Nokia N95 8GB vs Nokia N96

Aesthetics
Still using the dual-slider keypad, one could be tempted to suggest Nokia has merely reskinned the N95. The whole phone has been rounded off and slimmed down by a few milimetres with a mild increase in length that is barely noticed. These minor changes however mean that it slips into pockets a lot easier without digging into your thighs. Nokia has given it a black acrylic front and silver sides, which makes it look almost identical to the N81. Aside from the d-pad, almost all buttons are now flush, to complete the acrylic wash effect. The downside to this finish is that it attracts dirt and finger prints remarkably well.

The headphone jack has also been moved round to the top instead of the side, which also aids for pocket insertion, as well watching films in widescreen without crushing your head phone jack. On the downside, this new position means with some headphones the keypad won't slide out properly.

Memory
Memory capacity has been upgraded from 8GB to 16GB, which is an ample amount for videos and music. With a 5-megapixel camera, which just like the N95 is still using a Carl Zeiss lens, the more space the merrier. However, because of the shrink in body size the lens aperture is smaller so won't be as good in dark conditions. Nokia has attempted to make up for this by adding a secondary LED to the flash.

If 16GB isn't enough for you, Nokia has also included a MicroSD slot for expanding storage even further. To connect to this however, you'll need to use the new Micro USB cable instead of Mini USB. As of yet, these aren't as common in the household.

Software
If you're running the latest firmware on the N95 8GB then you'll already have assisted GPS support, but this is of course included as standard on the N96. Being v.3 of the S60 operating system, it has a host of other bug fixes and speed improvements. It certainly does feel a little nippier to use, but still suffers from random reboots and crashes.

The N96 includes a DVB-H tuner, which would be great if it was supported in the UK. Unfortunately in the UK things don't look promising. However, this is made up for slightly by the inclusion of the BBC iPlayer application, allowing you to catch up on the last seven days of BBC Television right from your handset. This has flawless integration that is perfect for bed-time catch ups.

Battery Life
If you use your Nokia N95 8GB as Nokia intends, you'll find you don't get much battery life at all. So the drop from a 1200 mAh battery to a 950 mAh battery as seen on the N96 is a little confusing to say the least. This unfortunately results in a drop of battery life from 280 hours standby to 220 hours, and a talktime drop of approximately 80 minutes. We can only assume this it to help bring size and weight down, but we can't imagine the apparently improved battery power management is enough compensate for this significant drop.