NOKIA N8 REVIEW

The Nokia N8 is a smartphone from the range of Nokia NSeries that runs on the Symbian^3 platform. This phone is the first to run on the said platform. The device has a 12 megapixel camera that features Carl Zeiss optics and a Xenon flash. The 3.5 inch touchscreen allows single –tap interaction, multiple home screens and multi touch capabilities with gesture support.

BODY DESIGN
The Nokia N8 has a full metal body with anodized scratch-proof paint giving the phone its premier feel. The Nokia N8 cannot be called a super-slim device with its dimension of 4.5 x 2.3 x 0.5 inches and a weight of 4.8 oz which is slightly on the higher side of the iPhone4 and the Samsung Galaxy S. Unlike the other phones from Nokia, this one does not have a removable battery as the phone is completely enclosed by its full metal chassis. The capacitive OLED screen (3.5 inches) is quite impressive with its sharpness and colors but cannot be compared with Samsung Super AMOLED screen phones like the Samsung Wave and Galaxy S. There is a single functional button just below the display screen. The volume rocker, the unlock slider and the camera button rests on the right side of the phone while the left side of the phone is void of buttons. But it has the SIM card and the microSD card slots located under the two flaps. The mini HD port, the 3.5 mm headphone and the power switch can be found on the top of the phone while the bottom of it plays host to 2mm charger port. On the back there is a raised rectangle on the top half where the camera, flash and the loudspeaker is located.
The smart phone has a nice comfortable hold and accessing different functions is a joyride as you don’t have to adjust the phone a lot in your palms. The phone comes in 5 different colors – Green, Blue, orange, Silver White and Dark Grey.
MULTIMEDIA
The 12 megapixel camera boosted with Carl Zeiss optics is the highlight of the phone. The phone is in the line of the Sony Ericsson Vivaz or even better with features like automatic red eye removal, face detection and recognition, auto focus and a focal length of 5.9 mm which is equal to 28mm in 35 mm format. The Nokia N8 takes more detailed and natural shots compared to Vivaz. The quality of the photos is impressive and the photos can be uploaded online or even edited within the phone itself with its integrated image editor. It also has a secondary VGA camera with a resolution of 640 x 480p on the front for video calls. The mobile phone also supports HD video recording 720p at 25 fps with ambient stereo audio recording and new algorithms that reduce wind noise and control recording level in harsh environments.
The integrated Nokia Music Player supports a variety of audio formats ranging from the regular MP3s to AMR-WB. Moreover, you can download a number of audio content from the Ovi Music store. One thing that gives us joy is that the Nokia N8 supports the DivX codecs. So with the TV out option of the phone, you can view all your favorite movies at the click of a (virtual) button, literally.
The integrated FM radio makes sure that you are never short of music or news whenever or wherever you want it.
The Nokia N8 supports full web browsing of real web pages with its preinstalled WebKit. The Flash Lite 4 embedded in the phone supports most Flash 10.1 contents. The phone even has an RSS reader with which you can read e-books.
Like most of the new smartphones, the Nokia N8 also has the integrated GPS, A-GPS receivers and Ovi Maps with free pedestrian and car navigation.
Starting from the Open Office application that allows you to browse through word and excel documents, this phone comes pre-loaded with a host of new applications. There is the in-built video editor that lets you edit, add transitions, text or music to your video. The BBC iPlayer is also a very handy application.
MEMORY
This Symbian phone has an internal memory of 16 GB which is a very big storage capacity for all the images, videos and music and can even be expanded through a microSD memory card up to 32 GB. The microSD card in N8 can be hot–swapped i.e. you don’t have to turn off your handset to take out the memory card.
CONNECTIVITY
As the Nokia N8 is one of the top-end smart phones now, it supports the majority of all connections. The WLAN IEEE 802.11 b/g/n (basically Wi-Fi) helps to wirelessly connect to the internet. Not only WLAN, it also has GPRS and EDGE for web browsing and all the wireless transfers. This smartphone even has the HSDPA and HSUPA connections with a maximum speed of 10.2 and 2.0 Mbps respectively.
For local connectivity, the phone has the latest Bluetooth Version 3.0 with which connection and syncing with other Bluetooth enabled device is possible. The standard 2.0 microUSB connector helps in charging the phone and data transfer between it and a PC. You can watch HD videos from the phone on a HD TV through its HDMI port.
PERFORMANCE
The Nokia N8 has been the most anticipated smartphone of this year since its announcement. It deserves applause in terms of messaging and emailing. The new Symbian version has its share of improvements like fewer taps for navigation and a simpler multitasking system.
The multimedia aspect of the phone has nothing to complain about. The camera does wonder while taking both pictures and videos. The wide array of video and audio codec that the phone supports is impressive.
Design wise, the anodized aluminium chassis will have its share of admirers, but the one area where the Nokia N8 beats any other Smartphones hands down is its unbelievable battery life. This smartphone despite of all its multimedia features can last for two days under normal use with a single full charge.
Even though for all its positives, the Nokia N8 also has major flaws that will drive out people away. The user interface of the phone is confusing and tiresome. The internet browser lacks functionality and does not work that well when you open real websites instead of mobile phone version. The social network functionality also needs a major improvement as browsing through different social network and updating even status messages involves a series of browsing through many pages. All in all, the new Symbian platform and the software in the phone need to get retweaked.

VERDICT
You can say that the Nokia N8 is the slimmest, best looking Nokia touchscreen phone till now. But when you compare it with its counterparts like the iPhone and other Android phones, the Nokia N8 lags far behind in terms of functionality and choices (online Apps and widgets) that it offers. No doubt, the N8 camera is one of the best camera phones available now, but good image quality is not the only benchmark for a good mobile phone. So I recommend Nokia only for die-hard Nokia fans or a Symbian user who wishes to upgrade.
The Nokia N8 is available for $549.
REVIEWER’S RATING: 3.5/5