When Nokia's N95 was first released in March 2007, it was a  breakthough phone, packing wi-fi (then rare), GPS (ditto), 3G Broadband (HSPA) support (ditto again) an FM radio, a 5 megapixel digial camera and other kitchen sink features inside a relatively compact case. A slide-down keyboard chunked up the design a little, but allowed for a roomy 2.4-inch screen, which played beautiful video. For mobile buffs, it was the phone to have.

But cellphone industry years are like dog years, and the mobile world has changed beyond all recognition since March last year. In June 2007, the iPhone invented the concept of the touchscreen, embedded in popular consciousness with the iPhone 3G this year. And not just the iPhone but almost any high-end handset these days featurs wi-fi, HSPA and 3G - and most of them are slimmer and cheaper than Nokia's $1500 N95.

Enter the N95's successor, the N96. I had high hopes when the new N series landed on my desk. It's still got a place. Not everybody likes a touchscreen, or to be welded to the proprietary BlackBerry system. And I always enjoyed my N95, with it wi-fi, beefy multimedia features, and especially it's 5mP camera, which mean I often left my compact, standalone camera at home.

In truth, the N96 looks little different to the N95 on the outside, and is little different on the inside. You now get 16GB of memory standard (matching the high-end iPhone 3G), and the GPS is now backed by the capable Nokia Maps. Good, but very much evolution rather than revolution (for revolution, see the touchscreen/Qwerty keyboard N97, due in the second half of 2009; preview here).

And I didn't mind that not a lot had changed about the look and feel.

All the N series really needed was more speed. The N95's screens always took a beat too long to redraw, and menu items too long to appear once selected.

The N96 is maybe a tad faster, but its Symbian-based interface is still a little sluggish. That's really disappointing in a handset selling for a stupendous $1699, or more than most laptops.

I also found the N96's web browser not as good as iPhone's at redrawing websites, or displaying websites optimised for mobile devices (if you haven't already, do try m.nbr.co.nz on your handset). It's not a bad browser, but its idiosyncracies take a little getting used to.

Lastly, I'd hoped the very, very sluggish shutter speed would have improved

Full techs and specs are on Nokia's N-series home page. Note that one of the N96's fanciest features - its ability to receive DVB-H mobile TV broadcasts, which look far superior to jerky clips streamed over the regular cellular network - is not available here. Kordia and Nokia ran a brief, show pony DVB-H trial last year, but with Vodafone and Telecom showing no interest, a serious roll-out is probably years away, if ever.

Nokia NZ does soften the blow by making four full BBC shows available for N96 customers to download: Walking with Dinosaurs, Little Britain (series 1), The Catherine Tate Show (series 1) and Yes Minister (series 1).

If you're BlackBerry averse, or looking to escape the all-touchscreen world of the iPhone, you'll probably want to pass on the Nokia N96 in favour of the Navigator 6210 ($799) my choice in Nokia's keypad phone line-up, or the extremely impressive Nokia E71 ($949; pictured), which packs many of the N96's features (including wi-fi, GPS and FM radio) but also sports a full, Qwerty keyboard and a remarkably slim case. You also get a capable 3.2mP camera, a decent 2.4-inch screen, and a zippy Javascript browser. If your company uses Microsoft Exchange, you also get some very slick software for syncing your Outlook email and calendar between the E71 and your PC. Compared to the N96, the E71 is a smarter smartphone.