The Nokia H8 model has received many awards, and quite justifiably so. It is called the best smartphone running the Symbian operating system, the company's fastest and most stable smartphone, as well as the cheapest flagship, which also does not have any problems in terms of assembly.
Equipment
The delivery set is quite large. It includes the Nokia H8 smartphone itself, the characteristics of which will be given below, a type with a capacity of 1200 mAh, a charging unit with a USB cable, a USB OTG cable, an HDMI cable, a wired headset, instructions and a stylus.
Design
From the very first seconds of use, you can feel how comfortable the device is in your hand. There is no bad word to say in this regard. The characteristics of the Nokia H8 indicate that the phone is a monoblock type. That is, you should not expect a sudden discovery of any part.
When developing the device, the company decided to abandon the use of a compartment that was used to integrate the battery in the past. On the bottom end of the smartphone you can see two screws. They actually cover the battery connector. Due to their presence, we managed to solve the problem with backlashes, which is good. But a situation may arise when it is necessary to change the battery. To do this, you need to buy a special type of screwdriver, specifically for screws.
The warranty can be very easily lost due to careless operation or careless disassembly.
Strength
The durability of the Nokia H8 may be the subject of much discussion. The characteristics as a whole indicate that there are no problems with the assembly or design of the phone at first. Of course, if you are not careful, any device will cause a hole. This device can withstand about 10 drops onto a flat tiled surface from a height of one and a half meters. After this, you can already notice scratches in some places. But this is already deliberate sabotage, and such options are not considered.
It is known that this model comes in 5 different colors to the smartphone market. These are dark gray, silver, as well as blue, orange and green. It is worth noting that the phone looks bright and beautiful in any color scheme.
Dimensions and edges
The dimensions of the device in all three planes are as follows: the smartphone reaches 113.5 mm in length, 59.12 mm in width, and 12.9 mm in thickness. The weight of the device is 135 grams. “N8” is not a very heavy model. However, you can still feel its weight in your hands. In general, the dimensions were chosen perfectly: the device is neither small nor large. It is impossible to talk about any advantages and disadvantages of the dimensions.
The left one accommodates a MicroUSB type connector. You won't see any plugs there, this is not a defect. There are 2 slots located just above. They are reserved for a flash drive, as well as for a SIM card. The model has a different design in this regard; if you use the plugs often, they can easily come off. That is why they should be used with special attention and caution.
The right side contains keys for adjusting the volume of music playback, as well as the background sound mode. The slider for locking the device is very convenient to use. The bottom end contains a connector reserved for the charger. In the best traditions, there is a jack for a 3.5 mm wired headset on the top edge.
In addition, on the top edge there is an HDMI input, as well as a power button, that is, turning the device on and off. Some phone users say that the sound in the headset is of poor quality. In fact, you need to insert it all the way until it clicks. This is the only way to ensure the necessary contact.
Display
The Nokia H8 won't boast much. The characteristic says that it is 640 by 360 pixels with a screen diagonal of 3.5 inches.
The display is covered with glass. Color rendition is 16 million different colors and shades. The screen design has a built-in layer that is designed to work outdoors. Through the use of special elements, it increases readability. The advantage of the model in terms of display is the readability of text in natural light. Nokia H8 gives the user the ability to adjust the brightness level manually, without the participation of an external sensor. The contrast and brightness of this model are, in principle, at an average level. It is due to this that the device is quite actively selling in the smartphone market.
Three can be selected using the settings, and usually about 16 lines of text are displayed on the screen. “H8” supports multi-touch technology. It can be used both in an Internet browser and in a gallery of photos and images.
The screen belongs to the capacitive type. Sensitivity is good, there shouldn't be any problems. Rarely, a sensor may malfunction and not respond. But this is most likely a software problem.
In general, we can say that the screen is quite good. Even though it doesn’t have such a high resolution, even if color rendition is not the best, its level is above average in this price category.
Memory
The standard built-in RAM is 256 MB. Built-in size - 16 GB. The user can purchase a flash drive with a capacity of up to 32 GB for an additional fee.
Due to this amount of RAM, the speed of work increased, but the stability of work, if not decreased, then remained at the same level. The characteristics of the Nokia H8 indicate that, according to the memory capacity, the device falls into the range of average models.
In most cases, user problems lie in the use of the Internet browser. It slows down the operation of the entire device quite significantly. Other applications do not bother the user with such problems. You can run about 5 programs at the same time. At the same time, the phone behaves quite cheerfully. We can only hope that the unstable operation of the device when the browser is running lies in the browser itself, in the software. This means that software updates should correct these inaccuracies.
Nutrition
Nokia H8, whose battery characteristics are also at an average level, can operate in standby mode for up to 400 hours, and can function for half a day in continuous talk mode. The capacity of the lithium-ion battery is 1200 mAh.
The new architecture made it possible to increase the possible operating time of the device in various modes. For example, you can watch a video for about 6 hours, listen to music for about 45 hours, record a video for 3 hours, and play the same video using an HDMI cable for 5 hours.
In principle, the device works enough. But there are many devices whose energy efficiency is at a higher level. The Nokia H8 00 model does not have this. The characteristic shows that although the operating time has been increased, it is only slightly.
An average user can spend 2 days without recharging the phone. Desktop widgets consume the largest percentage of energy. Using an Internet browser also drains your smartphone. Moreover, the more pages, the more energy is needed. Setting the display to maximum brightness will immediately reduce runtime by 20 percent.
Communications
Using USB synchronization mode with a personal computer involves choosing one of three connection options. One of them allows you to see the phone, the second allows you to access hardware functions, and the third allows you to print photos. The maximum data transfer rate via USB can be 5.5 MB per second. You can also charge your device using the cable.
The installed Bluetooth version is 3.0. The operation is not very stable; connections may be disconnected and the device, which is literally a meter away, may disappear. Wi-Fi works with three standards: b, n, g. There are no complaints about him. The characteristics of the Nokia H8 phone in terms of communications are not bad, the device gets a solid four. And this is only due to the fact that some technologies are incompatible with the flagship and are not available on it.
“Nokia H8”: characteristics, reviews, results
If you are an ordinary user for whom the main parameter is the stability of the phone during calls and the ease of exchanging text messages, then this model is for you. The main parameter that users pay attention to when buying a Nokia H8 is its characteristics. The instructions are supplied with the device and will not take much time to study.
If you belong to the class of active users, then you should take a closer look at other devices in a similar price category. Samsung smartphones, for example, may be suitable for purchase. The main manufacturer of Nokia H8 is China, but the characteristics do not depend on this.
Although Symbian is very popular in some countries of the world, this platform is not very well known here as it lags behind competitors in usability and functionality. The Symbian 3 operating system is a good attempt to correct these shortcomings, and Nokia's N8 represents the first smartphone to run on the updated OS. Much-needed improvements are visible at a glance - a simplified touch interface and enhanced multimedia capabilities.
Nokia N8 - device characteristics
The N8 is also one of the best camera phones available today and also offers good call quality and long battery life. However, it still falls short of competitors in a number of areas, including ease of use, navigation and integrated services. All this, combined with the expensive price tag of $549, does not make it a mainstream gadget. Even though Nokia's N8 is a good smartphone, consumers are more likely to choose Android or iPhone devices.
Design
For the most part, Nokia always produces quality hardware, and the N8 is no exception. As soon as you take it in your hands, you will notice a strong and at the same time beautiful body with metal inserts and a glass display. The gadget has the following dimensions: 4.47 inches in height, 2.32 inches in width and 0.51 inches in thickness. These are good dimensions for a smartphone: large enough to have a large screen, but thin and compact enough to be easily carried and held in the palm of your hand. There's a slightly bulging camera on the back that stands out a bit from the streamlined design, but it's not inconvenient.
