Nokia N8 review 2010
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When you are number one in any way, you need to be tough. Because everyone wants to be number one, and so you become a target as people chase you down, looking to take your position. Think sports, where anyone who is a champion needs a mental toughness not just to become champion, but to also remain champion.
Its a bit like that with mobile phones, too, in a way. The market leading manufacturer, still by quite some way, is Nokia. But they get a hard time from other manufacturers, bringing top quality handsets to market to try and obtain what Nokia has, a market dominating position. Whilst Apple performs well with one device, and Android devices from HTC attract attention with an exciting user interface, and Samsung are productive in all areas, Nokia still lead the way. In recent months Nokia has come in for a lot of criticism, with many observers coming to the conclusion that Nokia devices are staid, and a little boring. And to a degree, I would also agree, but that shouldnt mean we instantly write Nokia off. Their Symbian operating system is a mature, well featured OS, and offers Nokia a solid base from which to move forward. Nokia are in the process of bring a number of changes to their Symbian system, with work going on Symbian^3 and Symbian^4. The first device announced with the new Symbian^3 OS is the Nokia N8, part of the exciting N Series range of multimedia devices.
Nokia N8 deals on contract from 24.38 per month
Nokia N8 pay as you go from 399.99 per handset
Nokia N8 review
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The approach to the new Symbian^3 system is to reduce complication and offer a robust, multi-tasking platform that is swift, well laid out and visually entertaining. Say for example, you want to fire off a quick email. Wherever you happen to be on the deice menu, two clicks is all you need to start writing. Want to listen to music? Youre just three clicks away from listening to a tune. And so on.
As part of the N Series line up, the N8 offers some top of the drawer media capabilities. Chief amongst these is the inclusion of a high quality 12.0 Megapixel camera. Now with cameras, megapixels isnt the be all and end all, and Nokia have included a range of other features to ensure the images captured on your N8 are the best available from a mobile converged device. The N8 also includes Carl Zeiss wide-angle optics, and incorporates the largest sensor seen in a mobile device. The N8 sports a Xenon flash, which is around 30% smaller in size than previous Nokia devices had, but still offers around the same power as seen on handsets like the excellent Nokia N82. The latency speed in the shutter release is now around 150 milliseconds, which is as fast as some dedicated digital cameras, in some cases faster than some budget devices, and even though image sizes are larger, the time between pictures is also improved. Even things like face detection and red eye reduction are seeing a huge improvement over previous N Series handsets, and auto focus is now much improved, with focus now being set in about half a second.
But it is not just in still images where the camera sets the benchmark, but also in video capture. The N8 captures video at 25 fps, recording at 720 pixel resolution. The device includes two microphones for recording stereo audio in video clips, and there is a HDMI out option, with support for Dolby Surround sound, so you can hook up to your HD TV and watch video clips in high definition. You can also hook your device up to a standard TV set, as there is TV Out support via the standard 3.5mm connector.
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The N8 is dominated by a large 3.5 inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, supporting up to 16 million colours, with a pixel resolution of 360 x 640. Being a capacitive screen allows for multi touch input methods; as well as standard touch there is also support for handwriting recognition, and a variety of keyboards, from a traditionally laid out alphanumeric keypad with T9 support, to mini QWERTY and also a large on screen QWERTY keyboard, when the device is used in landscape mode. The display is covered with a scratch resistant surface, and has a built in accelerometer for automatic display rotation, and a proximity sensor which disables the screen when you are on call.
Internally, the N8 has 16 GB of mass storage space, which can be expanded via Micro SD memory cards; the N8 officially supports cards up to 32 GB in size. Data connectivity is well covered with all the major options included; The N8 offers HSDPA at up to 10.2 Mbps, HSUPA at up to 2 Mbps, Class 32 GPRS and EDGE, plus WiFi 802.11 b/g/n with full UPnP technology, allowing you to easily integrate the device to your home WLAN. The handset offers quad band GSM connections for full roaming options, as well as supporting five different HSDPA frequencies. Full Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP is available, which makes connecting to other wireless Bluetooth devices a much simpler operation, and includes support for wireless stereo audio transmission.
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And there is still so much more; the N8 comes complete with a full media player, with enhanced UI that makes flipping through music tracks a visually enjoyable experience, whilst delivering a top class audio performance, and there is a stereo FM radio with RDS support and also an FM transmitter, so you can simply connect the handset to your in car radio via FM and stream your music via the in car speakers. The device includes a full GPS receiver, with aGPS support, which allows you to geotag your captured images as well as offering a full SatNav experience with the totally free Nokia OVI Maps software.
The Nokia N8 casing is composed mainly of metallic materials, utilising an anodised aluminium casing. Despite this, the handset still weighs in at an acceptable 135g, and measures in at 115 x 59 x 13mm. The handset has a 1200 mAh Lithium Polymer battery, which is non removable by the end user, which offers up to 400hours standby, five and a half hours talktime and up to 50 hours of continuous music playback.
Summarising all that is actually rather easy. The N8 is a multimedia powerhouse, packed with enough features and functions to keep most users very happy for a long time. There are a core set of users who will never be satisfied with what Nokia produce, but for the majority who will actually use the technology, what they will be presented with is a restructured, rewritten OS that offers a smooth, fast user experience.
The Nokia N8 is expected to be available during Q3 2010, in a variety of colour options, Dark Gray, Silver White, Green, Blue and Orange. And amazingly, the SIM free price is expected to sit at around 370, which when compared with the N97 release cost of 550 is very good value indeed. Far from looking dead in the water, it seems Nokia are prepared to hold on to that number one spot, and with devices like the N8 in their portfolio, they may just well do so.