Style and handling summary for Nokia N8 review
The N8 boasts good looks, thanks to its aluminium chassis, with its matt metallic sheen and stunning AMOLED display
User friendliness summary for Nokia N8 review
One of the best QWERTY keyboards we've seen, and the new Symbian^3 operating system is far better than its predecessors
Feature set summary for Nokia N8 review
A fantastic set of features include A-GPS, a 12-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi and 3.5-inch capacitive screen
Performance summary for Nokia N8 review
While were impressed by the camera and sat nav features, the phone's performance would have been better if it had a more powerful processor
Battery power summary for Nokia N8 review
The Nokia N8 will let you talk for 330 minutes on a full battery charge, and runs for 400 hours on standby
Full Review and Specification for the Nokia N8
Nokia has had a pretty successful year so far, even by its own high standards. The Finnish phone maker has produced a number of mid-range handsets, which has seen some people querying its credibility. This has all helped to boost interest in the arrival of the Nokia N8, which is the first phone to come with the new Symbian^3 operating system, as well as offering a 12-megapixel camera with Xenon flash and auto-focus.
First impressions
So what's so great about the N8? Well, first of all, its chassis is made of anodised aluminium with a matt metallic sheen. It feels reasonably sturdy, yet we were expecting it to be heavier in the hand. It's a stylish device, and managed to stay relatively slim despite boasting a Xenon (chunky) flash. Mind you, we'd suggest taking care when you put the phone down, as the Xenon flash tends to stick out, and there is no lens protector - we'd hate the impressive Carl Zeiss optics to be damaged.
Like the iPhone, the Nokia N8 has an integrated battery, which is why you'll find the SIM and microSD cards on the side of the handset. The upshot of this is that you can swap SIMs and memory cards without the need to turn off the phone - really handy if you like to hot swap media content. But however good looking the N8's chassis is, it hardly compares to the capacitive display. It measure 3.5-inches high, the same as the iPhone 4 - although it's not as wide - and looks as beautiful when it is illuminated.
Third time lucky
As we said, the Nokia N8 is the first handset to feature the Symbian^3 OS. We haven't been keen on Symbian operating systems lately - they've seemed out of date, especially when compared with the more user-friendly likes of Android and Apple. But we were happy to see the Symbian^3 OS had the update we'd been hoping for. It's still recognisable as Symbian - you'll find the same menu system, with its green hovering circle that shows what tools and programs are open. But while we've found its predecessors rather cumbersome and characterless, Symbian^3 OS has crisp icons that sit above the wallpaper and look as if they're in 3D. There are three home screens, which can each be customised with shortcuts, social network feeds and all kinds of apps from the Ovi store.
But that's not all you can expect from Symbian^3. It now lets the user read text messages in a conversation-like feed, as Apple and Android users have been able to do for some time. It also has a far better virtual keyboard. Hold the device in portrait mode and you'll be presented with an alphanumeric version of the keyboard. Turn the handset on its side and you'll be rewarded with a spacious QWERTY keyboard, which we much prefer. The QWERTY keyboard is wonderfully responsive and offered one of the fastest and most accurate messaging facilities we've enjoyed. Mind you, you do have to press the ‘1' key to get to the numeric pad and punctuation keys, which slows you down somewhat if you want to make your messages grammatically correct.
Finding your way
You can have multiple email accounts, and setting up Hotmail, Yahoo and Gmail is as simple as typing in your address and password. We also really like the way you can show your email in order of date, sender, subject, priority, unread and attachments - it's as close to a desktop email experience that you can get. If you need to, it is also possible to adjust the font size.
This year, Nokia announced that its superb Ovi Maps would be free and could be used wherever you are in the world. So on the Nokia N8 it is possible to view detailed maps on its excellent 3.5-inch screen and get voice directions to your destination, as well as being able to visit points of interest along the way, whether you are walking or driving. Ovi Maps has a host of features - you can record your own directions, and there are a number of preloaded Lonely Planet Guides as well as its latest addition, ‘Check In'. This allows the user to post their GPS location with a message and/or picture on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook.
