Web Browsing on the Nokia N97 Mini

Thanks to the large 3.2″ Touchscreen, Web Browsing on the Nokia N97 Mini is a pretty decent affair.

And here’s more about it.

The N97 Mini has the same default S60v5 Browser that shipped with the Original N97.

That being said, just like in the Original N97, you can install 3rd Party Browsers like Opera Mini, Opera Mobile, SkyFire, Bolt, etc on the N97 Mini, thanks to it’s Symbian S60v5 OS.

But we’re going to talk about the default web browser here. Tap on the “Web” icon and (by default) you’ll be served up a list of bookmarks.

Thankfully, Nokia didnt include a ton of useless bookmarks on the N97 Mini. You can change this default view to a Homepage of your choice in the settings tho, if you prefer not to view your bookmarks on startup of the Web Browser.

The Recently Visited Section is basically your history.

It lists the last couple of pages you visted.

There’s also an “Add Bookmark” icon on the lower toolbar incase you want to add a new bookmark to the list.

There’s also a “Go to” icon. Tap the icon to ‘go to’ a new website.

And as you can guess, the last icon is to Delete a bookmark.

A Tap on “Options” will take you to a whole bunch of (duh) options such as, Go to Web Feeds (where you can list your subscribed Web & RSS Feeds) :

Adding Bookmarks :

Managing Bookmarks :

Clearing your Private Data :

And lastly, your main browser Settings :

This is where you can change and edit all your General Web Settings :

Such as changing your Homepage, or turning off “History“.

You can also turn off the Pop-up blocker (if you really need to) among other settings :

Or increase the Font Size if your eyesight isnt as great as it used to be.

And more importantly, Privacy settings to tinker with :

Such as not storing Cookies, Preventing Form Data from being saved, etc.

There’s also a setting for Web Feeds.

Incase you want them to Auto-Update, the Access Point they should use, etc.

Coming to the browsing bit. Enter in a web address, tap “okay” and you’ll see the website begin to load.

Of course the speed at which the site loads depends on your Network Data Plan (GPRS, 3G or Wifi). But it does a decent enough job of loading a website speedily enough.

If the website has a “Mobile Friendly Version“, that will be presented. Mobile versions are no problem on the N97 Mini, but it can also handle full websites pretty well.

That being said, it does take some time to load. As a page loads, the browser automatically goes to fullscreen mode, and is navigable (Just touch and drag to move the page around, double tap to Zoom in/out). Most websites should load fine provided they arnt too full of flash or videos, I guess. If the website is too large, the browser usually just gives up and crashes. This is mainly due to the low amount of ram on the N97 Mini (same as the Original N97).

Stick to Mobile version Websites though, and you’ll be fine.

Once a page loads completely, the progress bar disappears to show the whole website.

Scrollbars appear as you drag the page around to show you where you are. They disappear when you stop though.

Tapping the little Arrow icon on the lower right side, takes the browser out of fullscreen mode, and brings up the browser panel. There’s also a ‘Back‘ Button to get to a previous page.

This panel has a couple basic browser buttons like Reload (Refresh), Save as Bookmark, Subscribe to Feed, Send URL, etc.

There’s also a Page Overview to show you where you are on the Page.

Very useful on large, full websites. This Overview also appears as you drag across the page and disappears automatically.

Apart from that, you have more basic options when you’re on a website :

Also, one very important ‘feature’ of the S60v5 browser, is full Flash support. What this means is, you can view any Flash content on Websites, including YouTube Videos.

You can also view these videos fullscreen.

This feature is pretty much the main reason I use the default web browser on the N97 Mini. Other 3rd Party Browsers usually dont have Flash support.

Here’s a short (almost 5 Minute) video on Web Browsing on the Nokia N97 Mini, to give you a better idea.

As far as Web Browsing goes, the experience on the N97 Mini is not the worst, but then again it isnt the best either. The Full Flash support really helps, plus the automatic full screen ‘feature’.

You’ve read the review. What do y’all think of the Web Browsing experience on the Nokia N97 Mini ? Any Questions ? Something we missed ? Do let us know in the comments y’all !

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Author Description

Clinton Jeff

Clinton is currently based in New Delhi, India and is executive editor for UnleashThePhones. He is responsible for all editorial decisions, and covers all forms of Mobile things. Cj is addicted to caffeine, social media, and technology. Always up for a good conversation, you can reach him through the contact form, his website, on Google Plus or on Facebook or Twitter: Follow @clintonjeff

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