Nokia N8 screen
The front of the phone is graced by a 3.5-inch 640x360 resolution and support for 16.7 million colors, the display looks bright and crisp. However, the image doesn't look as sharp as some of the latest smartphones. Compared to devices like the HTC Evo 4G and the Samsung Galaxy S series, text and images don't appear as harmoniously, and pixels are more noticeable. This doesn't stop you from using the phone, but you will definitely notice a difference.
The display offers a built-in accelerometer and support for finger click zoom. The performance of both functions is a bit inconsistent. Sometimes the response may be immediate, while other times there may be a slight delay. This also applies to touchscreen operation in general. Scrolling through lists and desktop panels isn't quite as smooth as some other competing phones.
For text entry, the screen displays a keyboard in portrait and landscape modes, but the QWERTY option is only available in landscape orientation. This means that if you want to enter any messages in portrait orientation, you will have to type them on the alphanumeric keyboard.
Other controls
In addition to the touchscreen, the device has a couple of controls designed to help you navigate and perform other functions. Below the display there is one button that switches to the main menu or the home screen if you are in another application. On the right side there is a dual volume rocker, a lock switch and a camera activation/capture button.
What else does it have? There is a power button, an HDMI port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the top of the device. On the left side there are SIM card and microSD slots, as well as a micro-USB port. On the back, you will find a 12-megapixel camera with xenon flash. It is curious that, unlike other phones, Nokia N8 does not have a replaceable battery. Thus, the battery cannot be replaced.
Completeness
The N8 comes with a good selection of accessories, including a charger, USB cable, HDMI cable, USB On-The-Go adapter, wired stereo headset, and reference materials. Although the charger has an international adapter, the phone may be equipped with a micro-USB charger. The N8 is available in five colors: dark grey, blue, green, orange, silver and white. In addition, if you wish, you can choose a case for the Nokia N8 in any color.
User interface
One of the main disadvantages of the Symbian S60 platform is its poor user interface. An ascetic appearance, an archaic menu and not very convenient navigation - all this contributed to great disappointment among users. Symbian 3 corrects a number of these shortcomings and makes the N8 mega-modern compared to previous Nokia smartphones. However, it still lags behind competitors in a number of features and amenities. In order to change anything on your device, you will need a security code for your Nokia N8.
Symbian 3 now offers a single control model through the user interface, so you no longer have to go through multiple steps to complete a simple task or exit a menu. This unified system has made the phone easier to use, but still lacks quick access to functions within the application. For example, to reply to an email on your Nokia N8, you must first select Options and then only enable reply. On Android, a similar option is located on the same email page.
The home screen currently consists of three panels that can be customized with various widgets, including messages, social networks, music player, favorite contacts, RSS feeds and so on. Widgets can give you a quick view of the latest information, and if you want to view more, you can tap on it to launch a separate application.
The main menu is largely the same as previous models, presenting a grid of your apps (you can change the view to a list). There is a useful feature - if you long press the menu key at the bottom of the screen, it will organize the icons of all your running applications. From there, you can scroll through the list to switch between tasks or exit the app.
Peculiarities
Nokia N8 offers hands-free calling, speed dialing, conferencing, voice dialing, vibration alert, text and multimedia chat messaging and more. The phone's address book is limited only by the amount of available memory; only a SIM card can provide additional contacts. The directory has a separate item for storing multiple phone numbers, work and home addresses, email, birthday and other important information in each contact. You can also assign each contact a photo, group ID, or custom ringtone, which users claim is very convenient.
Unlike devices running other operating systems, Nokia N8 (original) does not automatically sync information from your email and social media accounts. You will have to use features like the Ovi service or the ISYNC plugin, which is not very convenient.
The N8 is compatible with several email protocols, including Exchange, Lotus Notes and POP3/IMAP, and offers HTML and folder support. At the same time, access to mail options is not always simple and clear. For example, if you want to get to your folders, you need to click on the Inbox tab at the top of the screen and then select the one you want from the drop-down list. This isn't the biggest problem, but it all goes back to the usability issue.
Connection
Wireless options are well represented with Bluetooth 3.0, Wi-Fi (802.11b/G/N), GPS and five-band 3G support (WCDMA 850/900/1700/1900/2100). The WebKit browser integrated into the N8 is quite decent. It offers support for Flash Lite 4.0 and multiple windows, and pages open quite quickly. Navigation, however, judging by user reviews, could be much better. Something as simple as entering a new web address requires launching a separate menu and entering the URL, then clicking Go. It really shouldn't be that difficult.
Multimedia
The Nokia N series has always been known for its multimedia capabilities, and the N8 continues that tradition. In Symbian 3, the integrated music player receives a nice bonus in the form of Cover Flow - an interface for viewing music. It offers core features such as shuffle and repeat playback, on-the-fly playlist creation, and support for MP3, WMA, AAC, eAAC, eAAC+, AMR-NB, and AMR-WB. There is also an FM radio. Since the Nokia N8 battery is quite powerful, you will be able to watch videos and listen to music for hours on end.
Camera
We can say that the best feature of the N8 is its 12-megapixel camera. Equipped with Carl Zeiss optics, xenon flash, and numerous editing options, it produces excellent quality images. In this area, the smartphone is significantly ahead of its competitors. Images taken with this camera have vibrant, rich colors and crisp details that aren't visible in most photos taken with a phone. The camera is also able to successfully cope with shooting in various environments - indoors, outdoors, on the move (reviews confirm this).
Available applications
Other integrated programs for the Nokia N8 include the QuickOffice suite, a PDF reader, a ZIP manager, a voice recorder, a dedicated YouTube app, and the Ovi Maps service (which offers free navigation). Additionally, you can find and download more apps from Ovi Store. The store catalog contains about 15,000 items. Of course, this is a very small selection compared to the 80,000 apps in the Android Market and 250,000 apps in iTunes, but Nokia has done a good job of updating the store interface. The N8 offers 16GB of internal memory and an expansion slot that accepts cards up to 32GB.
I will build my own Lunapark! Robot Bender, film "Futurama"
Nokia N8 can perhaps be called one (if not the most) of the most controversial and discussed phones of 2010. It was destined for him to become like this - even his announcement was accompanied by a scandal, which the company was forced to do after its preliminary review appeared on Mobile Review. For Nokia, this is a landmark device into which a lot of effort has been put. So let’s try to understand all its advantages and disadvantages.
Technical characteristics of Nokia N8
Apart from the morally old processor with a frequency of 680 MHz, the hardware of the Nokia N8 can be called very interesting. The device has a unique set of characteristics today: a 12-megapixel camera with autofocus, xenon flash and video recording in a resolution of 1280x720 pixels, HDMI output, the ability to connect USB drives to the device and support for the DivX codec. All this, together with the built-in 16 GB drive, makes the model interesting. The weak points of the smartphone include the resolution and display diagonal, which are seriously inferior to the same Android devices, where 4-inch displays with a resolution of 800x480 pixels were already available in the summer of 2010, while sales of the Nokia N8 began only in the fall. The good thing is that the screen is capacitive, created using AMOLED technology (which is also not the most advanced technology today), it supports multi-touch. The capabilities of the hardware platform are supported by the “transitional” version of Symbian version 3. In general, the situation with operating systems now in Nokia, to put it mildly, is not the best. Constant delays and changes in course have led to the fact that the company today is chronically behind and, together with Windows Phone 7, has been stuck in a catch-up state for many months now. Symbian was originally designed for use in feature phones, at a time when touch screens had not yet captured the hearts and minds of consumers. Symbian has had and still has no equal in this status. But those glorious times have passed and after the release and triumphant march of the iPhone, the market has changed. Nokia has been preparing a new operating system for a long time, initially created for use in touch phones. Nokia N900 running an operating system Maemo 5 showed good potential, but suddenly Nokia changed course and joined forces with Intel to work on the MeeGo operating system. It will soon be a year since this work has been carried out, but things are still there. Which is very close to the situation with Windows Phone 7, the first devices on which, although they are already being sold in a number of countries, are, as in that joke about the balls, not encouraging.
