Nokia N8 gets lots of stick in early reviews, we wonder why

03 October, 2010
The Nokia N8 started shipping this week and reviews of the Finnish company's latest flagship are spreading like wildfire. Checking out the first batch of those we noticed a certain trend, which we cannot...

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  • M
  • McKeelin
  • iba
  • 04 Oct 2010

Hmm... I never felt that GSMArena has ever unfairly criticized Nokia and I found all the test done in the review to be fair and objective. I do think that you guys have a soft spot for LG though. Anyway, you guys are still my number one mobile phone guide. Thanks.

    • ?
    • Anonymous
    • R1Y
    • 04 Oct 2010

    you know why people and those sites hate on nokia? cause thier jealous at the fact that nokia is still number one... and even though they might have had a bad experience, other people still choose to keep nokia as thier number one phone company. You now how many crap phones other companies have come up with? but only nokia gets all the attention because thier are the dominent ones.

    people who left nokia for other phones, hate on them cause they dont wanna have a regret for leaving... people who dont own nokia and never have, are just haters and listen to otehr fools without trying the phones themselves.

    In the end, it doens't matter what those sites say, it matters how much the users like it. Look at the iphone, so many sites hated on it, yet its the best selling phone. then look at the nokia n900, that phone got hardly the attention it deserved. so, to all you haters... $uck some **ck!

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • ibg
      • 04 Oct 2010

      Thats right!!!

      Thats SO RUDE for those people who always likes make some no prove or make some unreasonable troubles..juz want get some consolation on themselves..I strongly suggest to them better to make an appointment with psychologist..Maybe they was over jealousy..how poor they are..

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • KTi
        • 04 Oct 2010

        Anonymous, 04 Oct 2010as i nokia fan, was looking so eagerly for this.. now it l... moresince apple is devil and nokia is lame.. what r we left with guys ? HTC r Samsung ?

          • T
          • ThorFolklore
          • tZ0
          • 04 Oct 2010

          Ever since this post came up, I've watched the number of comments grow like wildfire (no relation to HTC). There are now about 700 comments. It just goes to show that gsmarena.com hit the bullseye with their article. I can definitely agree with their analysis, especially the one with Engadget and Gizmodo's comparisons.

          1st (Engadget), in the world of cameraphones, you almost NEVER compare a 12MPx camera with a 5MPx camera. Unless the iPhone 4 has some kinda "MAGICAL" optics or lens, it will never be able to match the N8's camera. You can tell just by the way the iPhone 4 renders colours - They come out too sharp, vivid and vibrant whereas the N8 has accurate and natural colour reproduction with no trace of oversharpening.

          2nd (Gizmodo), even though the author of the post had some time to familiarize himself with the N8, I am VERY sure that the handlers of the BB and the iPhone would have had WAY more time to familiarize themselves with their handsets, seeing as how both were released much earlier. Heck, I bet that the author himself has more experience on the BB and iPhone too!

          3rd (Mobile-Review), at least Eldar Murtazin's shootout was more (if not completely) fair by comparing the N8 with the Pixon12.

          Now, I'm not saying that I'm a Nokia fan (far from that), but people should give this baby a chance before finding all manner of ways to bash its solid metal body inwards! In fact, I may just actually purchase my first Nokia handset ever (the decision will be partly based on gsmarena.com's upcoming review, for which I can't wait!).

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • KTi
            • 04 Oct 2010

            as i nokia fan, was looking so eagerly for this.. now it looks like an epic failure. nokia screwed its fans big time.

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • YTE
              • 04 Oct 2010

              You're right to a certain degree. Most websites are reviewing the handset with their views on the company's general position, recent failures with other flagships at the back of their head.
              I've read most of these "biased" reviews, but, the matter is that most of them are fed up with the company's offerings & the N8 is no different.
              Everyone's tired of reviewing phones that are months if not an entire year behind everyone else's flagship models.
              Add the woes of the Symbian platform & one has a lot to crib about in these reviews. I'm still looking forward to the review by gsmarena

                • u
                • upluc
                • Khs
                • 04 Oct 2010

                i mostly read blog from europe they are independence, except that samsung fans blog lol, not like american blog who support american product only lame, and this blog is one i recommended to u, even for american product they have warm welcome, if i read american blog they like commercial traps

                  • c
                  • cozmo
                  • 0mH
                  • 04 Oct 2010

                  To all anti-Nokia people out there....

                  Am sorry to say this...

                  But Nokia rules.....and for long time to come,period!

                    • J
                    • Jack1059
                    • uK9
                    • 04 Oct 2010

                    A couple of reasons I think. One, Nokia built up expectations that Symbian 3 would be radically different. I dont think they did this intentionally, they just didnt adequately explain their intentions with Symbian 3 and let the press rumour mill go unchallenged. Two, a lot of people already had it in their minds that because Symbian didnt act like Android / iOS (and the experiences of having Symbian previously run on poor spec hardware) that it was crap. So it had two major strikes against it before it even came out of the box, and because of these two reasons reviewers were willing to publish punishing reviews rather than being objective.

