Syncing your device is a necessary evil, but would be a lot easier of no cables are involved. Here’s an easy way to do this. The wireless sync allows you to sync your music, videos, pictures, and podcasts from your collection Lumia device.

Connect to wireless connection

1.First step is to connect your Lumia to the same Wi-Fi network as your PC where you have the Zune software installed. Swipe left>Settings>System>Wi-Fi and connect to the network.

Connect to your PC

1.Connect your Lumia via USB Cable to your PC and fire up the Zune software. (While still connected to Wi-Fi)

2.In Zune go to “View Sync Options” and go to Wireless Sync

3.Choose “Setup Wireless Sync”

4.It will now show you the wireless network your Lumia is connected to, verify that it’s the same one as your PC and choose Next.

5.And your done! All you need to know is that it will sync once your Lumia is connected to a power outlet and in range of your wireless network. Optionally you can manually start wireless syncing if your Lumia  isn’t charging.

Introduction

As somebody that’s passionate about music, I prefer a very specific combo: in-ear type earphones with a portable amp. The reason is simple, if audio is your number one priority, this combo easily outperforms any other setup. An added bonus is the fact that in-ear earphones basically act like earplugs, passively providing lots of sound isolation.

As always, there’s a catch: this setup isn’t that very portable or convenient: In-ear earphones, usually called In-ear-monitors or IEM require a tight seal in order to perform, requiring the need to be placed uncomfortably deep inside the ear-canal. For this reason they also require constant cleaning and it’s also the reason why IEM are not something you could share with others.

Another difficulty comes from the fact that you need to put them in correctly, requiring specific techniques like slightly opening the jaw or moisturizing the sleeves. Many first-time IEM buyers usually don’t know about these techniques and end up with a subpar listening experience. They are extremely effective at blocking out all sounds, meaning that throughout the day you’ll find yourself constantly taking them out just to have a normal conversation.  Lastly, there’s also the issue with wires and lugging around an amp isn’t my idea of fun.  I needed something more practical which brought me to the Nokia BH-905 and the updated BH-905i. Armed with almost $500 worth of 905 goodness I set to answer the question: IEM (Shure SE535 and SE425), 905 or 905i?

From 9 to 5 and 5i.

Based on price alone, both the BH-905i and 905 are stand-out products in Nokia’s line of audio accessories. With current prices varying anywhere from 230 to $300 for the 905i and 160 to $225 for the the 905, it instantly becomes clear that this is Nokia’s most expensive accessory  to date. To put things into perspective, a Nokia 700 costs around $329, which especially puts the 905i close to a full-featured smartphone! But judging by the prices alone, the regular BH-905 is an incredibly good value, as it can be found for just a bit below $200. In some cases even around $160, where it can be considered a steal. The value of the entire 905 series becomes clear when you compare it to other noise-canceling headphones of the same class and performance. For example Sennheiser’s Bluetooth and noise-canceling PXC 360 BT and 310 BT cost $589 and $499 respectively. Sony’s DR-BT50 is now $199 but lacks the noise-canceling feature and Bose’s QuietComfort series does have the noise-canceling function, it’s not wireless ($299 or $349). One quick look at similar headphones and it becomes clear how much you really get for the price, especially the current price for the BH-905.

The 905 series also stands out because of the designated 9xx numbers, a line normally reserved for Nokia’s best (performing) accessories (like the BH-904) and it just happens that the 905 and 905i sit at the very top of this line!

In contrast to the discreet nature of IEM, the 905 makes a statement due to it’s large size and plenty of chrome accents. It’s not bold like Skullcandy headphones with the crazy design and wild colors, but if you’re looking for something that’s as discreet as possible (and possibly smaller) you’ll need to look somewhere else. Despite the large size, the 905 exudes sophistication with it’s quality materials and understated Black color that makes it look smaller than it really is. It’s splashes of metallic accents that keeps things from getting too dull. In terms of design, the 905 series reminds me of the Bose QuietComfort line , but with a more modern twist to this familiar theme.

