Review: Nokia N8

This is not the first or best phone with such a camera, the sony satio also has a 12.1 MP camera, though I have the phone and still think its crap, the statement made is not the best. This same satio has the symbian operating system, its crap on touch screens, symbian is meant for Nokia, luckily sony ericcson have dropped the symbian OS'.

Get a blackberry, no process visibility or connection disconnect issues there!
 
Firstly, when it comes to UIs that look like the 90's you don't get it worse than on a BlackBerry. Its a Fuirt. It requires a special type of internet (narrowband) for any of its features to work. It mostly uses 65k colour screens. It makes a statement about you saying "I think I am so connected like a wannabee CEO".

Blackberry, like any other fruit, sucks.

The Satio is not that great because it runs Symbian 9.4 and the camera is no where close to the on on the N8. It also is missing a lot of stuff you get on the N8.

So again, taking price into account, you don't get anything as good as the N8.
 
Its not just that, its the sensor size, the flash and the image processing software enhancements that Nokia put into the N8 that makes it a lot better than the Satio.
 
The SE has a a xenon flash. It also has a flash for video recording in low light conditions. Something the N8 doesn't have. So 12 mp phone cameras has been around. Blackberry's is okay but with no FM radio I'll pass. The N8 has other features that makes it better then the SE. I also think its not expensive. It's very well priced.
 
Another thing people frequently do is they tend to think all phones are on the same level. While this is true for one pony racers like Apple it is a different story for other handset makers. You cannot compare a 5230 ultra cheap 5xxx series (active & music series) phone with a premium product like an iPhone. The N8 is much closer to premium range phones and it has the feature set and build quality to beat them.

I bought mine this morning from nokiastuff.co.za - anyone got an idea on how long they take with deliveries ?
 
I've always had a Nokia since the 3310, 6310, 6230,N80, N73 right to the 3600 slide and I enjoyed it. The pics and video on the N73 were ok (well for 3.2mega), I was going to renew with the N8 and took a leap for the iPhone 4 16gig and I must say, without even trying the N8, Apple does have a winner here. Pics and videos are very good (720p for video) and the phone is just 100% responsive in every aspect. Nokia have indeed tried to impress with 720p video and huge megapixel for camera while lagging in all other departments tbh, I haven't tried the N8 but there's plenty reviews out there with a similar consensus.

The design is also a downer, I mean what's with the ends going funny :(
 
Rouxenator said:
Such as HDMI out, Dolby Digital out, USB OTG, USB Mass Storage Mode, BlueTooth FTP and Satnav for life.
Yes, I see what you mean with apple having a winner.
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Rouxenator I truely see your point, but my needs for a smart phone are all packaged in the iPhone. Decent pics and video on the go, ipod for gym (joining soon), no need for mass storage (I mean 16gig is sufficient - for my needs). Wireles is also good (the 150megs that come free is too much for me, 4meg ADSL @ home), no real need for navigation, I'm in Durbs :). I watch HD movies on the PC, I s'pose different strokes for different folks. I too also believed in Nokia and yes all the latest smartphones are great.

N8 for Rouxenator, iPhone for cryptic - cheers :)
 
What I mean with mass storage mode is that you can access the memory inside the phone as a USB flash drive on your PC. This makes for very fast transfer of media to your phone. With the iPhone you can only do this from iTunes which does have its limitations. What the N8 has (and a few other Series40 devices) is USB OTG - meaning it has the ability to use other mass storage devices such as flash drives. So you don't need a PC to copy files between a flashdrive and the phone.

Agreed - the iPhone fits the bill for most peoples usage trend and it does so while looking very good. However other prefer a more open device and something you can do a lot more with, for those the N8 is perfect.
 
cryptic1 said:
Rouxenator I truely see your point, but my needs for a smart phone are all packaged in the iPhone. Decent pics and video on the go, ipod for gym (joining soon), no need for mass storage (I mean 16gig is sufficient - for my needs). Wireles is also good (the 150megs that come free is too much for me, 4meg ADSL @ home), no real need for navigation, I'm in Durbs :). I watch HD movies on the PC, I s'pose different strokes for different folks. I too also believed in Nokia and yes all the latest smartphones are great.

