Quick N95 Question

McDaniel · 2 Jun 2007 at 08:15

Hey Guys,

The last nokia i had was a 6600 and my main reason for getting rid was the Symbian OS is very slow and buggy, often crashed etc..

So i moved to a SE w800i then to a k800i - i love SE's and there menus etc.. very fast and stable phones.

Im in the market for a new one and like the N95 but im not sure if the Symbian OS has grown up enough in tersm of speed.

How are the menus, usage, etc on this phone? a lot quicker and more responsive, or same old?

Beepcake · 2 Jun 2007 at 09:13

I'm a huge SE fan, only moved to the n73 and n95 for mail for exchange and although it is a bit slower than a normal SE phone, it's not enough to annoy me.. and I generally get annoyed easily

The only problem I've had is the shoddy Bluetooth implementation and the odd interface quirk, but hardly show stoppers.

Unless you need the extra features of a symbian phone I would definately stick to a 'normal' one though.

vodkacokebloke · 2 Jun 2007 at 10:15

the 6600 was quite a notoriously slow symbian.

the n95 isnt 'quick' in comparison to a Sony phone, but it is far better than the 6600 used to be.

Yas786 · 2 Jun 2007 at 13:43

I'll echo what the above people said, the n95 symbian system is slightly faster than what the 6600 had. In fact its faster than the 6680 that i had as well. Saying that though the n95 i have, sim free does crash now and again but its not that bad..in fact i had more issues with my p990i than i have with the n95. Just be prepared to keep it on charge every nite though as it has a terrible battery life.

Other than that the n95 is a great piece of kit tbh and this is coming from me, who absolutely detested Nokia at one point lol...first nokia symbian phone ive had since my 6680 from a few yrs back.

mrochester · 2 Jun 2007 at 14:49

Spawn said:
I'll echo what the above people said, the n95 symbian system is slightly faster than what the 6600 had. In fact its faster than the 6680 that i had as well. Saying that though the n95 i have, sim free does crash now and again but its not that bad..in fact i had more issues with my p990i than i have with the n95. Just be prepared to keep it on charge every nite though as it has a terrible battery life.

Other than that the n95 is a great piece of kit tbh and this is coming from me, who absolutely detested Nokia at one point lol...first nokia symbian phone ive had since my 6680 from a few yrs back.

Weren't you the person who kicked up a *massive* stink about the N80? The N95 suffers from the same problems (crashing programmes, running out of memory, poor battery life) yet I don't hear the same level of criticism from you...

Yas786 · 2 Jun 2007 at 15:25

mrochester said:
Weren't you the person who kicked up a *massive* stink about the N80? The N95 suffers from the same problems (crashing programmes, running out of memory, poor battery life) yet I don't hear the same level of criticism from you...

Yes i was and i still stand by my statement that the N80 is and always will be a pile of steaming dog turd

. Personally i dont find the same sort problems that i had with the n80 occur with my n95

. Maybe i got a perfect phone :confused:

...dunno really, the only issue that i had with mine was the earpiece was a bit crackly when making a call but i got that sorted out quite quickly.

Other than that the n95 does suffer from a bad battery life but then with the features it has i wasnt surprised, i was more shocked that Nokia didnt bother putting a higher capacity battery in the phone. But as for crashing and low mem problems etc etc, the n95 i have doesnt really suffer from those problems..its crashed a few times but then my P990i, which i sold to fund my n95 purchase...also used to crash quite frequently but the n95 doesnt crash as much as the N80 i had.

I see my comments from last yr about the n80 still get up your nose...seriously shouldnt take things like that to heart fella

. I probably did have a duff n80 but the most off putting thing about the n80 was the crappy build quality and the bulkiness...the n95 is a dream compared to the n80. Oh if your going to mention the loose slider mech on the n95...ive fixed mine so that its nice and tight

Christo · 2 Jun 2007 at 15:43

vodkacokebloke said:
the 6600 was quite a notoriously slow symbian.

the n95 isnt 'quick' in comparison to a Sony phone, but it is far better than the 6600 used to be.

