Telegraph Reviews the Nokia N8: Nokia N8 has staying power – the Finnish company’s first successful touchscreen phone.

"The phone’s anodised aluminium casing is solid and businesslike, especially in the dark grey and silver colour options (lime green not so much). "

As tech reviews within tech blogs goes, they often stick within the circles of the tech blogosphere. That’s unless your review unit is a stolen/lost prototype.

The opinions that reflect opinion of John Doe are usually those not from your general tech sources but the humble daily newspapers for example. The telegraph is one of the most respected papers around the world, not just the UK and they’ve got a surprisingly positive take on the Nokia N8 – it’s great that they take the phone for what it is at face value and not harp on that it’s not ANDROID.

• The new Nokia N8 is the Finnish company’s first successful touchscreen phone. (hey we could dispute what is “successful” but in general terms not just sales we could say this is one without the obvious compromises. Fantastic hardware, decent software, great price, successful on all fronts)
• It’s neat, good-looking and has a battery that will take you safely from one day to the next
• has a hugely familiar operating system that’s intuitive and simple, so there’s only the gentlest new-interface learning curve.
• In fact, the system has been greatly improved from earlier touchscreen versions so it’s less erratic and more accessible.
• Finnish company’s first successful touchscreen phone.

Now if this is what the telegraph would think about the N8, somewhat pushing it on the business side (though it’s meant for Nseries ENtertainment), imagine what they’ll say when the E7 business beast comes out with it’s glorious screen,  best ever Nokia QWERTY keyboard and host of business centric features?

Imagine then what they’d say about the N9? 😀 – keep turning the ship Nokia, and keep raising the mindset of your products 😀

via The telegraph

thanks to @enyibinakata for the heads up.

Nokia N8 (C) wins the blind shootout, confidently beats the Sony HX5 and smashes Samsung Pixon 12 (via GSM ARENA)

Results are in from the shootout. The much favoured C (which many assumed to be the Sony HX5 digital camera) turned out to be the Nokia N8 (though others deduced it was N8 due to other factors). It was a clear first place for the Nokia N8 scoring 161 FIRST place votes compared to 32 and 24 for Sony and Samsung respectively.

The Sony camera took second place whilst the 3rd place CLEARLY was awarded to the Samsung Pixon 12.

This is QUITE startling given that dear ELDAR has compared the N8 against the Pixon 12 and Wave and somehow his shots make the Pixon 12 or Wave win pretty much time and time again. His comparison was supposed to make Symbian fans Cry more (according to his preview tweet). I didn’t bother posting anything on it – GSM Arena has done the job quite adequately.

VIA GSM ARENA

Though looking at Eldar’s downright utterly negative review it is IMPOSSIBLE to see how he does not have a vendetta against “the company”. I wasn’t going to write this, but I read one amusing piece of CRAP after another, I fell for the bait.

“Unfortunately, there is no LED flash there. “

Oh dang. I can’t match iPhone 4’s LED. Oh wait, what’s that XENON bulb doing there? Darn you making photos better than LED. It’s so unfortunate. Now how are we going to upload blurry dark nights out when the Xenon flash keeps lighting up and freezing the action? Tsk, tsk Nokia.

“The camera doesn’t have Smile Detection, which would be quite logical once the regular face recognition algorithm is present.”

I have smile detection on my Samsung camera. It’s utter BULLSHIT. It’s a neat little gimmick but for general photo taking just face recognition is perfect enough.

“Unfortunately, Nokia has never had adequate camera software developers; the company hasn’t devoted much attention to cameras and has always lagged behind the competition.”

“Unfortunately, designing cameras has never been a priority for Nokia and the company is reaping the fruits of its efforts these days.”

Poor Nokia. Poor Nokia winning the TIPA Imaging awards time and time again. Poor N95, N82, N86 – damn these camera centric devices which have never been a prioirity for Nokia.

“Digital zoom is restricted to x2 because the picture gets noisy at the higher levels and Nokia is not able to handle that”

If we wanted, we could have 16x shitty zoom. 3x for video 2x for pictures. FRANKLY for images I would NEVER want to use DIGITAL zoom. However magical that zoom is. For video however we have seen that the N8’s performance is fantastic, pulling up detail out of no where. Why always so bloody negative? And lets do that test NOT with text huh?

Digital zoom was limited to the point where there is no obvious quality degradation. I’d be happy to see no loss in quality at 4X.

“For regular customers, the Nokia N8 is not significantly better than the Apple iPhone 4.”

I beg to differ.

“I hope that my samples are obvious enough to prove that the camera in Nokia N8 offers nothing extraordinary despite the soundbite from Nokia, its marketing and PR departments.”

