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Nokia N96 – Best Multimedia Experience Gadget

Monday I received the Nokia N96 from the Nokia Blogger Relations program. Though not expecting much, given that I’m personally already sold on the N85 as the superior phone, I do have to give the N96 some credit in a few areas. In my position here and at MobileBurn.com, I review a lot of phones, but the N96 is hands-down the best multimedia machine that I’ve come across (and yes, I’ve used the ‘other’ one), in terms of out-of-box experience.

Why is the N96’s out of box experience so great? That’s simple – it has *everything* you need, ready to rock and roll, right out of the box. Accessories, Music, Gaming, Videos, Navigation and Internet are all locked and loaded. Let’s take a look at how Nokia has really put some effort into the out-of-box experience.

First off, the Nokia N96 comes with the standard set of accessories – TV-Out cable, wired headphones with inline remote, and a wall-charger. What’s nice to see is the addition of a car charger in the box, as well. It looks like this is going to be standard for Nokia, as the N85 unboxing over at Plemix.com shows the same thing. That’s awesome, and it’s really nice to see Nokia being a bit more liberal with the in-box accessories.

So, first up, music. I honestly can’t remember ever powering a phone on and finding music tracks already loaded up, ready to go. Granted, there are only 8 tracks on the N96 out of the box, but they’re decent songs, and have album art loaded, as well. I’ve never heard of the artists, and the tracks are each a little bit different, offering a different range to show off the stereo speakers. What an excellent way to introduce the N96 as a music phone, and I’ve not done anything other than power the phone on.

Next up is gaming. The Nokia N96 is Ngage-compatible, and comes with the full Ngage application preinstalled. What’s better is that it also comes with a free license code for Tetris in the box. While Tetris isn’t really the hottest Ngage game, it’s really nice to see Nokia offering me a free, no-commitment way to really get into and experience Ngage. Even better, there are trials of 5 other games already loaded onto the phone – no data connection needed. Again, brilliant. Small strike, though, for these not being preinstalled, so that I had to manually install them through the Ngage application, but still nicely done, anyways. Perhaps in the future, the license would allow me to pick one of the preinstalled games?

Off to GPS. The Nokia N96 has a built-in GPS receiver, and is preloaded with Nokia Maps v2.0, the latest version. Again, Nokia has smartly included a 3-months free license with the phone, so that by simply powering the phone on and starting up Maps, I can easily get the full effect of the application for a few months, without having to spend a dime. I realize some will complain that it’s only a 3-month license and not a full year, but I think that’s negligible, really. It’s just nice to see that Nokia has made it as simple as possible to explore the world as soon as I turn the phone on.

Let’s not forget video content. The Nokia N96 is, thus far, the only S60-powered device to offer my favorite feature – the built-in kickstand. Brilliantly hidden around the camera lens, the kickstand is extremely convenient, and begs you to watch a few videos. Not to worry, the Nokia N96 is pre-loaded with 18 different video clips, including a couple marketing types, but also some random videos, such as a fun surfing one, in the Video Center. There’s a sticker on my N96’s box that says it has Transformers hidden somewhere, but I was unable to find it. Even so, there’s no shortage of great video content available as soon as you power the phone on – no data or external connection needed.

The N96 is also an internet machine. Unfortunately, while there are a *few* links already programmed into the phone, this is still something that’s lacking slightly. There are a handful of hard-coded folders in the Bookmarks section, and these actually have links in them, whereas on previous devices they were empty and useless. I’d like to see a few more useful links pre-programmed, such as the Symbian-Guru homepage. (half-kidding).

With these software items, the N96 is fully stocked to power a party right out of the box. What’s better is the stereo speakers – they’re quite a few steps louder than my N95-3, and I noticed right off that the sound is better, too. The standard 3.5mm audio port means you can hook the N96 into nearly any stereo with an audio-in port, and Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP allows quick pairing with stereo Bluetooth headsets. 2 sets of dedicated media playback keys, and well, I’m impressed overall.

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