Nokia N8 review: Director of photography
- ?
- Anonymous
- TqC
- 22 Oct 2010
Anonymous, 22 Oct 2010What "brilliant" phone features do you want?i want a ph that does wht i want when i need. connection to wifi has already been hassel in symbian.
- T
- TSH
- vu0
- 22 Oct 2010
Tim, 22 Oct 2010If you want a slick user interface and tons of apps, then o... moreThat's basically it, isn't it? The hardware is all there, it's just down to the software.
And TBH considering everything that it does *out of the box*, Symbian has been and is a pretty solid offering. Clunky, sure. And with the occasional bug? Definitely annoying. But all the sheer functionality works.
I have to admit that Apple's approach does have its appeal: simply exclude a feature 'till it can be easily handled by the hardware and dressed in a slick UI. Fortunately for me, Nokia takes the opposite approach: chuck the features in and make 'em work. Users who want the features will know about them when they buy the phone; others will be pleasantly surprised when they discover just what their handset is capable of.
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- Tim
- jb3
- 22 Oct 2010
If you want a slick user interface and tons of apps, then obviously go Droid 2 or iPhone 4 or similar phones. For those who want a solid camera with a real flash, a phone that doesn't scratch and crack easily, one that gets good reception and call quality, one that can easily switch from AT&T and still get 3G on T-mobile, one that has native voice-guided GPS that doesn't need a cellular signal, one that easily allows your notebook to tether without outrageous monthly fees and one that has the latest bluetooth, USB and HDMI for connectivity, then you get the Nokia N8 because no Apple or Android product can touch all those features. Most other phones are lucky to match a few of them. Too bad one phone doesn't do it all, but for now you basically have to pick from an obsolete and buggy OS or a phone that has vastly inferior hardware features. At least if you pick the obsolete and buggy OS, there's hope that it may be updated and improved. There's no upgrade path for missing hardware features. Thanks for the great review, one of the most detailed I've seen and also one of the least biased (either for or against Nokia).
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- Anonymous
- fuK
- 22 Oct 2010
ALonZo, 21 Oct 2010Oh dear. GSMArena, hats off for providing a proper, unbiase... moreWhat "brilliant" phone features do you want?
- C
- Clint
- fqm
- 21 Oct 2010
ALonZo, 21 Oct 2010Oh dear. GSMArena, hats off for providing a proper, unbiase... moreHa ha ha another comedian.
What exactly is wrong with the N8 as a phone? When I read the review it seemed to say it did most things well (call reception great, speaker sound for music playing great, GPS great with free navigation, pentaband connectivity exceptional etc etc etc) so I really am interested in hearing why it is only "Ok'ish" as a phone?
I assume you are once basing this vastly inaccurate conclusion on the fact that it does not have as many pretty animations in the UI, or that you are something required to press one button more than you do on an iPhone, or is it all just based on the garbage you have been reading on Americanised websites?
- C
- Clint
- fqm
- 21 Oct 2010
WOW! Nokia makes there future plans more apparent and in doing so are sure to silence a number of critics of Symbian^3 and Symbian as a whole being a dead OS! I can only laugh at the naysayers... ha ha ha ha!
"The planned and future development of the higher layers of Symbian OS itself will also rely heavily on Qt; Nokia says this will "allow a continuous improvement of the Symbian experience" and, critically, will be compatible with the existing Symbian^3 platform and devices. This will mean that existing Symbian^3 devices will be included in future updates and will receive many of the user experience and application improvements planned for Symbian^4. Going forward, Nokia will simply refer to the platform as 'Symbian', without any version specifics."
http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/12215_Nokia_accelerates_Qt_focus_con.php
- R
- Rishi (india)
- Kht
- 21 Oct 2010
For Better battery life do the following:
Always charge the battery fully.
• Activate power saving mode. Press the power key, and select Activate power
saving. The device settings, such as Network mode and the screen saver, are
optimised. To deactivate power saving mode, press the power key, and select
Deactivate power saving.
• Set your device to retrieve mail less frequently. Select Menu > Applications >
Mail > Settings, your mailbox, and Synchronisation > Retrieval frequency. If
you have additional mailboxes, you may need to set the retrieval frequency
separately for each mailbox.
• Mute unnecessary tones, such as key tones.
• Use wired headphones, rather than the loudspeaker.
• Deactivate the background animation effects. Select Menu > Settings and
Themes > General > Options > Theme effects > Off.
• Deactivate the Big clock screen saver. Select Menu > Settings and Themes >
Screen saver > None.
