N97 niggles
I’m from a Windows Mobile and Android background, and I’ve never owned an S60 phone. Now I’ve got one and I’m not (yet?) convinced it’s any better than those.
Here’s a start of things that bug me so far. Please feel free to tweet/comment and set me straight on any of these issues:
- I miss the HTC “back” button.
- I don’t like the keyboard. There aren’t enough symbols easily accessible.
- The on-screen input has no qwerty options like the 5800 has.
- The browser refuses to remember my cookies. Something must have fixed this but now appears to work.
- There’s no threaded SMS. There’s a third party app that can do threaded SMS (with some extra effort to sign it etc)
- I miss Gmail. There’s an app for Gmail.
- I can’t figure out if I should be single tapping or double tapping things – ending up with lots of times where I have to hit back.
- Scrolling is inconsistent. The whole phone should use kinetic scrolling. Updated firmware has made this worse. Tiny unscrollable lists are now scrollable. And paging down by press below the scrollbar now skips many lines. It’s even more of a nightmare now.
- The music player has less buttons than Android – specifically the ones I want to use without clicking through nested menus.
- There’s no native YouTube app. Native YouTube app “coming soon”.
- Nimbuzz, the IM client I was recommended does not automatically reconnect (it should by default).
- The GUI elements around the active window are excessive. More so in widescreen mode. Notably: the browser and google maps.
- The calendar should default to a month view, or make it easier to access. Clicking the date on the home screen opens month view. Clicking the calendar widget opens day view.
- I miss the “Menu” key from the G1. Much more elegant than using up screen space.
- I don’t like in-your-face dialogs all over the place telling me vital information such as “unplug your charger to save electricity”. Especially when the handset knows I just unplugged from Nokia suite, not a charger.
- I don’t want to be harassed by countless network prompts. I just want the internet to work and switch behind the scenes when wifi is around.
- I expect more default desktops, although I did like being able to switch to a black UI.
- A recommended screenshot app took a vertical screenshot of a horizontal screen – missing out what I needed. Apparently I must start Best Screen Snap in the orientation I want to take screenshots in.
- The phone crashed when I tried to enable a mysterious “offline mode”.
- The video player could not play an MP4 I had downloaded from YouTube (via PC), which plays fine on G1.
- Contacts with multiple numbers should allow one-click dialling, not yet another menu. Contacts can be given Defaults to speed up the process of calling and texting them.
- I shouldn’t be constantly given the option to send a text message to someone’s house phone. See above
- I don’t want to see a “Show open apps” menu item throughout the whole OS.
- I really miss the (currently) much more standard mini USB port. Seems I need to stock up on micro USB leads/adapters. At MWC 2009 in February a lot of operators all agreed micro USB was the way forward.
- Error dialogs appear out of context. I just had an error on the home screen telling me to go to a non-existent Profiles menu.
- When I get a text message, the screen turns on but gives me no indication that the screen is locked.
- If I click a web link in a text message nothing happens. I have to use a menu to get to it.
- The buttons in the browser decided to vanish during one browsing session (just the bookmark / go to URL buttons row). Had to restart the browser to get them back.
All is not doom and gloom! I do really appreciate:
- The hardware build quality feels better than the G1.
- The camera is much better.
- The FM transmitter is my new best friend.
… but that’s all. Really nothing else about the N97 impresses me so far.
June 25th, 2009 at 9:38 am
The two address book niggles can be fixed using the ‘Defaults’ menu option when viewing a contacts details, if it’s the same as N82 etc.
June 25th, 2009 at 9:46 am
Hey David, as for every new things, there is a learning curve.
Good thing is that with Symbian, you’re not alone :D
Here are few pointers:
6.I miss Gmail. => http://www.gmail.com on the browser, tap the “get faster gmail” and download the app. It will install by itself and then you get a pretty good gmail experience
10. There’s no native YouTube app. => it is coming, and as soon as it will be available, it will replace the shortcut. You’ll just launch youtube and it will ask you if you want to upgrade to the full experience and if yes, will do it seamlessly.
