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Video review
Nokia’s grip on the mobile phone market has been slipping in recent years – its power to tempt people with high-end smartphones severely tested by the advent of Android et al. In a move to regain lost ground, the N8 is a radical departure for the Finns – abandoning its world-weary S60 platform for the first time in favour of its open-source descendant, Symbian^3.
The handset itself feels as if it’s been forged by a seven-foot-tall blacksmith. Monoblock aluminium casing holds a solidly embedded, 3.5in capacitive touchscreen, and even the plastic parts don’t bend.
New platform – same old feel
Aficionados of Nokia’s previous efforts will find plenty of familiar icons and menus on – and behind – the three customisable homescreens, while the rest of us smirk at its slightly retro aesthetics. It's fluid, though, with an almost telepathically responsive screen.
The N8 delivers the mobile web fast enough, but without panache. Pinch-zooming is jagged and it can take multiple pokes before it realises what you’re prodding at. Text input is joyless in the browser (as elsewhere), with QWERTY only available in landscape mode (portrait is alphanumeric) and no contextual help such as an ‘@’ key for email fields or ‘.com’ button for the address bar. Come on, guys.
Ovi ups and downs
The Ovi environment is a Nokia-only cul-de-sac, but Ovi Maps is one of its triumphs. It’s clean, fast and flexible with a 3D view, simplified night display and terrain mapping. The turn-by-turn sat-nav stands with Google's as the joint best free navigation tool available. Integrated weather services and local information from Lonely Planet, Michelin, Time Out, Expedia, TripAdvisor and Qype add to the experience.
Let’s not go overboard, though – no-one’s pretending Nokia’s Ovi Store compares to the App Store or Android Market for choice or quality. That said, there are a number of integrated widgets for feeding RSS news to your homescreen or accessing TV streaming services such as iPlayer.
One of Symbian^3’s main selling points is its new music player, with Cover Flow-style browsing and a finger-friendly interface. The N8 has tons of space for tunes: 16GB of onboard memory plus up to 32GB of microSD support. The supplied buds will do the job, but upgrade them to take advantage of the N8’s considerable sonic chops. Even the rear-mounted speaker sounds OK for what it is.
Review continues after the break...
Optical excellence
A front-facing camera sits above the screen, but it’s the 12MP shooter sitting proudly on the back that shrieks for attention. Proud is the word – it’s mounted on a plinth 2.5mm above the otherwise flush back panel, along with a sizeable xenon flash. It’s a little odd, but you couldn’t accuse the N8 of giving in to homogenous phone design.
Not only has Nokia pumped up the pixel count and used its customary Carl Zeiss optics, it’s put a bigger sensor inside to capture more light. And, yes, it shows, although low-light pics without the excellent Xenon flash are noisy.
In addition to digicam-baiting stills, the N8 shoots 720p video at 25fps. There’s a dedicated microphone below the lens for better sound capture, while the phone’s mic pitches in to record stereo soundtracks for your vids. In-device editing is simple and effective, and doesn’t cost a penny (unlike, say, Apple’s £3 iMovie app).
Video and pics look great on the screen, and you can watch them on your TV via the HDMI out.
Despite its feature-rich spec sheet and new platform, the N8 is still as uninspiring as its predecessors and is unlikely to wow those eying up the latest Android handsets.
Tech Specs
- Main camera resolution
- 12MP
- Memory card slots
- Yes
- Memory card type
- microSD
- Operating system
- Symbian^3
- Screen resolution
- 640x360 AMOLED
- Screen size
- 3.5in capacitive
- Standby time
- 16 days
- Storage
- 16GB
- Talktime
- 6hrs (3G)
- Video resolution
- 720p video at 25fps
Comments
markster1971
1 year ago
i think this is probably the best camera phone on the market. but with major flaws.
firstly. speed of cpu. very slow and laggy.
if this ran at 1ghz it would be awesome. and a true smartphone. sadly runs the speed as any other nokia smartphone ie not fast.
the OS is outdated. when then designed this handset they should of put on Android. it would of been the best selling phone. hey we all make mistakes. maybe its time to release N8 on android.
then they will actually sell bucket loads of them. the phone is basically a high camera attached to a bog standard handset. could of been so much better. shame
zakkyd21
1 year ago
now with symb anna, softwhere update, N8 should be reviewd again. iphone-no. Thanks nokia
Cakeboy
1 year ago
Phone is good, camera is excellent. However, and this is a massive one.