N8 for Rouxenator, iPhone for cryptic - cheers :)
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And an FM transmitter for when you're driving to the gym? Don't think the iPhone comes with that :p

edit: the N8 has 16GB onboard storage as well.
 
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And a card slot if you want to pop in a 32GB microSD. What I currently use FM Transmitter for (on my wifes N79) is for playing internet radio in the car. The phone uses 3G to stream the internet radio and then transmits it over FM. Only advisable if you have a large data bundle and a car charger.
 
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I take back anything nice I said about the N8. Mine just turned off and wont turn on. The other N8 I have, currently being used for a review, gives constant "Insert Sim Card" messages. Phones are buggy
 
While in the Vodashop today 2 people returned their N8's, no thanks won't touch with a very long pole.
 
Shayd said:
While in the Vodashop today 2 people returned their N8's, no thanks won't touch with a very long pole.
Click to expand...
Very wise move, leave the N8 for power users and professional VIPs like me. You sound more like a champion kind of guy so why not get yourself the Samsung Champ ?

I'm getting my N8 today from NokiaStuff.co.za
 
F1ve_Claw said:
I take back anything nice I said about the N8. Mine just turned off and wont turn on. The other N8 I have, currently being used for a review, gives constant "Insert Sim Card" messages. Phones are buggy
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Seems Nokias can be compared to the fruity variety after all. We have Apples, Blackberries and Lemons :p
 
IMHO, it's a FANTASTIC phone

I've had my N8 for a week now, and I couldn't be more pleased with my decision. I wanted to go the WP7 route (I quite like the new HTCs), but don't trust the new MS OS just yet! Back to the Nate (N8)... besides all the great features already mentioned here (and you have to agree that the phone is of top spec), the OS is actually very good. It's infinitely customizable, and I think the reviewer needs to be shown how to use the phone properly, before he makes his (rather negative) allegations, as it could wrongly influence a lot of folk. I don't find his gripes with the software valid, as I don't experience those issues - at least not to the degree that he does. Sure, the store doesn't have as many apps as has Android and (Cr)apple, but how many apps do you really want? All the good (and thus popular) ones are usually made available on Ovi pretty soon. I could carry on forever, but trust me when I say that once you've spent a day or two getting your UI just right, and have become familiar with it, you'll be smiling. Feel free to ask me about the phone, incl. customization, and I'll gladly help. As for the power issues some of the Nates have...well, that's not great, but Nokia has said they'll replace the handsets free of charge. Apparently only a small percentage are affected, so other than some bad luck, and an extra trip to the store, it's really not that bad. Oh, almost forgot - there's a great piece of software, called SPB Mobile Shell, and it adds another (hugely pleasant) level of customization. Not too expensive... or free, if you don't mind stealing, and know where to look :o
 
Seriously, the screens dont change under your finger and only after the action of swiping is finished, eeek kill myself! Life must improve tenfold knowing that when you swipe that screen it moves immediately.
The default social networking apps on the N8 are sluggish and frustrating to use. - absolute rubbish
The social networking works fast and fine never had a problem updating tweets or uploading photos to facebook from the N8
As for the text input if the normal qwerty touch keyboard thud thud thud method isnt for you then install swype and draw the word in one line
overall a very negative one sided review, ive been using the N8 for almost two months and its a great piece of gadge. i have everything i need in one device.
 
I have had this phone for a day now and it is brilliant. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it. Not a single thing. Coming from a 5800 it is a huge improvement in terms of speed and ease of use.

People complaining about the home screens not changing when you swipe should really (and I mean really) read the manual - it does that because you could have side scrolling widgets.
Personally I delete all the home-screens except the main one because I do not have that many widgets I use.
 
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