NO. Not your Samples, not at all. Unless GSM Arena are now marketing and PR departments. I think it’s extraordinary that a phone can be beating dedicated digital cameras. Oh, and where does your beloved pixon come? Oh, yes, let’s see. LAST. 3rd behind the Sony (in second) and Nokia N8 at first.

“Pictures cannot lie and reveal the truth”

Yes they bloody can. If I smear shit on the camera and all your pictures come out shit then the camera is lying. If camera magically over saturates photos yes they can. If I add warping filters, yes they can lie. If I don’t focus properly then the images are lying. If I move suddenly then the images are lying. If I use digital zoom and pass that off as not using it then the pictures are lying. If I take pictures in different lighting settings then the end result could be lying (if I make users think both were in identical test criteria).

The one that lies the least is the Nokia N8 as it does the LEAST post processing.

“There are software issues, which will not be solved by Nokia, because of involved expenses”

It is so easy to add a simple saturation filter that would make N8 photos appear like your cartoonized melody produced by iPhone 4. (If “vivid” option isn’t already enough for you)

“It is decent and offers above average quality, but is not a top photo solution, which could leave rivals gasping. Such old models as Samsung PIXON12 and Sony Ericsson Satio provide better quality. The difference is easily detected”

Reviews by MobileBurn and IntoMobile have called the N8 the best camera phone ever. That seems to be top right now?

The difference IS easily detected. With the N8 producing the better photos.

From GSM ARENA,

“if you’ve read our Satio vs. Pixon12 shootout, you’d know that the Pixon12 is at least as good as or even better shooter than the Satio.”

Sooo if Pixon12>Satio and N8>Pixon 12 then N8>Satio? Oh my what a shock. From these results also Sony HX5>Pixon12, similarly N8>HX5, thus N8>Pixon 12. How many permutations do we need to show N8>Pixon 12? At least based on GSM Arena’s obviously Nokia funded results and all those hundreds of consumers out there producing stunning photos with their obviously fake Nokia N8s.

N8>Sony HX5>Pixon12>Satio. I don’t speak Russian but I’m guessing coming first means being top.

“Taking into account the fact that this camera costs around €70 you pay an inflated price”

WTF? It cost that much to physically build? What about R&D? What about the things AROUND the camera? What about the other features of the phone? How much did the camera in the iPhone 4 cost? How much is that unlocked? 799GBP?

I’d go on but there’s pool and karaoke at the pub ^_^ “wooooah sweet child of miiiiine” :p. haha

Read this closed thread on mobile review.

Video and Gallery: Nokia BH-905i Stereo Bluetooth Headset unboxing (and comparison with original BH-905)

Nokia BH-905 and Nokia BH-905i (SOUNDS OF PARADISE :P)

Very rough one hand unboxing video (minus the boxes)

I got home from a PBL course meal to a notification of a package? What was it? The Nokia BH-905i! The new updated model of the noise cancelling Bluetooth (with wired option) BH-905.

The package is similar to the original except that when you go inside..

…you get a nifty little pouch! This is a brilliant addition as now you won’t (oro at least less likely to) lose all the included accessories – they all fit in one place. The leather zip “purse” (heh) for such a tiny thing has two zipper compartments – great for storing those jack adapters. The zipper portion is a flap which also acts as a divider – so you could keep the leads separate from the charger.

As with the N905 you get :

• a lead that turns your bluetooth headset into wired ones (pretty awesome feature, means you can use your BH-905i or 905 to any audio device. Bluetooth not essential. Great when the battery runs out or if your audio device does not have bluetooth. e.g. work/uni PC, airplanes, MP3 players (in general)
• extension lead
• Charger (pretty fine slim UK one going on there)
• And a host of jack adapters to plug into pretty much any device.

The "twisty part" of the BH-905i is at more of an angle than the original

Onto the headset itself – the BH-905i has a more conventional design for the headband portion (as you’ll see in a bit). Otherwise everything else is pretty much similar/identical to the BH-905

Now a side by side. BH-905 and BH-905i. As you’ll see later on Georgio (who’s wearing the headsets for demo) you don’t have that odd SHREK HORN look with the BH-905i that you do with the original BH-905 as the headband portion is more conventional U shape.

For me, due to the mass of hair you can hardly see the difference. But with Georgio you can see the more streamlined nature of the BH-905i

SHREK HORN BH-905

More streamlined BH-905i

Video: Nokia N8 Hack 2: Continuous Autofocus!

Yesterday hyperX showed us his hack for creating pretty much “RAW” noise “free” images” and 30FPS 720p video.

We also noted that amongst those that the N8 team are working on for official consumer firmware release, another noted by Damien Dining was continuous autofocus.

Lo and behold, hyperX has done it again now with continuous autofocus enabled on he Nokia N8. Check out the result!

In focus clock and then in focus background – no of the hyper focal (EDOF) like where everything is always in focus except those around 20cm from you. It takes about 1 second or so to autofocus. I’d love to have this option for the N8.

