Remember the Nokia N95? The Symbian-equipped dual-slider marked a peak design moment of the pre-iPhone era, and as such is a perfect target for YouTuber Mr. Mobile aka Michael Fisher to feature in his “When Phones were fun” series. The latest video provides more than just a nostalgic look back however, as Fisher has also gotten his hands on an unreleased prototype device from Nokia licensee HMD Global that could’ve served as a follow-up to the classic N95.
The Nokia N95 was the last great phone to launch before the iPhone – and it was such a blockbuster that HMD Global almost brought it back!
Join me to revisit the legendary N95, and get an exclusive look at its canceled reboot, on “When Phones Were Fun!” https://t.co/GXK7F0JVoI pic.twitter.com/NReKGm0L6D
— Michael Fisher (@theMrMobile) November 6, 2020
No, it’s not a plastic-y dual-slider candybar, but the non-functional prototype (which appears about six minutes into the video) does have a slider display hiding an array of cameras and speakers that brings to mind devices like the HTC 7 Surround and a ring around its Carl Zeiss camera that doubles as a kickstand.
As Fisher mentions, with the return of the Razr and odd efforts like LG’s Wing, it would be nice to see someone else taking a different tack with their hardware, but the odds of this working out well were slim. Still, hopefully some phone manufacturer sees this and tries anyway, so I have another slider device to go with my Samsung Epic 4G, Helio Ocean and Audiovox PPC-6600.
Author: Richard Lawler, @Rjcc
8h ago
Source: Engadget
