N95 slider wobble: “Houston, we have a problem!”
Reports are starting to surface about the wobble on the sliding mechanism of the N95 - Nokia's latest überphone.
The problem pertains to an amount of play between the two "layers" of the device. When the front keypad is used the upper "layer" is pressed against the lower one, resulting in an annoying clicking or clacking sound. The problem is most pronounced when the phone is in the slide open position - and most severe in the phone's bottom right side. Obviously, this effect does not leave you with the impression that you are holding a high end gadget, costing almost $1000.
After the jump there is a video that illustrates the wobbling slider problem. I have also collected some links to ongoing discussions about this problem. Please read on for the full story and let me know what you think - have you experienced this wobbling slider problem on your N95? How severe do think this problem is and what did you do about it? Are DIY fixes appropriate?
A picture is worth a thousand words - or so they say. Please take a look at the following video, which clearly illustrates the N95's slider problem:
The slider on my phone does not have nearly as much play as the one in the video. I should think mine has about 1 mm of play. It sufficient for one to both notice the clickity-clacks and get annoyed over it. You cannot help think to yourself: "Did I just pay more than $900 for this thing? And this is how it behaves!"
I sincerely believe Nokia to have a serious problem with managing quality control and assurance in their handset production. I also cannot help but wonder about all the public tests (through the Nokia blogger relations program) of both pre- and final-productions N95 units. Did this problem not come up…at all? A most trustworthy source has provided a plausible explanation, suggesting that test units were manufactured at different Nokia production facilities and that N95 handsets with wobbling sliders all come from one or a few, specific production facilities.
In Danish, the wobbling slider problem is discussed at mobildebat.dk in several threads (thread #1 - thread #2) and the site mobilmag.dk is reporting about returning a N95 unit to the retailer because of this problem.
AT Nokia's European discussion forum, several threads are dedicated to the wobbling slider problem ("its a pile of junk and is going back!", "some handsets have a slight wobble" and "my n95 slider has a light wobble on it"). The same goes for estato.com, where possible DIY fixes to the problem are discussed - images and all. I think it is entirely appropriate to discuss if it is OK to apply DIY fixes to a brand new, top-of-line gadget (carrying a price tag of nearly $1000)? Another fix is discussed at the 3GForum.
Have you experienced this wobbling slider problem on your N95? How severe do think this problem is and what did you do about it? Is DIY fixes appropriate? Let me know by commenting in this post.
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May 21st, 2007 at 15:24
i have received my 3rd replacement n95(o2-uk) today and since its slider was exactly the same as my previous ones i desperately accepted it. im going to try the DIY fix! shame on you nokia. i shouldnt be doing all this…
May 22nd, 2007 at 08:57
Thank you for your comment, Burak - if you are up to it, would you mind commenting on your DIY experiments?
What did you do and how did it work out?
June 12th, 2007 at 14:21
hi, here is my personal DIY n95 slider fix;
http://n95slider.blogspot.com/
June 13th, 2007 at 11:41
@burak: Thank you so much for sharing that! What an elaborate and thorough walk through.
July 25th, 2007 at 07:30
Hi, The slider on my Nokia N95 is spoiling my enjoyment of the phone. There is a pronounced gap along the left hand side where the two halves dont meet. This allows light to escape from the screen and so the gap lights up when the phone is in use and looks damn ugly. You can squeeze it together but it just springs open again. I’ve even contemplated trying to stick the 2 halves together with super glue but its too risky. The right hand side is far better although there is still a slight gap which emits a clicking sound when any pressure is applied to the top of the slider. Altogether this is not the sort of build quality I expect from Nokia’s top of the range phone. I’ve a cheap budget Benq-Siemens phone which is perfect. I’ve complained to Nokia but received no reply. Its just not good enough but its outside the 28 day return period now so I either have to put up with it or sell it and get an N73 instead. Shame on you Nokia for allowing such poor build quality on your flagship phone, its just not good enough!!
October 6th, 2007 at 12:15
Hi all,
Just looking through the archives when I came across this slider problem. My phone doesn’t have the slider problem but I think that if it did develop it I wouldn’t be too bad off - here is my thinking:
I’ve got a very nice “crystal case” for my N95. It’s a simple design which just clips on to the top and bottom half of the phone. Now, when the case is on, the top half’s clips have, I’d say, less than 1mm clearance to the keypad so I’m guessing that I wouldn’t have the problem should my phone decide to play up.
Here’s a link to find a case like mine:
#### Dead link - removed by blog owner ####
I love it to be honest, it covers everything up including the front screen -obviously it leaves gaps for the controls and camera’s - and they’re not really small gaps like I’ve expereicend on other cases & phones, they’ve been properly cut out and there is loads of room to access things.
I’ve uploaded some photos of the case to my Flikr account if anyone wants to take a look: http://www.flickr.com/photos/14629157@N04/sets/72157602287607465/
October 6th, 2007 at 14:29
@Jon: Thank you for sharing your experiences. I am sorry, but I removed the ebay link from your comment - the link did not lead anywhere and the link HTML was not proper.
Please feel free to post a corrected link in another comment.
I think the wobbly slider problem was only manifest in an initial batch of N95 units - as far as I know, the problem has been fixed by Nokia so it is not a problem that will “develop” on your handset.
I have had the slider replaced on my N95 unit - the repair was covered by Nokia warranty, it did not cost me anything and it corrected the problem completely. I have blogged about the repair “experience” on my blog in Danish - see part #1 and part #2.
October 11th, 2007 at 22:24
The crystal case DID fix mine - for about a week! See my blog for more on that. I have just tried the Italian video, I stuck 3 layers of masking tape about 3milimters by 10 going horizontally and it seems to have fixed it. **touches wood**
October 11th, 2007 at 22:25
Did my last comment work? Firefox asked me to open a PHP file in KWord :-/
The crystal case DID fix mine - for about a week! See my blog for more on that. I have just tried the Italian video, I stuck 3 layers of masking tape about 3milimters by 10 going horizontally and it seems to have fixed it. **touches wood**
October 11th, 2007 at 23:54
@Marc: Thanks for sharing your *wobbly* experiences - I still think the right way to fix this problem is to have it repaired under cover of the warranty.
October 12th, 2007 at 10:31
i think claiming a slight wobble makes the phone “not fit for purpose” would be difficult. In my case i’ve had the phone 4 months now. I will see if the masking tape holds, as that surley won’t void my warrenty(it can be peeled off). Should have gone for the insurance! Could have just dropped it then ;-)
October 12th, 2007 at 10:50
@Chris, I agree, any mechanical problems with the phone /should/ be repaired under warranty. I was mainly talking for people who’s warranty had already run out.
Marc, I didn’t take out insruance on mine either… :-s Maybe I should have done! Then again, £7 a month is a bit much really.
October 12th, 2007 at 11:36
I realize consumer protection laws vary between countries - in Denmark there is a general two year warranty that covers »manufacturing errors« (not sure how to translate).
One consequence of this warranty is that for the first six months after purchase any error - which is not clearly caused by the consumer’s actions, or an accident - is assumed to be a »manufacturing error« to be repaired at the manufacturer’s expense.
The wobbly slider problem clearly belong to this class of errors and that is why I had mine repaired under cover of the warranty.