As expected from this this price range, IEM like the Shure SE425/535 and both the 905 and 905i come with plenty of accessories. One key difference between the 905 and 905i is the inclusion of the Audio Adapter for VoIP AD-77. It’s basically an adapter that allows you to connect your Nokia headset’s 3.5 mm plug to your PC and use both the microphone and the headphones. Handy if you plan on  using the 905 wired while making Skype calls,  but considering  that many laptops now include Bluetooth, I rather use the 905 wirelessly, which works just fine on my VAIO Z.  Because of this, the omission of the AD-77 from the 905’s package isn’t a deal breaker, in fact with an fairly up to date laptop, I doubt you’ll miss it. In case you do, the AD-77 can be purchased separately. Another small difference is the inclusion of a smaller inner pouch with the 905i  where the rest of the accessories can placed. The 905 un the other hand  uses a much larger pouch, where all the accessories can be hooked to the inside of the pouch. Not the most elegant solution, but it does the trick.

In terms of design of the headphone itself, they’re almost identical save for 905’s headband which makes a more dramatic outward curve. There’s been a lot of talk about the 905’s Princess Leia headband and generally people don’t seem to like. I’m not a fan of it myself and prefer the updated design of the 905i. In terms of durability there is  one huge difference. Due to the bigger curve, the 905’s headband is more likely to flex unnaturally and in many cases breaking the surrounding plastic. There have been many reports where the plastic simply breaks after days of usage. This happened to my 905 and several other people I know. This doesn’t seem to be an issue with the newer 905i since pressure is not applied to the plastic cover, but the metal that separates the upper from the lower part. This definitely  isn’t something you can’t fix with super glue, but just be aware that if you do get the 905, chances are, the plastic will eventually break.

Compared to your typical IEM, the 905 series are more practical for daily usage. Both use an supra-aural design, meaning they sit directly on top of the ears, not requiring any specific techniques to put them on. This will come down to the fact that you’ll always get the best performance, without the need for complicated techniques to worry about when putting them on. If you’ve ever owned IEM, you’ll know that you constantly have to clean them due to the fact that they collect ear wax when sitting in or near the ear canal. With supra-aural designs this isn’t an issue, instead it’s simply a matter of placing them on top of the ears and your set. One notable aspect of the 905 series is that they’re extremely comfortable due to the use of lot’s of padding, something that can’t always be said about IEM. In fact many have a lot of trouble getting used to IEM due to the uncomfortable feeling of having an external object in your ear canal.

Performance

There’s no doubt about it: generally IEM win by a wide margin when compared to similarly priced supra-aural headphones. I would be go as far as saying that IEM one or two steps lower in price range could still outperform a specific supra-aural design. This is especially the case with noise-canceling headphones, which  require expensive and complex  systems that take up a good chunk of a product’s total “budget.” For example, a $100 to $150 IEM from Shure, Ultimate Ears or Etymotic will easily beat the BH-905/i. This doesn’t mean that the 905 doesn’t sound good, in fact it sounds great. (The 905i is another story.) Generally IEM will easily outperform them for the simple reason that they have a higher dedicated “budget” for producing sound, while 905 and 905i have to divide between  sound being and noise-cancelation. IEM also have an unfair advantage since they sit in the ear canal.

High-end IEM like the Shure SE535 produce an impressively tighter lower-end and is able to dig quite deep with it’s triple driver design, while keeping up with fast and complex bass laden songs like THX’s World’s Deepest Bass. The 535 is able to present a meaty and solid foundation for the low-end without being exaggerated, presenting a very convincing and  impressive performance of the low-end.  Admittedly, many low-end single-driver IEM  will surpass the 905s when it comes to bass, again digging much deeper and providing a lot more detail, but obviously not as articulate as the $500 535.  The 905’s performance can be considered good to very good, especially considering the current prices. When  compared to IEM, the bass just didn’t go as deep and could be considered quite a big sloppy and vague. Overall  still quite impressive. In fact the average listener should be very pleased with the low end. It’s specifically the ability to go deeper and its tendency to keep things a bit vague that hinder it from getting an even higher score. The 905i disappoints here with insufficient volume and simply isn’t able to do any justice to the lower notes. While there is some bass to speak of, it’s nearly not as impressive as the cheaper 905 and lacks severely in volume.

