Nokia made a lot of noise over the launch of its latest smartphone. You may wonder what the big deal is. But make no mistake with the N8 — a new operating system, an evolved form factor and a swanky set of mobile apps makes this latest Nokia device absolutely future-ready. The rise and fall of a smartphone hinges on its hardware, software, and the apps and services available. Nokia intends to walk the talk on all three.
First impression
The N8 looks good and feels even better. A single hardware button is all you see at the bottom of the 3.5-inch, multi-touch, capacitive OLED touchscreen. Before this, the Finnish mobile phone maker had used capacitive display only on the Nokia X6. Now, it has added multi-touch technology (made possible by the new Symbian 3 OS) on the N8. This feature brings it a step closer to the Apple iPhone. The display, capable of showing up to 16.7 million colours, is by far Nokia’s best. Since it is a touchscreen device, a proximity sensor has been included that automatically turns off the display when you bring it close to your face during a call and avoids any ‘mis-touch’.
The N8 weighs about 134 grams and sits easy in the pocket. The scratch-resistant, anodised-aluminum case (in five trendy colours) gives the product a premium look.
The ‘almost’ right kind of mix...
The Nokia N8 runs on an ARM11, 680-MHz processor and also has a 3D-graphics accelerator. It does look insufficient when compared with some of the latest Android smartphones that typically sport 1-GHz processors and far more RAM. The previous generation of Nokia smartphones, like the N82 and N95, had hardware graphics accelerators but, later, they were abandoned for a faster CPU. Now, a dedicated graphics accelerator renders better-quality graphics while gaming or playing multimedia files on the N8, and can easily facilitate high-quality images and video recording without stressing the processor. So, this leaves the phone to do other tasks at the same time. The device also comes with 256-MB RAM and 16 GB of built-in memory for all files and apps, which users can expand to 32 GB, taking the total memory to a whopping 48 GB.
It is the first phone from Nokia to feature a 12-megapixel, autofocus camera with xenon flash as well as the ability to record HD videos (1,280 x 720 pixels, to be precise) at 25 frames per second! If you think those are just fancy-sounding numbers, then you should take a look at the images and videos the N8 shoots. One look will make you realise that the Nokia N8 is the best camera phone, yet. We could make out that the N8 had a larger optical format image sensor than most camera phones, which in turn allowed the device to see more light and produce sharper pictures and videos.
Email setup is incredibly easy — out of the box, there’s a widget on the homescreen that invites you to enter an email account’s details (supports up to 10 email accounts) into the device. You will only need to enter an email address and password — the rest of the necessary email server settings will be filled in automatically. Brace yourself for some learning when you begin typing emails or text messages on the N8. In portrait mode, the virtual keyboard takes on a keypad format (although the predictive text feature helps), but typing slows down. The horizontal virtual keyboard is a full Qwerty one. This may be quicker, but has small input keys that, again, need some time getting used to.
The new OS is the key
Nokia decided to use the new Symbian 3 operating system for the N8, which is essentially the earlier version of the Symbian OS optimised for touchscreens (more Symbian 3 smartphones to arrive by next year). The OS gives a user the choice of three home screens (that can be customised with widgets, that is, shortcuts for apps). But, it still lacks the intuitiveness and sophistication of competing mobile OSes. For example, Symbian 3 offers three home screens, while Android 2.2 gives a user seven home screens.
Users of existing ‘feature’ phones or Nokia smartphones will find the new interface familiar in terms of style and notice the big step-up in terms of functionality, performance and user experience.
The N8’s web browser is this smartphone’s biggest weakness, delivering a browsing experience that falls well short of what other touchscreen smartphones offer.
Frills and much more
The N8’s battery was able to get us through a full day of moderate to heavy use. The smartphone’s micro-USB port offers data charging and USB On-The-Go functionality (allows you to run content from USB drives directly). The SIM card slot is located on the outside of the phone, which allows users to switch cards without removing the phone’s cover or, worse, the battery. A 3.5-mm headphone jack and an HDMI port (adapter included) complete the connectivity options. In the list of pre-loaded apps Nokia has included a picture editor, a video editor and a copy of QuickOffice, which lets the user read Word, Excel and Powerpoint files on the go. The N8 also includes a ZIP file manager, PDF viewer, and Ovi Maps.
If you are going shopping this season for a smartphone – the Nokia N8, which costs Rs 26,259 – should be on the top of your list.
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