The Nokia N97 will be available in the Philippines in the second half of 2009.
Ladies and gentlemen, presenting the Nokia N97, dubbed by the Finns as their most advanced phone in their stable. And it’s here in the Philippines but sadly, not available publicly yet. I did ask, but Nokia still does not have a SRP for the Philippine market.
Let’s do this! Photo overload follows!
There is that notion of “cheap” being nothing more than that. However, the D100 from TORQUE (successful China debut phone) is actually impressive! This is an example of a truly kick ass phone — it just so happens to be cheap, but there are small things TORQUE paid attention to that made a huge difference in the overall product.
Full review of the D100 afte the jump. I swear, this could be your next el-cheapo wonder!
EDIT: If you’re looking for more TORQUE products, check out the cheapest dual SIM phone in the market, the TORQUE D100.
There’s a different philosophy behind reviewing entry level phones – more than features, people tend to look at price, but with the way the mobile phone market is becoming more and more sophisticated, even low end phones have to be distinguished by some creative features. Today, I have a brand new TORQUE straight from the box. The TORQUE C100 is the China made entry level phone that has been out for a few days in your favorite mobile phone flea market. Read on for my hands on.
A few weeks ago I won a Nokia N79 from a raffle from Nokia. Having really wanted the semi-brand new E71 in its stead, I bargained for a swap since the latter was a tad cheaper in price mainly due to an earlier release date. The E71 is a fantastic QWERTY business device and my one and I guess biggest complaint is the dropping of support for BlackBerry Connect. If this is a software issue, I hope Nokia can release a firmware upgrade in the future so it can support both Intellisync and BlackBerry Connect.
A few weeks after the E71’s release, Nokia announces a lower end enterprise phone – the Nokia E63 which is basically the same in most respects except for its slightly less conservative form factor. As seen above, the Nokia E63 resembles much of the E71 and is in fact cheaper by a mile – only P14,200 whereas the E71 retails between P19,500 to P22,000. The main difference between the two is really more on the form factor and “lower end” 2.0MP camera – which is really relative as the E71 comes with a 3.2MP camera.
Who said cheaper meant worse specs? The E63 comes with support for 3.5mm headsets while my E71 supports 2.5mm connectivity – I’d need to use an adapter to use regular earphones. Bluetooth, WiFi, Share on Ovi, a really good browser, and fast UI make this phone a definite winner if you don’t need HSDPA! More specs available here.
The Nokia E63 is available NOW for only P14,200. This is the most affordable mass market enterprise level phone of Nokia and I don’t see any reason why you shouldn’t consider it for Christmas.
UPDATE 3: I have a review up of the new Nokia N97 — following the successful touch screen experience of the 5800.
UPDATE 2: More hands on with me playing with the phone. I talk about the touch screen in particular.
UPDATE: From Nikka Abes of Nokia Philippines:
The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic phone is selling at a preorder price of P20,000.00. To place a preorder please sign up at the Nokia Philippines website. This goes to the first 58 sign ups.
The price of the 5800 XpressMusic is pegged at about P18,000 without tax so we can estimate this to be at the early P20,000 mark when it comes out officially (nota bene: this is only speculation, btu it gives you a rough estimate how much of your Christmas money to save).
If you wish to receive more updates when I post a gadget review, click on the link below to enter your email address:
A bit of history: the XpressMusic line is Nokia’s flagship brand for anything and everything music. If the Nseries concentrates on multimedia (video mostly), the E series on corporate use, the XpressMusic line is distinct because it has two things – a separate high quality audio hardware (loud and crisp speakers) and a 3.5mm speaker jack. This is consistent throughout all the Nokia phones branded as XpressMusic.
The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic phone is Nokia’s first Nseries touch screen device as well. Nokia has had two other semi popular touch screen phones in the past – the Nokia 6708 and the Nokia 7710, released back in 2006. Here is a walk through of the various features. My first impressions were very positive as the touch screen integrates well into the device. Unlike the iPhone which is an SMS composing nightmare, the 5800 slightly vibrates each time you press a button. There are three text input modes available – full QWERTY keyboard, mini QWERTY keyboard and the traditional numerical keypad.
Photos and full feature after the jump.