Nokia N8 review
We review the Nokia N8, the new Symbian^3-powered flagship smartphone with a large 12 MP sensor and Carl Zeiss optics
One of the most highly anticipated devices of the year, Nokia N8 is slated to hit the Indian stores very soon. The device features the new Symbian^3 OS, a 12 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, an HDMI port, huge processing and graphical display power and a massively overhauled UI – basically, it's meant to be pretty damn good.
Already, there's been a lot of hype surrounding this handset. First of all, it represents the regeneration of the Symbian platform, offers a slew of features and technology packed into it and, most importantly, it is Nokia's latest attempt to steal some of HTC's and Apple's thunder.
The Nokia N8, while being something of a departure from Nokia's usual design, is still very much a 'Nokia' device in terms of aesthetics. The handset features a unibody design made from Anodised Aluminium, which gives it a solid, durable, feel in the hand.
Thankfully, though, this hasn't brought any 'weight issues' into play, and the Nokia N8 feels extremely light in the hand for a phone its size. For example, we compared the Nokia N8's in-hand weight to that of the iPhone 4 and the BlackBerry Bold 9700 and really couldn't notice any discernable difference.
The Nokia N8 also features a non-removable battery, like the iPhone, and two side slots for both your SIM and microSD cards, which are located on the device's left side. On the right, there’s a volume rocker, lock switch and the camera activation button. The top of the device features a 3.5mm jack slot, HDMI port and the power button.
Contrary to our speculations, when we booted the device up and saw what Symbian^3 looked like for the first time we were very impressed. It's still very much a Symbian OS, both in terms of the way it looks and feels, it's just received a massive overhaul and has been dragged kicking-and-screaming into the 21st Century with multiple homescreens, widgets and live tiles.
Nokia N8 offers three homescreens to play with and these can be customised with apps, widgets, tiles, folders, shortcuts and contacts – practically anything. Doing this, thankfully, is both very simple and intuitive. You simply press down on the screen, then add or remove the widget, app or shortcut – simple.
Each Tile or Widget, take the news ones for example, displays all the information you'll require at a glance and the animation is literally seamless, each headline melts into the next perfectly. And if that wasn't enough, there are even pictures present on some, which really does add a touch of class to an already impressive looking UI.
In terms of customisation, you can get up to 24 shortcuts on each of the homescreens – so, across the three you can potentially have 72. And with the help of the constantly improving Ovi Store, you really are spoilt for choice with apps, games, tools and widgets.
Unfortunately, adding shortcuts isn't quite as straightforward as it is on Android. For instance, you have to first add a 'Shortcuts' tile – these have four shortcut links in them – then, once the Shortcuts tile has loaded, you edit what shortcut icons appear inside it.
The built in stock Ovi applications, such as Social for example, are also worth a mention as both the Facebook and Twitter clients within it give both Android’s and RIM’s a serious run for their proverbial monies.
There's also a video and photo editor, built-in user guides and Ovi Music among other things. And when you add the above to the constantly growing Ovi services, like Mail, Maps and Messenger, you’ve got more than enough stuff on board the N8 to keep you entertained for literally hours.
But it's not just looks that have been improved, the email and text aspects of the Nokia N8 have been vastly rejigged as well, with the implementation of a conversational display for texts and support for multiple email clients (Windows Live, Hotmail, Yahoo, BT and Gmail etc) that you can switch between very easily. There is also a new set of filters such as dates, attachments, names etc, that can be used to search, view and sort through content in your inbox.
Nokia has also stepped up the performance on the Nokia N8 as well, bringing an ARM 11 680MHz processor and a 3D Graphics HW accelerator into the mix. Sure, everyone is banging on about 1GHz and 1.5GHz processors, but once you've has a go on the Nokia N8, you'll see that it has more than enough power for even the most heavy user.
Already, there's been a lot of hype surrounding this handset. First of all, it represents the regeneration of the Symbian platform, offers a slew of features and technology packed into it and, most importantly, it is Nokia's latest attempt to steal some of HTC's and Apple's thunder.
The Nokia N8, while being something of a departure from Nokia's usual design, is still very much a 'Nokia' device in terms of aesthetics. The handset features a unibody design made from Anodised Aluminium, which gives it a solid, durable, feel in the hand.
Thankfully, though, this hasn't brought any 'weight issues' into play, and the Nokia N8 feels extremely light in the hand for a phone its size. For example, we compared the Nokia N8's in-hand weight to that of the iPhone 4 and the BlackBerry Bold 9700 and really couldn't notice any discernable difference.
The Nokia N8 also features a non-removable battery, like the iPhone, and two side slots for both your SIM and microSD cards, which are located on the device's left side. On the right, there’s a volume rocker, lock switch and the camera activation button. The top of the device features a 3.5mm jack slot, HDMI port and the power button.
Contrary to our speculations, when we booted the device up and saw what Symbian^3 looked like for the first time we were very impressed. It's still very much a Symbian OS, both in terms of the way it looks and feels, it's just received a massive overhaul and has been dragged kicking-and-screaming into the 21st Century with multiple homescreens, widgets and live tiles.