• Activate a dark theme. Select Menu > Settings and Themes > General.
• Change the length of the time-out period after which the device display switches
off. Select Menu > Settings and Phone > Display > Light time-out. To adjust the
light sensor that observes lighting conditions and adjusts the display brightness, in
the display settings, select Light sensor.
• If the signal strength of the cellular network varies in your area, it increases the
demand on battery power.
• If the network mode is set to use both GSM and 3G (dual mode) networks, the device
searches for the 3G network. To set your device to use only the GSM network, select
Menu > Settings and Connectivity > Network > Network mode > GSM.
• Deactivate Bluetooth when not needed. Select Menu > Settings and
Connectivity > Bluetooth > Bluetooth > Off.
• Stop your device from scanning for available WLANs in the background. Select
Menu > Settings and Connectivity > WLAN > Options > Settings > Show
WLAN availability > Never.
• When connecting to the internet, use a WLAN connection, rather than a packet data
(GPRS or 3G) connection.
• Set the packet data connection to be established only when needed. Select
Menu > Settings and Connectivity > Admin. settings > Packet data > Packet
data connection > When needed
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- ALonZo
- 9EL
- 21 Oct 2010
Oh dear. GSMArena, hats off for providing a proper, unbiased review of this phone.
Ok the N8 is a predominately a great camera with a ok'ish phone. Nokia are more concerned about making the best camera than providing an overall excellent handset. There is nothing that makes me want to buy this handset over any iPhone or Android handset. Id rather buy a camera on its own if its so important, rather than pay nearly £500 for a camera with not so brilliant phone features.
Nokia need to decide if they want to make cameras or phones.
- ?
- Anonymous
- Am9
- 21 Oct 2010
" The homescreen is the most evident of those, its size now expanded to three panes worth of space. You are then free to fill them up with widgets and then rearrange them as you see fit. If three panels are too much for you, you can also delete some of them."
LOL, I want to see some one taking "advantage" of this.
My poor X6 with spb shell can have up to ten panes on the homescreen.
- ?
- Anonymous
- 0ER
- 21 Oct 2010
Istoka, 20 Oct 2010I don't like Nokia at all. People say that Nokia is like th... more"First - the design is awful" - why? I think it's great. Name a phone with a better design.
"Second - you can't change your battery by yourself" - aren't you capable of using a screwdriver?
"Third - 12MP camera" - as MANY people have said, it is not convenient to carry a camera everywhere. If a camera is really that pointless then why does EVERY new phone today have one? Would you honestly buy a phone with no camera??
I think the N8 is great. It's the best all-rounder out there. I'll wait a few more weeks to get it just to make sure plenty of apps are being developed for it though.
- ?
- Anonymous
- s82
- 21 Oct 2010
Guys donot respond.That annymus is a nokia basher.Ip address pjms.
- S
- Sails
- nmM
- 21 Oct 2010
It's quite interesting how strongly certain people try to troll this phone. If you are so interested in it, maybe you should just buy it. That would be the easiest way to find if it has any actual points to complain about.
Now your lack of actual knowledge only makes you obvious trolls. Of course you just might find out how awesome phone N8 is.
- c
- caribala
- tA$
- 21 Oct 2010
finally, i just got mine, silver one.
love it so much! the FM transmitter is the best features.
The touch screen responds? is not awesome, but it's great!
- T
- TSH
- Qdg
- 21 Oct 2010
TSH, 21 Oct 2010Sounds like you had a single bad experience which coloured ... morehow could I forget my legendary 5210? Slid off the boot of my car @ ~65kph, ended up in a couple pieces against the kerb. Lay there in light rain for a couple hours 'till I realised what I'd done and finally tracked it down again.
Wiped it off, put it back together and turned it on - the poor thing fired up perfectly and worked for about a minute but then died for good. I suspect that if I'd been less hasty and let it dry off completely before switching it back on it would have survived.
They don't make 'em like they used to!
- T
- TSH
- Qdg
- 21 Oct 2010
Istoka, 20 Oct 2010I don't like Nokia at all. People say that Nokia is like th... moreSounds like you had a single bad experience which coloured your view of the whole brand. I can understand, but I have to wonder why anybody (yourself included) would take that point of view seriously with such a small sample size.
If we're going to talk about phones that aren't the N8...
My dog literally chewed my N95 8GB. After I disinfected it and let it dry off, I used it for another year before my contract was up. It is now my "spare" phone/modem.
The N95's GPS left something to be desired, but my N97 Mini only uses data for traffic updates. With wireless data being anything but cheap, I'll take Ovi over Google Maps any day of the week.