Nokia N8 equipment
The Nokia package is quite consistent with the idea of a flagship phone. This is a set of cables and adapters (for connecting USB flash drives and HDMI), good headphones with three sets of silicone seals and a remote control that controls the volume and switches music tracks. Taking into account the possibility of charging the built-in battery from USB, the buyer receives two sets of chargers - for work and at home.
- Box
- User manual in Russian and Ukrainian languages
- Quick user guide in Ukrainian
- Adapter for connecting HDMI cable
- Portable charger with 2mm jack
- Adapter for connecting USB drives
- USB cable
- Stereo headset with remote control
- Two additional sets of headphone seals
- Nokia N8
Appearance of Nokia N8
Nokia N8 uses a new, recognizable design made from solid aluminum with beveled and rounded four corners.
The module with the camera and speaker is mounted on a separate ledge. On the one hand, this increases the size of the device, on the other hand, the phone lying on the table does not muffle calls due to the fact that it always lies at a slight angle, without blocking the speaker.
At the top end there is a power button (you need to hold it for 8 seconds to turn off the phone; if it freezes, it will be much more difficult to remove the battery), a headphone jack and a connector for connecting an HDMI adapter, hidden behind a plug made of polished plastic. A rubber plug would look better, but you are unlikely to use HDMI often - this is more marketing than a real need. At the bottom there is a standard connector for a Nokia charger and a microphone. On the left panel there is a microUSB port and hidden behind tight-fitting matte plastic plugs are slots for a SIM card (hot-swappable, after which the device will reboot) and a microSD memory card. On the right panel there is a camera power button, a paired sound volume control key and a convenient knurled lever that locks the touch screen.
There is a single hardware key on the front panel. With its help, you can unlock your smartphone (confirmation is required by pressing a special button on the touch screen), pressing it sequentially switches the device between the main menu and the main desktop. A long press and hold brings up the running applications manager.
Under the camera window there is a speaker slot used to play music; above the camera is the pride of the Nokia N8, a xenon flash that provides bright white light when taking photographs. Interestingly, the camera itself, hidden behind glass, is covered with a curtain that opens at the time of shooting.
Two adapters are included in the package. One connects to the microUSB connector and allows you to use USB flash drives with your phone. The other connects to the HDMI socket at the top end of the case and then, via a standard HDMI cable, to a TV or monitor for viewing photos and HD videos (including those shot with the built-in camera).
The headset wire is flat and made of soft, pleasant-to-touch plastic. The remote control is equipped with a clothespin and a call answer button, a volume control key and player control buttons. It’s worth saying that when I attached the remote control to my clothes with a clothespin, I almost never managed to avoid catching the music switch keys, which regularly caused irritation.
Chrome-plated headphones are equipped with silicone seals. The delivery set includes three such pairs of seals of different sizes in order to ensure optimal sound insulation during operation. In my opinion, today this is the best option for headphones - they fit well in the ears, do not fall out if you choose the right seals, do not irritate the ears and at the same time cut out external noise.
The question that worries a certain part of people - what to do with a non-removable battery - is actually not such a big problem. True, you will need a special screwdriver. However, I easily found it at the nearest market in a set with a good two dozen other attachments. The Chinese set cost me about 25 hryvnia.
Two screws down and now the lower part of the case is unscrewed, and you can pull out the battery. This is much more difficult than simply removing the cover, but in practice how often do you have to remove the battery? Even with intensive use of the phone, it will have to be replaced in the worst case after a year. Once a year, unscrewing two screws and screwing them back is not such a serious problem. Especially against the backdrop of the elegant appearance of the device, which it will always maintain.
Comparison of sizes with what was at hand: Nokia N97 and Sony Ericsson X10:
Nokia N8 desktop and widgets
In general, updating Symbian to version 3 (or should I write ^3? a completely stupid idea with writing, to be honest) looks cosmetic and poorly in keeping with the times. In general, the operating system is the most important (or even the only) problem of this smartphone. Nokia N8 has three desktops, which at the end of 2010 already looked like a mockery - even budget touchscreen phones from Samsung and LG for 1000 hryvnia have three desktops. Widgets that are one line in size (4 icons) are very inconvenient to use (especially if there is something to compare with). For example, for the mail widget, only two lines with letters are placed, which is very little. And, in the end, there is simply nothing to occupy all three desktops. The only widgets that can be called convenient are the widgets with a player (when the radio is on, it shows radio stations) and with selected contacts - this is the same contacts panel that has been available in smartphones based on the S60 5th edition for more than a year. Desktops can have both vertical and horizontal orientation. You can switch between them with a simple movement of your finger, or you can scroll through them one by one by pressing the middle touch key with three dots at the bottom of the screen. In this case, the white dot shows which of the three desktops is in front of the user.
To customize your desktop, simply press and hold your finger on one of the widgets. Nokia N8 classifies this gesture as a desire to make changes and switches the desktop to edit mode. In it, you can remove any of the six bars or, by clicking on the free plus sign, add it to your desktop.
The good thing is that now you can place as many blocks with application icons or browser bookmarks as you like (the Nokia N97 could have no more than 2). They are all called links. Each bar can contain 4 such links, so up to 24 shortcuts to the user’s favorite applications and sites can be placed on the desktop at the same time. In practice, it will be difficult to type these 24 applications, but theoretically it is possible.
In addition to the list of widgets already installed or used in the Nokia N8, you can download additional widgets from the OVI store, but in practice, out of the two dozen widgets available there, there is simply nothing for our user to choose from - there are simply no local services there. You can also use any RSS feed added by the user as a widget. Although you will be able to see, again, only two headlines.
Some widgets can be deployed on the desktop (for example, a widget with events missed by the user) to provide quick access to the necessary information. Another update in Symbian^3 is the new running applications manager. When you press and hold the hardware button below the display, a ribbon with running applications appears in a pop-up window. You can quickly switch to any of them by scrolling the tape with your finger. Or you can close unnecessary ones by clicking on the cross in the upper right corner. Running applications are now displayed not as their icons, but as screenshots of the screen with the current state of the program. But the main menu remains virtually unchanged.
Despite the visible complications, everything began to work noticeably faster than in previous versions of Symbian. The operation of the display in standby mode is interestingly organized. The screen is off but shows the time and date. If you touch the hardware key, a touch key for unlocking and information about the battery level and cellular network signal appear.
The main menu, as I already said, is no different from the usual one. Of some interest from the pre-installed applications are photo and video editors (more on them later) and games (we will also return to them later).
Reading messages in Nokia N8
The “Message Reading” application has finally become able to read Russian. This may be convenient in some cases (by the way, which ones?) For privacy, it is worth wearing headphones. The program tries to automatically recognize the language of the message. Both letters and SMS are read - everything in the order they were received.
Music player in Nokia N8
The main innovation in the player is very fast scrolling of disc covers. Although the question is more about frills than functionality. Another nice thing is that after you pull out the headphones, the player’s playback stops. Previously, the music continued to play. Now you can “turn off” the player this way. By the way, this method works great with a radio receiver. And if the radio application is not closed, then when you reconnect the headphones, the radio automatically starts broadcasting to the headphones.
