Design
At a first glance the 9500 Communicator looks like a 1995 mobile phone on steroids. It has the look of mobile phones ten years ago, with a clunky looking interface, square looking with large buttons. It's not all bad though as the phone opens up like a clamshell with a large screen, a QWERTY keyboard and an easy to use navigation stick.
The 9500 Communicator is 148mm wide by 57mm deep by 24mm high and weighs a heavy 222g. We found the device could not fit into most shirt or trouser pockets, unless you possibly wear a pair of cargo pants.
The main purpose of this device is for business users on the road, where users require access to e-mail, word processing, Web access and more. The 9500 Communicator is clearly not going to be a fashion item this summer. The device is a rather bland grey colour and is just too square looking compared to say the BlackBerry for any sex appeal.
Features
The Nokia 9500 Communicator business features are its greatest asset. The phone runs the Symbian operating system with most software one would typically find on an office workstation. We liked that the phone had a plethora of connectivity options including Wi-Fi, GSM/GPRS and Bluetooth.
The 16-bit colour screen measures approximately 110mm by 36mm tall, making the screen rather wide but adequate for writing e-mails, word documents, and reading Web sites. With RAM storage of 80MB, reading and modifying documents was easy and fast with relatively little lag, even with large documents.
The phone comes with a camera but we found you could only use it when the phone was closed and could not use the inside screen to preview when taking a picture.
What the 9500 Communicator lacks in style it makes up in usability and functionality. The buttons on the keyboard are intuitive and big enough to type on. We especially liked the one push buttons to key functions like calendar, contacts, telephone and so on.
The synchronisation software that was bundled with the device was easy to install and use. The Communicator 9500 comes with a docking bay making synchronisation quick, easy and tidy.
Performance
We found the 9500 Communicator very economical on battery life considering the large colour screen on the device. During our tests the phone lasted 4 days of casual use using both the phone and the PDA screen of equal time.
Finding a wireless network was a breeze with the device automatically configuring various mobile hot spots we were in contact with. If wireless is not available, users can still use GPRS to access the Web and e-mail. Companies worried about security will enjoy the security features of VPN, Ipsec, SPA and SSL.
Our main gripe with this phone is the lack of functionality between the phone screen and the PDA screen. It would have been nice to have more integration between the two modes, for example being able to take photographs and reading documents on the front screen instead of having to constantly switch between the two.
At AU$1499 the 9500 Communicator does what it is designed to do - be a business data tool for users on the road. While the device is a lot smaller than lugging around a laptop and is comparable in size with most PDA's it's not particularly pretty. But, if looks don't matter to you the 9500 Communicator does its job, and does it well.
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ADETUTU
11/11/2006, 09:56 PM
rating
8/10
The 9500 is my office away from office. It’s not a leisure phone, its for the business-class. Can't use any other phone than a Nokia communicator.
Pros: Has a lot of amazing features. LOG: You can keep record of your call history for 1 month. QWERTY KEYBOARD: There is no difference when I am typing with my laptop and my 9500. MESSAGING: Like mentioned in ZNET, it has a well integrated communications facilities. The WLAN/WIFI is superb, with Wi-Fi Hotspots popping up all over the place any time you are on the move. Data transfer from previous versions is a good credit.
Cons: Nokia forgot a lot of essentials in 9500. VOICEDIALING: Due to its size Nokia should have considered Voicedialing features to enable users voicedial from a headset without needing to lift up the heavy-weight at all time. Rebooter: The phone hangs most of the times and gives error messages most of the times, in such cases you have to remove the battery in other to reboot. The desk sreen sometimes goes blank when opened. IMAGES: The camera is nothing to write home about, GIF images are slow and can't even be used as screensavers. Cj/NIGERIA. totalcommerce@yahoo.com
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Bruce Farnell
06/09/2006, 11:50 PM
rating
9/10
I love my brick
The lack of a touch sensitive screen is probably a con - but the screen navigation is very good nonetheless. I moved to the Nokia 9500 after using a Psion 5mx for many years (I really liked my old Psion...pity about the size, mono screen and inability to play MP3s - oh, it wasn't a phone either). There were some programs on the Psion that could never run on the Nokia 9500 due to the lack of a touch sensitive screen.
Overall, the Nokia 9500 is a substantial step up from the Symbian/EPOC based devices that preceded it (such as the Psion). It's far from perfect though... perhaps the next model will be.
Pros: Keyboard, WIFI, very long battery life and on excellent display. The inbuilt applications are excellent and means that you don't need to lug the notebook everywhere with you.
Uses a proper multi-tasking operating system - unlike the Palm of Micro$oft based phones (IMHO).
Don't really care about the camera.
Cons: I miss the lack of a vibrating alert option. Also, I didn't like the idea of having to return the unit to Nokia for firmware updates.
It's expensive too - but you get what you pay for.
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Taras
05/09/2006, 12:48 AM
rating
9/10
Excellent tool for advanced business users.
This phone is generally a solution, which allowed me to forget my portege laptop at work. This is actually a computer with a phone feature :), which has all the applications, necessary for a business user. I needed only a few third-party apps: zip-manager, acrobat reader, e-book reader and a dictionary.
I read all the e-mails and reply to 75% of them using the phone. I stopped reading paperback books, cause it's very easy to download and read 'em on the phone. I read all the news with the built-in browser. If you are not a gamer, or an office clerk and don't mind the weight - this computer-phone is for you.
Pros: Excellent display;
Superior battery life;
Convenient QWERTY keyboard;
Good e-mail and HTTP handling;
Camera, which is sometime really necessary
Cons: Large and heavy;
Hangs sometimes during incoming calls;
Takes ages to reboot;
Web rendering with images is slow
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PS
27/10/2005, 08:59 AM
All promise, no deliver
So far I have had 4 replacements and over 10 software upgrades and the phone still won't do the one thing I bought it for - recieve email. The phone locks if you have one call and another comes in and it hates multi-tasking. The WiFi has never worked. Nokia support don't seem to know how to fix it, if it isn't on their script. They've given up - now I'm looking for a new phone.
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manusiaBIASA
16/09/2005, 03:26 PM
the best communicator ever!!!
Well done on Nokia. This is one of the best phones I've ever used.
Great features and benefits. The only downturn is that the camera is not megapixel yet and there's no vibrate feature.
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13/06/2005, 10:22 AM
Its brilliant
I bought this phone for my dad and his business and he still hasn't stoppped thanking me. Instead of writing invoices and typing them up on the computer. He can just transfer then straight to the computer!! Saving many hours sitting in front of the computer typing with two fingers!!
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13/03/2005, 05:25 PM
Nokia 9500
it is a good phone. I can use the phone watch movie and karaoke with smart movie software. Basically i dont need to bring my laptop to the university anymore
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13/03/2005, 05:22 PM
Good phone
Good phone. I used to use P900 and come back to this. It is much better
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Arppit
23/02/2005, 05:45 AM
not worth....
i bought nokia 9500 @ 37,000 INR (860 US$) but it's not worth very big. recently nokia has launched 9300 smaller than this without camera and wireless lan. but i guess that will be worth.
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21/02/2005, 08:21 PM
what a phone
it as it all....bought sony p910 then went back to nokia 9500 so much better.
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