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CHANGING FACES: A phone should always be both functional and sexy, and the Nokia N97 doesn’t disappoint.

Holding the phone in your palm is comfortable due to its lightweight and sleek shell, but the hottest physical detail is the screen that slides to 45-degree angle to reveal a fully alphabetical keyboard. Its hazy, dark black finish reveals Nokia’s stylish side while maintaining the professional feel of the phone. With a 3.5-inch display that rotates both vertically and horizontally, according to your movement, you’ll appreciate the video and picture quality more than ever. Quickly go from flat phone to funky keypad faster than Britney checks out of rehab.

SCREEN SUPREMACY: Before delving deep into the menu options available on the N97, you’ll flip for the screen quality and features that seem to jump off the screen. What we could only dub a ‘mini-movie screen’, watching your favourite YouTube clips is as fun as actually being there in person (laughing quietly, of course). The touch-screen offers a tactile user interface using a double-tap system to avoid accidental clicks, making it a worthy opponent in the world of screen supremacy. The portrait/landscape switch works flawlessly, while functions like ‘unlock’ and ‘menu’ can be accessed only by hardware. With so much to do via the tip of your finger, we’re expecting a mild case of cramped claw hands.

WIDGET WIZARD: Most of us now have a greater appreciation for widget applications, and the N97 gives off more than you might be able to handle. By far, the phone has the best homepage widgets implementation of any gadget in the market, maximising the use of the screen space and user preference. More importantly, the menu interface is clean and navigable; an important option for those who spend hours perusing the screen. But we bet users will be spending most of their time at the Ovi Store — Nokia’s version of an application store — updating the phone with some of their favourite preferences and cool add-ons. With 32 gigabytes of internal memory, the storage is unbeatable, a huge plus for music and video lovers. With Windows Media Player (iTunes supported), it’s easy to sync files to manage media, and watching videos running at approximately 30 frames per second brings clarity to life.

CONCLUSION: When it comes to the competitive market of hi-tech phones, the only thing that really counts is the user experience, and the Nokia N97 won’t disappoint. This phone is functional, clean and full of loaded extras. Multimedia geeks will love the high-resolution camera and music room, while professionals will enjoy the business quality.

kadry@khaleejtimes.com