8:00 AM
one
Released in October 2010 it is fresh to the UK market and is available in a choice of 5 colours - Silver, dark grey, orange, Blue and Green. I opted for the Dark Grey and received this from Vodafone, the phone was free with a £35 a month contract over 18 months. I have had a look around though and you can purchase the phone (sim free) from Nokia for £429.00 however I note that Tesco’s Direct are currently selling the sim free Dark Grey N8 for a bargain £319.07 plus over 600 Clubcard points.
Phone Specifications
There are such a vast quantity of specification information for the Nokia N8 that I will never be able to cover them all and lets face it some of these specs mean nothing to the average user so instead I am going to stick to what I feel are the most important features and the bits I use most.The Battery & Software Platform
The Battery supplied is a BL-4D 1200 mAh Li-Ion battery which on this Nokia phone is completely encapsulated within the case and is therefore not accessible unless you are prepared to unscrew the back cover. It promises a maximum talk time stats of:-GSM 720 mins
WCDMA 350 mins And Standby time (maximum) of:
GSM 390 h
WCDMA 400 h These figures mean very little to me however I have found that as long as I do not use the phone too heavily (but I do use around an hour and a half of music playback per day) the phone needs to be charged every other day. For heavier use I have had to charge daily and if playing games the battery is depleted within an hour or so.
As for the software platform the Nokia N8 uses the new Symbian ^3 for Nokia which is an updated version of its previous platform. Having used the Nokia N96 which was horribly buggy particularly when multitasking I was concerned that the N8 may suffer the same issues however the new software platform is far superior and as yet (1 week in) I have not had any crashing issues, what a relief!
Connectivity
The phone can be connected to PC’s, Radios, other mobiles and TV’s via its built in:- ** Bluetooth 3.0** HDMI
** Micro USB connector
** USB 2.0
** FM Transmitter
The Bluetooth connection made transferring information from my old Nokia phone a very simple process and I managed to send over all my calendar entries, notes, contacts and some music (although there were more options to send information between Nokia Mobiles than I utilised and I am pretty sure if you had the time and patience you could get almost everything from one phone to another without the need of a cable). I also really like that the phone charges whilst attached to a PC via the USB connector which means I am able to give my phones battery a little boost of energy whilst I am uploading photos to my PC. The USB connections is great for transferring pictures, videos and music between my mobile and PC.
The Screen
The phone has a 3.5” touch screen with the resolution of 16:9 nHD. I must admit these specs also don't mean much to me however having used the phone for a good week I can confirm that it has a nice large (for a mobile phone) touch screen that displays images and videos beautifully. There are also apparently 16.7 million colours which is most likely the cause of the clear picture displayed which I admit has impressed me no end.The touch screen itself is not bad although it can be a little unresponsive and there have been occasions where I have needed to press the screen a couple of times before it acknowledges my request. I believe this may be because the phone is in the process of thinking about something rather than the screen itself not registering my press however it can be frustrating. There is an option of using an onscreen keyboard if you turn the phone to landscape or you can use the more traditional number keypad (on screen) with predictive text if the phone is in portrait. Depending on the direction you are holding the phone in the screen and keyboard changes automatically however I do find the keyboard keys quite small and as I have fairly small hands this may be an issue for people with larger fingers. Having viewed the demo movies supplied with the phone I have been very impressed by how clear and detailed the screen is.
Dimensions
The Dimensions of the phone are 113.5 x 59 x 12.9mm and it weights 135g with the battery. It is fairly large in size but as smart phones go it is very similar to others in the field (including the Iphone) and it is also pretty slim. The camera on the back of the phone is slightly raised out of the case which does make it look a little fatter when laid on a desk but I like that it tilts the phone slightly towards you. The phone looks very stylish.
Home Screens
There are 3 customizable home screens on the phone each of which allows you to add up to 4 “widgets” (Widgets are basically shortcuts to programmes or functions on the phone). However it has taken me 3 days and a lot of searching on the internet to work out how to put different applications than those listed as standard within the widgets section onto my homepage and in case you also find yourself in this situation I am including a step by step guide (as information on the internet is limited in this area at present):-Hold down on the screen for a few seconds on the home screen you wish to edit (which takes you into the edit home screen mode). Click on one of the free pluses on the screen and pick the “shortcuts” widget from the menu.