I can't remember how many times I dropped my 6280, but it was a lot! Half the time the back, battery and memory card would pop out - put 'em back together and you're good as new (+ scratches :--D).
Same is true of my old Ericsson (pre-SE).
Was browsing and testing out new applications on my Nokia and SE devices long before iPhone was ever announced.
About half the people I know with iPhones have had it break after a single hip-height fall. Screen, casing, buttons.
My little sister (iPhone user) was using a 6301 while it was being repaired, and remarked how much quicker it was to SMS using a T9 keypad than QWERTY touchscreen.
....
I could go on - I have lots and lots of anecdotal evidence that Nokia is, at the very least, not shit. However while brand tendency is relevant, in the end don't you think that each device should be judged on its own merits? I may reckon that Sony's stereos are sub-par, but I gotta hand it to them for their work on the PS3.
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- Mark
- 0pd
- 21 Oct 2010
And good old Anonymous trolls with more links he's found from the web and the old 'I tried it in the shop, honest guv' malarkey. Still since he obviously lacks the smarts to do his own work it's not really surprising.
"Maybe it shouldn't be a "N8" but "N6", because if that's a step lower than the best Nokia can offer"
Yes. That would be why it's not the N9. Also thanks for your long irrelevant rant about a phone that isn't the N8. No really.
- I
- Istoka
- Tm%
- 20 Oct 2010
I don't like Nokia at all. People say that Nokia is like the Mercedes of the phones, but I don't agree. Nokia sucks bigtime and that's the truth.
The N8 seems to be good, but it could be much better. Maybe it shouldn't be a "N8" but "N6", because if that's a step lower than the best Nokia can offer, then they are just going to die soon, because people are trying to hit the smartphones market and the Symbian isn't the latest fashion, you know...
Actually I hate Nokia since I've bought my 5310 - it sucked. And it still does! When I bought it I thought I'm satisfied with it, but... After a while the phone begun to freak out - it begun to mix my songs, it was just making 1 song from other 2, lol! Nevermind! It fixed with a firmware reinstall, but now it stopped to show me who's calling me! And when before a year, I found that a second hand Sony Ericsson Walkman series phone from 2006's sound quality was better than the 5310 crap, I just wanted to kill myself!!! Nokia sucks! I'm waiting for the Motorola Defy to appear on my market and that's it!
People, take my advice - don't buy N8, because it just doesn't worth it's money!
First - the design is awful.
Second - you can't change your battery by yourself. You know what does this mean, right? You'll have to pay extra to a service when your battery turns into shit. And that won't be much after you buy it, that's for sure!
Third - 12MP camera? Oh, God! If you need/want to take photos, then go and buy a camera!! The phone is for talking, don't forget it, lol! [and it can be used as a radio/mp3 player]
Btw bravo za revutata momcheta! Ot edno izvestno vreme nasam vidqh che se pishat ot nqkoi nashi momcheta i sym mnogo gord s tova! Vsichko e na nivo, bravo!
- ?
- Anonymous
- pJm
- 20 Oct 2010
Tried this phone in the store today and it's terrible. Sooo slow with a VERY difficult to navigate screen. I can't see anyone buying this cheap phone.
- C
- Clint
- fqj
- 20 Oct 2010
Anonymous, 20 Oct 2010I'm not bothering getting this phone as it is having terrib... moreI think that says a lot more about the websites you frequent than the N8 itself.
I have read numerous recent reviews that mention being highly bemused at some of the earlier bad ratings the N8 got. No doubt those earlier reviews were written by people with a grudge against Nokia/Symbian or they are Android/iPhone fanboys who cannot possibly bring themselves to admit that another phone is better than theirs.
These same ill-informed reviewers will talk about OS lag when referring to the manner in which the homescreens switch, not realising that the delay is deliberate to differentiate between attempts to scroll through side scrolling widgets and changing homescreens.
- S
- Sails
- ntg
- 20 Oct 2010
Anonymous, 20 Oct 2010It's 2010 not 2007 nokia - lol. The phone is so bad, are we... moreIts 2010. Phones should have standardized video calling, fully customizable interface, rSIM management, pentaband 10.2 Mbps 3G, file transfer over bluetooth, support for video out and bluetooth keyboard & mouse, good video codec support, good file manager, support for standard USB charging etc.
Phones shouldn't have problems with call quality, reception, Microsoft exchange integration etc.
Good thing N8 is a 2010 phone. I know several phones that still don't get those right though...