Nokia N8 review: Director of photography

12 October 2010
We’ve come to take Nokia for granted in the low end or the business class but it seems it has lost the knack for killer phones, run out of royal blood. It’s up to the Nseries to fix it all up. The Nokia N8 may just turn out to be the right cure. With that kind of hardware. Update, 08.02.2012: Symbian Belle update hands-on...

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  • N8 owner
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  • 16 Oct 2010

Doc Shahkar, 16 Oct 2010And what will u do about N8 lesser resolution ? can u compa... morein reply to your comments on screen resolution , i can assure you as a N8 owner the display is awesome , playing 780 HD id crystal clear and quite breathtaking , and general use the screen is so clear , as to why you are hear on the N8 page i dont understand , go enjoy your iphone as i will enjoy my N8

    • ?
    • Anonymous
    • 0pd
    • 16 Oct 2010

    "Millions of iPhone and Android users are having insecurity about Nokia".

    Millions aren't. You are.

    Grow up indeed.

      • q
      • q8phantom
      • pVP
      • 16 Oct 2010

      Doc Shahkar, 16 Oct 2010Yeah I kinda feel pity for Nokia in that regard !! It wa... moreWhy are you wasting your time in here?

      Tell me what do you need to be here reading!! I want info here not that stupid comparison, the N8 is not Nokia High end phone! That's why they're not comparing it to iPhone, it's even not in price range! I don't know why you are wasting your time if you are happy with your thing, believe me if I don't need a new phone, I enter this website less often and specially comments, but when I feel I want to change then it comes!

        • D
        • Doc Shahkar
        • uRA
        • 16 Oct 2010

        Anonymous, 16 Oct 2010how old are you? your basically saying iphone is better bec... moreYeah I kinda feel pity for Nokia in that regard !!

        It was't even considered as a Competition of iPhone 4 . thats sad considering it took them 1 year to Bring this Product .

          • D
          • Doc Shahkar
          • uRA
          • 16 Oct 2010

          [deleted post]Yeah Right !!
          Millions of iPhone and Android users are having insecurity about Nokia .
          Grow Up . If Nokia Can Top iPhone 4 or SGS and Over All value of the Apps and everything that these 2 Platforms present , there wont be any reason for any 1 to be all that Nokia haters any more . i for instance will Get Nokia N8 first . Cuz I want My cell Phone to be the Most Upto Date and Advanced . But Sorry Mate , N8 is not the One for which I will be going and neither will the rest of who used iPhone or Android . Wait for Online Websites confirmations and Sales and then Compare . Cuz thats the Big picture !!

          And as far as i think , u cant justify My Opinion with the logic . So I feel U r much more insecure and insane compared to me who is much happier with his Android SGS and iPhone 4 Both Equally .

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • mFD
            • 16 Oct 2010

            Doc Shahkar, 16 Oct 2010And what will u do about N8 lesser resolution ? can u compa... morehow old are you? your basically saying iphone is better because you will be playing games or watching movies on it the whole time. i'll be watching movies on the tv and looking at pictures on my computer. the screen is not an important part of a phone, as long as you can read it clearly. the review clearly says not many people will even notice the screen - i certainly won't. if you want to play games all the time get a nintendo ds.

            by the way did you notice the iphone is not even listed as a competitor to the n8? hahaha

