Nokia N8!
The Super Late Review!
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When
cellular phones came out most, if not all, of us wanted to want one for
ourselves. The first phone I had a chance to hold was those bulky Smart Phones,
Smart as in Smart the Telecommunications Company. I was not particularly
intrigued as I was at a young age back then. The first Cellphone I saw Bosch
phone, it had the technology still alive today which is SMS, it had a small
screen and it looked similar to a beeper. Unfortunately, I have no idea what it
was called. Then came the Giant Nokia, the forgotten 5210 maybe the phone which
most of us first saw but already forgotten, it was a trimmed down Smart Phone
and it was the phone which paved the way for Nokia’s reign for the subsequent
years. The clinching feature? The Game Snake! I may not have any idea how to
use a phone back then but I knew how to navigate it to play Snake. Finally at
year 2003, I had my very first phone, and it was none other than the all-time
favourite Nokia 3310! Back then I did nothing but text my friends and play
Space Impact, I was content with it even though at that time phones like 7650
and 6600 were the popular ones and Nokia still dominated the Cellphone arena.
If you want to know more about the phones I had and subsequent adventures wait
for my Phones throughout my Life blog.
Fast tracking to 2010, it was the
start of Nokia’s inevitable decline as Android was coming and iOS was much more
entertaining. Back then I had a 5630 but I was deeply in awe with Nokia’s
futile pushes in N8. Its design was amazing and it was arguably the best
touchscreen phone back then. Ever since, I wanted to have one and finally after
three long years, I finally have one! (Though this is just a second hand unit
from a deceptive seller.)
Every now and then we do something
crazy ad stupid to spice up our life and this purchase maybe one I will
remember for all time. Since I like to look on the brighter side of things, even
though I see no lighter side in this one, I came out with the idea to write a
review about this phone and try it for a week! So without further delay, I
think I kept you long enough, here is the Nokia N8 Review! 3 Years after
conception!
NOTE: This review
is based from Personal Experience with the phone. This is a dream phone of mine
so expect a lot of bias.
1. THE PACKAGE (10 out of 10)
1.1 The BOX and Contents
Out of all the phones I have ever
tried in my entire life and in no way am me exaggerating, Nokia N8 has the best
package! The box includes your standard staples like Manuals, Headset, USB
Cable and Charger but it does not stop there as the package also includes an
HDMI and a USB OTG! The inclusion of such package is a big plus! From a
different point of view, you can perceive Nokia is going all out with this
phone!
Sadly for me, I only got a UNIT ONLY
package. SAD.
2. PHONE SUPERFICIALITY (10 out of
10)
As mentioned earlier, I was at
complete awe with this phone back then and I still am today, though my unit may
not reflect my excitement. THANKS A LOT SCUMBAG! Anger aside, Nokia N8 looks
fat by today’s standard but it still has that exquisite high end feel into it. The
12MP Camera is its best Eye Catcher. It has a non-removable battery so it has
flaps on the sides for MicroSD and Sim card with the volume rocker, locker and
Camera shutter on the other side. There are plenty of colors to choose from and
that’s another +1! Most phones today either come in Black or White, ehem
iPhone. The build and materials are not too shabby either.
Overall, I think this phone had a lot
of work exerted on its design and I think it’s still one of the best looking phones
today.
BUT LOOK HOW SHITTY THE UNIT I GOT! I HOPE KARMA GETS YOU!
3. PERFORMANCE EVALUATION
3.1 Display (8.3 out of 10)
Nokia
N8 has an nHD AMOLED screen so you can expect good amount of saturation and
Display. Though it has a measly 360x640 resolution, it does not look that bad.
It actually compares well to some low-ranged branded phones and mid-ranged
rebranded phones. As of today, N8 will have trouble competing in terms of
display as the technological rush is just phenomenal. I also have here a 2010
HTC Google Nexus One and I will have to give the better display to Nokia N8.
3.2 Multimedia (7.7 out of 10)
Nokia has a
knack for Music Playback which can be observed with their line of Xpress Music
which, in my experience, does deliver better audio than other phones. Nokia N8
may not be an Xpress phone but it has fared well against today’s phones. The
audio quality is great, and the headset included is also great. Using my staple
Griffin Caps, it delivered amazing audio output which definitely trumps most
rebranded phones out there. Ehem Cherry Mobile. The stock Music Player can
probably still pack a punch against today’s branded phones as it features a
Loudening and Stereo Widening mode which greatly amplifies music playback.
Barring Note 2 and Xperia Z, Nokia N8 still holds a good ground on music
department.
As for
Video Playback, this maybe its Achilles Heel as the video codec of this phone
is very limited, sometimes it plays AVI sometimes it does not, as with my
experience, for the first six hours, I could not predict whether what I put
will be played or be rejected. Unlike Android, which has MX Player Pro to fill
your video gaps, I don’t think N8 has a solution, if it does I’m sure it’s hard
to find as Google is not really much help.
