Nokia fans who can count are at fever pitch over the upcoming launch of the N97, the successor to N-series heavyweights the N95 and N96. With a touchscreen and slide-out Qwerty keypad, the N97 promises to be the capo di tutti capi when it comes to smart phones.

We recently got our hands on a pre-production handset and found that it has huge potential, but might not quite fulfil our Qwerty-themed dreams. The N97 isn't in the shops yet, but eXpansys is taking pre-orders for just under £670, with an expected release date of 23 June.

Get yourself connected
Nokia is pitching the N97, which packs speedy HSDPA and Wi-Fi connectivity, as a handset for Web-obsessed users for whom a minute away from the Internet is like a minute without oxygen. Our pre-production handset had no trouble keeping us connected via Wi-Fi and 3G, and we appreciated the feature that automatically showed us the sign-in screen for the open wireless network at our secret CNET UK base. On other phones, we have to remember to launch a browser to view the page before we can start using the connection.

When surfing, we liked the Flash support that allowed us to watch videos easily in the Web browser after painlessly installing the Flash plug-in, but we really missed multitouch zoom. Web pages are full of tiny links that desperately need zooming, and that was a multi-tap process on our pre-production N97.

The N97 also has GPS, but we weren't able to test it out on our early version of the phone. Nokia says the N97 will support turn-by-turn navigation, thanks to its own sat-nav application, Nokia Maps.

Touching the void
We hope that Nokia manages the difficult task of adapting the N97's Symbian S60 operating system to the touchscreen environment -- but based on our pre-production handset, it's going to be a challenge.

The convoluted zoom menu highlights an issue that we noticed throughout our early version of the user interface: the touchscreen interface feels grafted onto the N97's Symbian S60 operating system. For example, when looking through a long list of music tracks, you have to use a scroll bar instead of being able to scroll down with the flick of a finger. The scroll bar is tiny, difficult to use accurately and doesn't take advantage of the touchscreen's potential.

With the keyboard stowed away, the N97 goes into portrait mode

Although we tried to avoid it, we occasionally ended up using the five-way function button on the keypad out of frustration. When we did, the UI seemed to suddenly make sense -- not a good sign for what is intended to be a crowd-leading touchscreen handset. We hope this is an issue with our pre-production handset that we won't be seeing in the final version.

Home is where the widget is
The home screen did a much better job of showing what can be achieved. It can show six customisable widgets, which Nokia promises will include live data from social-networking apps, such as Facebook updates. On the pre-production handset we looked at, those widgets weren't available, but we liked the ones we did see. For example, there was a little version of the music player, so we could play, pause and skip tracks from the home screen.
We liked that we could change the position and content of the widgets, but all those options mean the interface isn't as intuitive as that of some other phones. For example, the widgets can be dragged around with a finger, but only after navigating a couple of levels of menu options.

Finger tapping
The N97's touchscreen interface felt snappy and responsive, even on our pre-production device, which bodes well for the final product. We wish, however, that Nokia had switched from the resistive touchscreen it used with the 5800 XpressMusic to a capacitive one, like the iPhone's.

You have to apply pressure to a resistive display for it to register what you're doing, and it helps to use a sharp point, like a fingernail. We prefer the capacitive screen because it feels firmer, it's slightly brighter, and we can use it even after we've chewed our nails to the quick during an episode of Deal or No Deal.
The keypad has very small 5.5x6.5mm buttons that are almost flat, but they have a decent 1mm of space between them and click satisfyingly when pressed, so we found them easy to use. We would have preferred the numbers to be laid out in a number-pad arrangement, like on a BlackBerry keyboard, rather than across the top row of letters, as on a standard computer keyboard. Such an arrangement isn't confusing, but it's just not as speedy when typing in phone numbers.

The spring-loaded mechanism meant the keyboard popped out enthusiastically. The keyboard also held the screen at a good viewing angle when the phone was placed flat on our desk -- perfect for watching long videos.

Push the button
We're excited about the N97's 5-megapixel camera, and the secondary camera on the front for video-calling and taking self-portraits. We also liked the handset's VGA-quality video capture, and we had no trouble storing our snaps since the N97 sports an eye-watering 32GB of on-board memory. There's also a microSD memory-card slot, allowing you to pack in another 16GB of memory, for an elephant-sized total of 48GB.

On the top, there's a standard 3.5mm headphone jack -- so you can use your own headphones -- that doubles as a TV out. There's also a dedicated camera button, volume control and slider switch, for unlocking the phone.

On our pre-production handset, there was no accelerometer for switching between portrait and landscape orientation. Instead, when we slid out the keyboard, we were kicked into landscape mode, and, with the keyboard stowed away, we were bumped into portrait mode. If this system makes it into the final handset, you won't be able to use the phone in landscape mode without the keyboard deployed, even if you want to.

Outlook
The Nokia N97 is a feature-packed heavyweight that went back to smart-phone school and came out with a PhD in power. Based on the early version that we tried, we're excited about the N97's Qwerty keyboard and customisable home screen, and we definitely get the feeling that it will have a deep well of features to explore. But we're worried that the resistive touchscreen is already old-fashioned, adapting the user interface to it is going to be a tough row to hoe.

With the iPhone, the T-Mobile G1 and the LG Arena KM900 taking touchscreen phones to a higher level, the N97 is up against stiff competition. We look forward to seeing if the N97 can help Nokia claim the crown.

Update: Some minor changes have been made to a previously published version of this preview, to better reflect the pre-production status of the handset we tested.

Source: http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/mobiles/0,39030106,49300332-2,00.htm