The N95 smartphone isnt quick compared to a non smartphone, simple as. Nevertheless it is a speedy smartphone and a whole lot faster than the 6600.

mrochester · 2 Jun 2007 at 17:32

Spawn said:
Yes i was and i still stand by my statement that the N80 is and always will be a pile of steaming dog turd. Personally i dont find the same sort problems that i had with the n80 occur with my n95. Maybe i got a perfect phone...dunno really, the only issue that i had with mine was the earpiece was a bit crackly when making a call but i got that sorted out quite quickly.

Other than that the n95 does suffer from a bad battery life but then with the features it has i wasnt surprised, i was more shocked that Nokia didnt bother putting a higher capacity battery in the phone. But as for crashing and low mem problems etc etc, the n95 i have doesnt really suffer from those problems..its crashed a few times but then my P990i, which i sold to fund my n95 purchase...also used to crash quite frequently but the n95 doesnt crash as much as the N80 i had.

I see my comments from last yr about the n80 still get up your nose...seriously shouldnt take things like that to heart fella. I probably did have a duff n80 but the most off putting thing about the n80 was the crappy build quality and the bulkiness...the n95 is a dream compared to the n80. Oh if your going to mention the loose slider mech on the n95...ive fixed mine so that its nice and tight

Try something like browsing the web, then receiving and reading a text. My N95 loves to automatically close down the web browser when I go to read the text because it has run out of memory. Really narks me off big style. Nokia's advertising of 'What computers have become' is a total joke for the N95. My PC can at least multitask without closing down other applications because it has run out of RAM! In fact, the N76 is the phone more suited to 'What computers have become' as it has 32mb more RAM than the N95.

Christo · 2 Jun 2007 at 17:41

mrochester said:
Try something like browsing the web, then receiving and reading a text. My N95 loves to automatically close down the web browser when I go to read the text because it has run out of memory. Really narks me off big style. Nokia's advertising of 'What computers have become' is a total joke for the N95. My PC can at least multitask without closing down other applications because it has run out of RAM! In fact, the N76 is the phone more suited to 'What computers have become' as it has 32mb more RAM than the N95.

Really, I have never had that problem - try updating your firmware maybe. I currently have Fring, webrowser and podcast apps all open at the same time running happily.

scooby555t · 2 Jun 2007 at 18:22

just got my n95 the day so having a little play about with it

mrochester · 2 Jun 2007 at 18:27

Chrisp7 said:
Really, I have never had that problem - try updating your firmware maybe. I currently have Fring, webrowser and podcast apps all open at the same time running happily.

I have updated the firmware. It's a common problem with most S60 devices because Nokia puts not nearly enough RAM into their phones. You get only 20mb free to run your own applications once the phone has booted. Once you've opened a webpage with a lot of graphics/pictures, you'll have used nearly all of this available RAM, so when you open anything else, the web browser will close.

I'd like to add that it isn't just a fault with my phone. I've had 2 N80s, and I've got an N73, both of which also have only 20mb after boot. Both of which like to automatically shut down programmes when it has run out of memory.

Just does a little test... After boot, my N95 has 19.4mb free RAM. Once I have opened OCUK forum in the web browser, this has reduced to 11mb. I then browsed to the ExtremeTech website and the RAM has reduced further to 6mb. So with only one website open and no other programme running, over 13mb of 19.4mb has been used. You can easily see how the phone therefore runs out of RAM on a regular basis.

scooby555t · 2 Jun 2007 at 18:31

i cant get my 1 to update to version 11 of the software any ideas its lookin for the phone but not finding it

Christo · 2 Jun 2007 at 19:01

mrochester said:
I have updated the firmware. It's a common problem with most S60 devices because Nokia puts not nearly enough RAM into their phones. You get only 20mb free to run your own applications once the phone has booted. Once you've opened a webpage with a lot of graphics/pictures, you'll have used nearly all of this available RAM, so when you open anything else, the web browser will close.

I'd like to add that it isn't just a fault with my phone. I've had 2 N80s, and I've got an N73, both of which also have only 20mb after boot. Both of which like to automatically shut down programmes when it has run out of memory.