If you're running a Mac on OSX Lion, then this phone will not sync up. Previously you could've used iSync, but Apple have removed that from Lion and Nokia haven't pulled their finger out and provided an Ovi download that's Mac compatible.
Terrible customer service in my opinion and they show little sign of doing anything about it especially as the new OS for their phones is on the way
waynegp
1 year ago
I have always had a nokia phone and at the time the n8 came out i had the e71 and as soon as i saw the n8 i wanted it so as soon as my contract was up i ordered it and i havent been disapointed either.
jurbanowicz86
2 years ago
Awesome. If you love Nokias, you'll love this. A suitable alternative for the Iphone.
viljoenc
2 years ago
My first Nokia was the 5510, then i got the N-gage, then the N91, then the 5800 Xpressmusic and now the N8, in between I've tried Sony Ericsson and motorola. Of all the phones I've used so far, the N8 trumps them all, even ones which my work mates have. Nokia N8 is functional and targeted at the "non-IT impaired", i.e. the individuals. Aside from the customizable home screens (the home screen even rotates, very handy), the intuitive rotation adjustment to the keypad, excellent camera, video, video & photo editing, memory, micro SD slot, HDMI output, charging off usb while still being able to operate the device, ability to automatically install the ovi suite onto any windows pc it's plugged into, excellent sound, highly responsive touch screen, ability to swap between connection modes while still plugged in via usb i.e. ovi suite, mass storage , media transfer and connect pc to the net, ease of installing applications from pc just by double-click selecting them on your pc, having any music file as ringtone without complications (iphone is terrible at this), energy saving mode, excellent video & music player, ease of updating software directly off your cellphone (no cables), built-in fm transmitter (neat to use in car or at office!), pre-loaded software to read office & pdf files, zip manager, excellent navigator, webtv, auto conversion of video files as you drag-and-drop them from pc to device, excellent web browser with built-in search engine, swapping between open applications by paging through them, excellent call quality and signal strength, solid reliable build quality... Besides all of those silly details, there's one more...
Plugin the CA-157 cable and guess what... you can now plugin and browse the content of flash disks, even transferring files between the now three lots of memory, you can also playback video and audio from flash disks... AMAZING!!!
This is one of the greatest devices yet and shouldn't be confined to the class of smartphone because it's so much more... It's genuinely a micro-pc tablet device...
In case you think I'm "nokia crazy", there are some characteristics which are a little irritating, like the way you need to touch the screen in certain applications, if put to little pressure, it sometimes doesn't respond, you have apply greater pressure than usual.. The intuitive dimming and brightening of the screen in various lighting conditions sometimes doesn't happen at convenient moments...
Now, OVI... music, contacts, maps, mail and store...
This isn't for everyone?... it is, it's great... Ovi store doesn't just just have applications for the sake of applications, and an app for explaining how to use and where to find an app... They stock, real functional applications, they don't need to stock a million apps, that's just a waste, they have exactly what you need, not what you're led to believe you desire...
In short, the N8 on the whole is a landmark in technology development and should never be compared to the "fashion frenzy" "technology fluff" that is being punted to prey on the "ill-informed, media crazy mtv generation"...
It's a real phone, for real people...
"N8, you'll only know it, if you own it!"
Artoisguy
2 years ago
I have had Nokias for absolutely years and have no interest in joining Mr Jobs hareem (so thats the background) What annoyed me about the N97 was that is came after the N95 so expectations were really high (the N95 was a great phone) but ultimately the N97 was never "market ready" ... it promised so much and didn't deliver on very much of it ... The N8 is what the N97 should have been. It is an excellent device. Awesome camera and video (HD straight into your TV)email with social networks integration, very comprehensive access to the web ... multiple home screens to seperate out the most used with the sometimes used etc, with home screen widgets showing Facebook / twitter / RSS and email updates in real time, add Swype for mega quick text input and you're away ... Free sat nav ! if you want to be really flash just plug it into your tv and pair it with a bluetooth keyboard and mouse and you can wirelessly surf the internet on your TV ... This is a great device and its free on contract! (oh and you don't need a special cover or training on "phone holding techniques" to use the phone! ... ) go look at one before you follow the isheep