Nokia N8 Second Look: Detailed Debriefing
Mobile-review have posted another article about the Nokia N8. Here is their final impression.
This is the fastest Symbian smartphone, pure and simple. It overtakes Sony Ericsson Vivaz and similar phones will become more numerous in future, which is good. But is it the fastest smartphone on the market? Unfortunately, I have to give a negative answer. The speed of its interface and software are well behind Apple iPhone 3Gs, let alone iPhone 4. This is just my personal judgment, but this is how I feel. Many Android smartphones are also faster. Bada phones are equally fast and sometimes even have the edge. Sadly, it is not the fastest device and I mention only available models without taking into account Android 2.2/3.0 (it is too early), which will show considerable increase of performance. There are also several top devices, which cost a couple of times more.
Nokia highlights the multimedia features of N8 and while they are good, they are not too impressive. Video player is common, the screen is not the best in its class (iPhone 4 and Super AMOLED from Samsung are superior and many Android phones offer higher resolution). The camera is one of its advantages, but only in terms of photos and resolution. The picture quality has not improved dramatically and the video recording is on par with other models (Vivaz and Motorola XT720 are comparable, as well as other phones as it is a standard functionality for the market).
I am upset by one more typical Nokia mistake when the company economizes on components. 256 MB of RAM are not enough and the browser has not been polished to allow its simultaneous use with multimedia features without the crash of applications in the background mode. The insufficient amount of memory is a hardware issue.
During my trip to Finland I actively used GPS receiver on Nokia N8 and could not have any complaints. Everything worked well and navigation was accurate (the company must have corrected Nokia N97 mistakes). I like this feature in the model and it is well integrated.
The phone features one speaker, which is quite loud, but it is not a music phone. In terms of drawbacks I can mention the browser, the screen is not the best for video playback (it's normal, but not the best). You can call it fault finding, but in general the model is not breathtaking.
As the owner of Nokia N97/X6 I have a dubious impression from Nokia N8. On the one hand, we have the same old interface, which is quicker, but has similar defects (the screen does not react at times and the home screen widgets often reboot). On the other hand, there are nice additions – photo and video editor (I do not need them at all), USB OTG, HDMI connection (another extra) and the integration of applications into the platform (for example, Search and maps). The mail client has been improved, but it does not overwhelm you, anyway.
It is interesting to note that Nokia's many projects will be developed independently now. This can be seen by the example of the maps, which can be downloaded to devices separately when the new version becomes available. In October, a beta of the eighth version of the browser will come out, whereas the final one is apparently due in February or March along with the first major update for the Nokia N8. The same is true for the e-mail client. I like the new approach better than waiting for another complete firmware update.
One may often also hear rumors that the device supports DivX/Xvid right out of the box or that the necessary firmware is being worked on. The device does not support those codecs, hence a separate player is required (yet to be developed, none of the existing software worked on my N8). And it is very unlikely for Nokia to add such support in future, since it is not a major issue for the majority. That is also why one shouldn't take that as a big disadvantage. Indeed, the Korean phones have it, but it's not that important.
This is an evolutionary development. There is an improvement, but hardly a breakthrough. If not to take into account the camera we can find many more interesting solutions. The customers do not care about the speed of development for the platform, but just want to know whether to spend their money on this product. I think it offers value for money as Nokia plans to have high sales for Nokia N8 and it is priced accordingly. Samsung Wave is the benchmark. It is already available at the same price, but entered the market 2 months earlier. You can compare the products, but they are different, though target the similar audience. We should not forget the devices from HTC, Motorola and Sony Ericsson. Nokia N8 is good for those who have never used anything but Nokia and have no experience with Android. This OS is on the rise now and attracts a lot of attention. In October the interest and the sales will be boosted even more, because Android is already a mature OS and have either reached parity with Symbian or is even racing ahead.
All in all we have a good product for Symbian users. They will not be disappointed as the phone will work better than previous models, though it is far from ideal. Those who look for the top technological solutions should look elsewhere. It can rest on technological laurels for a couple of months, if at all. Nokia N9 offers a completely new interface. Having borrowed many features from Android (status line and some animated elements) and Bada MeeGo will look comparable with modern OS. S^3 did not have such a polished interface. It is a transitional product and Nokia N8 is the same. The goal for the model is to keep Nokia sales on par with competitors, which offer better technologies and drive Nokia prices down. It should throw dust in eyes and distract the attention from OS and its transitional character and in 2-3 months the next version of Symbian should be released. Nokia N8 is a decent, but unremarkable product. The buzz around the model will fade away in several months and Nokia will offer new flagships, which will be more technologically advanced. Only the price may help the model and Nokia understands it pretty well.
To conclude, it is an excellent update to the Nokia lineup but not a market breakthrough, a happy occasion for Nokia enthusiasts while just an interesting photo solution for the rest. If the latter functionality is not a priority, one may want to look into other products. Unlike the Nokia N95, it is not an "all-in-one" solution unfortunately.
P.S. The full review will be available after the commercial version is released and here you could read about the impressions based on the long-term use of the model in its different versions. New firmware updates are coming out every week; in the five weeks' time before the official launch, the software will undergo a significant change. A special, PR firmware version doesn't exist at the moment.
