Hardware Overview : How Tiny is the Nokia N97 Mini ?
While we are playing with the Nokia N97 Mini we thought of giving you an overview of the hardware with a photo gallery where we take you through the key hardware aspects of the phone
The phone actually feels really good to grip in our hands. The judicious use of metal makes it feel like N-Series is moving toward E-Series in terms of build quality.
The 3.2 inch display is a bit smaller than 3.5 inch display of the big brother. But we found it very responsive well lit in most conditions. Kinetic scrolling works out of the box !
When the slider is open you will find the words Designed in Finland which we can obviously relate to Cupertino’s Designed in California
You also find the Camera key and volume rocker keys
You will also find the words Nokia N97 Mini with the mini not in Bold. This is an indication that the mini is infact a member of the N97 family
We love the slider mechanism which stil makes a loud click when we open it . On the top of the phone you would find the 3.5mm audio jack in the center . There’s a power button on the left.
Along the keypad you would find the microUSB port which is used for charging as well as data transfer. You would also find the hardware unlock key.
There’s nothing on the right (when the slider is open ) or bottom (when the slider is closed) expect for the lanyard hole.
Once you open the slider you would find 3 rows of keys. The keys are flat and requires a tad more pressure than on the original N97. But the feedback is pretty good.
The D-pad has been replaced with arrow keys which has a slight learning curve attached to it . While some users might not like it , most of you will eventually get used to it
The spacebar on the right is actually kick-ass and thanks to v2.0 firmware pre-installed on the min . Long press works out of the box.
In the front , you would find N97 and a video calling camera and a proximity sensor.
When the slider is not open you have 3 keys – the menu , call and hangup, the latter are touch sensitive.
On the rear you would find the 5MP Camera with Carl Zeiss Optics sans the lens cover and a dual LED flash
So how mini or tiny is the N97 Mini ?
Its not really tiny but its smaller than the orginal N97 and much more pocketable for sure
We really love the build quality of the mini . Nokia justified the high price of the handset at the time of the launch and called this a premium phone. But now the phone has got a major price cut and the mini is certainly a very attractive phone at an affordable price point
