Review! Nokia N8, the power of 12MP Carl Zeiss lens

Brand: Nokia

Model: N8

Operating system: Symbian ^ 3

Why settle for a simple mobile phone? Try the Nokia N8.

1. Evaluation of construction, quality and included accessories.

The powerful smartphone from Nokia, the N8, can boast of some good finishes and construction, where the metallic material is concentrated in the central body of the device, while the upper and lower are made of plastic.

The N8 is available in different colors, is a lightweight of 135 grams and has a slim 12.9 mm thick body. This device breaks the common Nokia designs, but the most amazing lies in the way to insert/remove the micro SD and SIM cards: the lower end of the gadget keep the battery compartment closed by precision screws. Nokia offer the user flexibility to use different memory cards to organize libraries of music, video or images. Why settle for having a single 8GB card being so easy to exchange it for another?

   

Nokia continues to use its useful screen lock/unlock system, and also includes a new port for fans of HD content, a great HDMI port that allows us to share our  HD videos and high resolution photographies with a flat screen. With 16GB of internal storage, we can store movies and use our N8 as a media player everywhere.

The HDMI out is not the only thing we can point out, actually, the Xenon camera flash is more powerful than traditional LEDs. In addition, Nokia has decided to incorporate the latest version of Bluetooth , the 3.0, with a particular transfer rate much higher than the 2.1

   

The display is another bastion of this device, 3.5-inch AMOLED technology with Corning glass, that also improves visibility under sunlight comparing with common LCD displays.

If we check the sales package contents, the headset included is a wonderful choice: in-ear headset with volume and music player controls (forward, rewind, pause / play): it's clear enough that the N8 is focused to deliver the best possible multimedia experience. Thanks.

Nokia charger is the standard of the finnish firm.

2. Battery performance

The Nokia N8 includes a 1200mAh battery. The AMOLED technology helps to reduce consumption if we keep the display lit during a large period of time (compared with common LCD displays). 

Multimedia Test

Configurations: 1 hotmail account updated every 15 minutes, automatic brightness, dual network (2G/3G).

Charge: Complete the 13th-December at 07:00 am, and 0% the 14th-December at 17:06 pm (device 7 hours off)

Usage: 40 minutes of voice calls, 176 minutes music playback, 85 minutes DivX movie playback (indoors), 40 minutes web browsing via WiFi, 20 minutes YouTube video playback via WiFi.

Standard Test

Configurations: 1 hotmail account updated every 15 minutes, automatic brightness , dual network (2G/3G).

Charge: Complete the 20th-December at 09:30h and 0% the 22th-December at 21:20 h (device 14.5h off)

Usage: 57 minutes of voice calls, 330 minutes (almost 6 hours) of mp3 music playback.

3. Evaluation of the UI and OS: Symbian ^ 3

Symbian ^ 3 is very similar to S60 5th Edition on a visual level: Nokia users will thank you not to feel lost, which often happens when you change of operating system. But when you get deeper into Symbian ^ 3 you will appreciate the changes taking place, both visible to the naked eye as the unseen. Symbian ^3 has not won favor with analysts demanding, but because of that we cannot consider it as inefficient OS with poor performance.

The first thing to appreciate is that we have available 3 desktops, so we can organize various widgets, shortcuts, inbox, WLAN connectivity, favorite contacts, or warning notices, and little else. It would have been interesting to include a full-screen widget for Facebook and Twitter.

All three desks have space to accommodate a maximum of 18 widgets, but the variety is not so much to fill them from a useful perspective: we can leave empty one of the screens to enjoy a background image. Do you know what? We can assign a wallpaper for each of the 3 home screen.

   

Pressing a few seconds the applications menu button, the multitask menu appears: we get previews of applications and horizontal navigation between different active windows or apps. As happens with Symbian S60 5th Ed, you can distribute at will the location of the menu icons and create new folders, giving it a more personal to the User Interface (UI).

Symbian has ever been proud of being ease to use, but also give the users flexibility to assign ring tones, tones for messages or emails. The strange thing in Symbian ^ 3 is that we have no visual notification (flashing light) for new emails. It is always a pleasure to set up to 5 sound profiles, ideal when we are at work, we have the headphones on, or we are immerse in noisy places: offline profile disconnect all wireless connections, including the 3G/2G reception.

I recommend the “search” app, which utility may be critical if we have to find, for example, specific information contained in an specific e-mail.

Symbian User ^ 3 offers good fluidity and softness to interact with the system, which is important when we show our photo album or while we are surfing on the web with the browser.