This is the fastest Symbian smartphone, pure and simple. It overtakes Sony Ericsson Vivaz and similar phones will become more numerous in future, which is good. But is it the fastest smartphone on the market? Unfortunately, I have to give a negative answer. The speed of its interface and software are well behind Apple iPhone 3Gs, let alone iPhone 4. This is just my personal judgment, but this is how I feel. Many Android smartphones are also faster. Bada phones are equally fast and sometimes even have the edge. Sadly, it is not the fastest device and I mention only available models without taking into account Android 2.2/3.0 (it is too early), which will show considerable increase of performance. There are also several top devices, which cost a couple of times more.
Nokia highlights the multimedia features of N8 and while they are good, they are not too impressive. Video player is common, the screen is not the best in its class (iPhone 4 and Super AMOLED from Samsung are superior and many Android phones offer higher resolution). The camera is one of its advantages, but only in terms of photos and resolution. The picture quality has not improved dramatically and the video recording is on par with other models (Vivaz and Motorola XT720 are comparable, as well as other phones as it is a standard functionality for the market).
I am upset by one more typical Nokia mistake when the company economizes on components. 256 MB of RAM are not enough and the browser has not been polished to allow its simultaneous use with multimedia features without the crash of applications in the background mode. The insufficient amount of memory is a hardware issue.
During my trip to Finland I actively used GPS receiver on Nokia N8 and could not have any complaints. Everything worked well and navigation was accurate (the company must have corrected Nokia N97 mistakes). I like this feature in the model and it is well integrated.
The phone features one speaker, which is quite loud, but it is not a music phone. In terms of drawbacks I can mention the browser, the screen is not the best for video playback (it's normal, but not the best). You can call it fault finding, but in general the model is not breathtaking.
As the owner of Nokia N97/X6 I have a dubious impression from Nokia N8. On the one hand, we have the same old interface, which is quicker, but has similar defects (the screen does not react at times and the home screen widgets often reboot). On the other hand, there are nice additions – photo and video editor (I do not need them at all), USB OTG, HDMI connection (another extra) and the integration of applications into the platform (for example, Search and maps). The mail client has been improved, but it does not overwhelm you, anyway.
It is interesting to note that Nokia's many projects will be developed independently now. This can be seen by the example of the maps, which can be downloaded to devices separately when the new version becomes available. In October, a beta of the eighth version of the browser will come out, whereas the final one is apparently due in February or March along with the first major update for the Nokia N8. The same is true for the e-mail client. I like the new approach better than waiting for another complete firmware update.
One may often also hear rumors that the device supports DivX/Xvid right out of the box or that the necessary firmware is being worked on. The device does not support those codecs, hence a separate player is required (yet to be developed, none of the existing software worked on my N8). And it is very unlikely for Nokia to add such support in future, since it is not a major issue for the majority. That is also why one shouldn't take that as a big disadvantage. Indeed, the Korean phones have it, but it's not that important.
This is an evolutionary development. There is an improvement, but hardly a breakthrough. If not to take into account the camera we can find many more interesting solutions. The customers do not care about the speed of development for the platform, but just want to know whether to spend their money on this product. I think it offers value for money as Nokia plans to have high sales for Nokia N8 and it is priced accordingly. Samsung Wave is the benchmark. It is already available at the same price, but entered the market 2 months earlier. You can compare the products, but they are different, though target the similar audience. We should not forget the devices from HTC, Motorola and Sony Ericsson. Nokia N8 is good for those who have never used anything but Nokia and have no experience with Android. This OS is on the rise now and attracts a lot of attention. In October the interest and the sales will be boosted even more, because Android is already a mature OS and have either reached parity with Symbian or is even racing ahead.
All in all we have a good product for Symbian users. They will not be disappointed as the phone will work better than previous models, though it is far from ideal. Those who look for the top technological solutions should look elsewhere. It can rest on technological laurels for a couple of months, if at all. Nokia N9 offers a completely new interface. Having borrowed many features from Android (status line and some animated elements) and Bada MeeGo will look comparable with modern OS. S^3 did not have such a polished interface. It is a transitional product and Nokia N8 is the same. The goal for the model is to keep Nokia sales on par with competitors, which offer better technologies and drive Nokia prices down. It should throw dust in eyes and distract the attention from OS and its transitional character and in 2-3 months the next version of Symbian should be released. Nokia N8 is a decent, but unremarkable product. The buzz around the model will fade away in several months and Nokia will offer new flagships, which will be more technologically advanced. Only the price may help the model and Nokia understands it pretty well.
To conclude, it is an excellent update to the Nokia lineup but not a market breakthrough, a happy occasion for Nokia enthusiasts while just an interesting photo solution for the rest. If the latter functionality is not a priority, one may want to look into other products. Unlike the Nokia N95, it is not an "all-in-one" solution unfortunately.
P.S. The full review will be available after the commercial version is released and here you could read about the impressions based on the long-term use of the model in its different versions. New firmware updates are coming out every week; in the five weeks' time before the official launch, the software will undergo a significant change. A special, PR firmware version doesn't exist at the moment.
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