Featurewise, still one of the top, phones, PERIOD. Now it's matured too.

This was the original "do everything" phone. It has GPS, 3.5mm headphone jack (so you can use normal headphones), USB mode that allows the phone to be used as a disk drive, FM radio, IR port, bluetooth, 802.11 Wifi, LOUD speakers, 5mp camera WITH flash, micro-SD slot, and Nokia's S60 3rd Ed. operating system featuring a REAL web browser and Nokia's N-Gage gaming engine. It's a big list, but besides sheer volume of features, what's the big deal? EVERYTHING WORKS VERY WELL.

Later versions (N95-3) of the phone have 3G data support in the US on AT&T's network. Unfortunately, my oldest version (N95-1) has to do with slower EDGE service because the 3G support is on the wrong frequency bands for the US.

So, that being said, it had some teething problems with memory management and GPS acquisition when it was first released, but with each new firmware release the phone has improved more and more. With the most current release (v21 as of the writing of this review), I can finally say that the phone has matured. The biggest change in this release was the inclusion of Flash Lite built into the browser so that flash applets work correctly in the browser, like Youtube.

So.....on with the negatives:
1) The fake chrome on the soft keys and "enter" key in the directional pad is flaking off. It looks terrible and a phone this expensive should be a little more durable.

2) My slider wobbled a little bit. With a little research on Internet forums, I fixed this, but for those afraid of disassembling their phones this wouldn't be an option. Supposedly Nokia has fixed this with the newer models.

3) Why does such a full-featured "smart" smart phone not have either a QWERTY keyboard or touchscreen? Typing on a normal 12 key phone pad is horrible. Maybe casual texting is fine, but typing notes or professional emails is unbelievably tedious.

4) Why can't you copy and paste a phone number into the phone applet to be dialed? Instead, you have to open a calendar entry note and paste the number there, save, and then dial from there.

5) The media keys are worthless. Although impressive looking at first glance, they're too small and inconvenient to use, ESPECIALLY since the exact same functionality is duplicated on the directional pad.

These really are all minor nit-picky complaints, given how well the phone performs. When compared with the alternative "do everything" phones which are pretty much all Windows Mobile based, this phone as an advantage of stability, battery life, and an outstanding camera. Nokia's S60 operating system doesn't have to be rebooted on a daily basis like Windows Mobile and it has a HUGE number of 3rd party applications to choose from.

It took Nokia over a year to get this phone nailed down through firmware releases. This can be thought of as a "con" but it doesn't really affect you in the here and now if you're considering it as a new purchase; all the bugs are worked out.

Right now as I write this, I have less than a month to go on my 1 yr contract and I've been looking for a replacement, not because I'm not satisfied, but because I like to have the latest and greatest. Here's what I've found....the best I could do would just be a different phone with ALMOST all of the same features and questionable reliability and stability (HTC Touch Cruise, Eten X800). Of course even then I'd have downgraded to a terrible cell-phone type camera rather than the N95's autofocus 5mp that takes pictures better than my 3.2mp Minolta digicam.

The only true upgrade available right now FOR ANY PRICE would be to get the latest version of the same phone so that I could have 3G data speed.