              • D
              • Doc Shahkar
              • uRA
              • 16 Oct 2010

              Doc Shahkar, 16 Oct 2010R u insane ? From which Mental Hospital u have come ? Have ... moreAnd what will u do about N8 lesser resolution ? can u compare watching movies on This low resolution Nokia ser to highest resolution Retina Display ?
              Thats Funny . Ok Giving point to Nokia for having 12 MP camera in Phone , but how much time a user will be using that camera in a whole day compared to watching the Display ?? He will be clicking a few shots while most of user time will be spent browsing web , playing game , watching movie or using another software or texting or emailing ?? So in these situation iPhone Display Kick Nokia Butt Big BiG time !!
              And 1 person said , that in Namibia it costs like 2200 US $ , So have u ever given thought about it Y it cost that much ? It would't cost that much if there was no demand for it . Its Price is value for itself . In first 3 Days more than 1.7 Million iPhone 4 were sold , and they were not sold cheap . Do u think people have spar money for that . If iPhone was't good then a Single person wont be there buying it so expensive .
              If u argue that Nokia N8 is Good value for money, then i totally agree with U , cuz its the reality it is for majority of Middle Class . But Over All iPhone 4 is Superior Product to Nokia N8 in terms of Aesthetics Built , Screen Quality ,( Camera of Nokia is Superior , Accepted fact ) , Dimensions , User Experience , Amazing Apps and Games , High User Data base and Community , Contents availibility and most imprtantly High Resale value ( I got Nokia N97 at 700 + USA Dollars and when i tried to sell it back , it was sold at 320 USA $ while i sold my iPhone 3GS on eBay for 520 $ after 1 year of use ) .
              So do the simple Mathematics and You will know what Product is better .
              A Product Value is not just the hardware but features and contents for it . For example , I was skeptical about iPhone customization the most , but Cydia saved me there with most beautiful themes , ringtones and lock screens . Now iPhone 4 users having amazing Apps of extreme high quality elegance and functionality ( Pulse , Awesome Notes , 2Do , GT Racing , Motor Academy , Archetype , Exo Planet , Nova etc etc etc ................... LonG List ) plus on daily basis 347 Apps are adding to App store . And the one U already got are always updated with new content and fixes cuz Developers are earning there and they are giving there best effort for iPhone Users .
              Now lets compare that to Nokia ? what r user getting ?? Free navigation ? Is FREE the standard of being Better ?? Seriously ??
              iPhone users in millions are able to play online high quality racing , action , shooter games with 8.7 million iPad ( and growing ) user data base . So just imagine that value alone against Nokia ?
              Online rooms for games are always filled . Can Nokia Beat That in its current state ?
              Grow Up !! Ok

                • S
                • Sails
                • nmN
                • 16 Oct 2010

                Doc Shahkar, 16 Oct 2010R u insane ? From which Mental Hospital u have come ? Have ... moreI'm talking about app specific downloads and those only work if the app has been coded for it. Many still aren't. If the app for example would want to do processing of that download, well though luck. Skype works now but the integration sucks. Seriously, check how it is done in N900. N8 also handles it lot better.

                You are missing the point Apple (now finally), lets the apps do few predetermined things and even that has to be separately coded in to the apps. That is like one legged man telling how great the crutches are to a bird.

                  • D
                  • Doc Shahkar
                  • uRA
                  • 16 Oct 2010

                  Sails, 16 Oct 2010Kinda heavy apps? My laptop needs a single heavy game in ba... moreR u insane ? From which Mental Hospital u have come ? Have u ever used an iPhone 4 Before ?
                  When u have skype running in ur background and u r reading email or playing game , u that get paused and call comes which u can pick . And if u r downloading something over wifi and call comes , that downloading continues.
                  U have no idea what u talking . Use iPhone 4 first and then tell something .
                  And about scrolling , have u compared iPhone 4 scrolling with Nokia ?
                  Dont get another topic started on that.
                  Elegant API of iPhone 4 makes Software or Games so much elegant and Fluid . It has the user experience that is unmatched by even Android ( which i so dearly like as well ). Nokia has no whatsoever Pleasant user experience . I Used it myself ok . So stop singing the same song .
                  And about the statement " NOKIA CAN DO WHATEVER IPHONE OR BLACKBERRY CAN DO " , I can agree with that partially , " BUT " HOW IT DO ?? Thats Important . It certainly lags behind in that Several Fold when compared to iPhone 4 or Android 2.2 ( SGS )

                    • S
                    • Sails
                    • nmN
                    • 16 Oct 2010

                    Anonymous, 16 Oct 2010"The N8 in the video is running 11 + browser" ... moreKinda heavy apps? My laptop needs a single heavy game in background and browsing heavy flash sites becomes a pain.

                    There were several heavy apps in the background, two games, media player, ovi maps. Any one of these will slow things down.

                    On the need for multitasking... I just loved it when on iPhone games would reset their state, I had to wait while apps were downloading since changing apps would stop then and then when the limited multitasking came, some badly coded "multitasking" would lock the whole phone. Think of different kind of navigation and communications apps for example that you could leave in the background to do their jobs, but which won't work on iPhone. N900 for example allowed full thirdparty integration of internet calling into the phonebook and when calls came they looked just like regular calls. Try that with iPhone.

                    BTW one of the programming definitions for multitasking is that it doesn't require any actions from programs. One more point where iPhone fails

                      • ?
                      • Anonymous
                      • niD
                      • 16 Oct 2010

                      Shashank, 16 Oct 2010Anyone who thinks this phone is slow or low on resources, o... moreWhy i want to see those laggy games? they are unplayable. I have those same games on other brand phone and they run so smoothly.