In term of the mid-end the 905 impresses with plenty of volume and detail without being in your face. It does a pretty convincing job with male voices which are a bit more difficult to faithfully produce . I do wish it had little bit more mid-bass to support the mid-end, but overall very nice. The 905i does pull ahead here with it’s effortless performance, strangely  providing an even more uniform sound and details than 905. Ironically, there’s also a lot more mid-end bass which creates an even sweeter and convincing mid-end. This is strange considering how much the 905i lacked in the much deeper tones. Sadly, without enough volume headroom and an almost non-existent base, I can’t give it higher marks. The 905i simply couldn’t reach the same volumes as the older 905, even with its volume and sound enhancing features set to On.  Low-end IEM equal the 905 in terms of the overall mid-end, but when it comes mid-end bass they slightly pull ahead. IEM in the same price class of the 905 series obviously outperform it with an impressive mid/mid-end bass combo that’s not only even more detailed but very present.

Lastly, both the 905i and 905 do an average job when the higher notes are concerned, the same can be said about low to mid-end IEM: recessed, vague and at higher volumes sometimes too edgy. The 905 for example looses composure when you set it at max volume, where the reproduction is just all over the place. Usually you’ll have to move up to $500+ IEM to get a more detailed high-end, with the Etymotic being the rare exception.

IEM also provide superior sound isolation without complex electronics, blocking ALL external sounds, not just background noise like the 905 series. This is even more dramatic when you use custom-made sleeves. The 905 with it’s 8 mics does very good job at canceling background noise. No matter how many times I’ved used it before, it still manages to impress each time. It cancels and in some case lowers background noise, but there’s always a noticeable “hiss” heard. With music playing you can’t hear the hiss. I did see a huge improvement in noise-canceling performance with the 905i, a very dramatic improvement. The 905i’s active noise-cancelation is one of the best currently on the market and unexpectedly beats the previous 905 by quite a bit.

Conclusion

In terms of pure audio quality there is no doubt about it: IEM one or two steps lower in price  could still outperform most supra-aural designs, including the 905 series. IEM in the same price range as the $300 905i provide a far superior performance in a more compact package. The same can be said about the 905. But as always, there’s another side to the story. The 905 specifically represents an incredible value considering current its prices below the $200 mark . In fact you’d have to go above the $400 range to find a wireless headphone of this caliber that also has noise cancelation and Bluetooth connectivity, making the BH-905 a unique product not only in Nokia’s line, but also the entire market. Performance is impressive and should be enough to impress 90% of users, but audiophiles should stick to their beloved IEM. The BH-905i on the other hand is a more expensive product that simply can’t perform as good as the older and cheaper 905, lacking in volume and base. It does make up for this with the one of the best active noise-canceling systems on the market. Sadly this is not enough for me to recommend it, instead I prefer the older 905.

Speaking of noise-cancelation, you still will get better results with IEM as they block all sound and not just suppress or block background noise like the 905 series. Worth noting, is that the 905i has one of the best active noise-cancelation on the market and Nokia should be applauded for this remarkable feat. I’m anxious to see where they take this and is with future products. There’s also the convenience factor to consider here. While IEM do a better excel at audio performance and noise-cancelation, they are uncomfortable to use and require constant cleaning. the 905 series with its generous padding is extremely comfortable and provides a more sensible solution for daily use.

If you’re only concerned with audio, I’d suggest having a serious look at IEM, but the BH-905 provides a more complete and convenient package at a very good price. Users should be careful though with issues surrounding the cracking headband plastic. But if you can get a BH-905 for around $160 I’d say buy and run! The 905i’s audio performance simply isn’t enough for me to recommend it. The BH-905 gets an 8.5 out of 10, while the BH-905i gets a 6 out of 10.

Cheap Calls to Australia

Nokia is known for it’s excellent camera smartphone’s but what many are not aware of is that under the hood, some of these are amazing music devices. We’re not just talking about devices marketed as “Music phones”: edgy look, bundled improved quality headphones (or speakers) and media keys. While some of the Nokia devices do have many of these traits, they’re actually capable of pumping out some seriously good tunes using audiophile grade head/earphones. Perfect examples of these are the N91, N91 8GB, N81, N81 8GB and even the N900.

