Major differences between N95 8GB and N96

Advantages:

1. Dual-LED camera flash (single LED in the N95 8GB)
2. New audio DSP
3. Longer music playback time (14 hrs) and video playback time (6 hrs)
4. Windows Media WMV9 video codec added
5. Hardware acceleration for video codecs for H.264 and WMV
6. Mobile TV DVB-H 1.0 receiver built in
7. S60 3rd Edition is upgraded from Feature Pack 1 to Feature Pack 2
8. linu v88.0.12.0
9. The Java ME engine is upgraded from MIDP 2.0 to MIDP 2.1
10. User data is preserved when upgrading firmware (this feature is also present on the N95-2 as v21 installs UDP base files)
11. Open C/C++ support
12. New QuickOffice application opens all types of Microsoft Office files.
13. New version of Nokia Video Centre (show & edit videos)
14. New release of Nokia Experience software
15. Micro 2.0 Hi-Speed USB (write 3 Mbit/s, read 4.1 Mbit/s - N95 8GB use full-speed USB)
16. MicroSD memory card slot (as in original N95, while N95 8GB has no card slot)
17. RSS 2.1 Reader
18. FM radio upgraded with RDS
19. N96 is a dual-band HSDPA (900 and 2100MHz, while N95 was a single band 2100MHz)
20. No need to open the slide for optimal GPS reception
21. Nokia N96 has VGA front camera (N95 8G has CIF)
22. Video Flash light
23. Upgraded Bluetooth stereo audio
24. FOTA (Firmware Over the Air)
25. OMA E-mail Notification v1.0
26. OMA Device Management v1.2
27. OpenGL ES 1.1 plugin
28. Transfer Mode (MSC 11)
29. SPP Bluetooth profiles

Disadvantages:

1. CPU: N96 has dual ARM9 264MHz with no floating point instructions (N95 has dual ARM11 332Mhz with vector floating point)
2. N96 has 8x image digital zoom and 4x video digital zoom (while N95 has 20x digital zoom and 8x video digital zoom)
3. Same battery as original N95 (950 mAh), but the N96 reportedly has a much better battery life using the same battery (Nokia N95 8GB has 1200 mAh)
4. No Hardware 3D graphics accelerator for N96
5. No infrared port
6. N95 classic has lens cover and much more qualitative shutter (N95 8G/N96 don't have this feature)
7. No manually selected MMS messaging mode. If you write a long text message it will automatically select the MMS mode which could stop the recipient from receiving the message if they do not have MMS set up on their handset. (A Nokia USA employee stated that there is an update in the works to fix this very soon. It's assumed that this automatic selection of MMS mode is due to Nokia's Smart Connectivity)
8. VoIP 2.1 support for WLAN and Cellular. However, the built-in VoIP client from N95 which allowed the end-user to make internet calls directly without installing any additional software has been removed from N96. The VoIP API which can be used by software developers in their applications, can still be used though. Of course third party VoIP applications are often neither as reliable, nor as flexible as the built-in one.
9. The pencil button that allows you to mark/unmark items and highlight text is not included. But this action can still be done however, by pressing and holding down the # key'.