                        • D
                        • Doc Shahkar
                        • uRA
                        • 16 Oct 2010

                        Sails, 16 Oct 2010Yeah those videos are so convincing. Especially the engadge... moreWhy are they iPhone Fans in first place ?

                        Answer this First ??

                        Did't they use Nokia before or handled it ?? They did , but it simpoly cant compete higher OS !!

                          • k
                          • kk47
                          • utt
                          • 16 Oct 2010

                          hi there..m rlly rlly impressed wit this phone!nokia is rlly proving itself. bt m little confused..i dont know whether i shud buy samsung s8500 wave or N8!!while wave can play HD vids wit ease (n subtitles too) N8 has sme problm wit thoz gr8er than 2gb,as per review (which is rlly getting me worried)..then N8 has free gps navigation...while wave cud prove heavy on our pocket regarding this.thn i dunno how much is the diff btwn normal TV output (in wave) n hdmi output (in N8). then there r super cool stuffs like usb-on-go..chunk of memory in N8 while wave is definitely very much behind in this aspect.camera isnt my concern as i already have a nice digicam.hope many guys ll b having same problem. plz help me out guys..wud rlly appreciate it.

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • 0pd
                            • 16 Oct 2010

                            "The N8 is boring, simply put."

                            In your opinion. I think it's nice. I mean personally I find the iPhone 4 to be about as boring and sterile as it gets. Nice and slick but ultimately a bit dull. Not unlike a fair number of its users unfortunately.

                            See, the real problem is the halfwits who come on here telling us their iPhone and SGS units are better. And you know what? For you they are. That's fine.

                            For me I don't care about the iPhone. It's all a bit dull and last summer because it's just another commodity and lacks individuality. I don't care for the SGS because it's too big, feels cheap and has no camera flash (I wonder what genius thought that one up). I prefer the Nokia because the hardware is beautiful and although the software is a bit clunky it'll be improved because that's what Nokia do with firmware updated.

                            But... you can't update hardware. Your iPhone will still drop calls and cut off your connection unless you have one of those embarrassing cases. Your SGS will still look a bit cheap and nasty and still won't take photos at night without an external light source. I'm sorry, that's as good as they're going to get.

                            So, really, you can rant and rail about your phones but no-one cares. Enjoy your own choices and respect those of others.

                              • S
                              • Shashank
                              • vGD
                              • 16 Oct 2010

                              Anyone who thinks this phone is slow or low on resources, ought to check this !!!!!

                              http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIHBTEu4KB0&feature=rec-LGOUT-exp_stronger_r2-2r-6-HM

                              Unbelieveable seeing nokia doing this. the last N97 wasnt even close !!!

                              Simply Brilliant Nokia.
                              way to go !!!

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • sXD
                                • 16 Oct 2010

                                Anonymous, 16 Oct 2010Experience Iphone4 > Wave > Galaxy S Value for M... moreNice idea. Here's what I think:

                                User experience
                                Iphone4 > Wave > Galaxy S > N8

                                Hardware
                                Galaxy S > N8 > Iphone4 > Wave

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • sXD
                                  • 16 Oct 2010

                                  The N8 isn't a bad phone, It's actually good.

                                  The problem lies with the software, not the hardware. Once again, Nokia has released a device with buggy firmware. It took about 9 months for it to sort out the N95, so god knows how long this will take now with a new OS (which looks the same as the N97's oddly enough)

                                  Nokia fanboys just don't get it. The reason why people like the iphone and Android phones is because they deliver an awesome software experience, and are fun to use. The N8 is boring, simply put. The crappy browser, the uninspired photo album, the laggy OS, the sometimes unresponsive screen....

                                  Nokia have once again released a beta version of a phone. The early adopters will have to suffer before the inevitable N9 is released with all the fixes.

                                    • ?
                                    • Anonymous
                                    • 0x7
                                    • 16 Oct 2010

                                    If you don't like it you wont buy it simple as that,or is it not?

                                      • ?
                                      • Anonymous
                                      • KTi
                                      • 16 Oct 2010

                                      Experience
                                      Iphone4 > Wave > Galaxy S

                                      Value for Money
                                      Wave > Galaxy S > Iphone4

                                      N8 not qualified

                                        • q
                                        • q8phantom
                                        • pVP
                                        • 16 Oct 2010

                                        Anonymous, 16 Oct 2010"The N8 in the video is running 11 + browser" ... moreI will buy the N8 because it is slow, now you like this! Why some guys are coming here and just trying to show that the N8 is a bad phone, go away you loser, it's just simple there will be new browser, even if not, opera browser is here and am happy with that,