                      • H
                      • Helmut
                      • MVH
                      • 04 Oct 2010

                      sam21uk, 04 Oct 2010I work for vodafone...other days we had nokia rep to demo t... moreNo way, I've been using the device, and it is FAST and RESPONSIVE, and best thing is that camera launches FAST and you can take the second picture IMMEDIATELY.

                        • s
                        • sohaib
                        • uZa
                        • 04 Oct 2010

                        I completely agree with what all you have written. How can they compare the devices based on human experiences at this stage? In the video, Gizmodo posted, it's quite clear that N8 seemed an alien tech for the user. He didn't know where to click, what to click to get to the desired place/section, while the other two were navigating blindly. I have used Nokia, Blackberry, iPhone and now am on Android (Milestone). Though iPhone is pretty good with many things but you cannot kick out Nokia all together. Current reviews should be a comparison of the device's performance against what Nokia promised in the first place, rather against other mobile devices. Am quite happy with Nokia's N8, atleast it shows what path they are planning to tread on. N8 is just the beginning, later releases shall prove to be better in many other ways.

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • 0ER
                          • 04 Oct 2010

                          probably because apple paid them to say that

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • ibg
                            • 04 Oct 2010

                            First,I juz wanna thanks to gsmarena.com..you are the best site ever..

                            You know guys?? This article really bring sense to all of us..

                            Really..I totally cant get understand why some people always like to critic on a stuff that not released before..no class at all..Some people critic on new NOKIA flagship N8 juz see the processor,camera lens cover..etc,but they dont know they re very childish,and very nonsense..this is NOKIA company own strategy on markets and their new powerful products with their range,NOKIA never say N8 is top high end model in market,but is the first Symbian^3 phone model in market with overall smart features..Again..we also dont know again the upcoming devices likes N9,N10 or maybe N12..NOKIA sure can made a super greatest device,but juz not now,and everyone know,this is market trend..

                            Plea se..dont be childish again..be mature..

                              • Q
                              • Q
                              • wri
                              • 04 Oct 2010

                              maybe nokia should stick to one OS only..
                              and lot's of project in nokia development seems too slow

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • nst
                                • 04 Oct 2010

                                Thank you GSMArena. I completely agree with what you posted and seen so beforehand, but it's good to see a well known blog/new site actually posting correct information instead of the usual bullshit.

                                I'm pretty sure you get less ads views because not as sensationalistic.. but I hope you'll get more serious readers to keep on checking your site. I know I will.

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • S6p
                                  • 04 Oct 2010

                                  Timothy, 04 Oct 2010I'd have to say, after purchasing my N97, thinking it would... moreA larger memory slows down search times. This is why the phone supports a 32gb card. 48 gb total not enough for you? How many movies do you shoot and for how long a day? And why would you want to keep them forever on your phone?

                                    • d
                                    • dd
                                    • UGm
                                    • 04 Oct 2010

                                    Well I lost my trust in Nokia after N96. With wonderful devices like iphone4 and galaxyS to use, I am not surprised ppl saying bad things about N8. I used samsung omniaHD (symbianOS) b4 also. Symbian OS is way too troublesome to use and laggy. So, whatever it is, if N8 and new symbian3 is really good, it will speak for itself.
                                    But with slower chip and inferior display compared with 2 most outstanding smart phs (iph4 and galaxy S), I think N8 wont be able to bring nokia back.

                                      • T
                                      • Timothy
                                      • NZF
                                      • 04 Oct 2010

                                      I'd have to say, after purchasing my N97, thinking it would be everything I'd ever need, and being COMPLETELY let down... Bias in this case could only mean truth. I think people didn't go hard enough on the N97 and, it's because of this that, several people have spent their money on it.

                                      Maybe the N8 is great but, all it takes is 1 SINGLE bad IN ANY WAY review for me and I'll never think twice about finding something else. Everyone should just face it, in order to consider something done "equal", you have to treat it equal. Don't treat it like "OMG it's the new Nokia, let's see if they've caught up... No... Oh well, let's like it for what it is". You have to put it up against the top contenders, equally.

                                      I loved Nokia for their devices, but I think they got left behind and just couldn't keep up. I really hoped that things would change, but I've given up on them. I'm definitely waiting on the Desire Z to show up in America... I'm sure it will ACTUALLY deliver unlike some smartphone "leader" I know.

                                      Ps.
                                      Why would you take a step back in a new device? Add HD, add a xenon flash, add HD... But cut the mass memory in half thus taking a huge step back... What good does that do on a device with HD recording and 12MP pictures? Especially when just recording on my N97 for 4 minutes yields a 100MB file, this thing would be full in no time.

                                        • ?
                                        • Anonymous
                                        • S6p
                                        • 04 Oct 2010

                                        [deleted post]You've never owned it. So it's not going anywhere. Nice try, troll.