Nokia N91 challenges the iPod Options

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With Sony Ericsson, Motorola and Samsung having released their intentions for a music dedicated phone that will promise a seamless marriage for both MP3 playback and mobile telephony, it is inevitable that the Finnish giant would come up with its own musical rendition.

At 113.1 x 55.2 x 22mm and weighing 156g, the N91 is a relatively bulky phone that redeems its beefy stature with an amazing 4GB micro harddrive. Though Nokia executives declined to comment on the manufacturer for the storage solution, we are fairly sure that it uses the same Hitachi drive that was implemented in Apple's first-generation iPod mini.

Resolving most user complaints that playback controls and music management on other MP3-playing phones are lackluster, to say the least, the N91 offers both dedicated hardware playback buttons and a music management system that is comparable to those found on Apple and Creative players. We found that the playback controls can slide down to reveal a numerical keypad and our initial impressions of the tactile feedback on the N91 were generally very good.

On first look, we are impressed that the N91 offers ID3 tag search support and allows for multiple user-definable playlists, an option that even some MP3 players do not feature. The built-in 3.5mm jack is also a plus for users seeking to deploy their favorite headphones since most phones offer only a 2.5mm jack at best, which is not compatible with most headphone models.

View: Full Review (CNET Asia)