I must apologize for the delay in putting up this post. The last few days have been rather irritating as my WiMax base station started behaving erratically.
With the internet being somewhat up, Let me post the second part of the N97mini review where we look at how good or bad is the lighting on the device.
Backlighting:
The N97mini as we know has a TFT display instead of a AMOLED display, meaning that the screen needs to be lit from behind. The backlighting is an area where Nokia has done exceedingly well and the mini is no surprise either. There is no light escaping from anywhere and this reflects very good shutlines and high build quality. At 50% brightness the screen is pretty clear and easy to read. We actually found it unnecessary to push it beyond that. At 100% brightness it is rather too bright and feels like having a torch lit up underneath the screen. The sensors function perfectly well, easily judging the amount of light and kickstarting the LEDs behind the screen. We’d rate this backlighting a solid 9/10. Nothing wrong except for that missing AMOLED tech.
Keypad lighting:
The N97 had issues with keypad lighting and with the N97mini it was necessary to verify if that gremlin had crept into this device as well. Turns out that our fears were baseless. The lighting of the keypad has been improved considerably. So much so that there is not even 0.001% of light escaping from some crevice in some remote corner of the device. Only the keys get the light, the result, stunning clarity in the night and day. This makes using the keypad in the nights a piece of cake. We have no complaints here and are delighted with the keypad. A 9.5/10 for the keypad lighting from Symbian-Life Blog it is!
Notification light:
The notification light on the mini has been improved upon. With many small holes on the menu key, the menu key literally lights up! An honest attempt at recreating the Eseries notification light feature, but sadly not as well implemented. We were happy with the inclusion, just not with the execution. Symbian-Life Blog found it lacking when compared with the E72′s notification light. The LED underneath the N97mini is a bit way off, this results in the menu key not lighting up evenly. We’d rate this at 5/10. A good feature with bad implementation.
Below are a gallery of photos of the N97mini… enjoy!!!
Do let us know what you think of this device….
Overall the N97mini performs pretty well, being let down only by the notification light. Stay tuned as we explore the N97mini in more detail.