11. Nimbuzz => this is not really linked to the N97… more of an issue with a specific non Nokia application.
12. The GUI elements around the active window are excessive. More so in widescreen mode. Notably: the browser and google maps. => in the browser, you should get to full screen after few secs, depending on the loading speed.
Then you have as much screen real estate available for the webpage itself, and NO UI elements besides the Transparent Arrow to get back to the toolbar.
13. The calendar should default to a month view, or make it easier to access. => it defaults to Month View when started via the calendar icon, if not, just set it in the settings. When tapping on the miniview, it goes to the daily view, as it shows the next appointments.
There are definitely issues that bug me as well, and I hope they’ll get fixed with the next update of the software…
It’s rather refreshing to hear customers speak about the problems on these phones, as on some other devices, people are so proud that they don’t even want to admit that there are problems..
All in all, Nokia is listening to their customers, so keep on voicing your opinions, it’s the only way to get the devices/OS better.
June 25th, 2009 at 10:14 am
Cheers guys, that’s a nice start to clearing off my list.
Julien, I’m still not convinced with the browser and full screen. It works, but it’s a bit jumpy in my opinion – i.e. the “animation” seems to occur in two jumps, redrawing the screen twice rather than one smooth movement. Possibly that’s just my perception.
June 25th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
With regards to number 19: The “Offline” mode disables the ability to make a phonecall. Your connection to your network is terminated and your phone won’t actively search for it. This mode allows you to listen to music, video, check your calendar in places where mobile phones should normally be turned off (hospital, airplane, etc.)
Just so you know.
June 25th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Also, re: Email. Take a look at Nokia Messaging. I use that on my N97 (over the Gmail app).
Browser – Ridiculous to ask, but have you checked the settings to ‘remember cookies’? They might be switched off by default.
Aside from that, you’re reasonably on the money…
June 25th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
1.,2.,3.,7.,8.: things to get used to! If you don’t then this phone is not for you! I have been playing with mine since Monday and for me those were just getting-to-know-a-new-gadget things that I soon got used to.
9. The music player: Yes. Easy downloading stuff, good sound, but not brill on-screen options
12. the browser: Agree (sorry Julien!). And I’ve had 3 days trying to get used to it
15. “unplug your charger to save electricity”: Don’t mind that, sound advice ;o)
16. harassed by countless network prompts: Spent all Tuesday shouting at network prompts after being happily sim-free on Monday. Have since deleted ‘Vodafone live’, ’3′ and set Wireless WLAN as priority no. 1 in access points. OK now, but facebook app. is not working properly
19. “offline mode”: Vodafone didn’t like me being in offline mode …. Problem solved by above
22.: ???
This is (in theory) the gadget of my dreams. I love, love, love the way it looks and feels. The camera is amazing. Unlike you David, I am totally at home with the keyboard. I was after a mini-computer and not a new phone. I have used the Nokia 5800 and the iPod touch (not phone) and knew that they were not quite what I was looking for, but close. I took one look at a Blackberry and ran a mile. <- Yuck. I got a real idea of how I would want things to look and feel and so have been waiting for this N97 – aesthetically it's just how I would have designed it myself. I hope that maybe in a year addressing any teething problems will result in something that runs a lot smoother. As a non-techie, twittering, facebooking, mature student and business partner who likes being outside and has been suffering from lack of daylight in a pokey study, this may just give me a bit more freedom! Now looking for a good word-type app so I can have a go at some outdoor studying.
I don't agree with Stephen Fry's total lack of enthusiasm – much as I respect his knowledge – I have no problems with the operating sytem, the touch screen or the stylus (…different strokes…..). Well OK, a dangly on-a-string stylus???? hmmmmm….. Overall – This has potential. My 12-year-old and 14-year-old adore it and got to grips with it immediately. Apparently it is very cool!
June 25th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Regarding the texting, you can send an SMS to a BT landline. If they’ve got a modern DECT phone (& have paid for callerID I think) the text will display on the handset. If not, the text will be sent as TTS.
There’s no way for the phone to know the (continually changing) numbering scheme for each contry – nor the capabilities of the receiving handset.
T
July 9th, 2009 at 11:18 pm
[...] days of owning the N97 I had constructed a hefty list of niggles – fairly major problems that I was having with the device. There were 28 of [...]