Nokia N8 Review (Photo Heavy)

Home > Nokia N8 Review (Photo Heavy)

By Phil Barker on October 11,

2010 at 00:00,

nokia-n8-review The Nokia N8 is THE smartphone we've been waiting to review this year, providing the best specs, the best camera, the most up to date operating system and amazing build quality. Join us after the cut to find out if it lives up to our hopes and expectations...

As soon as you take the Nokia N8 out of the box, it's obvious that Nokia has got the design and quality spot on. The Nokia N8 looks better in some colours than others – we particularly like the dark grey hue of our review sample, for instance, as the plastic end plates and screen surround are a similar shade to the aluminium casing itself.

The front of the Nokia N8 is dominated by the glass display – a 3.5-inch capacitive panel that features AMOLED technology. It's the most vibrant display we've seen so far on a Nokia, and it's easily viewable even in direct and bright sunlight. It's also a very responsive panel, quickly registering your actions, and supporting multi-touch.

Nokia N8 Vs Apple iPhone 4: The People Speak Again!

The anodised aluminium casing is tough – there's no sign of flexing at all under pressure, and it also resists scuffs and scratches remarkably well. With lazer cut detailing, the Nokia N8 really is an incredibly well made handset.

On the left side of the Nokia N8, you'll find a micro USB port – both for syncing and charging – and above that there are sockets for both the SIM card and a microSD card. On the right-hand side, you'll find volume keys, a hardware locking key, and the camera shutter button.

Nokia N8 on Facebook

The top of the Nokia N8 features a 3.5mm headphone jack, an HDMI port for hooking up your TV, and the power/profile button. The front of the Nokia N8 is limited simply to a menu/task manager button. There's an additional power point on the bottom, letting you charge the N8 via a regular Nokia charger.

The Symbian ^3 operating system will be familiar to existing Nokia owners, but it also moves the game on. Menus are easier to navigate, and it's an incredibly quick OS – aided by the Nokia N8's dedicated graphics chip. We'll be bringing you a full software review in the next week, but we're happy with it so far. We're also impressed with the Nokia N8's onscreen keyboard - check out our Nokia N8 keyboard review here.

The other thing we did as soon as our Nokia N8 arrived, was to head out and take some photos with that incredible 12-Megapixel camera. Again, we'll be bringing you a full camera review in the next couple of weeks, but check out our sample snaps below to get an idea of what the Nokia N8 is capable of.

With so many features on offer, it's a lot easier to split our Nokia N8 review into several parts, but as a complete package we really couldn't be more impressed. Stay tuned for more updates and Nokia N8 reviews, and check out our photo gallery below.

Tags: 12-megapixel N8 Nokia Nokia N8 Symbian ^3

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andy burgin

We are getting loads of Reviews to read about the N8,but it might be good to help people out,but its still not available yet ,so people yet can not give there own opinions of the N8,i can”t wait till Thursday when i be able to try the new software out,i bet loads will find hard getting used to the 3 page themes on the N8,just hope i can get used to quickly
Phil B

@Andy: I think you’ll like it, it’s a very good phone.

Symbian ^3 is very good once you get the hang of it – we’ll be bringing a comprehensive set of tutorials to tell you everything you’ll need to know – from customising the home pages to getting the best out of the camera.

Any questions, just ask!
jot3000

That is shockingly poor and I am completely aghast that you have referred to that article as a review,it’s barely even a preview.TSK TSK TSK!! And you’ve given it 5 stars!!….how can anyone gauge that the phone warrants 5 stars based on that article.Shame on you NokNok,I’ve heard of fanboyism but that takes the biscuit!!
Do a proper review and stop filling pages with anything that includes the words’Nokia N8′
It’s like that was written by Eldar’s brother from a parrallell universe!!
dun kno

So… what’s it like to text on? Haven’t seen any videos where people have done this to any great extent and yet it’s the deal-maker/breaker for me, moving from an N97, whose keyboard I have grown to love. Am willing to hang on for the N9 (or whatever it’ll be called) if it’s not responsive or too tricky to hit the correct keys quickly…

Whatever people say about Swype, I can text far more quickly on the N97 keyboard than any other phone I’ve owned (skinny thumbs FTW!). Am loathed to move over to a full touchscreen experience given most people I see with iPhones, HTCs or 5800′s look like specials on a day out when they’re struggling to text, stabbing away with their forefingers…
Lucas

I have had my Nokia n8 for a couple of weeks now and love it. Yes I admit openly to being a Nokia fanboy but the multiple home screens are really good. I have set it up so that all my favourites are right where I want them. As someone that LOVES nokia you may think I will be a little bias but honestly this phone is Amazing. I tried to watch a video though my Xbox the other day and the MKV file was not supported so I just transferred it onto my phone and then plugged in the HDMI cable and there it was on my TV. I really love that feature.
You would think coming from Nokia (with their track record) that as a new OS they would have shipped an unfinished bit of software but no. They have learnt from the N97 and my phone has not crashed once. I have only found 2 small minor bugs with the OS which have not affected my enjoyment of the phone (one being the charging icon can stay flashing for several minutes even when unplugged) and my News feeds don’t seem to automatically refresh as much as I would like (though this could be a user fault) I also see these as such a minor issue that even if they do fix it with the next software update it would not affect your impression of the phone. I would also like to point out that this phone is really fast. When I click on an icon BAM it has already loaded. This is a serious improvement on my 5800.

I have found that texting is not as easy as I’m used to but this is because I am used to a resistive screen and normally used the T9 keyboard. Now I am using the QWERTY keyboard so taking a little bit of time to get used to it. I keep hitting the arrow button which moves the curser to the start of my message and that means I have to delete that and re edit. Again I’ll point out that this is most likely my fault and not that of the phone.

The build quality of this phone is really good. My phone feels solid like I could throw it at a wall and it would still work (I wont try this though) it is also for its size and building materials surprisingly light. With an iPhone 4 in one hand and Nokia N8 in the other it is the lighter phone.

As I said the software on the phone is really good and anyone that has ever used a nokia before will know straight away how to use the phone. One thing that I must point out that I love, When you first turn on the phone it asks you to either sign in or sign up to Ovi. As soon as you sign in you are ready to go with Ovi Store, Ovi Maps etc. this might seem like a “oh that is nice kind of thing” but it really is good as from start up you are ready to go with downloading apps and using all your saved places on ovi maps (I use the navigator a lot) I would go as far as to say this removes a lot of the issues that someone like my folks would have had with the phone.

On a negative note however I find that the Ovi Music software for my PC keeps crashing when I connect my phone so I don’t use that to transfer my music, I have to buy the music and then close the application and then use the Ovi Software (not music store) to move my music across. This is not that big an issue but still I thought I should point it out. I bet it will be fixed though with a PC update.

In summery I LOVE this phone, If you upgrade your phone every year don’t wait for the N9 as I have a feeling it wont be out till some time next year (most likely February) as nokia have learnt their lessons. Hopefully from now on will only ship a phone when the OS is good and ready like the N8. Yes it annoys people when the phone is announced some 8 months early but to be honest I am happy that they released a good phone that works, looks cool, has loads of apps (though could always do with a few more) and above all helps Nokia retake the crown of features. HDMI out, USB support etc.
Paul

If you are really serious about a proper review and not just advertainment, please get a real photography expert to do a rating compared with a decent compact 12mp camera including high contrast scene and low light handling capabilities. Personally, I think 12mp is a total waste of pixels unless dynamic range, noise levels, clarity and handling is competitive with a decent compact camera. If it is then that’s great but with such a small lens, I doubt it.
logan

fantastic review. like my n8. fantastic unlocked cell phones. it’s light feels fantastic, simple to manuever. processor is much quicker, like it. web browser and wifi are fantastic for my business, helps me keep in touch with my clients. my wife likes hers for the fun of it, facebook games apps, keep us busy and pleased! recorder is fantastic. much better than my ancient unlocked blackberry phones. speaker phone is loud and it’s really simple to email and text for being a touch screen. also got our blackberry unlocking and cell phone unlock codes for free! got our last couple n8′s at unlockthatphone.com very pleased so far.
http://www.robertpatane.com robert

I have a Nokia N8 and would like to take a pic of myself where i see myself on the screen, but able to find the setting to do this. If someone is able to pop me message at robertpatane.com i would love it. thanks in advance.