   

I would like to point out a number of things: it is important to install the updates proposed by Nokia software (menu, applications, tools, updates. SW), which solve some lag and make improvements; if touch at the top right corner of the screen (battery bar), we get a pop through which we quickly enter the connection settings (BT, Wi-Fi, USB ….); set up the search widget streamlines our local search for a particular post, for example, or an entry in Google also. Symbian ^ 3 can organize your applications at will, and so we shall set our own application menu.

Sometimes I have been asked how to disable the flashing of the access key to the applications menu. We have to enter to settings, phone, notify light, diffuse light, and select “Off”.

Nokia has recently announced an update for Symbian Smartphones like N8, C7, C6-01 and E7, called Symbian Anna, which will bring a revamped user interface and promises im

4. Applications: OVI Store

 

Apps included

- OVI Maps: complete program to enjoy GPS navigation while we are in transit, on foot or by car. With version 3.06 of OVI Maps, we get 3D view and incorporating additional services from third parties to supplement the information available to the user at the destination: TripAdvisor, Weather, Michelin Guide, Lonely Planet Guide, bookatable … etc etc . A number of services to be located, make reservations for hotels or restaurants, receive information from the place where we are and what’s nearby …. Moreover, it is possible to download maps of the geographies we need, of the countries, for example, we have decided to travel: we can use completely free maps in offline mode.

-Social Networks: Symbian ^ 3 includes an app for Facebook and Twitter, which runs through OVI account. We won’t experience the same quick access comparing with other operating systems, the response is slower than expected. The app can let comment on entries, send messages, view photo albums, upload pictures hosted on our device, or write our “tweets “. The app “Social” is recommended for Twitter (below points to a free app that serves as an alternative).

-Quickoffice: The version included “only” is entitled to read documents.

- Zip: practical utility, especially when we want to share multiple files via Bluetooth, or simply reduce the size of a file to send.

- Recorder: applications / office. I think this app may be useful for those who frequently take voice notes. The configuration of the highest quality sound exudes an amazing audio.

- Registration: applications / tools. Useful and basic information for users who need to check the minutes of calls or amount of data received, vital to know whether it has reached the limits of their limit rate for voice and Internet.

   

Downloadable applications

-Snaptü: more agile, though it may seem simpler to handle both Facebook and Twitter. The application “Social” of Nokia is still too slow to access, for example, to photos posted by us or our contacts. Also worth a look at Snaptü to explore other possibilities: Picassa, Flickr, other Social Networks, RSS news reader, managing email accounts, among others.

- AccuWeather or ForecaWeather: the second is perhaps more attractive according the data offered.

-Google Maps: as an excellent complement to OVI Maps, provides lots of information and better search engine for places in a city. From the web browser enter http://m.google.com

-Reader v1.0b: Nokia Beta Labs has developed this handy newsreader, that still take several seconds to start, although it provides a comfortable reading through the font size, and the contrast between black background and white text. Navigation between the different news turns out to be very fluid. Recommended.

-Google reader: the advantage of Google Reader is that if we later change devices and operating systems, RSS feed is not lost: we get them through the online Google account, and always available both from the screen phone or online (www. google. com / reader).

-Angry Birds: One of the most attractive games available for Symbian, which promises hours and hours of play, and the use of reasoning and ability to overcome different levels of the game.

-Nokia Battery Monitor v1.3: a good application that works through a widget, to control Smartphone’s power consumption.

-IM for Nokia: app to connect to MSN Messenger, Google Talk and Yahoo Messenger. It works very well.

The OVI Application Store has thousands of apps, lots of options for a variety of tastes and needs.

5. Voice and data

Voice: the voice sounds clear.

Data:

E-mail: automatic synchronization has taken place correctly. We can establish a synchronization with the mailbox every 5 or 10 minutes, every hour or every 12 hours, for example, all depend on our use of email. To open and  enjoy rapid access to the received message I recommend configuring an account to download the full content. Symbian ^3 is still slower than other operating systems, and the software doesn't provide the best experience.

I think the landscape virtual QWERTY keyboard is less effective than the alphanumeric virtual keypad with XT9 prediction.

Web browsing: we will move more smoothly between the contents thanks to the capacitive  touch screen, so we can easily zoom with the fingers: the user experience is better than previous Resistive touch screens, which were incredibly limited.  A 3.5-inch screen is not big enough to experience an intensive surfing over Internet, but I agree to enjoy Facebook, for example.

Tethering: we will be able to share the Nokia N8 3G data plan installing the "Nokia PC Internet Access" in a personal computer with Microsoft Windows OS. The connection between devices is implemented through the USB data cable.

