This June I went to the Nokia store and found the N97 was at a price of Rs. 23, 000. I asked a friend of mine who had purchased the N97 one month back(and had hardly used it because he was using
more of the Blackberry Storm which was his second phone)to lend me the phone for a few days and thus the journey with the N97 started.
I was very confused with whether the phone looked good or not, in comparison to the N96. The N96 had those Aluminum ringed camera covers, cursor control, body lining, that was style statement to my eyes and some other too. Looks were a major concern for me after using the N97 apart from other things. Whenever I kept both the N96 and(7 together, as long as the screen of the N97 was lit it was a no comparison, but as soon as the screen went off, the N96 appeared to be looking good. Such excellent is the screen of the N97 that once it is on it appears just great and if you slide the qwerty keypad out, it is a mini laptop, and a very beautiful one too.
Concerns
a. Sound Quality: My major concern was the sound quality of the N97, which is poor in comparison to the N96 if you talk of the phone speakers. In the earphones with minor adjustments of the equalizers and settings the sound was good but the speakers were really not up to the mark, even when compared to the 5800 Express Music.
b. Camera: The
camera in N97 is technically the some as the N96 but there is a marked clarity in the colors and vibrancy in the photos and videos of the N97. The only drawback in the N97 is the hazy edge on the left side of the screen which is due to the faulty placement of the flash and the is seen only in the photos taken using the flash. this problem is further enhanced due to the scratches on the camera lens(caused due to the slide protector) which spread light unevenly when it comes back from the object after it has been illuminated by the flash. But the prime culprit is the flash which is very close to the camera and is little lower than the level of the lens. There is however no problem with the video recording which is excellent.
Note: Users troubled with the scratches on the lens and the light spread that happens on the left side should contact the Nokia Care. I went and got the body part(to which the back cover is attached and which houses the power and the on/off switch, etc) replaced which also includes the scratched camera lens and the problem was gone. But what still remains is the faulty slider, so don’t close the camera in future so that the scratches don’t return. Further, the alignment of that body part in some N97s is wrong which results in the flash rays intruding into the camera image. So try it out and may be the camera comes to life as an excellent one.}
So after three days of confusion I took the N97 to the Nokia Care for a software update, after which the use of the N97 was even better. So it was decided after a lot of confusion that the N97 will get a green signal. I went to give the phone back to my friend who by that time was deeply in love with the Blackberry, and asked me to purchase it from him as his set was just like new and I had used it for the first time. He asked 17, 000but finally settled down with 15, 000.