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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  • S
  • SunnyP
  • PTS
  • 13 Oct 2010

DP, 13 Oct 2010Nokia has two OS for phones Symbian and MeeGo (erstwhile Ma... moreI am not comparing the two.. It was a Joke :)

    • ?
    • Anonymous
    • 3LU
    • 13 Oct 2010

    Anonymous, 13 Oct 2010For me it's the number one thing which makes browsing very ... morewell i know nokia will fix that (and any other bug) in an update
    not like some, who fix problems by a new phone
    it has always been that way

      • A
      • Az
      • 3XL
      • 13 Oct 2010

      C'mon, GSM Arena, human's eye can't make the difference between 25 and 30 fps. Even 24 fps is fine.

        • D
        • DP
        • uWt
        • 13 Oct 2010

        SunnyP, 13 Oct 2010Everybody calm down! Nokia to go the Android way & I... moreNokia has two OS for phones Symbian and MeeGo (erstwhile Maemo). They both are open source. Symbian has been used by Samsung and Sony earlier. MeeGo is based on Linux like Android!

        From new reports I understand that both OS will be used by future Nokia phones. Symbian^3 will be used by low end (non N series) touch phones. N8 will be the last of N series phones to use Symbian OS as all future N series phones will use MeeGo OS.

        Do not compare Symbian to Android. Instead comparing to Meego to Android would be correct.

        See these links
        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbian
        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MeeGo

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • niD
          • 13 Oct 2010

          Anonymous, 13 Oct 2010pinch zoom isnt everything and it definitely not the most ... moreFor me it's the number one thing which makes browsing very easy and fun and effortless, i use it all the time! (i mean if it works as fast and smooth like iphone does it). I understood that after i got my first iphone after nokia's phone which doesn't had pinch before N8. First time browsing was fun with my iphone.

            • t
            • thainese
            • I5{
            • 13 Oct 2010

            Thx once again to gsmarena for the in-depth n' professional review not whiney, unfair review of N8...1st of all I do not care what others think n' say how bad bout this phone is, it has been said b4 by many open minded ppl "each individual hav their own wants n' needs in a phone" (i agree w/that 100%) we can all argue til end of the world bout which phone is better, which is pointless n' completely waste of time, ppl hav their own choices to choose so stop blabbering n' go enjoy ur w/e phone u like n' stay in ur own damn forum...

            This is my reason why i pick the phone (plz note, I'm not comparing or talking down to any other phones at all)

            1st is camera, I've been wanting to upgrade my 6yrs old point n' shoot camera n' since i take pics alot wherever i go N8 would b best choice so i dont hav to carry 2 devices around..

            2nd the free life time nav from nokia, i currently own garmin 255w (great lil GPS btw) but in few yrs the map need to b update and its expensive, so N8 will take care of that, if Tmo US decided to hav data limit like ATT n' Verizon, i can still use the nav w/o using data w/dedicated GPS receiver

            The freedom like many other comments that kno bout nokia phones n' symbian, there r apps everywhere around the web not jus from ovi store, u decide wat to do w/ur phone not limited to wat they telling u to do

            USB OTG needs no explaination, it does wat it exactly says, its more power to u n' none for others that doesn't hav this fine feature, but some say it is useless

            say wat u will bout the UI for not being quick enough or flashy enough, it gets the job done just the same, if its not as slow as a snail i am happy, call quality is second to none, can survive accidental drop, daily use wear n' tear w/anodize aluminum body n' gorilla glass display....that is all the reason why i want the N8 :)

              • D
              • DP
              • uWt
              • 13 Oct 2010

              Alui, 13 Oct 2010Good for you! Can you do that when the phone screen is lock... moreYes! If both N73 and N8 are locked and a call comes in, it automatically goes into unlock mode and all functionality (including speaker phone, call conference, browse contacts, read messages, etc) can be done as long as call is in progress. When the call gets over, it locks immediately. This is an old feature in Nokia phones!

                • c
                • caribala
                • PAq
                • 13 Oct 2010

                Okay, it's fair enough.
                Kinda disappointed by the result.

                It's not a massive one. It's just an 'ordinary' multimedia phone by the end.

                But, i'll but it anyhow.

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • 3LU
                  • 13 Oct 2010

                  [deleted post]pinch zoom isnt everything
                  and it definitely not the most important thing in a web browser
                  its a nice feature, nothing more

                    • S
                    • SunnyP
                    • PTS
                    • 13 Oct 2010

                    I dint like the review that much.. May be it was the anticipation.

                      • S
                      • SunnyP
                      • PTS
                      • 13 Oct 2010

                      Everybody calm down!

                      Nokia to go the Android way & Iphone to have Symbian soon!!
                      :D

                        • D
                        • DP
                        • uWt
                        • 13 Oct 2010

                        [deleted post]No need to buy one. Just walk into a Nokia Priority store and try it out on the Real Working Demo N8 phone. This phone was available with the store since 30th Sep'10

                          • A
                          • Alui
                          • LcJ
                          • 13 Oct 2010

                          DP, 13 Oct 2010"-worse call quality? it's a phone, not a hi-fi audio ... moreGood for you! Can you do that when the phone screen is locked? If so, nice, but no other Nokia phone has that.