Nokia N8 offers three homescreens to play with and these can be customised with apps, widgets, tiles, folders, shortcuts and contacts – practically anything. Doing this, thankfully, is both very simple and intuitive. You simply press down on the screen, then add or remove the widget, app or shortcut – simple.
Each Tile or Widget, take the news ones for example, displays all the information you'll require at a glance and the animation is literally seamless, each headline melts into the next perfectly. And if that wasn't enough, there are even pictures present on some, which really does add a touch of class to an already impressive looking UI.
In terms of customisation, you can get up to 24 shortcuts on each of the homescreens – so, across the three you can potentially have 72. And with the help of the constantly improving Ovi Store, you really are spoilt for choice with apps, games, tools and widgets.
Unfortunately, adding shortcuts isn't quite as straightforward as it is on Android. For instance, you have to first add a 'Shortcuts' tile – these have four shortcut links in them – then, once the Shortcuts tile has loaded, you edit what shortcut icons appear inside it.
The built in stock Ovi applications, such as Social for example, are also worth a mention as both the Facebook and Twitter clients within it give both Android’s and RIM’s a serious run for their proverbial monies.
There's also a video and photo editor, built-in user guides and Ovi Music among other things. And when you add the above to the constantly growing Ovi services, like Mail, Maps and Messenger, you’ve got more than enough stuff on board the N8 to keep you entertained for literally hours.
But it's not just looks that have been improved, the email and text aspects of the Nokia N8 have been vastly rejigged as well, with the implementation of a conversational display for texts and support for multiple email clients (Windows Live, Hotmail, Yahoo, BT and Gmail etc) that you can switch between very easily. There is also a new set of filters such as dates, attachments, names etc, that can be used to search, view and sort through content in your inbox.
Nokia has also stepped up the performance on the Nokia N8 as well, bringing an ARM 11 680MHz processor and a 3D Graphics HW accelerator into the mix. Sure, everyone is banging on about 1GHz and 1.5GHz processors, but once you've has a go on the Nokia N8, you'll see that it has more than enough power for even the most heavy user.
Specifications:
| GENERAL | 2G Network | GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 |
|---|---|---|
| 3G Network | HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100 | |
| Announced | 2010, April | |
| Status | Available. Released 2010, October |
| SIZE | Dimensions | 113.5 x 59.1 x 12.9 mm, 86 cc |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 135 g |
| DISPLAY | Type | AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors |
|---|---|---|
| Size | 360 x 640 pixels, 3.5 inches | |
| - Multi-touch input method - Proximity sensor for auto turn-off - Accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate - Scratch resistant Gorilla glass display |
| SOUND | Alert types | Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones |
|---|---|---|
| Loudspeaker | Yes | |
| 3.5mm jack | Yes, check quality |
| MEMORY | Phonebook | Practically unlimited entries and fields, Photocall |
|---|---|---|
| Call records | Detailed, max 30 days | |
| Internal | 16 GB storage, 256MB RAM, 512 MB ROM | |
| Card slot | microSD, up to 32GB, buy memory |
| DATA | GPRS | Class 33 |
|---|---|---|
| EDGE | Class 33 | |
| 3G | HSDPA, 10.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 2.0 Mbps | |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, UPnP technology | |
| Bluetooth | Yes, v3.0 with A2DP | |
| Infrared port | No | |
| USB | Yes, microUSB v2.0, USB On-the-go support |
| CAMERA | Primary | 12 MP, 4000x3000 pixels, Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, Xenon flash, check quality |
|---|---|---|
| Features | 1/1.83'' sensor size, ND filter, geo-tagging, face detection | |
| Video | Yes, 720p@25fps, check quality | |
| Secondary | VGA videocall camera |
| FEATURES | OS | Symbian^3 OS |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | 680 MHz ARM 11 processor, Broadcom BCM2727 GPU | |
| Messaging | SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email, IM | |
| Browser | WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML, RSS feeds | |
| Radio | Stereo FM radio with RDS; FM transmitter | |
| Games | Yes + downloadable | |
| Colors | Dark Grey, Silver White, Green, Blue, Orange, Pink | |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS support; Ovi Maps 3.0 | |
| Java | Yes, MIDP 2.1 | |
| - TV-out (720p video) via HDMI with Dolby Digital Plus sound - Anodized aluminum casing - Active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic - Digital compass - MP3/WMA/WAV/eAAC+ player - DivX/XviD/MP4/H.264/H.263/WMV player - Voice command/dial - Document viewer (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF) - Video/photo editor - Flash Lite v4.0 - Predictive text input |
| BATTERY | Standard battery, Li-Ion 1200 mAh (BL-4D) | |
|---|---|---|
| Stand-by | Up to 390 h (2G) / Up to 400 h (3G) | |
| Talk time | Up to 12 h (2G) / Up to 5 h 50 min (3G) | |
| Music play | Up to 50 h |
| MISC | SAR US | 1.09 W/kg (head) 0.85 W/kg (body) |
|---|---|---|
| SAR EU | 1.02 W/kg (head) |
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