Multi-touch in Nokia N8
The entire year of 2010 (and even a part of 2009) was spent by manufacturers under the user slogan “We need a capacitive screen and multi-touch!” Understanding the importance of this was especially difficult for Nokia and Sony Ericsson, who stubbornly and for too long denied the importance of this opportunity for users. As a result, at the beginning of 2011 we have a situation where everyone already sees the need to use such displays and such functions. As a result, Nokia N8 supports multi-touch in the browser, viewing photos, for some reason, mail and OVI maps starting from version 3.06. Nokia itself does not use this concept due to Apple patents, so official documents use the phrase pinch to zoom, which can be translated as “zooming with your fingers.”
Taking photos with Nokia N8
Although a 12-megapixel camera or xenon flash is no longer new to the market, the Nokia N8 in 2010 was the only phone with such capabilities. Which automatically made it the best camera phone of the year (and this is not affected by Symbian in any way, however, Android still demonstrates an insufficient level of cameras in devices). In general, despite the serious history of the issue (at some point in time Nokia became the world's largest manufacturer of devices equipped with cameras), the company had only a few models with good cameras. Off the top of my head, the Nokia N73 and Nokia N95 come to mind. But otherwise, the manufacturer rarely spoiled its customers with first-class cameras. The Nokia N8 is clearly not the case, and its photography capabilities are excellent. You can easily verify this if you look at more examples of photographs and download them in original resolution in a separate photo gallery on Torba. The camera interface has not undergone any significant changes compared to its predecessors. Everything is very familiar, only in the “image quality” parameters a 12MP item has appeared, meaning a shooting mode of all 12 megapixels.
The camera feels equally confident when shooting outdoors or indoors.
Fragment of the image in real resolution. Note the lack of digital noise that is common with cameras built into phones.
Shooting the sky, which is traditionally problematic for phone cameras, gives good rather than mediocre results in the case of the Nokia N8. In the bright sun, it is no longer inferior to ordinary soap dishes.
Another difficult option is night photography. The light from the windows of the Kyiv Central Department Store is enough to get a sharp photo. Try repeating it with another built-in camera in your phone.
Another example is shooting at night on the street in low light conditions.
Indoors, you can combine shooting with or without flash to achieve better results. This picture was taken without a flash, and the next one was taken using it.
When shooting without flash, the colors are more saturated, but there is always a risk of getting a blurry photo due to a long shutter speed.
In this photo, notice the depth of field, which is difficult to achieve during macro photography.
Another example of shooting indoors at close range and with flash. Good detail and no glare from the flash, which ensures even illumination.
And another example of shooting indoors with flash. Every hair of the cat is visible.
And this is a fragment of the previous photo in real resolution. Feel the difference.
This is also a difficult option for automation, which the camera in the Nokia N8 copes with very well: indoors, numerous splashes of water and flash. The photo turned out sharp and without any glare from the flash itself.
Photo editor in Nokia N8
In addition to an excellent camera, the Nokia N8 also has one of the best photo editors I have seen in a phone. True, the question of the feasibility of such an application should be left outside the scope. But, at a minimum, you can entertain your friends (and yourself) if you are of school or student age. And it’s worth using red-eye reduction (xenon flash is guaranteed to provide them).
In addition to the frame (by the way, there are a couple of dozen of them to choose from), you can use various filters (there are also quite a few of them). Some of them simply color the photo using one tone, others allow you to use artistic effects. A huge field for all kinds of experiments.
An interesting tool is a stamp with a dozen templates and the ability to choose the color of the markings. Please note that along with the image editor’s settings for brightness, contrast, sharpness, and color (you can adjust separately in highlights and shadows or add one color channel), you can use the selection of image fragments. For this, rectangular or oval blocks are used, but you can use a very “adult” “magic wand” tool, which automatically selects a fragment of the same color. In fact, these are the capabilities of professional raster image editors that are used in the vast majority of cases when editing photographs.
Another fun feature is adding a bubble with phrases. There are several options for cloud templates to choose from. The text is entered in a standard field, and then the vector (!) block with the text can be moved, rotated and resized. Pay attention to the arrows on the right side of the screen, with which you can step by step undo previous actions and return it back.
The addition of vector animation (that is, an animated picture can be enlarged, and it does not cease to be animated) is more likely to appeal to teenagers, but for a phone this feature looks simply impressive.
One of the most frequently used functions, red-eye removal after shooting with flash, also works flawlessly. It is worth saying that it perfectly fulfills its role in fully automatic mode, when the search and correction of the eyes is performed automatically. So, and manually - in this case, the user himself selects the fragment of the image that requires correction.
Shooting video with Nokia N8
Probably everyone knows that the Nokia N8 camera is capable of shooting video in HD resolution (1280x720), but few people know about the video editing capabilities that are available to the owner of this device. We will talk about it today along with examples of video shooting that the Nokia N8 camera is capable of. The video camera interface can be called ascetic. This can be explained by the fact that we shoot video with our phones in cases where the shooting is not planned, but something interesting happens suddenly, as they say, here and now. And all you have at hand is your phone, which simply doesn’t have time to set anything up; you need to take it out and start shooting right away. However, in addition to the HD shooting mode, Nokia N8 has the ability to record geotags using the built-in GPS module. And there is a built-in video stabilizer.
Evaluating video capabilities based on a YouTube video is a thankless task, the main thing is that the resolution is 1280x720. This means that you will be able to comfortably watch videos shot by Nokia N8 in the future, when all TVs and televisions will work in this high definition standard.
Video editor in Nokia N8
The video editor built into the Nokia N8 works in two modes, similar in their capabilities, but different in purpose. In the first case, we are talking about video editing. In the second - creating a beautiful slide show with music from your own photographs located in the memory of Nokia N8 and made with your own hands. The first thing the user sees after selecting a mode is the storyboard. All that remains is to add a video and/or photo from the gallery, add a soundtrack from the music library, add captions with text if necessary, and choose a beautiful option for animation of transitions between video blocks. Although for the most part it is a beautiful toy that has very little practical use. However, you can consider this scenario: you are returning from a business trip (vacation) and on the plane (train, bus, waiting room) you can quickly make a slide show from the pictures you took. Any realistic scenario with video editing does not occur to me at all.
Creating a slide show is fundamentally no different, except that there is no need to cut out the necessary parts of the video during editing (this option is available in the video editing mode). The process of adding photos and sound materials is quick. And as a result, the user receives a slide show with beautiful animation, when the next photo appears effectively against a beautiful background. There is more than enough room for creativity. This means that you can do such operations on the plane on the way home from vacation and return with an impressive “how I spent my vacation” show ready to show to friends (certainly on a large TV).
Using email on Nokia N8
E-mail is certainly one of the Nokia N8's strongest points, inherited from previous versions of Symbian. The mail program has a convenient interface, adapted for use with a touch screen, supports a dozen popular mail services: Yahoo!, Gmail, Hotmail, Rambler, Yandex, mail.ru, i.ua, can work with mail for MS Exchange and, of course , OVI postal service. This means that to access the mail of these services, you just need to enter the address and password; the program will determine all other settings itself. In general, the email client in Symbian^3 is one of the best I have ever seen.