With the N8 now readily available, we wanted to check out how it truly faired on the music front. Testing the N8 would also give you an idea of what to expect from the C6, C7 and E7 as they all share essentially the same hardware.

When we’re talking about audio quality, we’re not talking about the built-in speaker or the Dolby surround feature using HDMI out. In fact surround sound does not necessarily equal good audio quality, as many would think. In this case it’s purely the stereo output through the built-in 3.5mm headphone jack and doing some serious listening, using some audiophile grade in-ear monitors (IEM) from Shure and 320kbps MP3 and Wav files.

I started the test with Lakmé’s The Flower Duet, testing the N8’s capability to cope with a very dynamic classic. The N8 passed the test with flying colors, faithfully producing The Flower Duet with all it’s dynamic complexity while still being able to drive the Shure earphone without a portable AMP at glass breaking volumes. I was also impressed with the amount of detailed produced during the low-volume parts of this piece. Older Nokia’s were plagued with lack of ample audio headroom, but the N8 is another those devices can go loud, and I do mean loud.

I played a bit with the equalizer, but felt that using the default setting, the N8’s output was good enough to get the most out quality headphones without the need for further adjustments.

I continued the test with Cirque du Soleil’s Ibis at max volume to see how it would perform with a more dramatic and energetic piece. The deep tones at the beginning of the sound were nicely produced with the N8 and Shure combo and all the string instruments at ending stood as the combo revealed some impressive details. The N8 was definitely capable of driving earphones without the need of an external AMP, impressive!

The music player benefits great from the N8’s speed and graphics processing power to quickly and naturally zip through the tracks with the added visuals of the album art displayed at 60 frames-per-second, but definitely missing is a search feature to quickly get to a specific feature. The N8 a powerful graphics system, so where are the visualization effects?

Alphavile’s Forever Young played with authority and the dramatic echo was now clearly heard adding a dramatic effect, something that  would barely be audible using a lesser combo. Adam Lambert’s Whataya want from me sounded a bit harsh at higher volumes, bit faired excellent at up to 95% of the volume, the N8 reached it’s limit driving the Shures, indicating that some songs would actually benefit from an external AMP. The N8 was still impressive, on par with the best out there, but a notch below the golden standard: The Nokia N91.

Lastly we tested the N8’s ability to drive the Shures using base-only THX’s World’s Deepest Bass! The Shure went deeep without any problems or serious flaws, again showing the N8’s audio prowess, even when it comes to low-pitched audio frequencies.

Conclusions

The N8 joins other impressive Nseries devices capable of some serious audio performance. This also gives us an idea of what to expect from other devices like the C6, C7 and E7 as they all share the same hardware. The N8 is capable of driving even high-end earphones at high volumes levels, while still producing the most detailed and complex parts. In some cases ( and those cases were rare) I would still recommend an external portable AMP, but I admit that were talking about $500+ earphones in those specific cases. The UI is simple yet beautiful and greatly benefits from the added speed and graphic hardware-acceleration. A big negative is the lack of search feature, although the speed at which you move through tracks is remarkable. Also where are the visualization effects? The N8 could easily be used as a dedicated music player and even audiophiles should be happy. It is however a step below the N91.

Find out more about the Nokia N8 phone online with Dial A Phone where they have a great blog which reports all of the latest news in the mobile phone world.

The Nokia Home Music is one those hard to find Nokia devices, so hard in fact that I don’t think I’ve seen a review of one, although I did have the pleasure of seeing one at the Nokia House in Finland. So if you’re collector of Nokia devices, the Nokia Home Music (and maybe a N92)wouldn’t  be a bad place to start, well that’s if you can manage to find one.

In the mean time head on over to the Symbian-Guru, as Ricky has managed to get his hands on one of these and written an in-depth review. Word is that soon your search for the Nokia Home Music might be getting a bit easier as supposedly coming to the US. Judging by its availability in Europe, yet not not single unit to be found online, I wouldn’t bet my N97 on it.

