
Nokia 9500 Communicator
Pros
- Nice software, full keyboard, support for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, tri-band, good screens
Cons
- The price, the size and weight, the battery life
Bottom Line
A very good phone in terms of features, but way too large and heavy for most people.
-
Price
$ 1,499.00 (AUD)
If there are things that the Nokia 9300 lacks, then the 9500 has them. It has the same operating system (Symbian 7.0s Series 80), similar software and a rather similar clamshell design with full QWERTY keyboard. It also has things that the 9300 does not: an integral camera and support for Wi-Fi. These additions come at a cost, however, both in terms of the product price and in terms of its size, weight and battery life.
With its massive size and grey and silver styling, the Nokia 9500 looks downright industrial. It's 148mm x 57mm x 24mm--much larger than conventional phones and not something that can be conveniently carried around in the pocket.
The large size does give Nokia enough room to provide generously sized buttons on the internal keyboard. The phone, when opened, can lie completely flat, and with practice it's possible to type quite quickly using a six-fingered typing style. The 9500 also has a thumbstick for moving a mouse pointer around or selecting applications. It's a little sensitive, but again works well with practice.
The screens, both the 640 x 200 internal screen and 128 x 128 cover screen, are both excellent, with vivid colours and good brightness. We had no problems with the phone's audio, either--even MP3s sounded good when we tried them.
The 9500 supports Bluetooth, Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11b) and USB 2.0 connectivity to PCs and other devices. It can store up to 80MB of data locally, and also supports the insertion of an MMC card for extra capacity.
We're rather fond of Symbian OS 7.0s. It has a lot of worthwhile features, but most importantly it allows the user to get things done quickly and painlessly. There are quick access buttons for switching to applications, and context-sensitive buttons at the side of the internal screen for actions like saving and deleting. It's user friendly, looks good and works fast. There are a range of supplied applications, including a media player (for videos and audio--including MP3 and AAC) and image viewer, messaging (for SMS, MMS and email), document editing (for text and spreadsheets), Web browsing, calendar and contacts. It also has VPN capabilities for corporate networks.
The 640 x 480 camera phone is decent, but it's rapidly falling behind as megapixel cameras are now available in other phone models.
The Nokia 9500 Communicator has an excellent array of features, but its bulk and cost would turn off the majority of potential buyers. We suspect this is one only for the hard-core Nokia Communicator fans.
Brand Post

Most Popular Reviews
- 1 Dell U3223QE review: A winning debut for an IPS Black monitor
- 2 Netgear Nighthawk M5 mobile router review: Probably too expensive, but nice
- 3 Dell P2723QE review: A solid 4K USB-C hub monitor for home offices
- 4 MSI Katana GF76 review: Decent gaming performance for a reasonable price
- 5 Asus ROG Flow Z13 review: A full-fledged gaming PC disguised as a tablet
Latest News Articles
- Bizarre iOS bug swaps out Spotify for Apple Music in the iPhone dock
- Fortnite returns to the iPhone (sort of) courtesy Xbox Cloud Gaming
- Want to go watch the WWDC keynote at Apple Park? Here’s how to apply
- iPad buying guide 2022
- Apple to support ‘passwordless’ iPhone logins on Android phones and PCs
Resources
Macworld
What's new, plus best mac-related tips
and tricks

Business Centre
The latest business news, reviews, features and whitepapers

Videos
Watch our video news and reviews from around the world

Guides
Comprehensive buying guides, features, and step-by-step articles

PCW Evaluation Team
Pedro Peixoto
Aruba Instant On AP11D

Set up is effortless.
Cate Bacon
Aruba Instant On AP11D

The strength of the Aruba Instant On AP11D is that the design and feature set support the modern, flexible, and mobile way of working.
Dr Prabigya Shiwakoti
Aruba Instant On AP11D

Aruba backs the AP11D up with a two-year warranty and 24/7 phone support.
Tom Pope
Dynabook Portégé X30L-G

Ultimately this laptop has achieved everything I would hope for in a laptop for work, while fitting that into a form factor and weight that is remarkable.
Tom Sellers
MSI P65

This smart laptop was enjoyable to use and great to work on – creating content was super simple.
Lolita Wang
MSI GT76

It really doesn’t get more “gaming laptop” than this.
Featured Content
- Best Click Frenzy mobile and Internet plan deals
- Microsoft’s iconic browser Internet Explorer is being killed off in June
- What laptop should I get? Top 12 things to consider
- Everything you need to know about Smart TVs
- What's the difference between an Intel Core i3, i5 and i7?
- Laser vs. inkjet printers: which is better?