| Manufacture | BenQ-Siemens | Nokia |
| Model | C81 | N96 |
| Form factor | Block | Slider |
| Weight | 90 gram | 125.00 |
| Dimensions (HxWxD) | 104 x 47 x 18 | 103.00 x 55.00 x 18.00 |
| Operating System | Other | Symbian S60 |
| Networks | 2G - 900/1800/1900
| 2G - 850/900/1800/1900
3G - 2100 |
| HSCSD |  | |
| GPRS |  | |
| EDGE | | |
| UMTS | | |
| HSDPA | | |
| HSPA+ | | |
| WiMAX | | |
| LTE (4G light) | | |
| WLAN / Wi-Fi | | |
| Wi-Fi Hotspot | | |
| Wi-Fi Direct | | |
| SMS | | |
| MMS | | |
| Email | | |
| HDMI out | | |
| USB port | | |
| MHL | | |
| Bluetooth | | |
| Bluetooth version | NA | NA |
| DLNA | | |
| GPS | | |
| Glonass | | |
| ANT+ | | |
| IrDA | | |
| NFC | | |
| 3.5 mm audio connector | | |
| Camera | | |
| Camera resolution | 1.3 Megapixels, 5x digital zoom | 5 Megapixels (2592 x 1944 pixels), auto focus, video stabilization |
| Image Stabilization | | |
| BSI sensor | | |
| Camera Flash/Light | | |
| Flash type | NA | NA |
| Video recording | | |
| Video capture resolution | NA | NA |
| Second Camera | NA | VGA (640 x 480) |
| Display size | 1.8 inches | 2.80 |
| Touchscreen | | |
| Colour display | | |
| Number of colours | 262144 | 16000000 |
| Display width | 132 | 240 |
| Display height | 176 | 320 |
| PPI | 122.22 | 142.86 |
| Second Display | NA | NA |
| CPU | NA | NA |
| GPU | NA | NA |
| Memory | 27 MB, Expandable with RS MMC | 16 GB. Expandable with microSD card |
| Micro SIM | | |
| Dual SIM | | |
| MP3 | | |
| Ringtones / Music file format | Polyphonic 64 voices | MP3, AAC, eAAC+, WMA |
| Java | | |
| Games | Yes | NA |
| FM Radio | | |
| Battery | Li-Ion 820 mAh | 950 mAh |
| Standby time (h) | 300 | 220 |
| Talktime (m) | 300 | 220 |
| Wireless Charging | | |
| Browser | 2.0 | HTML. Nokia Web Browser |
| Calendar | | |
| Voicedialing | | |
| IP Code | NA | NA |
| Predictive text | | |
| RSS reader | | |
| Voicememo | | |
| PC Synchronization | | |
| SyncML | | |
| Website | Website | Website |