While we've been impressed with the sat nav fix, what really makes the Nokia N8 stand out is its 12-megapixel camera with Xenon flash and auto-focus. It offers excellent quality as well as some good features such as ISO, white balance and so on, that put it head and shoulders above its competition. Once you're used to the N8's camera, you can expect to be taking photos that are as good as those from a digital point and shoot snapper. It may not be the best for action shots or low-light situations, although that Xenon flash could well provide the extra light required.
Need for speed
Nokia has decided to furnish the N8 with an ARM 11 680 MHz processor. This is a pretty impressive piece of kit when compared with most handsets, but when you realise phones such as the iPhone 4 and Samsung Galaxy S have 1GHz processors, you can see that the N8 is lacking in power. Yes, it can manage multiple apps being opened at the same time, but each time we added another one, it slowed down a bit more. In fact, even when it was running one app, we found it a tad sluggish on opening. It is by no means slow, but for a high-end device, it cannot compete with its competition in terms of speed.
We also found a consistent Wi-Fi connection was hard to maintain - even when we tried to connect to another network, the N8 kept trying to connect to the original one, even though we'd disconnected. Apart from these problems, the N8 offers the user a really decent browsing experience, thanks in the main part to the beautiful AMOLED screen, which shows the websites as sharp and vibrant. We were also happy to see that Nokia has included the pinch and pull zooming method, along with the facility to play Flash video. This means that it is possible to watch video embedded on most websites, as well as watch your favourite BBC programmes with BBC iPlayer.
The verdict
The N8 shows what Nokia can do when it wants to. The stylish handset will appeal to the fashion conscious, and early adopters will be happy with what's going on inside. The camera and mapping facilities are standout features and, apart from its Wi-fi issues, we really enjoyed browsing the web on the device. But, we were frustrated by the slow processing speeds, and though we're impressed by the improvements made in the Symbian^3 operating system, we still prefer the Android and Apple operating systems. Let's hope that the N8 is giving a taste of good things to come from Nokia.
The N8 boasts good looks, thanks to its aluminium chassis, with its matt metallic sheen and stunning AMOLED display
User friendliness summary for Nokia N8 review
One of the best QWERTY keyboards we've seen, and the new Symbian^3 operating system is far better than its predecessors
Feature set summary for Nokia N8 review
A fantastic set of features include A-GPS, a 12-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi and 3.5-inch capacitive screen
Performance summary for Nokia N8 review
While were impressed by the camera and sat nav features, the phone's performance would have been better if it had a more powerful processor
Battery power summary for Nokia N8 review
The Nokia N8 will let you talk for 330 minutes on a full battery charge, and runs for 400 hours on standby
Full Review and Specification for the Nokia N8
Nokia has had a pretty successful year so far, even by its own high standards. The Finnish phone maker has produced a number of mid-range handsets, which has seen some people querying its credibility. This has all helped to boost interest in the arrival of the Nokia N8, which is the first phone to come with the new Symbian^3 operating system, as well as offering a 12-megapixel camera with Xenon flash and auto-focus.
First impressions
So what's so great about the N8? Well, first of all, its chassis is made of anodised aluminium with a matt metallic sheen. It feels reasonably sturdy, yet we were expecting it to be heavier in the hand. It's a stylish device, and managed to stay relatively slim despite boasting a Xenon (chunky) flash. Mind you, we'd suggest taking care when you put the phone down, as the Xenon flash tends to stick out, and there is no lens protector - we'd hate the impressive Carl Zeiss optics to be damaged.
Like the iPhone, the Nokia N8 has an integrated battery, which is why you'll find the SIM and microSD cards on the side of the handset. The upshot of this is that you can swap SIMs and memory cards without the need to turn off the phone - really handy if you like to hot swap media content. But however good looking the N8's chassis is, it hardly compares to the capacitive display. It measure 3.5-inches high, the same as the iPhone 4 - although it's not as wide - and looks as beautiful when it is illuminated.