                            • D
                            • DP
                            • uWt
                            • 13 Oct 2010

                            Alui, 13 Oct 2010"As the review points out, it's horse for courses. The... more"-worse call quality? it's a phone, not a hi-fi audio system. Too bad you cannot put an incoming call on speaker on a Nokia like on the SGS."

                            I had this option on my N73 and now it is also present in N8. I use this feature heavily at work and while driving when persons along with me need to join in the discussions!!! First check it before saying!

                              • ?
                              • Anonymous
                              • 3LU
                              • 13 Oct 2010

                              Anonymous, 13 Oct 2010"so what if the browser *censored*... you only need i... morepinch zoom will most likely be supported in opera, symbian3 is still new

                              also, i know a lot of people on other platforms use opera
                              i remember when opera came out for iphone, it was the most downloaded app

                              everybody is talking about apps, how many are there in a online store... i guess symbian users are used to have everything out of the box.
                              but if there is a better alternative for browser, video player... its not fair to make the built in programs a disadvantage

                              look at windows, we know IE is bad, noone will use paint or wmp instead of gimp or winamp or vlc. but nobody is calling that a drawback

                              as for hardware, n8 excels there and there is no app for usb on the go, fm transmitter, hdmi, camera...

                                • Y
                                • Yaseen
                                • fwH
                                • 13 Oct 2010

                                [deleted post]I agree its amazing and most people including me will get it, the reviews and specs are good enough to leave us without any doubts, but when all the things i mentioned that need to be addressed are, then the next devices should really be monsters and then u will see the words best phone in the world again.

                                  • O
                                  • Oipai
                                  • p4M
                                  • 13 Oct 2010

                                  to Anonymous

                                  it's not the best ideea to buy a phone to test it:))

                                    • Y
                                    • Yaseen
                                    • fwH
                                    • 13 Oct 2010

                                    Ive been waiting months for this review and finally it is here, after reading other reviews, fair ones i should say such as techradar etc, this phone has many positives, and alot of improvements over the N97 and co. both hardware and software wise, but reading the review of gsm has somehow left me stranded and wondering, they didnt really seem blown away by this device yet they were hyping us up so much with the camera images and video capabilities etc it does most things well and on paper it has everything you could want in a phone, even when looking at the competition, yet when you look at the competition you want more,firstly i feel the UI needs to be completely refreshed, as a die hard Nokia im gona have to give in and say it is abit boring now, but functionality wise and for simplicity it is brilliant, which is what most of the users want, the text, web and other issues also need to be worked on but this shouldnt be a problem after some software updates, however after so long and given so much time, watching the competition and hearing complaints these issues really shouldnt be there as nokia is a big enough company to address them, i hope they do this soon, also the ovi store needs more applications and an improvement, and hardware wise they really could have done better, a 1Ghz procesor, with 512 MB Ram, and a 1500 mah battery would have really taken this thing to another level, those really should be the standard specs when you consider the competition has had those out for months and nokia is still below that, unless nokia isnt wanting to compete with the i-phone and android monsters just yet, i hope they have something up their sleeve, cause the competition at the end of the review really doesnt inspire, besides the wave which is a good device, so on the positive side this phone has improved in nearly every area over its predessesors but there is still a room for alot more, but at the end of the day its great build quality, design, trustworthy and simplistic OS and UI, good battery life, great camera, great multimedia experience, excellent all round connectivity, free navigation with an ample screen like that and useful applications, will be more than enough to win over millions of users and compete again in the top end segment of the smartphone world, so well done nokia overall and here's hoping for even better things to come with Symbian 4 or Meego :)

                                      • O
                                      • Oipai
                                      • p4M
                                      • 13 Oct 2010

                                      Great review GSMArena, thanks alot!!!

                                      ps. have to recognise i'm a little bit disappointed about N8...((

                                        • A
                                        • Alui
                                        • Am9
                                        • 13 Oct 2010

                                        Mark, 13 Oct 2010Alui, As the review points out, it's horse for courses. ... more"As the review points out, it's horse for courses. The SGS does not have a flash, has an inferior camera, worse hardware, worse battery life, poor GPS implementation, worse call quality and lacks the Nokia's connectivity options. "

                                        - worse hardware?!!! no reply needed here:)
                                        -an inferior camera - maybe, but the question is : what is sufficient? See some photos made with the SGS and tell me if you need better ones for facebook or photo albums.
                                        -worse battery life? maybe, but again SGS battery lasts enough to see a full movie and some more). Four hours of full use I say is enough for a day.
                                        -worse call quality? it's a phone, not a hi-fi audio system. Too bad you cannot put an incoming call on speaker on a Nokia like on the SGS.
                                        -connectivity options?!!! Check the feature page of the SGS you'll see usb, blu-tooth, DLNA, TV out. Yes, you cannot connect directly to an USB flash card of a colleague, but I did not see one of that in years. What's wrong with the e-mail, blu-tooth, usb?