Another
weak spot of this phone is its browser. Symbian has had critical reception with
its unenjoyable browsing experience brought by an uninspired browser. Browsing
is a no-no in this phone. Though I do find a use for its horrible browser but
you have to stay tuned for the day by day N8 Review.
3.3 Camera (10 out of 10)
This shouldn’t even be asked, N8 has
the best camera back then and though there are tons better now, it undeniable
that it still fares well against today’s Giants. With respect to rebranded
phones, Nokia N8 sweeps the floor and takes them to the cleaners, I’m not
exaggerating, and it’s just that good! I will post pictures every day for you
to appreciate Nokia N8’s supremacy in the Camera department.
I have to point out as good as N8 can
be, this can never be used for Stolen Shots! Why? That damn infrared light
always lights up even though the flash is off.
3.4 Gaming (7.9 out of 10)
About a decade ago, having a Symbian
system means having a hot gaming system. Gameloft was the way to go as it was
the best producers. As of Today, there are still a huge number of games
available on the Nokia N8, with new ones being released every now and then but
the new releases are just rip-offs like the ‘TEMPLE RUN 2’ on the picture. Make
no mistake, its one hell of a gaming machine back then but today, it’s nothing
special.
3.5 Speed/User Friendliness/OS (8.0
out of 10)
Nokia N8 runs the Dead Symbian OS, at
initial launch it was released with a buggy S60 but Anna and Belle gave it life
and better equipment against Androids and iOS phones. Back then N8 was probably
the smoothest phone and the 680 MHz Processor and 256MB RAM was to die for. Coming
off a huge number of phones, there is no denying that the technology in this
phone, even though it was only been about three years, is way past its prime.
Expect to experience a lot of lag if ever you want to try this one yourself.
As for user-friendliness, this one
definitely shows why it’s dead now. Although it functions well as an ordinary
phone, it does not have the feel of freedom. Sure you can hack it, but it’s
always risky to do such stuff especially when there is a few to none help when
you brick your phone. The amount of apps and games for this one is also very
limited unless you hack your phone and unlike today’s Android, it cannot be customized
as deeply as you may wish as Symbian is not as open as Android. Sure you can
say iOS is also wall-gardened but the support and apps for that OS is about a hundred
times bigger.
Finally, telephony and messaging can
be a pain to some. As of today, most, if not all, of us prefer a QWERTY
keyboard, you can see from this device how abysmal and annoying that experience
is. The keys are tiny and there is no way to calibrate the stock keyboard. Of course
there is an option to use the alphanumeric keypad which is the smart thing to
do. The dialer is an upgraded version of your yesteryear’s Nokia Phone. Call
quality is good.
3.6 Battery (9.7 out of 10)
Another
stronger suit of Nokia. N8 has an amazing battery life, with almost two hours
of video playback, the battery barely dropped. Sadly, if you leave a game open
and you don’t exit it eats up your battery like hot knife through butter, the
barely nudged battery dropped to about 40% after leaving the game on inside my
pocket. Bummer. The battery will still be stress tested so stay tuned!
3.6 Miscellaneous
Hmmm so what does N8 offer that its predecessors did not?
From my experience over the past years, N8 was the first useable touchscreen
phone I tried and it deserves praise for that. The package is fit for a last
push at the top but Symbian’s death was still inevitable. If you are looking
for a phone that can play videos and music along with an excellent camera look
no further than Nokia N8.
CONCLUSION
NOKIA’S FINAL SYMBIAN FLAGSHIP! (9.02 Out of 10)
I don’t care if Nokia released a Pureview 808; I believe N8 is their
Final Symbian Flagship! Why? Personally, because 808 were released when Symbian
was dead, I think it was a wrong move for them to have released it, but what do
I know about business. I believe N8 is the last because it had potential to
keep the OS alive. Sadly, as mentioned numerous times already, its death did
come.
For a three year old phone, you can see how much
technology has evolved, the laggy between screens and the continuous improvements
on display just continues to amaze. As for functionality, it offers what you
need for your everyday life like Texts, Calls, Music, Videos and the occasional
Camera, but I don’t think it can give you the same satisfaction as Android and
Apple.
Nokia N8 was my dream phone back then, and now that I have
it I still think it’s great but it does not have the oomph to make me want to
keep it for too long. I only use this phone today as a travel phone.
After having the worst scam and deal of my life, I accepted
the fact that this will be a charge to experience type of things. And since I’m
a jolly optimistic handsome person, I decide to do a little experiment called
the Symbian Experience.
As the name implies I will be using Nokia N8 as my
primary travel phone, the previous was the wonderful HTC Google Nexus One. I will
be using the Nokia N8 for the whole week and see if Symbian may still have an
impact on our life today, and I want to see how much I am going to Miss Android
too. I will still use my Galaxy Note 2 but only for calls and text, the rest is
up to Nokia N8! Can my ex-dream phone compare with my current powerhouse? Find out
on the succeeding entries on my blog!