If you do manage to get one, hold it tight and run! Where in the world is the Nokia Music?

Update: I found some interesting info that might explain as to why the Nokia Music hasn’t hit the market earlier. DLNA is a one of the big features of the Nokia Home Music and it seems that as recently as September 2009 the Nokia Home Music HD-1 received it’s certification in being DLNA compliant. In comparison, the Nokia E72 that just recently became available got its certification in August of 2009. This would put about a month between the two releases, indicating a December 09 release for the Nokia Home Music HD-1.

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As a music fan, my mobile device HAS to be very good at this all-important-task, because of the simple fact that I only own one portable music device at a time. The N91 is still considered the benhmark among all of Nokia’s handsets. How does the N97 compare?

Its all about audio quality:There are many ways to judge a music device, but one can argue that it all starts and ends with music quality. This is especially true with high-end headphones, earphones and IEM in the $450+ category. Recent tests I’ve done also shows that it makes a big difference when connected to large external speakers. The difference is even noticeable when budget (under $100) earphones are used. When it comes to audio quality the N91 and N91 8GB are still considered the golden standard, by which current devices are judged by. Using my trusty Shure SE530PTH In-Ear-Monitors (IEM), I put the N97 to the test. After extensive listening I can conclude that the N97 is the closest device yet to the N91 in terms of audio quality using the 3.5mm headphone jack. How close? If the N91 was considered a 10, the N97 would be a 9 or 9.5. It’s  that close! I was even surprised to find that the N97 had that extra volume headroom that I loved so much about the N91. In some case I had to lower the volume when playing at 100% as it was way too loud. This was perfect for music recorded at lower volumes or when I just wanted to lay back and blast my music at full force. The guys over at GSMArena also seem to agree with us:

“The audio quality of Nokia N97 is just great, save for the disturbingly high intermodulation distortion levels. The handset fared excellently in all other parts of our test achieving some pretty impressive scores. The frequency response has been greatly improved over what the N96 could deliver. It now closes on perfection, deviating by no more than 0.27dB throughout the audible range. The noise level, dynamic range and stereo crosstalk readings are also very good, comparable to the best in class. Here go the results so you can compare it to some of the other handsets we have tested.”

I was simply impressed.

How about the speakers? Considering the physical limitation of these mobile devices we can’t expect miracles from the built-in speakers, but we can stay that the stereo speakers on the N97 sound better than most mobile devices out there. Ironically the lower priced 5800 XpressMusic is louder and reaches lower in the audio spectrum. Its fair to stay that if you want share your tunes or annoy others in the train, the N97 does a perfectly good job. Quality-wise, the 5800 XpressMusic sounds better though when the speakers are concerned.

Wait, no Media keys? At first it seemed like a big minus: the N97 had the audio quality but no music keys,a typical characteristic of music devices. Having the ability to quickly control your music is handy. There’s no denying that hardware media keys are probably the best way to go, but Nokia did what is in my opinion the next best thing: Widgets. Widgets are the N97’s media keys that when activated can be placed on one of 5 user selectable areas. If you can recall, the N91 had media keys in front of the actual keypad, the N97’s implementation is basically the same, but of course implemented in the UI. It even goes one step further in the sense that you get the option to place the keys on different parts of the screen: in the middle, at the bottom or all the way up. When you don’t want them, they’re gone, a clear advantage over the N91, especially when customization is concerned. One area where hardware keys have the advantage though is when multi-tasking. I could be surfing the web and controlling my music using the media keys, without ever having to open the Music Player. Something that clearly can’t be done on the N97, unless Nokia adds a floating media bar that can be placed on top of other applications. Maybe an idea for the next firmware Nokia?

Lots and lots of storage and speedy too:With 32GB and 16GB micrSDHC cards I had a total amount of 48GBof storage that could be expanded with time as 32GB microSDHC cards become available. Yes, that’s 48. GB! The N91 on the other hand is stuck at 4 and 8GB. The N97 not only has more storage, but with a data transfer speed of 7-8MB/s it’s almost twice as fast as the N91.