If the service is not in the list, you can configure mail manually. The client allows you to work with several mailboxes at once (I easily used three, two of which receive a lot of mail), easily switching between them, and has a rich selection of settings, providing an example of an excellent implementation of a familiar service on a mobile phone. And thanks to the proprietary (and currently free) Nokia Messaging service, push e-mail becomes available. This is the ability to receive mail on your phone literally a few seconds after it arrives. Here it would be appropriate to say that Symbian in general and Nokia N8 in particular have a much more intelligent system of optimal energy consumption than Android. If for an Android smartphone surviving until the evening after intensive use during the day is equivalent to a feat, then the Nokia N8 is easily able to last a couple of days. At the same time, push e-mail works, in which mail is updated regularly. The three tabs at the top of the interface are buttons. The first one with the envelope icon is intended for creating a new letter. The second is used to select a folder with letters (IMAP is supported) and switch between different mailboxes. To access custom folders, simply select “Folders” from the drop-down list. All messages in the current folder can be sorted by date, sender, subject, priorities and attachments. Separately, you can select unread messages or messages marked by the user.
Letters allow you to set priorities, use lists of copies and blind copies of recipients. The “Check” checkbox allows you to immediately mark a letter so that it can then be quickly found. The mail program supports attachments. at the same time, there is no need to search for files in the phone’s memory for a long time - the Symbian file system allows you to get to music, photos, videos or notes that the user is going to attach to a letter with one click. By selecting “Other” you can select any file on the disk.
For each mailbox, you can set your own mail settings. To do this, just select Settings in the Functions menu. And there is the necessary mailbox in it.
Experienced users will love the flexible mail delivery settings tools. Power management in Symbian^3 when working with mail, as I already said, is worthy of all praise - even with maximum settings (delivery as quickly as possible) and throughout the whole week without interruptions, the phone is able to last a couple of days. This time can be increased, for example, by choosing a gentle mode for mail download frequency.
You can add battery life by disabling overnight mail delivery. For example, by selecting the item “9.00 - 21.00” in the loading schedule. When roaming, the function of downloading only titles will be useful. Also in your work mailbox you can, for example, disable delivery of letters on weekends and enjoy a well-deserved rest. The phone will do everything itself. And he'll get back to work on Monday.
You can edit the signature that is automatically added at the end of each letter and limit the number of letters stored in the device's memory. This allows you to use available memory more economically.
Browser and OVI maps in Nokia N8
The browser in Nokia N8 now supports multi-touch, can work with Flash Lite, and has a standard set of settings for phone browsers, the main purpose of which is to optimize traffic consumption and ensure the confidentiality of the user's work. The browser has an integrated RSS client for working with web news subscriptions, which makes it easier to read new materials from your favorite or frequently visited sites. It supports multi-window mode, can block pop-ups and store user site passwords. Although, for example, functions such as selecting and copying text are not implemented in the best way. In the sense that there are more interesting options.
The browser can work in both vertical and horizontal screen orientations, automatically switching between them. The main menu is called up by pressing a button with three lines and offers icons of the main sections that are convenient for pressing with your fingers.
The browser settings have such useful functions as selecting a permanent Internet access point, specifying the start page at startup, automatically adding .com, .net, .org to Internet addresses, as well as selecting a search service provider - Yandex or Google.
The browser can work with Cookies and store user passwords. Change the font size on a web page, block pop-up ads that are especially annoying when viewing web pages on your phone screen, and disable loading images to save bandwidth. The context menu allows you to find the search word on the page or subscribe to the RSS feed of the site's web news with one click.
It also allows you to work with bookmarks and stores the history of pages viewed. The RSS client as a whole has not changed compared to the previous version of Symbian. This is a convenient and fast way to read site updates. It also consumes minimal traffic.
An alternative is the excellent, proven Opera Mini browser, which optimizes web pages and, as a result, loads them quickly. Its touchscreen version is finger-friendly and has a nice, simple interface.
Opera Mini also supports multiple windows and works in both portrait and landscape orientations.
Simple and intuitive settings allow you to optimize the loading of web pages depending on the speed of your mobile connection. You can change font sizes, influence the degree of compression (and quality) of images, or even disable their loading.
Like all new Nokia smartphones, the N8 comes with Nokia Maps with free navigation. The device has map version 3.04 installed, which today makes sense to update to 3.06. You can read more about the new features in separate article. The main drawback of the cards is the constant need for activated A-GPS mode (and, accordingly, traffic consumption). You can't go far with GPS alone. The advantages include storing maps on the phone itself, which makes zooming very fast and allows you to search for points of interest offline.
Supports 3D mode, convenient for car navigation. The detail is constantly increasing, and courtyard driveways are beginning to appear on the maps.
Settings include sections “Internet”, “Navigation”, “Route”, “Map” and “Synchronization”. Using an Internet connection allows you to increase the speed of location determination, which even starts working inside buildings. By default, the resources of the built-in 16 GB drive are used. This improves operating stability.
The most interesting and detailed settings, of course, are contained in the “Navigation” section. You can select the voice guidance language for driving and walking. Set the coordinates of your home location (they allow you to calculate the route from your starting point to your home with the press of one button). Select the type of route - faster or shorter. Navigation now has the ability to warn you when the speed limit is exceeded.
A distinctive feature of OVI maps are points of interest, sorted into a dozen topics (almost all of them also have their own subsections). Currently, there are several tens of thousands of such points in Ukraine. And search results from the current location are sorted by distance.
A new section in maps is the map Reporter application, which allows the user to take part in the map improvement program. He can indicate an inconsistency or error in the map by selecting one of the specified reasons and send a message to the map developers with the click of a button.
Social network client in Nokia N8
In short, built-in clients for working with social networks have the same childhood problems as those of other manufacturers. No wonder LG abandoned its own application in Optimus One. Because for smartphones this is a completely thankless job - after all, third-party applications for Twitter and Facebook work much better and have an order of magnitude better capabilities. In the case of the Nokia N8, the situation is further aggravated by the fact that to work with social networks, authorization on the OVI service is required. Apparently, in this way Nokia is trying to increase the use of the service and thus look better in the eyes of shareholders.
Nokia N8 provides access to popular social networks - Facebook and Twitter right out of the box thanks to the pre-installed Social Center program running through the OVI service. You can update your status, read messages from friends, publish photos taken built-in camera and exchange messages. It is worth saying that the social center has its own widget that allows you to follow the update feed directly on desktop Nokia N8. But everything works slowly and the same Twitter client can’t do a lot of things that everyone is already used to. For example, expand lists, show discussions, retweet. The application has three operating options and allows you to read Twitter and Facebook updates separately or simultaneously in the “all operations” mode. The social center can support the simultaneous operation of several Twitter and Facebook accounts. The search function allows you to select one friend's feed to read.
In Twitter mode, you can see your entire friends feed or read messages addressed to you separately. It is possible to view favorite (pre-marked) messages.
The fourth button in the top menu is responsible for personal messages. To update the feed, simply select Refresh from the Options menu. The interface is extremely simple, all the main functions are always at hand. Which is convenient for the mobile scenario of using the service. You can literally read the feed on the go by refreshing, reading and scrolling the feed with one finger.
The application can use a proprietary feature of Twitter - the use of a shortening service for long links. The service used is bit.ly. To shorten a link, enter its full address and click the “Shorten links” button.
The social center allows you to publish up to 6 photos at once by selecting them from the gallery. Or you can send a photo to Twitter, taking it right there with the built-in camera. Publishing photos takes seconds. But at the same time, you cannot add any text - only short links to photographs are sent to Twitter, which is no longer so convenient.
The Facebook client is adapted to work with this social network and provides extensive capabilities. You can read a general feed, select feeds of specific friends, and select only photos or links posted by friends. Although it’s better to forget about all this, install Gravity for Twitter (although it’s paid) and the official Facebook client for Symbian.
You can view and exchange internal messages and respond to friend requests and event invitations sent by your friends.