Just does a little test... After boot, my N95 has 19.4mb free RAM. Once I have opened OCUK forum in the web browser, this has reduced to 11mb. I then browsed to the ExtremeTech website and the RAM has reduced further to 6mb. So with only one website open and no other programme running, over 13mb of 19.4mb has been used. You can easily see how the phone therefore runs out of RAM on a regular basis.

I understand that in the past it was a problem, however Nokia cracked it with the N95. I really havent had a RAM error yet - see my above example and I understand completely what you mean about the RAM issue, being an ex N73 owner. In addition I have heard the same from many other N95 owners. Each to their own, you may be encountering problems seemingly in contrast to other users, I would put your example as either an anomaly or an extreme case.

mrochester · 2 Jun 2007 at 19:10

Chrisp7 said:
I understand that in the past it was a problem, however Nokia cracked it with the N95. I really havent had a RAM error yet - see my above example and I understand completely what you mean about the RAM issue, being an ex N73 owner. In addition I have heard the same from many other N95 owners. Each to their own, you may be encountering problems however seemingly in contrast to other users.

The only phone they've cracked it with is the N76, which has 44mb free after boot. That's over twice as much as the N95. Just because you haven't had this problem doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I'm 100% certain that at some point in your phones lifetime, it will shut down applications you're running because it has run out of RAM. If you don't encounter this problem, I'd suggest you weren't really using your smartphone to it's fullest, and could probably live without one.

Christo · 2 Jun 2007 at 19:32

mrochester said:
The only phone they've cracked it with is the N76, which has 44mb free after boot. That's over twice as much as the N95. Just because you haven't had this problem doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I'm 100% certain that at some point in your phones lifetime, it will shut down applications you're running because it has run out of RAM. If you don't encounter this problem, I'd suggest you weren't really using your smartphone to it's fullest, and could probably live without one.

Well after 2 months of heavy use it hasnt yet happened. If you think using Fring, Podcast and Web browsing (as already detailed above) isnt using the phone to its fullest I suggest you probably arent that clued up on smartphones. besides, like I mentioned before, the overwhelming majority of people both on here and in reviews mention that the RAM issue has been overcome with this phone.

james.miller · 2 Jun 2007 at 19:34

the only time i encountered memory problems was when i filled the internal memory with photos. since ive had a 2gb memory card and everything gets saved on there, i dont have any problems

mrochester · 2 Jun 2007 at 19:41

Chrisp7 said:
Well after 2 months of heavy use it hasnt yet happened. If you think using Fring, Podcast and Web browsing (as already detailed above) isnt using the phone to its fullest I suggest you probably arent that clued up on smartphones. besides, like I mentioned before, the overwhelming majority of people both on here and in reviews mention that the RAM issue has been overcome with this phone.

Right, with those things running, open Maps, and see what happens.

Christo · 2 Jun 2007 at 19:53

mrochester said:
Right, with those things running, open Maps, and see what happens.

It opens the maps seemlessly, however closes Fring down (without letting you know so you dont notice any difference). This is perfectly acceptable, do you really think a mobile should multitask: Internet browsing, fring, Podcasts and Maps simultaneously!? I think thats a very tall order indeed and a totally unrealistic expectation. The answer is simple just shut down the apps you dont need.

mrochester · 2 Jun 2007 at 20:23

Chrisp7 said:
It opens the maps seemlessly, however closes Fring down (without letting you know so you dont notice any difference). This is perfectly acceptable, do you really think a mobile should multitask: Internet browsing, fring, Podcasts and Maps simultaneously!? I think thats a very tall order indeed and a totally unrealistic expectation. The answer is simple just shut down the apps you dont need.

Yes I agree, that is quite unrealistic. However, the Web browser, as I demonstrated in my numbers test, can use vastly different amounts of ram, depending on what website you have open. *Most* of the time it is fine, and I can read the new text message without the browser closing down. However, plenty of other times, it is not possible to do this without the browser automatically closing down.

Hot Sponge · 2 Jun 2007 at 22:13

I've had my N95 a few months and it's been pretty good.

Had to reboot it a few times to get things to work properly but I'm ok with that. At the end of the day it's a lot of technology in a tiny package so I'll forgive it having the odd 'tiz'.