Form factor: The N91 may have the advantage of having hardware keys, but the N97’s form factor with its QWERTY is able to find the the right Track or Artist faster. The ability to change from a QWERTY device that sits flat on a table one second, to something that looks like the 5800 XM closely rese,bling a dedicated MP3-player that sits more comfortable in the hand.

Large screen: With such a large screen, the N97 has the ability to show the biggest album art and music button I have ever seen. But where are the visualizations? The N91 has them, even the E75 (!) has them, so why are they not implemented on the N97?

Conclusion: Although mostly marketed as a social-media device, the N97 performs incredibly well as music device that is the closest thing to the N91 in audio quality. Although it lacks hardware media keys, it mostly makes up for this with the Music Player that can be put on different areas of the screen. For heavy multi-tasking hardware keys are still the  best solution. The N97 not only bests the N91 in storage, but also with a faster transfer speed to fill it up. The Slide-out QWERTY although at first not that obvious, seem well-suited for a music device and the large screen makes a dream come true for music fan: giant album art!

Strangely missing are visualizations, something that even the business oriented Eseries devices have. The N91 can now finally rest in piece.

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Something as simple as getting the album art to show up in the S60 Music player hasn’t been as straight forward as it should be. In its current state the S60 Music player cab be considered “dumb” and not connected, lacking the ability to connect to the net and grab album art, lyrics and album info. This is something LCG Jukebox has been able to do for a while now.

Despite its shortcomings I do prefer to stick to the built-in apps like the S60 music player,for this reason album art has to be added manually. My experience with most MP3 tag editors is that while they allow you to add album art to the MP3 file, it simply isn’t displayed in the S60 Music player. The solution turned out to be the standard Windows Media Player. Here’s how to do it.

1.Add your music to Windows Media player: This is done by dragging and dropping your music in the player or by letting it automatically  media by going to: Library>Add to Library

2.Open advanced Tag Editor: Once your music is in Windows Media Player. Go to the library and find the song. Right click the song and choose “Advanced Tag Editor”

3.Add Album Art: In the Advanced Tag Editor go to “Pictures” and choose “Add” to add a picture. I recommend searching on Amazon for album art. There they have 500×500 pixel pictures that are perfect for the S60 Music player. Be sure to click on the pictures to get the full 500×500 pixel version. When the album art is added be sure to press “OK” and NOT “ADD” otherwise the album art won’t be added.

Do you know any other methods that work with the S60 Music player?

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Here at The Nokia guide, we’re big music fans, as a result, the music features of our Nokia devices are very important to us. Having many or cool music-oriented features means nothing if the device itself is unable to produce a high quality audio signal the 3.5mm audio jack. When it comes to music, the N91 is pretty much still the Gold standard. Things seem to look promising for the N97 according the review at GSMArena. The review says that:

“The audio quality of Nokia N97 is just great, save for the disturbingly high intermodulation distortion levels. The handset fared excellently in all other parts of our test achieving some pretty impressive scores. The frequency response has been greatly improved over what the N96 could deliver. It now closes on perfection, deviating by no more than 0.27dB throughout the audible range. The noise level, dynamic range and stereo crosstalk readings are also very good, comparable to the best in class. Here go the results so you can compare it to some of the other handsets we have tested.”

The N97 seems to be performing quite admirable in the audio department, should be nice if you have one of those fancy In Ear Monitors.

Images courtesy: GSMArena

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As the release of the N97 approaches, I’ve been wondering about the audio quality of the device. When I eventually do get my hands on the final product, I’m not going to check out the digital Compass, the Widget-based front screen or even the build quality. That will have to come later on. After unboxing my unit, I’m going to get my Shure SE530PTH earphones (The proper word is actually IEM), fire up the Music Player and test out its audio quality through the 3.5mm headphone jack! Why? Allow me to explain.

