Nokia N96

Dimensions
103 x 55 x 18 mm, 92 cc

Weight
125 g

Main Display
2.8" TFT
16M colours
240 x 320 pixels

Camera
5 megapixels
Carl Zeiss optics
Autofocus
Flash
Video (VGA 30fps)
Secondary VGA videocall camera

Memory
16 GB internal memory
microSD (TransFlash), up to 8 GB

Battery
up to 220 hr standby
up to 3 hr 40 min talk time

Features
3.5 mm audio output jack
3G (HSDPA)
Accelerometer for auto-rotate
Bluetooth 2.0 (A2DP)
Document viewer
Dual slide design
DVB-H TV broadcast receiver
EDGE
Email
FM radio (RDS)
GPRS
GPS (A-GPS)
HSCSD
Instant Messaging
Java MIDP 2.0
microUSB 2.0
MMS
MP3/AAC/AAC+/eAAC+/WMA player
MP3 ringtones
Push to talk
Quad band
Symbian OS 9.3, S60 rel 3.2
T9
TV-out
Voice dial/memo
WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML, RSS
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, UPnP

The Nokia N96 represents the pinnacle of mobile phone engineering. Built on the success of the Nokia N95 and its bigger brother the N95 8GB, the Nokia N96 is the most advanced handset released by the Finnish mobile giant and is their new flagship phone, taking the helm at the front of the best-selling N-series.

All the hype about the Nokia N96 is more than justified - it is one of the most sophisticated smartphone released to date, and arguably the most important phone since the Apple iPhone 3G. Yet so much about the N96 overshadows the iPhone, and the fact that it's not locked to one network makes it even better.

As we said, the Nokia N96 is a brilliant new development based on the N95 8GB. It has a huge 2.8" screen designed especially for playing games (the N96 comes with Nokia's N-Gage gaming platform included) and watching videos and TV. The N96 even has a kickstand on the back that allows it to prop itself up on a table so you can sit back and watch the football. Nokia have designed this phone to really excel in its multimedia features, and intend it to spend as much time on its side as a media centre as it will standing up tall as a phone. The N95's revolutionary dual-slide mechanism makes a return here too - slide the slider open one way to get the normal mobile phone keypad, but slide it another way and you get easy access to dedicated media keys. The media keys are even available when the slide is closed, and can also function as gaming keys.

The N95 made the headlines with its cutting-edge camera, and the N96 does not disappoint here either. With a 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics (Google it - this is very impressive stuff!) as well as a powerful dual-LED flash and, thanks to the in-built GPS, automatic geo-tagging of photos in addition to the SatNav capabilities. The N96 also carries a music and video player that does just about everything, the BBC iPlayer pre-installed, and a mobile TV DVB-H receiver for watching real-time television on your phone.

Across the board the Nokia N96 does not disappoint. An internal memory of 16 GB can be expanded with up to 8 GB through a memory card slot. The N96 also supports 3G and the super-fast HSDPA, along with Bluetooth, USB, and Wi-Fi. Should you get bored of your music there's an FM radio with RDS, and the full-HTML browser also allows instant uploading to Flickr, Vox, Yahoo!, and Google.

The Nokia N96 is the ultimate handset when it comes to modern mobile phones. It is, in fact, a mobile computer with a phone attached, and is more than a worthy successor to the venerable Nokia N95 8GB. This is one to consider for any die-hard phone fanatic, and also for the average user who wants something special in his/her pocket. The best thing about it, in our opinion? All these massive improvements are included in a handset that's actually smaller and lighter than its predecessor. Who could possibly ask for more?