A nice feature is that if you accept an invitation to an event, the application prompts you to immediately add it to your phone calendar. A trifle, but nice.
Facebook updates allow you to add videos in addition to photos, and include your current location in your message using the built-in GPS.
Just like in “real” Facebook, you can like messages and comments.
And, of course, in the OVI store you can always download other clients for working with social services. For example, Gravity, which has been the best Twitter client for the Symbian operating system for several years.
Pre-installed 3D games in Nokia N8
What the Nokia N8 definitely does right is install two 3D games: the 3D space arcade game with elements of the economic strategy Galaxy on Fire and the racing simulator Need for Speed Shift. Thanks to the touch screen and accelerometer, you can get a completely new gaming experience with unusual controls. And the built-in 3D accelerator provides vivid impressions of modern 3D games. Especially if the user has not had similar experiences on other platforms.
It is worth saying that in addition to pre-installed games, the Nokia N8 has the ability to download games, applications and themes through the OVI store. This is a service, access to which is provided by a special program. In Symbian^3 it has a new design, and the structure has been changed to be more convenient and correspond to the increased number of applications in the store. As you remember, in January of this year they became available to Ukrainian users. paid applications in OVI.
The store operates a recommendation system that offers the user exactly those applications that, in the system’s opinion, may interest him. The more programs you download, the more accurate the recommendations will be. All materials are divided into 4 categories: applications, games, audio and video, personal settings. In your personal settings, you can see a list of applications already downloaded and installed through the OVI store and account settings.
When you go to a category, you can select popular (most often downloaded) applications or new ones recently added by developers. Above the top menu there is a special category application that is recommended by the service at the current time.
For example, one of these recommended games is the popular game Angry Birds, which became a real hit this year. It is already available on Symbian^3. By going to the application page, you can see screenshots from it (they allow you to evaluate the graphics and usefulness of the program), as well as get acquainted with the comments of users who have already used this program.
Another useful innovation - now in the account settings you can choose where to install applications: in the system memory of the device or on the built-in storage.
Galaxy on Fire
Frankly, this game is truly beyond praise. It has excellent game balance - it doesn't get boring thanks to a large number of different tasks and economic elements. It also does not require long missions. In a word, everything is done so that you can get maximum gaming pleasure in your spare time. Galaxy on Fire has two game types - the so-called survival mode, in which, like in Tetris, the number of enemies and their speed gradually increase. And a full-fledged campaign with its own storyline. There are few game actions in real time - you need to fly to a specific goal (don't forget that we are talking about three-dimensional space - this is not a two-dimensional arcade game). Along the way, shoot opponents, dodge large asteroids and destroy small ones. In appearance, everything is simple, there are two types of weapons and an acceleration mode in order to quickly cover distances or flee from superior enemy forces.
Like a good simulator, Galaxy on Fire has an economic model. For completing missions, the player receives credits that can be spent on planets to purchase more modern weapons. You can also engage in trade, thus earning money, if the player has a talent for negotiability.
The player is assisted by in-game dialogues, which provide logic for the plot development and give advice, especially useful at the initial level of the game.
Of course, as the game progresses, the user moves to new levels, collects trophies left over from destroyed opponents and receives credits for successfully completing missions. After each of them, the game is automatically saved. To which you can immediately return if your ship is destroyed.
Need for Speed Shift
To say that the racing simulator Need for Speed is the de facto standard in the gaming industry is to say nothing. This game is available to all Nokia N8 buyers. Before starting the game, the user can adjust the volume of sound, music and sound effects (the engine roars so loudly that no one will notice) and select the type of race.
As in the “big” version of the game, as the player develops gaming skills and wins races, new cars and new tracks and cities become available to the player. At the start there is only one car - the Volkswagen Golf GTI.
The game's controls are extremely simple and natural - you just need to tilt the phone right and left, imitating the movements of the steering column. First-person view and a large screen perfectly convey the atmosphere of the race! And graphics and sound provide complete immersion in the game. While driving, the game records the masterful entry into the turn and shows the ideal trajectory with arrows. If the player follows it, the blue text "Ideal Trajectory" appears on the display. By sticking to it, the player will ensure victory.
Each race ends with a variety of statistics, which take into account overtaking, driving style, speed and accuracy of movements.
It must be said that screenshots poorly convey the level of graphics, so it’s worth seeing how it looks live on video.
Watching videos on Nokia N8
One of the key features of the Nokia N8 is the ability to work with external drives (USB On the Go function) and connect to a TV via an HDMI connection. In this case, you can play files on the TV directly from a connected USB drive. It is worth noting that no other smartphone on the market has such a combination today. As you know, it is better to see with your own eyes once than to read a hundred times. Therefore, let's move on to a visual demonstration of these interesting possibilities.
When you connect a USB storage device to your phone via a special adapter included in the package, a new item “Remove USB device” appears in the system menu. It is necessary to safely remove the flash drive. In the USB settings menu, a system message “accessing the phone’s memory card through another device” pops up, and the file manager recognizes the new drive (in this case G) and allows you to work with it like any other memory, including video playback.
The built-in media player supports DivX and can handle large files (I easily played 1.5 GB video files in HD). Declared support for H.263 and H.264, MPEG4 and WM9.
Bottom line
Without a doubt, Nokia has managed to create an outstanding product with a whole range of unique characteristics. Its weakest point is the Symbian operating system, which initially had no concept of touch screens. All these subsequent add-ons (for example, UIQ in earlier versions) were always half-measures. Therefore, today Symbian obviously loses in convenience and flexibility of operation to operating systems originally created for use with touch screens (iOS, Android and bada with Windows Phone 7). But for the huge army of fans of the brand (of which there are still many, despite the fact that their number may sharply decrease in the very near future), the capabilities of the Nokia N8 are a real discovery. The main irritating factor is the damn inconvenient switching of layouts (in 4 clicks, whereas a mechanism for doing it in 1 has long been invented) is partially solved by the release released on New Year’s Eve Swype for Symbian with Russian language support. Although there is no Ukrainian language yet (for example, Swype for Android already has it). The strengths of the Nokia N8 are certainly its camera, and those for whom this is a key factor will not be able to ignore it. All this time that Nokia N8 was in my hands, I could not decide whether the device was worthy of an editorial award gg. On the one hand, the phone has a rather high price, for which the user has the right to count on maximum capabilities. On the other hand, Symbian in this case is simply the root of evil, despite the cosmetic improvements. In the end, a solution was found - we give the Nokia N8 a “we recommend” award, but with a caveat - for Nokia fans. Anyone who is looking towards other more advanced operating systems (provided that they do not need the ability to shoot indoors - as you can see, there are continuous reservations) is unlikely to like this phone. Nokia managed to create an outstanding device. But it is outstanding only within the framework of a parallel universe, where there is nothing but Symbian. This is your own Lunapark.
6 reasons to buy Nokia N8
- DivX and HDMI support out of the box
- Camera with xenon flash and HD video recording
- Good screen with multi-touch support and Gorilla Glass protection
- Possibility of connecting USB drives
- Familiar familiar Symbian
- Pleasant aluminum body in every way
4 reasons not to buy Nokia N8
- Outdated Symbian
- Low screen resolution
- Conditionally non-disassembled housing
- Tiringly annoying keyboard layout switching
Those who are passionate about the mobile hi-tech sphere saw or assumed to see in the upcoming flagship a confident and significant step forward on the part of the Finnish company. Many did not have to wait until the end of 2010 to see the manufacturer's shaky prospects, particularly in the segment of high-end devices.