As convergence devices we expect them to do it all, with reasonable to good results, well, at least that’s the idea! Just look at the N82. After it’s release bloggers and consumers alike have been asking for a device with Xenon flash, simply because that allows the device to more closely approach the level of quality achieved by a dedicated digital camera. As a convergence device, shouldn’t it perform just as good on the audio front? Let’s go a few years back to April of 2006 when the N91 was released. You could say it’s the N82 of the music world. If you’ve had the privilege of using this device than you’d know that despite the weight, the audio quality through the 3.5mm audio jack was simply AMAZING! Music-based devices have come and gone into the horizon, including the N81 and now the 5800 XpressMusic. Although I must admit that these devices sound very good, better than any of Nokia’s other Smartphone-based devices, they just could not beat, let alone surpass the audio quality of the N91 and N91 8GB.

Many have complained about the lack of successor to the N82 with Xenon, but strangely the same can be said about Music-based devices, as Nokia hasn’t created (and for a longer period) a true follow-up to the N91. However all hope is not lost, as we sit and wait for the N97 to arrive, word is that it does have a dedicated audio processor with audio quality to match. And here is where things get interesting as it can go two ways: It can go the N96 way, which did have a 24-bit DSP, but in end ended up sounding as good as other Nseries phones (which generally is a good thing), but not N91 good. Or it can simply blow as away, somthing that the initial reports are kind of saying.

For many of us, a convergence device, is one that does it all and yes that includes music too! And so I sit here hoping that finally the N97 will make my ears happy. If it won’t, I’m hoping that Nokia gets it right, just like they did once with the N91.

Is audio quality just as important for you in a modern smartphone?

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The legendary N91 and N91 8GB are known for their impressive audio quality through their 3.5mm audio jack. The N91 has impressed many with its audio quality that is said to rival any standalone audio players and is also said to belong to one of the best on the market, even after2-3 years after its launch. Yet it manages to do all of this, despite the fact that it’s not just a dedicated audio player. Over the years the N91 and N91 8GB have made way for a smaller device that this time is not only positioned as the best in music, but also the best in gaming: the N81 and N81 8GB. Armed with the equally impressive Shure SE530 In-Ear Monitors I wanted put a question that is asked a lot to rest: what is truly the best sounding Nseries device? The N91 (8GB) or the N81 (8GB)?For reference the N95 8GB was also used.
When I started listening to all three devices one thing became quite obvious: the N95 8GB was definitely not in the same league as the two others. The audio quality was not only lower, but there wasn’t enough volume headroom like on the N91 8GB and N81 8GB. The original N95 would score even lower due to some audio hiss, that isn’t present on the N95 8GB. To put things into perspective, the N95 8GB was quite an improvement when it comes to audio over the classic N95, yet both the N91 8GB and N81 8GB leave the N95 8GB FAR behind in the audio department. The N82 on the other hand slots in nicely between the N95 8GB and N91 8GB/N81 8GB.

I must say that the audio quality on both the N91 8GB and N81 GB is extremely impressive and will easily get the best out of any headphones, earphones or IEM and could easily rival any dedicated audio player on the market. With ample storage capacity, all-in-one functionality and the fact that they could be considered “smart and connected” music players, I personally don’t see any reason to buy a dedicated music player. But which one is the best? First thing worth mentioning is that the N91 8GB and N81 8GB are awfully close when it comes to audio quality and the difference will most likely only be heard on high-end earphones like the Shure SE530. The N91 8GB does however have more audio volume headroom and overall produces a much clearer and dynamic sound. The N91 has an extremely clean output and overall produces the sound as intended, while N81 slightly colors the sound produced. There you have it! When it comes to audio quality, even after 2-3 years on the market, the N91 and N91 8GB are still the best when it comes to audio quality through the 3.5mm audio jack. The N81 and N81 8GB came just slightly below the N91 in terms of audio quality, but we can’t forget that the N81 does present a more convincing and overall smaller package.

I don’t know what Nokia used in the N91, but they should quickly apply that to newer devices as the N81 doesn’t seem to be quite there yet. With the announcement of the N79, N85 and soon-to-be-released N96 I’m wondering (and hoping) that the N91 will finally be dethroned, but honestly I do not expect this to happen. For me, if the N91 had removable storage, I would stick to it and use it as my dedicated music player, until something equal or truly better comes along when it comes to audio quality.