Third time lucky
As we said, the Nokia N8 is the first handset to feature the Symbian^3 OS. We haven't been keen on Symbian operating systems lately - they've seemed out of date, especially when compared with the more user-friendly likes of Android and Apple. But we were happy to see the Symbian^3 OS had the update we'd been hoping for. It's still recognisable as Symbian - you'll find the same menu system, with its green hovering circle that shows what tools and programs are open. But while we've found its predecessors rather cumbersome and characterless, Symbian^3 OS has crisp icons that sit above the wallpaper and look as if they're in 3D. There are three home screens, which can each be customised with shortcuts, social network feeds and all kinds of apps from the Ovi store.
But that's not all you can expect from Symbian^3. It now lets the user read text messages in a conversation-like feed, as Apple and Android users have been able to do for some time. It also has a far better virtual keyboard. Hold the device in portrait mode and you'll be presented with an alphanumeric version of the keyboard. Turn the handset on its side and you'll be rewarded with a spacious QWERTY keyboard, which we much prefer. The QWERTY keyboard is wonderfully responsive and offered one of the fastest and most accurate messaging facilities we've enjoyed. Mind you, you do have to press the ‘1' key to get to the numeric pad and punctuation keys, which slows you down somewhat if you want to make your messages grammatically correct.
Finding your way
You can have multiple email accounts, and setting up Hotmail, Yahoo and Gmail is as simple as typing in your address and password. We also really like the way you can show your email in order of date, sender, subject, priority, unread and attachments - it's as close to a desktop email experience that you can get. If you need to, it is also possible to adjust the font size.
This year, Nokia announced that its superb Ovi Maps would be free and could be used wherever you are in the world. So on the Nokia N8 it is possible to view detailed maps on its excellent 3.5-inch screen and get voice directions to your destination, as well as being able to visit points of interest along the way, whether you are walking or driving. Ovi Maps has a host of features - you can record your own directions, and there are a number of preloaded Lonely Planet Guides as well as its latest addition, ‘Check In'. This allows the user to post their GPS location with a message and/or picture on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook.
While we've been impressed with the sat nav fix, what really makes the Nokia N8 stand out is its 12-megapixel camera with Xenon flash and auto-focus. It offers excellent quality as well as some good features such as ISO, white balance and so on, that put it head and shoulders above its competition. Once you're used to the N8's camera, you can expect to be taking photos that are as good as those from a digital point and shoot snapper. It may not be the best for action shots or low-light situations, although that Xenon flash could well provide the extra light required.
Need for speed
Nokia has decided to furnish the N8 with an ARM 11 680 MHz processor. This is a pretty impressive piece of kit when compared with most handsets, but when you realise phones such as the iPhone 4 and Samsung Galaxy S have 1GHz processors, you can see that the N8 is lacking in power. Yes, it can manage multiple apps being opened at the same time, but each time we added another one, it slowed down a bit more. In fact, even when it was running one app, we found it a tad sluggish on opening. It is by no means slow, but for a high-end device, it cannot compete with its competition in terms of speed.
We also found a consistent Wi-Fi connection was hard to maintain - even when we tried to connect to another network, the N8 kept trying to connect to the original one, even though we'd disconnected. Apart from these problems, the N8 offers the user a really decent browsing experience, thanks in the main part to the beautiful AMOLED screen, which shows the websites as sharp and vibrant. We were also happy to see that Nokia has included the pinch and pull zooming method, along with the facility to play Flash video. This means that it is possible to watch video embedded on most websites, as well as watch your favourite BBC programmes with BBC iPlayer.
The verdict
The N8 shows what Nokia can do when it wants to. The stylish handset will appeal to the fashion conscious, and early adopters will be happy with what's going on inside. The camera and mapping facilities are standout features and, apart from its Wi-fi issues, we really enjoyed browsing the web on the device. But, we were frustrated by the slow processing speeds, and though we're impressed by the improvements made in the Symbian^3 operating system, we still prefer the Android and Apple operating systems. Let's hope that the N8 is giving a taste of good things to come from Nokia.
written by : Unknown | published In : Senin, 05 November 2012 | article Title: Nokia N8 | Url : http://doom-mobi.blogspot.com/2012/11/nokia-n8.html | Please like and share this article to support this blog
Ditulis oleh:
Unknown - Senin, 05 November 2012
Belum ada komentar untuk "Nokia N8"
Posting Komentar