Some companies give their gadgets expensive price tags in the hopes that they'll become fashion statements. Others justify their high prices with top-of-the-line capabilities. The European version of the unlocked Nokia N95 falls into the latter camp, delivering an Editors' Choice–worthy smartphone experience that's worth the steep price. And unlike the feature-heavy HTC Advantage, the Nokia N95 gives you all that functionality in a 4.2-ounce package that's barely thicker than the average smartphone. Although Nokia saddled the U.S. version with a few notable flaws that weren't present in the European version, it's still a top-quality handset for multimedia mavens.

The slide-out design that both N95s share is pretty ingenious. When you hold the phone vertically, the screen slides up to reveal a well-spaced numeric keypad with large buttons. It's slightly larger than LG's Chocolate VX8500 in all dimensions, and it's fairly comfortable to hold. Slide the screen out the opposite direction and rotate it 90 degrees, and you've got a miniature portable media player, with dedicated Play, Stop, Forward, and Back media keys. The phone's 5-way control pad also doubles as a game controller, which comes in handy now that the N95 (along with other Nokia handsets) supports the new N-Gage software platform Nokia launched recently. System Rush, a futuristic racing game, looked amazing thanks to the phone's 3D hardware acceleration.

Despite its dual-slider form factor, the N95 lacks both a touch screen and a QWERTY keyboard. I'm fine with the former, since I found the device to be easy to navigate. But getting only a numeric keypad on a phone this expensive is a bit of a downer.

The N95's display is a delight, with bright, vivid color, deep blacks, and crisply defined fonts. The N95 runs on Symbian's Series 60 third edition OS, which lets you add thousands of third-party applications. There's also a nifty built-in Web browser with a useful zoom mode, a solid e-mail client, and the usual music player.

If you're looking for pure browser speed, this N95 delivers in a way the European version didn't since it kicks into 3.5G mode over HSDPA when surfing the Web. I saw test speeds of 780 kilobits per second, a solid figure, though actual speeds varied as I traveled between New York City and Boston during the review period. And there's always the device's built-in Wi-Fi radio for surfing at home, in the office, or anywhere you can find a hot spot. Like the European N95, the U.S. sibling includes a dedicated TV-out and built-in GPS chipset, two features not found in many smartphones.

Voice quality was good through both an HSDPA-capable AT&T SIM card and a T-Mobile SIM. With each card, both ends of the call experienced clear, detailed audio with no dropouts. There was, however, a persistent, high-pitched whine through the earpiece during calls that soured the experience somewhat. It's not loud, but it's noticeable. I tried two different units, and both exhibited the whine. On the plus side, the N95 had good reception and excellent external noise rejection, and it also sounded fine when paired with a SoundID SM100 Bluetooth headset.

The N95's 5-megapixel CCD took impressive test photos with excellent detail. Still, the useless LED flash, lack of optical zoom, and extremely slow shutter and save speeds (6 to 7 seconds from the moment you press the button to the moment the camera gives you control again) mean that the handset is not a replacement for a standalone digital camera.

With the T-Mobile GSM SIM, I was able to get 8:44 minutes of battery life, a solid result. With an AT&T SIM, however, the phone latches onto AT&T's 3G HSDPA network whenever it's available. That's great for data services, as I indicated above, but it's bad news for the battery. My test unit scored just 3 hours and 19 minutes in this situation, and that's despite a slightly larger battery than the European N95. As a comparison, the noticeably smaller 3G Samsung Blackjack scored 3:51 minutes using the same network. On the plus side, you can disable the N95's 3G mode whenever you want hours of extra battery life and don't mind slower data speeds.

Like many other Nokia smartphones, the N95 (U.S.) is a class act and is worthy of its high price. I'm not thrilled with the earpiece whine and its mediocre battery life on AT&T's 3G network. Despite these flaws, it's a solid smartphone contender that packs in top-of-the-line technology.

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