BARCELONA, Spain - Nokia's new flagship, unveiled at the Nokia World on December 2008, won back many of those Nokia-fanatics lost by the disappointment that was the N96. The Nokia N97 certainly promises to the take the market by storm.

The device, which bears a massive 32GB of memory, with support for a microSD memory card, also has a 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens, and flash. It is the first Nokia Nseries flagship to run on the touch-based S60 5th edition software platform.

The widescreen display has 3.5" in size, similar to that of the Apple iPhone, and it has qHD resolution (360x640 pixels). Unfortunately, it is resistive, which means that it is not fully-friendly to finger touch, although tests demonstrated that the screen is responsive.

Multimedia functions don't end here; the N97 has stereo loud speakers which can be compared to the N95 in terms of intensity; a battery that allows continuous music playback for 1.5 days; A-GPS and electronic compass for accurate social networking updates; and TV-out.

In terms of connectivity, the phone has all the usual Nseries components: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, HSDPA, A-GPS, and TV-out.

Although the device has a strong 1500mAh battery, there are proximity sensors and ambience light sensors, to turn off the screen when the phone is close to a surface, and to lower display brightness when the ambient is lit up well, respectively. The battery provides 6.7 hours of talk time, which is impressive for Nseries phones.

The Nokia N97 was revealed to be launched in June, by Tomoharu Yazawa, Product Manager of the N97, who also provided PhoneReport with a comprehensive tour of the phone. The Nokia N97 Blog further details the release date, specifiying it to the 23rd of June, at a price US$675. There will be another batch of phones launched in Q3 2009, and these will have Skype pre-installed in them, as part of the recent agreement reached between the VoIP giant and Nokia.

The units we handled were prototype models. The model in white colour had a light smudge around the call keys, while in both models, Nokia is still pondering on whether leaving or removing the "feature bar", which lists the phone's specifications, in a neat, smart-looking bar. The flexi-cable, which links both boards of the phone, is also visible when the phone is tilted, but Yazawa said that Nokia has thoroughly tested this, and it will not pose a danger to the phone.

From the front, the Nokia N97 has a camera, ear speaker, proximity sensor, and ambience light sensor above the large display.

Below the display there is a multimedia key, and two call keys. The light smudge on the white model's call keys will be repaired on the final version, according to the product manager.

Depending on which orientation the phone is facing, the screen auto-rotates, thanks to the built-in accelerometer (motion sensor).

It was noticeable that the black model was quite glossy, while the white one showed style without any need of showing fingerprint marks. In the end, it is a subjective choice.

There is a Nokia logo sitting on a silver metal stripe, which runs around the phone.

The right side of the phone has the legendary Nseries camera key, and a volume rocker. These keys sit on a silver metal stripe which contrasts against the colour of the phone.

On the left of the phone there is a lock switch, similar to the one on the 5800 XpressMusic, and in the original colour of the phone; and a microUSB port, which cannot be closed and protected.

The 3.5mm audiovisual jack and the power button are located on top of the phone, as visible on the images above and below.

The speakers are located on either extremity of the left side of the phone. Even though they are quite small, they are impressively loud.

The left of the phone incorporates what could be a microphone.

The back of the phone has a compact camera module, similar to those used on the Nokia N85.

The N97 does not open as a Communicator, it tilts as the HTC TYTN II does, at an angle. This is felt as a touch of style more than anything else, but it can aid while operating the phone, due to humans' angle of vision.

Typing on the phone was a function particularly comfortable to execute. The evenly spaced keys certainly contributed to this. The d-pad, which is on the left side of the keyboard, now has a position which makes it comfortable to play games.

As usual in these reviews, we are not able to review the software in full, but we were able to note that the platform in general appeased us, even though it was a prototype version, and we were informed that the widgets that appear on the homescreen can be uploaded by third-party developers, a policy that most manufacturers do not follow.

Although this was not a complete comparatory review, the N97 felt very much like a potential success.

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