and made many useful changes to it. It is about them that will be discussed in our article.
Who is this communicator for
The youngest model of the flagship communicator Nokia N97 is the Mini N97. Nokia not only reduced the price and reduced the size of this device, but also did serious work on the problematic aspects of the “older” device. As a result, many significant points in this smart phone have been eliminated. For the rest, this gadget is almost an exact copy of the flagship.
This communicator was of most interest in 2010 for those who could not afford to buy a more expensive N97, and there was a need for such a high-end device. So it was necessary for such potential buyers to opt for a reduced modification of the device. But this does not mean that the prefix “mini” is bad. In fact, in this gadget the software was significantly improved, the build quality of the case was improved. The result was an excellent smartphone at a very affordable cost at that time.
Equipment
Enhanced equipment was a major plus in the Mini N97. Nokia really tried hard in this case, and the package included the following:
The communicator itself.
Accumulator battery.
Interface cable SA-101.
Charger AC-10.
Stereo headset WH-701 with the ability to control the device.
User manual and warranty card.
Disc with proprietary software Ovi Suite.
The only component that is definitely not enough on this list is memory cards. She had to buy separately for an additional fee. As practice shows, its maximum size could be 32 GB. High-capacity external drives are not recommended for use in this reduced version of the flagship device of 2010, since the memory card itself may fail.
Design
Like the older model in the line, the Nokia N97 Mini was a slider with a touch screen. Only now, if the classic representatives of this type of case were equipped with a mechanical keyboard that went down, then here is a full QWERTY - the keyboard went to the side. Most of the front panel was a display with a diagonal of 3.2 inches. Under it were three mechanical buttons, two of which were used respectively to start and end a call. Well, the first one is the menu call button.
At the same time, the following elements are grouped above the screen: the front camera and the earpiece. In the same place the light sensor is displayed . On the left side of the gadget are loud speakers (the sound in this case was in stereo, and 2 speakers were provided for its provision), a battery charge indicator, a micro-USB port and a device lock button. On the opposite side were volume controls and a camera control button. The audio port for connecting an external wired speaker system and the smartphone’s power button familiar to the manufacturer are displayed at the top. On the back of the Nokia N97 Mini is the peephole of the main camera and its LED backlight.
The front panel and side faces are made of plastic, and the back cover is made of metal. It is this element in terms of design that is a serious plus of the model in comparison with the flagship gadget, in which it was made of plastic. At the same time, the build quality was deteriorating due to this, and there was a certain backlash in the case. In this case, the build quality was perfect. There are four color options for the case - black, gold, white and brown. To access the QWERTY-keyboard, you need to push the lower left part of the case to the side. The number of keys in this case is 38.
Some complaints from users are caused by the fact that some letters are displayed in an additional character set (for example, in the Russian version, for the character set “B”, “U”, “I” and “X”, you need to press the additional “Shift” key, and “b "Is generally displayed in characters, and it can only be typed using the special menu). But again, all these problems arise at the initial stage of using a smartphone. Then the user gets used to it all, and there are no complaints about such ergonomics in the future.
CPU
How can I describe the processor in the Nokia N97 Mini? The performance of this chip is really not impressive. It included only one computing module based on the "AWP 11" architecture. At the same time, its clock frequency was equal to only 369 MHz. Regarding the manufacturing company, Finnish marketers chose to remain silent. Therefore, we can only guess whose semiconductor crystal was used in this gadget.
Now budget smartphones are based on 2 core models of central processors that can accelerate to 1 GHz. More advanced models in this case are out of the question. On the other hand, such an operating system as Symbian acted as system software. It is less demanding on the hardware resources of the gadget. As a result, serious problems with the smoothness and stability of the communicator were not noticed. The exception in this regard is only periodic loading on the initial modifications of system software. But this problem was solved by updating the system program, and this will be further considered in detail.
Memory and its quantity
This device has only 128 MB of RAM. At the same time, about 70 MB are available for launching user applications. Now these numbers look ridiculous, but in 2010 on the Symbian OS it allowed running up to 10 applications. Also, the owners of this smartphone could download any web page of any complexity. The capacity of the internal drive in the Nokia N97 Mini is 8Gb. The capacity of the "C:" system disk is increased to 256 MB. There is also a slot for installing external memory cards. This device allowed you to install such drives with a maximum capacity of 32 GB. Even by today's standards, the memory subsystem of such a device can be called acceptable. Well, in 2010, from this position, the gadget was one of the best.
Display
3.2 inches is just such a screen size in the Nokia N97 Mini. A review of its technical specifications is not impressive today, but in 2010, at the time the device entered the market, these were some of the best parameters. The screen resolution is 360x640. The pixel density in this case was 229 ppi. Such a combination of diagonal and resolution provided good quality of the displayed image. The display matrix was manufactured using the currently outdated TFT technology.
As a result, the picture on the screen was distorted when deviating from a right angle. Another important nuance - this smartphone used a resistive sensor, and this imposed certain limitations that are not present on modern devices with a capacitive sensor.
Cameras
A pretty good main camera was used in the Nokia N97 Mini. Characteristic Of course, its technical parameters are not impressive, but in 2010 it had practically no competitors. It was based on a 5 megapixel sensor. Autofocus was also implemented, and there was a dual LED backlight. At the program level, there were many modes that allowed you to get a great photo in almost any situation. But with the recording of videos the situation was much worse. The maximum resolution in this case was 640x480 with a picture refresh period of 30 times per second. Against the background of the capabilities of current gadgets, these parameters are really not impressive. But at the time the device was released, the user did not have to rely on anything more. There is also a front-facing camera in the smartphone, the capabilities of which are only enough to make video calls.