By the way, the N8 was prepared slowly: the official announcement of the model took place back in April. At that time, both the exterior of the smartphone and its detailed technical characteristics had already become known. But it took the communicator five months to hit the shelves - a delay, admittedly, significant.
It would be logical to assume that the flip side, the positive side of this pause, will be a refined, polished and truly innovative hardware with intriguing functionality. The N8's specs are truly impressive, especially the multimedia mix of a 12MP camera and HDMI port. But what is the device actually? Finally, we have the opportunity to answer this question independently and impartially.
Contents of delivery
We include a description of the package kit, which is unusual for our reviews, because in the case of the N8 it is definitely expanded. Usually in the box we find a more meager set of accessories.
First of all, two adapters attract attention: mini HDMI - HDMI and microUSB - USB. Two special characteristics of the smartphone are directly related to these wires: broadcasting HD video to an external monitor (TV) and the USB On-The-Go option, which provides for “hot” connection of peripherals with the appropriate interface. These adapters are inflexible and cannot be easily deformed.
Another interesting find among the included accessories is the case. This is a translucent elastic rubber “skeleton” that covers almost the entire surface of the case with the exception of the display area and connectors. It allows you to protect your smartphone from mechanical damage, but slightly increases its size (it does not fit tightly to the body and can be easily removed) and blurs the effect of the design.
A more common companion is a wired headset. I liked it because of its functional control unit (it also contains a microphone for conversations): on the front side there are media player control keys, and on the end there is a volume rocker and a call accept/reject button. The headphones have a closed plug-in design (“plugs”), and their quality will satisfy only the unpretentious listener.
The extended package, which allows you to use the functional potential of the device without additional worries and purchases, is definitely an advantage of the smartphone.
Appearance: design and assembly
Nokia managed to design the N8 in such a way that it looks individual and is memorable. It can be assumed with a high degree of probability that if a person sees a similar form later, he will form an association with this model.
The design is dominated by straight, clearly defined edges. The slight thickness (the protruding camera area reminds of this) emphasizes the severity of the lines. The case looks almost like a perfect rectangle, the ends at the top and bottom are beveled and not rounded, as is often the case. This shape enhances the perception of the model as a solid, single block. The feeling of monolithicity, by the way, is not deceptive.
The manufacturer did not foresee that during standard use of the smartphone the consumer would disassemble it into parts. There are no detachable parts, with the exception of slot covers. To open the battery compartment, you will need to remove the cover from two screws.
This design certainly affected the build quality. It would be unjustified to find fault with Nokia because of this nuance: no play or creaking was noticed.
The material also played a role in the strength of the case - the N8 is made of anodized aluminum. This metal is pleasant to the touch and visually, and is also beneficial from a practical point of view.
Strict lines, refusal of plastic in favor of metal - these moments create the overall industrial spirit of the smartphone, corresponding to its hi-end positioning.
Connectors and controls
The “technicality” of the device is also expressed in the active use of connectors and controls: in fact, each side has additions.
At the top of the left side there are two slots - for a microSD memory card (above) and SIM. The design of the plugs for these slots is such that you can open the SIM compartment only after unfastening the latch of the microSD slot. This prevents the SIM slot from opening accidentally. A little lower, also on the left side, there is a microUSB connector not covered with a plug. A small LED is placed next to it, indicating the charging status.
The right side features a volume rocker, a screen lock lever, and a dedicated camera button. At the top end there is a power button, an HDMI connector (covered with a cap) and a 3.5 mm audio jack (without a cap). The bottom end is not so densely equipped; there is a thin charger plug, known from other Nokia models.
There is only one key on the front panel - “Menu”. Its location - at the very bottom left - fits organically into the design of the smartphone; the button does not stand out in any way. But from an ergonomic point of view, this is a controversial decision: it is somewhat difficult to hit this key with your finger while operating the N8 with one hand. If you hold the device in both hands, there is no inconvenience. By the way, this button has a built-in LED that is activated when a new event occurs - a call, a message, a reminder.
If you keep the phone in the case, all keys and connectors (except for the SIM and microSD slots) remain accessible. However, due to the additional rubber layer, the tactile connection with the buttons deteriorates. For example, it is more difficult to distinguish them blindly.
The main speaker is located in the camera area, on a ledge. Despite its only one slot, it sounds piercing, very loud and does not wheeze - in a word, of high quality. The microphone is placed on the front panel and placed closer to the right side.
An additional microphone cuts off external noise and can be found at the lower edge of the protrusion in the same area of the camera. The interlocutor really hears you well, extraneous noise does not interfere with the conversation and is leveled out. This takes some getting used to: when the environment is noisy, the caller tends to raise his voice, as a result of which, due to active noise cancellation, the other party in the conversation will receive a signal that is too loud.
Display
From previous touchphones running Symbian, the N8 smartphone received a display size and resolution: 3.5″ diagonally and 360x640 (nHD), respectively. Fortunately, the “General” column ends with these characteristics. The type of matrix that is new in the device is now AMOLED. Compared to traditional Nokia TFT screens, the qualitative difference is noticeable to the naked eye: shades are more saturated, the image is brighter, and viewing angles are maximum.
The display also leaves a very good impression when compared with models from other manufacturers. Subjectively, this matrix is superior in quality even to AMOLED screens in NTS communicators. Thus, a significant advantage of the Nokia display was its good resistance to the sun: the picture predictably “fades”, but remains distinguishable down to the details.
I was also pleased with the capacitive sensor used with the screen. Its sensitivity, according to subjective feelings, is on the same level as the Nokia X6 sensor and is slightly inferior to capacitive matrices from other manufacturers. The sensor supports multi-touch technology, which is used in the browser and when viewing photos.
In general, the display leaves a positive impression: the matrix used is very decent and can compete with other offers in the hi-end segment on equal terms.
Symbian^3: interface
We warn you right away: you should not expect a revolution. In the Symbian^3 edition you will recognize the vast majority of the details of the previous interface: this applies to both their appearance and functionality. Below we will focus on those elements that are specific to the new modification.
The first thing that literally catches your eye is the constantly illuminated analog clock. The backlight intensity is set to the minimum level; The size of the virtual dial is large enough to tell the time at a glance. In this standby mode, only the clock is available to the user to view. After pressing any key once, the number of elements on the screen saver increases: a display unlock button appears and information about missed calls, messages or upcoming events (if any), as well as system data about signal reception level and remaining battery life.
Of course, you can place widgets on the home screen. Each sheet can accommodate up to 6 widgets. Custom, individual widget window sizes are not about Symbian, unfortunately. Each widget is allocated a narrow, elongated strip of a fixed size. Such a strict framework is an unfortunate solution compared to the more flexible widget settings on other platforms (Android, TouchWiz on Samsung). They do not allow the full potential of widgets to be realized; some of them could be much more informative if they were larger.
The desktop is displayed in both portrait and landscape orientation. The position of the widgets, accordingly, can be as follows: six in one row or three in two rows.
The running application manager looks different in the new edition of Symbian. Now the pop-up window displays not only icons of active programs, but also “mini-windows” that visualize the last state of the application window before it was minimized. The positive aspect is clarity, easier navigation between applications. The disadvantages include a smaller number of icons simultaneously displayed on the display.
The design of the main menu, its organization and a wide range of standard interface elements have remained unchanged compared to the previous version of Symbian. This applies to the virtual keyboard (telephone or QWERTY - in landscape mode), contacts menu, calendar, journal and other PIM functions.
On the other hand, minor additions have been added to the shell that make it more functional. For example, more often than not, a long press on an element brings up a context menu with additional options. Small pop-up boxes have also become more common: for example, when connected (via GSM, Bluetooth, WLAN channel), this message appears for a short time.
