A little while ago, I received an N93i in the mail from the good folks at Nokia. Having already trialed the N93, I was only moderately excited to get my grubby hands on the upgrade to Nokia’s video-centric mobile. But I must say… this upgrade looked damn good.

The moment I took the old N93 out of my pocket, friends around me would marvel at the fact that I could handle carrying a mid-sized lawn chair with my everywhere I go. Even though the N93i is only a teeny bit smaller than its predecessor, the reaction was one of “Ooooh… that’s so shiny. What is that?”

Even the drips toting RAZRs were enamored. It’s amazing what a makeover can do to a chunky phone. But moving on…

Overall, I was really pleasantly surprised with the changes made to the N93i. I figured I’d like it more than the N93 (just look it it, why not?), but it really became more of a portable, lovable device as well.

Not only is the size of the phone improved, but the shape is, too. Making it a little smaller and lighter was great, but there was a big change I haven’t heard mentioned on any N93i review I’ve read so far: the curvature of the bottom of the phone accommodates pocketing this handset so much more easily than the N93 (see the N93 & N93i comparison pic at left). It’s a bit hard to explain, but if you’re using your phone, you’ll want to just close it, and put it in your pocket, without turning or flipping the device each time. The N93 made this difficult, because when the device is closed, the back side was actually larger and boxier than the front (note the way the bottoms curve). The N93i is a much more appealing shape to (try to) fit in the jeans.

Of course, the new styling is just awesome. Shiny black mirrored external face with Sony-esque hidden LCD goodness for an secondary display. Moto-esque flat metal keypad for improved looks and to help slim the device a little more. Quality covers for the memory hard and pop-port slot this time around - no silly, cheap-looking rubber covers than keep coming off. And a big hooray for bringing back the N90’s joystick for navigation while in video recording mode. The N93i also looks much more natural when in landscape mode, thanks to exaggerated curved corners on the LCD-half of the flip. The N93 had a little nubbin’ faux-joint thing that made it look a little awkward in this position. And thanks the side reduction, the overall length of the device when flipped open and held up to your ear, is no longer comical. The N93 was pretty sturdy, but kind of cheap looking… the N93 flaunts its quality.

As far as the optics go, I was surprised to find out that it wasn’t exactly the same as the N93. They used a similar noise-reduction method as in the N73… smoothing out grain, but loosing a bit of detail (though it doesn’t produce the slightly overly-vivid colors the N73 does.. which can make outdoor shots just look amazing). Typically, many people find this type of grain reduction visually improves photos, especially when sizing them down for web-sized viewing. That same smoothing appears in the video as well. And it goes without saying, the N93i’s video recording remains top-notch, putting most any other mobile to shame at 30fps and 640×480 resolution.

As pretty as it is, there’s room for a little bad news, too. The left and right mic used to be on separate sides of the phone’s body when held in video mode… now the mic for both channels is on the top of the device. Big deal, you say? While the change isn’t devastating, the previous placement of the left and right mics on either side of the device used to give a really rich stereo sound to video recordings. Now it’s just normal-sounding.

<rant> Still no fucking ability to see the viewfinder when taking a high-res photo or video of yourself. This is a software limitation only. Even the end of the fancy Gary Oldman N93 commercial falsely flaunts this capability, because it’s a selling point, a no-brainer requirement for video bloggers, and standard feature for any typical video recording tool with a swiveling viewfinder. So what exactly is the problem? </rant>

The flat metal keypad looks great, but isn’t nearly as usable as the oversized keys on the N93i. Typing on the old version was so satisfying - definitely Buttons for Humans, as Nokia’s marketing has put it in the past. The new design is all about looks, however. And unfortunately, I found the soft keys to be the least finger-friendly.

Another sacrifice made for that stunning new body… a short battery life just got shorter. I charge my phone every day, so battery life isn’t a huge concern for me… but if it is for you, turn a blind eye to the N93i… or at least be distracted enough by in it’s shimmery goodness - especially when there’s not enough juice to power it on. :)

I typically have hefty bucket of pros and cons to deal any handset. This was a comparison of the N93i’s improvements over the N93, however… and as you can tell, the N93i just wins me over hands-down. The stylistic and overall improvements were too beneficial on the whole to let even some usability drawbacks ruin the day. And while I never prefer a flip, slide or swivel form-factor to a good solid candy-bar-shaped phone, I was sad to see this sparkly gem go back to Nokia.

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