I do love my Nokia 95 very much, its like my 3rd arm, and I’d be lost without it. It’s spent most of its shortish life in my jeans pocket, rattling around with my keys, my loose change, my lighter and the various crap I hold. Possibly not the best place for a £400 ish phone!
I did used to have an overlay to protect the screen, which it did, but as i didn’t lay it too well, it was kinda bubbled at the top, so it never looked great. Also made the screen display a little dull too, so in anticipation of receiving my CP-191 I pulled the sucker off.
The CP-191 arrived in a Nokia blister pack, initial impressions were good, it felt very sturdy, nice quality letter with the familiar ‘Nokia’ logo stamped stylishly on the front. It can be open and closed with the strong Velcro fastener and the inside is lined with a very soft felt like material and has a little tag proudly stating ‘Original Nokia Enhancement’.
The phone is held in place with a plastic ‘hook’ that holds onto the back of the phone. This leaves the slider free to move in either direction. Access to the buttons on the side of the phone is kept free at all times. The same can’t be said about the MicroSD card door, you have to remove the phone from the holder to take the memory card out. The connections on the base of the phone and the power button at the top are easily accessed too. There is a circular cut out on the back of the case for the camera and lens cover too. Photos could in theory be taken without even opening the case (would be a little pointless as you couldn’t view the screen 🙂 )
The phone is held very tightly, and I can’t see it slipping out, without some great force. So far so good eh? Well yeah.. but i guess this holders’ Achilles heel is in USING the phone. Howso? Its easy enough to get the phone out, and send a text, browse the web etc. with the case on. But how about speak on the phone? You sort of have to fold over the cover behind the phone, which is a bit of a faff, and is a bit cumbersome. Also when you take a photo, you have to open the case and have the front flap sort of hanging down, which is not a good look.
Also a problem is when you move into the car, not many car holders could hold the phone in a holder, and even if they could, you’d either have to have the holder shut (stopping you from seeing the phones display), or have the front flapping around again.
I really am in two minds about this holder, it is great at protecting the phone, its good for using the phone for texting, browsing, etc. But when you actually need to make a call, or put it in the car, it all starts to suck. I suppose you could take it out of the holder, but I guess that runs the risk of loosening the tight grip of plastic clips that hold it in.
I would recommend this holder, but its certainly not as swish and elegant as the N95 itself!
