Software (ease of use, applications,  general settings and behaviour)

:: After ending a received call, the phone often ‘blocks’ with the last caller contact details still on screen. The phone cannot be used until you take out the battery and restart the phone.

:: When you lock your screen to stop accidental use, often the lock switch stops responding and the backlight will not light-up. You cannot unlock your phone and the only resolution is to restart it.

:: If too many applications are opened at once, regardless of what ringtone you may set for your contacts or profile, the phone will use the default ringtone

:: For some users, the frequency of having to do a hard-reset on the phone due to its software malfunction sometimes reaches up to 4 times per month

Phone (calling options, network reception)

:: Frequent bad or no-network reception in places where even most basic phones have 3-5 network coverage bars

:: Frequent bad call quality and dropped calls when using the phone at high speeds (in a moving car or train)

Camera (photo/video quality)

:: Starting up the Camera application often results in a message “Unexpected error has occured. Please reboot.”

:: Photos taken with flash in low light are always brighter on one half of the picture (see an example here)

:: When selecting the camera application, the phone uses secondary (video calling) camera by default. No way to change the setting.

GPS (Global Positioning System use for navigation)

:: More than frequent ‘disasterous’ signal reception on GPS, whether you are at street level or on a rooftop of a high building in the middle of an urban area

Touchscreen use

:: Intermittent up to 45 seconds no-response window by the touchscreen after unlocing the screen

Sound reproduction (speaker)

:: Manufacturer acclaimed ‘stereo’ speaker reproduces  nothing close to good quality audio, but makes high quality format songs sound  almost like old turntable records

Memory management (built-in and additional MicroSD memory use)

:: Phone frequently comes up with ‘Low memory’ messages, even after its second software upgrade

:: Selecting Mass memory as your messaging storage location is annulled once you connect the phone to your PC in a mass storage mode. This results in the phone showing only C: drive messages until you change messaging settings

Internet browsing

:: Frequent self-initiated web application shutdown whilst browsing — for no apparent reason

Connectivity (connecting to your PC or a Wi-Fi network)

:: Once connected to a Wi/Fi network, and you leave the coverage zone — N97 will pop-up with a warning message every 30secs to tell you there is no Wi-Fi coverage. The only way to switch this reminder off is to restart the phone.

Battery

:: When receiving a phonecall during a web browsing session via Wi-Fi  the battery heats-up to an uncomfortable level for the ear/hand

Aftersales support

:: Over 50 reports of newly bought N97s spending more than a month at repair centres (often requiring a new repair for the second time)

:: Customers calling Nokia Care UK transferred to N97 department only to be kept waiting with no answer

Acknowledgement of performance issues and faults (by manufacturer)

:: Despite tens of issues repeatedly reported on forums and directly to Nokia, N97 support pages and FAQs ignore majority of them and offer answers to least relevant issues (such as: What should I do if my device is lost or stolen? and How do I add contacts to my device using Nokia PC Suite?)

:: Total ignorance of the fact that N97 does not come with Skype as announced in the media before phone’s release