Battery and autonomy
Things were pretty good with autonomy in the Nokia N97 Mini. The BL-4D battery had a nominal capacity of 1200 mAh. With an average load, the smartphone on one charge could last 1.5-2 days. When listening to music, this value was reduced to 28 hours. Well, in the continuous communication mode in the 2nd generation mobile networks, this communicator could last 6-8 hours. If you turn off data transfer and use the device to a minimum, then one charge of the battery should be enough for 4 days. The output current in the charger is 500 mA. As a result, it took about two and a half hours to fully charge the battery.
System software
The operating system in this case is Symbian. Its version is 9.4. The second name of this product is S60 5 Edition. Six years ago, this platform was actively developing, and the amount of software for it did not cause any complaints. But now it has become a problem. The Finnish manufacturer abandoned its achievements, which ultimately led to sad consequences: the Nokia mobile unit changed its owner. Therefore, many are forced to install other system software on the Nokia N97 Mini.
Android firmware for this gadget has been around for several days. But putting it on your own using special software is problematic. But this will be written separately later in the text.
Application software
Not bad initially things were with Nokia N97 Mini application software. Programs were for almost all occasions. Initially, in addition to the OS built-in programs, the Nokia Here navigation package was also installed on the device, which without any problems allowed to lay the desired route and determine the location of the device. Moreover, navigation could be carried out using both the GPS system (satellites were used) and A-GPS (in this case, mobile communication towers were used).
The firmware for the Nokia N97 Mini was supplemented by integrated music and video players. Moreover, in terms of sound quality, this model was in no way inferior to the Nokia 5800 specially designed for these purposes. A special chip was also integrated in it for this. At the time of release there were no problems with the software of the Symbian platform, but now it is no longer supported. Therefore, the owners of this smartphone to increase the functionality of the gadget are forced to reflash it with the replacement of system software with “Android”.
Firmware update
Regarding the software of this device, the question arose frequently among the owners of Nokia N97 Mini: “How to update this device with an updated operating system?”. To solve it, you must do the following:
- Download all available updates from the official website of the manufacturer to the computer.
- We install the PC Suite program from the CD that came with the smartphone. Then update it to the latest available version.
- We launch PC Suite and connect the smartphone to the computer using the bundled interface cable.
- Using the software menu, we establish a connection between the PC and the communicator and download operating system updates. In this case, the mobile phone may reboot several times.
Some more advanced specialists use specialized software systems for updating software (for example, Phoenix). But for a novice user, this step is not entirely justified: it is necessary to take into account many nuances. Also, improper installation of updated system software can lead to the fact that the device will completely stop starting. Therefore, special programs are not recommended for beginners to use the H97 Mini update.
On the other hand, it is the use of such packages that allows you to install the most popular Android OS on this smartphone and use many application software of this platform. But official such firmware does not exist, but there are only the achievements of third-party specialists. Only a well-trained, advanced user can perform this operation. Well, another important point: all possible future problems with the operation of the device fall entirely on the shoulders of the owner, and no one else will be responsible for this.
Interfaces
There are two wired interfaces in this device. One of them is used to output and receive audio information - this is an audio port. A stereo headset or speakers can be connected to it. The second port is micro-USB. It allows you to connect your device to your computer. Its second function is charging the battery.
The set of wireless methods for transmitting information in this case is as follows:
- One SIM card slot that can work in GSM or 3G networks. In the latter case, the transmission speed can reach 3.6 Mbps.
- A Wi-Fi transmitter that can only work in 802.11 b / g standards. Fortunately, all wireless systems are backward compatible, and there should definitely not be a connection problem.
- The device also has Bluetooth, which is simply indispensable when directly transferring small files in volume to a similar device.
Device price
The Nokia N97 Mini mobile phone was rated by the manufacturer at the start of sales at 450 euros. The flagship model without the prefix “mini” cost 550 euros. These prices clearly indicate that these were premium devices. At the same time, changes made to the later model made her purchase more preferable. Now for the money you can buy mid-range smartphones with good technical specifications. But at that time, these devices from Nokia competed with the first iPhone model and representatives of the Android platform.
It can be noted with great confidence that if the prices for these smartphones were lower, and the work done by Finnish engineers on the “N97 Mini” was continued, then it would be Nokia that would occupy a leading position in the segment of mobile devices with its Symbian OS ". But this did not happen, and the legendary Finnish manufacturer switched to the Windows operating system, which ultimately led to the complete disappearance of these branded devices.
Reviews
Users note that this communicator has no special flaws. Certain complaints were caused only by the mechanical keyboard. But after several months of active use of the device, this problem went away by itself. Well, the high cost was justified by the truly phenomenal quality of this smartphone.
But the advantages of this Finnish development, users note much more. The key one is the excellent technical specifications, which even now allow you to install third-party system software on the Nokia N97 Mini. Android firmware makes it possible to breathe a second life into this device. But this operation is recommended to be entrusted to specialists. An untrained user in this case can contribute to a complete breakdown of the device in the software part. Otherwise, this smartphone will serve its owner for more than one year.
Summary
Excellent in terms of technical parameters, the Mini N97 Nokia turned out. She really has no weak points, and the hardware even now allows to solve most everyday tasks. If we add a reasonable pricing policy to this, then this smartphone could well become a bestseller at that time. But this did not happen, and the high price of this legendary Finnish gadget led to the fact that the manufacturer’s mobile unit was sold to Microsoft, and all the leading positions were lost.