  

6. Multimedia performance

Here we discover the power of the Smartphone, a magnificent example as a music and digital video player.

Music player: excellent sound quality  and also great in-ear headphones that let control the playback. We cannot miss the equalizer (with 5 preset modes), loudness and stereo widening... that let us balance treble and bass.

Video DivX Player: Symbian ^3 plays DivX content natively. Playback is smooth, with video mode filling the screen or retaining the original ratio of the source. The AMOLED screen helps to reduce the energy consumption if we spend so many time reproducing a video. ¡Great!

YouTube video playback: the app installed on the N8 take us directly to the mobile site of YouTube. The playback quality is correct, but does not play with the quality that I personally expected.

 HD 720p Video Recording:  the 12MP Carl Zeiss lens provide a good quality of video recording. Have a look to a couple of samples:

1. At night, YouTube link

2. daylight, YouTube link

7.  Image Test! 12MP Carl Zeiss

12MP Carl Zeiss lens with Xenon Flash. Anything more to add?  The configuration options regards to light sensitivity settings, 6 preset scene modes, exposure and contrast level, color tone (black and white or sepia), or different resolution choices, for example.

But one of the Nokia N8 advantages can be found  in the editing utility included: wen can add text, distorting, change the size of the picture, adjust brightness / saturation / shadow / contrast, add various effects (color, cartoon, Negative, Solarize , emboss, sketch ...), eliminate red eyes .... an appropriate complement to adjust images without having to use a personal computer. ¡Great!

Sincerely, Nokia N8 is an Hercules in this section, and after conducting tests for more than 50 mobile phone cameras i have to say that today this Nokia Smartphones is still the best when making photos.

   

To enjoy more than 140 Nokia N8 photos visit "Nokia & The City"

8. Connectivity and available storage

The owners can not complain about the range of options available. The N8 boastsWi-Fi and Bluetooth, and comment that if the user has trouble connecting to Wi-Fi router, you may need to change the compatibility mode “b / g / n” just to ” b / g “(in the router configuration page): Some devices do not accept the 802.11n standard.

Apple Mac users will enjoy a unique alternative way to get files via Bluetooth: having Bluetooth turned on, one option is to “explore device …” (down from the BT logo that stay at the top right of computer screen), which let you navigate freely through the device memory via folders, and so you can select the files to be imported to the computer: it is the most practical way to obtain, for example, 30 photographs.

This cell also includes an HDMI output, to playback video and still images hosted on your Smartphone directly from the television screen: the application Nokia Big Screen let the N8 screen emulate a remote control to navigate through the different type of content to view. With the HDMI you can also enjoy the music, connecting the phone to an A/V receiver or Home Cinema via HDMI input. Remember that the Nokia N8 has been certified by Dolby Laboratories, which means that it can send  multichannel sound to be performed by Home Theater System

Via HDMI you can also surf the Internet, read email, get on Facebook or Twitter, or play Asphalt 4 …. viewing content on the big screen of a monitor or television.

The Nokia N8 micro USB port owns a triple function: first, to charge the device when connected to a computer; secondly, to freely store or transfer files or folders; and a third, thanks to one of the adapters, to standard USB, we can connect an external hard drive or a pendrive to read and transfer content.

The Nokia N8 owns 16GB of internal memory that can be complemented with a micro SD card up to 32GB: Perfect.

9.  Weaknesses / strengths

The purpose of this separation is not to attribute strong positive or negative points, but to establish which are improvable.

Strenghts

-Quality of Carl-Zeiss 12MP lens

-Music and video playback +headset included.

-AMOLED display

-HD720p Video recording

Weaknesses

-Landscape virtual QWERTY keyboard

-Quality of apps

-Access to email content.

10. General Opinion

It's not difficult to reach final conclusions about this Smartphone. What better defines the N8 is its multimedia capabilities, and so the user will enjoy in only one device an mp3 and video player, and portable photo camera. And last but not least, thanks to the HDMI output will be easy to play DivX movies on a LED/LCD or Plasma display.

The user who is looking for a mobile phone, portable music / video player and digital compact camera .... will clear find the answer on the Nokia N8.

This device won't provide the best choice for useful apps like other operating systems, but its strength lies in the hardware.

Highly recommended product.

Main Specs: Carl Zeiss 12MP camera + Xenon flash, 1200mAh battery,  3.5-inch AMOLED display, 720p HD recording and playback, HDMI output, micro SD slot up to 32GB, Bluetooth 3.0 and WiFi (b / g / n), 720 min GSM voice calls and 390H standby GSM, Symbian ^ 3 OS.

Analysis in Spanish, Alexi's TechBlog