There are not many software add-ons (with the exception of media utilities). Perhaps the only significant application is Social Networks, which allows you to manage accounts on the most popular social resources: Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. The client's interface and functionality are satisfactory and easy to use. Updates (mentions, messages) can be displayed in the corresponding widget directly on the main screen. The client's weakness is the loss of status when it is impossible to update it (due to network loss, for example). It is also not entirely clear why the developers installed such a thin and therefore not very aesthetically pleasing font.
A less significant addition is a small web-based Here and Now utility. It contains basic information related to the current location: weather forecast, nearby places marked on the map (cafes and restaurants, entertainment centers).
The N8 retains the Ovi service system and links to them: contacts, application store, music store, maps.
Applications written for Symbian 9.4 are compatible with the smartphone (more precisely, with its updated platform). This indicates that there are no fundamental changes in Symbian^3 compared to the previous edition.
Performance and responsiveness
The device in question has an ARM11 processor with a clock frequency of 680 MHz. The amount of RAM was 256 MB (about 100 MB is occupied by system tasks).
One of the details that Nokia focused on during the release of the smartphone is the hardware graphics accelerator. With its help, according to officials, the N8 was capable of processing up to 32 million polygons per second.
But the delay in the release of the device led to an unpleasant situation. While Finnish developers were finalizing the new flagship, devices with much more productive hardware appeared on the market. For example, the iPhone 4 is capable of processing up to 88 million polygons per second, and the current record holder is the Samsung Galaxy S with 90 million polygons per second.
It turns out that the N8 model was one step lower than its current competitors. On an equal footing, Nokia's top-end smartphone can compete with older models: for example, the iPhone 3GS (28 million operations per second) or Google Nexus One (22 million operations per second).
If we consider the capabilities of the device relative to previous Nokia models, the increase in performance is noticeable. According to the results of a test run simultaneously on N8 and N97, the former is approximately 2.5 times faster.
When used directly, this manifests itself in faster operation of the standard interface, navigation through menus, and launching applications. But here it is important to understand that faster relative to other Nokia smartphones does not mean fast in principle.
Against the backdrop of the declared powerful characteristics, the bugs and brakes that appear out of the blue look especially strange and disappointing. A typical example is browser behavior. Not only has it not undergone any significant changes compared to the previous edition of Symbian, but it also periodically produces depressing errors.
Let's try to understand this using an example from a domestic situation. Attempts to access the “desktop” version of the VKontakte resource were unsuccessful in 100% of cases: after loading the page, the browser closed spontaneously. First we tried to justify the system with a large number of open background applications. But the browser behaves exactly the same, even if only it is running.
An attempt to correct this situation by launching Opera Mobile gave mixed results. It was possible to travel around the VKontakte website, but only before the first attempt to change the display orientation from portrait to landscape.
The launch of the popular game Angry Birds was also not without incident. During active gameplay, the animation played without delay. But as soon as I minimized the application and started searching for WLAN networks, the system forcibly closed the game with an unsaved result.
What is also surprising is the periodic occurrence of errors in “Internet TV” (more on this section below) and the subsequent forced exit of applications.
Multimedia, HDMI, USB On-The-Go
As contradictory as the opinion about the device's performance was due to the situations described above, the multimedia part of the smartphone left such a positive impression.
First of all, the N8's music player has been updated. If in portrait mode its structure has undergone virtually no changes, then by turning the device over, you can see a redesigned and “glossy” designed alternative interface.
Music options also include FM radio. The quality of radio signal reception is very high; in automatic mode, the smartphone detected 17 radio stations the first time (in Minsk).
The device itself can broadcast an audio signal to a given FM frequency using an FM transmitter. To avoid interference, it is necessary that the distance between the phone and the sound source does not exceed 2-3 m.
Video capabilities have been expanded due to the above-mentioned Internet TV set. These are several applications that allow you to watch partner clips via video streaming. From the list of available videos, you select the story you are interested in and download it. Partners include: CNN, Vesti (news), National Geographic (special stories), Paramount (film trailers). Additionally, you can download similar applications from other partners (for example, from Arabic or Indian TV channels) from the Ovi Store.
At the same time, the smartphone has become famous thanks to its support for video in HD quality (1280x720 pixels). The device allows you to both view such clips and record them using the built-in photo module.
Again, the N8 can show videos on more than just its own screen. To broadcast them to an external large monitor, the device has an HDMI interface version 1.3a.
Connecting a smartphone to a TV occurs without additional settings: as soon as both parts of the wire are connected, a “copy” of the phone’s screen appears on the external display.
When the TV is not playing a video file, you can directly watch the N8 interface on it in its native resolution of 640x360 pixels. In this resolution, the picture does not look very clear, which is why your eyes get tired.
Watching videos in the browser is interestingly implemented (when all actions are duplicated on the big screen). When the flash player is activated, only the video image is displayed on the external monitor, and a web page is displayed on the phone screen, which you can continue to navigate.
But the video played from a smartphone is of very high quality, and artifacts in the image are not noticeable. Sometimes (once every minute or two) the picture slows down for a short period of time and in the next second “catches up” with the broadcast - the limited performance capabilities of the device affect it.
Can I recommend the N8 as a portable media player? Quite: the smartphone copes with 720p with minimal distortion, and videos in a lower resolution can be played back without any delays at all.
Another intriguing technology that is implemented in the device under review is USB On-The-Go. This is what the included microUSB to USB adapter is designed for. Subjectively, the potential of this technology is not fully realized: the USB port recognizes external media (USB flash stick as the most likely option), but, for example, does not recognize the keyboard. It’s a pity: if you display the image on a TV via HDMI, connect to the Internet via WLAN or 3G, and connect the mouse and keyboard via Bluetooth and USB, respectively... Well, that’s basically the implementation of an “office in the palm of your hand.” Fortunately, Quickoffice, which is typical for Symbian smartphones, has not been canceled.
The main complaint about the images is the decrease in frame sharpness when the flash is turned off (if the lighting conditions are insufficient). However, this is a typical problem for photomodules with built-in optics.
The video is recorded in a resolution of 1280x720, the video clarity is high even in the dark. I liked that the zoom is smooth and would be appropriate even during active recording.
Battery
The capacity of the battery used in the N8 is not a record to date - 1200 mAh. The full battery life is enough for:
Half a day of the most intensive work: the smartphone is used to organize a mobile access point (energy is spent on active data transmission in HSDPA networks, as well as on maintaining a WLAN connection);
a full day of active use, including an hour of data transfer and about an hour of video viewing;
approximately two days with moderate use: 15 minutes of calls, three SMS, 40-50 minutes of listening to music and no more than 20-30 minutes of data transfer daily.
I liked the fact that even under significant loads, the back of the device does not begin to resemble the surface of a frying pan on a working stove. And this despite the aluminum body.
The energy saving mode may be useful - it is very simply (dis)activated, just click on the corresponding icon in the system context menu. This mode involves forcibly reducing the screen brightness to a minimum and working only in second generation networks.
Conclusion
We didn't lie when we wrote that after using the Nokia N8 we were left with a mixed impression. The device can be given a plus for its external features - the smartphone is ergonomic, durable and has an individual style. The display pleased us compared to previous models of the Finnish company, but did not impress us when compared with competitors from other manufacturers in the same price range (at the moment).
The software platform does not match the level of the top segment model. The Symbian^3 edition was a correction to the previously presented v9.4. Subjectively, this is the kind of OS I would like to see, or at least N97. Although some weak points still remain. These are widgets with limited settings, a meager online application store (and, in principle, a poorer software base compared to iOS or Android), mysterious slowdowns when working even with pre-installed applications.