Whilst still editing the home screen touch the “shortcuts” and chose “settings”.
From the settings screen you can pick which of the 4 shortcuts shown you would like to change to a different program. When you click on one of the 4 options you will be able to choose from a longer list of applications or bookmarks. You can do this for shortcuts on each of the 3 home screens including different shortcuts to gain access to more programmes. I did not find this was easy to work out and am a little disappointed that Nokia didn’t work to make this a more user friendly process however I did eventually work it out for myself. The phone does not come with a manual and I did try to find this information within the help on the phone however I could not find the instructions for this on the phone.
Now that it is done I am happy with the access I now have to my favourite programmes without having to go through the menus constantly.
The Camera
The Nokia N8 sports a 12 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics. The phone has a built in Xenon flash for use in darker conditions. The camera in my opinion is the best feature of this phone. It is accessed by pressing a camera button on the right side of the telephone and the quality of the pictures is excellent. There is face recognition built in as well as the standard autofocus.Again after researching I understand that this phone is not only 12megapixels in size but it also has a more sensitive sensor than other phones cameras meaning that the pictures come out clearer and more lifelike than any mobile I have used before. The pictures are definately better when taken in daylight however this phone copes better with darker conditions than the Nokia N96 did. There is also a 2x digital zoom for still images to get that little bit closer if you need to. Having had a play with this the photos in bright daylight come out beautifully and are of a decent enough quality to print them out and place in a photo album. For indoors the flash does its job and the photographs in darker conditions also come out very well with good colours and detail. I quite like the face recognition feature as once it has locked on it makes sure that faces are not blurred.
The phone also has a secondary camera for video calls which is of a lower specification (but then who wants to be seen in High Definition on a video call anyway?).
The Video Camera
Another fantastic feature of the Nokia N8 is the powerful little video camera (well for a mobile phone anyway). The 12 megapixel camera shoots videos in HD quality (720p resolution to be precise). This means that you are able to record high definition videos quickly and easily whenever you like. This does however mean that the video files can be quite large due to the improved quality. Having played around with this a little I was a bit disappointed that when viewed on the larger screen on my PC it was not as sharp as I had hoped however it is a vast improvement on the videos my old Nokia N96 used to produce and the sound is also nice and clear. I don’t suppose you can expect too much from a mobile phone video camera however it is far better quality than any of the previous Nokia phones I have used and my expectations were probably overly optimistic as it is billed as videoing in High Definition.You can also play your HD videos straight to your TV with use of an HDMI cable (the adapters for this was included in my mobile phone box but not an HDMI cable).
The phone also comes complete with the cables you would need to upload the videos and pictures to your PC and as an experienced Nokia user I find this process simple through the use of windows explorer.
The Music Player
Another lovely feature of the Nokia N8 is its music player. Music can be added to your phone either by using Nokia Avi Music on your PC, connecting the phone to your PC, pick the music you want and drag it to the mobile phone Icon in the software (on the left). You can also download music direct to your phone via the internet.As the phone has 16GB of internal memory you can store a lot of music on your phone and there is also the option of adding up to 32GB extra via a Micro SD memory card (not supplied). However as you can store around 4000 on 16GB unless you are going to fill the phone up with Videos or games it is unlikely you will need to expand the memory. Once the music has been added to your phone you can create your own playlists within the music player which is a necessity once you have a few hundred tunes. You can also activate “shuffle” on a playlist if you prefer to be surprised! Reordering the playlists is also a simple process within the settings and I have already used this feature successfully several times.
The phone comes with a good quality pair of in-ear head phones which have a clip on section containing a microphone (for phone calls) and back, forward, play and volume buttons which is also a fantastic addition. The quality of sound on the headphones is very clear and surprisingly for a Nokia accessory these headphones are as good as a pair of in-ear headphones I purchased for £20 earlier this year. They connect to the phone via an ordinary headphone socket therefore if you wished to replace these with your favourite headphones you can. The phone also goes up to a decent level and is plenty loud enough for me (I usually play these a few bars below maximum level).
