SpecEagle
SpecEagle review · Nokia

Nokia N-Gage review: 2003 mobile gaming attempt.

SpecEagle Editorial·Oct 2003·$300
Overall
50/100
Class rank
#5 of 5
Tier
Specialty
Buy?
Look elsewhere
The verdict, up front

Nokia N-Gage.

N-Gage was Nokia's 2003 mobile gaming attempt — infamous "taco" shape and sidetalking ergonomics.

01Display

50/100

50/100 is one of the weaker display results among specialty phones of 2003 — 6 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.

TypeSTN
Size2.1"
Resolution176 x 208

02Performance

40/100

40/100 trails the 45-point cohort average for specialty phones of 2003.

ChipsetARM 9 104 MHz
RAM3.4 MB
Storage3.4 MB + MMC

03Camera

0/100

0/100 is one of the weaker camera results among specialty phones of 2003 — 10 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.

CameraNone

04Battery

60/100

60/100 trails the 64-point cohort average for specialty phones of 2003.

Capacity850 mAh (removable)

05Software

60/100

60/100 — right at the average for specialty phones of 2003.

What works
  • First serious mobile gaming console phone.
  • Removable battery.
  • MMC card support.
  • Bluetooth.
What doesn't
  • "Sidetalking" — side-mounted speaker.
  • Must remove battery to swap MMC.
  • 3.4 MB RAM.
  • Limited game catalogue.
Cross-shop it against
T-Mobile Sidekick (Hiptop)
$200 · score 55/100

How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 5-phone cohort of specialty devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .