Nokia N8 owners are no doubt currently basking in the warm glow of their Symbian Anna update, but why not go a step further and throw in a high-quality Symbian Anna theme too? We've been looking at the Underwater theme on the Nokia N8, to see if it sinks or swims.
Check out our Nokia N8 Review Roundup
So here's a question: what exactly makes a good theme? It's not always what you first think. To be honest, when we install a new theme for the first time, it doesn't take long for disappointment to set in.
And that's often no fault at all of the theme in question – it's just that you're always faced with that moment when you realise you've installed a new theme – and that's it. Your phone hasn't become faster, or better, and doesn't do anything it couldn't do before.
It's once you get past that point that you realise that what makes a good theme is how well it does with the little things. After all, it's easy enough to design a theme that makes everything neon yellow, but you'll probably last about 10 seconds before uninstalling it again.
What Underwater manages is to be both subtle and comprehensive. It centres around a moody underwater wallpaper image, and all the other colours and textures play off it.
It's surprising how many themes manage to slip up with their choice of opposing colours. It may be the highlight text colour in a message that's too close to the background, or the shade used to show an email subject that's been read, but there's generally always some small niggle somewhere down the line that you either have to live with, or which sees you ditching your new theme and returning to your trusty default Nokia one.
Impressively, though, not so with the Underwater theme. And that's not because it's left most everything alone. The closer you look, the more subtle touches you realise have been altered in delivering the full picture, such as the lower-case cursive script used for the “g” in the 3G label next to the signal strength bar, or the 'x' in the Close icon when looking at windows in the multitasking view.
It's about the little things.
Sure, there are themes that make a bigger visual impact, and Underwater is certainly not for anyone who likes bright morning bursts of citrus-fresh colour. But it works for us, delivering a consistent visual feel all the way through that's well thought out and understatedly classy.
Underwater comes to us from the talented D-Design, and you can download it directly from D-Design's site and transfer it to your phone via Ovi Suite. It is a free download, but donations are graciously accepted.
DOWNLOAD: Underwater
Size: 2.73MB (zipped)
Price: Free