The Radio
There is also built into the phone a stereo FM Radio ( 87.5-108 MHz) which can be used as long as you have headphones attached (as these are effectively your aerial). The radio is not particularly powerful and as the headphones become your aerial reception can be hit and miss, particularly when travelling however few phones still offer an onboard radio and I am very pleased that this was not removed from the Nokia N8 as it has always been a feature I have used on previous mobiles I’ve owned.It also comes complete with an FM Transmitter which allows you to transmit audio from your phone to your nearest radio which is a fun little gadget (although I am not sure actually how useful it is?).
Navigation
The Nokia N8 has GPS as well as Ovi Maps that contains free navigation for cars & walkers. I have not yet used the GPS properly yet however the Maps have already come in handy when I have got myself lost around town (I have terrible direction skills!).Internet & Games
The phone promises to allow full web browsing of real web pages and also contains Flash Lite 4 which means you are able to display the majority of Flash content. I have indeed tried browsing the internet on my phone on sites that were not specifically designed for mobile phone access and have yet to find one that does not work correctly and several that I could not access on my old phone now work (thanks to the Flash lite I believe). It is obviously a slower process than using a PC but comes in handy when you are on the move. I have noticed that I can end up using quite a lot of my internet allowance however as some web pages are quite large so it is best to keep an eye on this if like me your internet usage is limited to a certain amount free per month. There are some demo games included on the phone however game play is limited on a Demo therefore I have downloaded The Sims 3 for a small charge and have been having a good play (for purely review purposes of course). As always playing games on your mobile eats through the battery and I have found the touch screen quite difficult with this game in particular. Having said that the game is very enjoyable and runs nicely on the N8 and so far it hasn’t crashed on me.My Opinion
I love a new gadget to play with so was so excited when my Nokia N8 arrived. and was even more pleased to find that the phone comes with a nice selection of accessories to play with (various leads and a headset). After my initial issues with customizing my home screens I now find the phone pretty simple to use and it looks very smart and modern.The phones camera was a major factor in my purchase descision so I am pleased to report that the photo’s that I have taken are excellent quality for a mobile phone and the new larger megapixel camera is not at all disappointing. Video’s also come out at a decent quality and are easy to produce. As the mother of a young child it is invaluable to have a camera at all times to capture those magic moments as they grow and the 12 megapixel camera provides good quality snaps - I just love the camera and camcorder and would recommend the phone for this alone. The music player & Radio does exactly what I want it to (but there again how far wrong could you go with a music player). The In Ear headset supplied is very good quality and I love the addition of the music control buttons on a clip with a microphone within (meaning that they are perfect to use for both phone calls and listening to tunes).
The internet is easy to use and views just like a (very) mini laptop. Being flash compatible means that I can browse most sites on my mobile phone without any difficulties although I am concerned that I could easily use up my monthly internet allowance without noticing.. Battery life isn’t massive but it is no worse than I am used to with modern day phones. Game play is good too although it eats through the battery.
You can telephone out with no issue (there are no aerial problems on the N8) and texting is pretty easy as well. The N8 also gives you the option of seeing your texts by conversation rather than as the standard list in order which is a nice feature that enables you to keep track of your text discussions with friends. There is a button on the side of the phone which you use to lock and unlock the screen however it is worth noting that the volume buttons on the side of the phone still work even when the screen is locked which is very useful when you are using the phone to listen to music. You can set several alarms and choice your own alarm tone which is also a great feature (I haven't owned an alarm clock for years thanks to mobile phone alarms!).
Having had a previously bug ridden Nokia phone I was concerned the N8 would have the same faults but have been pleasantly surprised at how stable the phone is. It handles multi tasking far better than the N96 which is great for me as I love to have far too many applications open at one time! The phone is about average size for a smart phone and is not too heavy although as I only have small hands it can feel a little difficult to grip (I am worried it may slip from my hand when in use although this hasn't happened yet so I may be being a little over protective.
There are not many games installed on my phone however more games and applications can be downloaded from the Avi store and having had a brief browse there did seem to be plenty of free applications available (although not as plentyful as for the Iphone). My main gripes would be that the phone can take a few seconds to load applications, sometimes it does not register my touch (although this is not often) and the onscreen keyboard is a little small but for everything else I absolutely love this phone.
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