Via hyperX

Thanks to fahoum ali  for the heads up to tips@mynokiablog.com 😀

BLIND TEST: Nokia N8 versus Samsung Pixon 12 versus Sony HX5

High expectations have been placed on the Nokia N8’s much advertised camera. Comparisons have flung here and there and now the much awaited coverage by GSM Arena begins. First with a blind test to figure out WHICH IMAGES YOU THINK HAS DONE BEST, NOT GUESS WHICH IS THE CAMERA.

More images over at GSM Arena

We have (somewhere) the Nokia N8 phone, the Samsung Pixon 12 phone and the dedicated digital camera, Sony’s HX5.

Larger image available, not full res (I’m guessing because of the Sony’s 25mm wide angle would look obvious which one it was)

GSM Arena

And to add to their objectivity:

Tomorrow we’ll also publish our first preview of Nokia N8. It won’t be the full-blown, detailed thing you’re used to but a shorter version. We’ll release the full-length article once we get through the streak of bad weather we’ve been having for a while. Cameraphones are best judged on a sunny day when they are at their greatest. And the Nokia N8 is a fine shooter that deserves the effort.

So which one wins it out for you?

UPDATE:

A. Sony HX5

B. Samsung Pixon 12

C. Nokia N8

MobileBurn’s Full Nokia N8 Review – “best camera phone ever”

On the weekend we saw Michael Oryl’s video review of the Nokia N8. Here’s the more detailed in depth text review from MobileBurn (USA).

Echoing IntoMobile’s sentiments, Michael agrees that the N8 has the best camera on any smartphone – the best camera phone ever.

+ve = Best camera ever, gorgeous hardware design, good battery life, great data speeds

-ve = Mediocre browser, touchscreen issues, UI feels slow at times, weak text input options

If you are a Symbian or Nokia S60 fan, your day has come. The Nokia N8 is the best Symbian device to have ever been sold. It has a great hardware design, good software capabilities, and the most usable touch interface ever offered on Symbian, thanks to the phone’s new Symbian^3 smartphone operating system.

Battery life pretty awesome – full screen brightness, wifi on – still lasting 2 days with light use, which Michael adds should be a day of heavy use

“When it comes to hardware design, the Nokia N8 pretty much has it all.”

“the phone’s camera is responsible for nothing but big, cheesy smiles. In short, the N8 has the best camera available on a smartphone today.”

S^3 is worlds apart from S^1 on N97 and N97 mini – no comparison, but still left unimpressed – menu feeling dated.

Hardware

Usability

Calling / Data

Messaging

Apps / App Store

Browser

Camera

Music

Battery

Reviewer Spin

Via MobileBurn thanks to alex68 for the heads up!

Nokia N8 on Sale (online for immediate delivery) from 15th October and from retail stores from 22nd October (UK)

It appears that the Nokia N8 will be available on sale in the UK from 22nd October onwards from pretty much every UK mobile retail store; Carphone Warehouse, O2, Orange, Phones4u, T-Mobile, Tesco Phone Shops, Three Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Vodafone .

For those wanting it a touch sooner, it’s available online from 15th October (from Nokia) for immediate delivery. The prices are steeper though, 429GBP sim free or 30GBP/month, free handset on contract.

If you wait, the N8 is available for 25GBP/month, free on contract and most likely cheaper if you hunt around.

Via Nokia Press Room

IntoMobile: Nokia N8 vs iPhone 4 – N8 – hands-down the best cameraphone on the market today (plus saturating your N8 to make it look like iPhone 4)

N8 versus iPhone 4, Real life or hyper saturation? We played about with saturation and contrast. Bottom left increased contrast, bottom right altered saturation. Didn't really try to match iPhone 4, just shoved saturation over to one side of green. BTW - if you haven't guessed I'm clueless at photo editing. There's a better sample batch below.

Will at IntoMobile has compared the Nokia N8 again with the iPhone 4. The verdict?

The N8 is..

“hands-down the best cameraphone on the market today”

Whilst you need optimum lighting conditions for the iPhone 4…

“The Nokia N8 takes great pictures anytime, anywhere, with or without good light….

the N8 is light-years ahead of the iPhone 4 in low-light shooting situations. The N8′s larger image sensor and generously-sized image sensor pixels help it capture more light and reduce noise in dimly lit situations. Nighttime shots are the bane of any camera – cameraphones especially – which makes the N8′s camera that much more impressive!”

What is clear however, is that there are those who like the over processed look with warmer, more vibrant artificial colours.

The iPhone images prove that image processing is just as important as quality of optics and size of pixels on an image sensor.

It’s not that Nokia CAN’T do it, (they went this route e.g. with N95 and N82) but they specifically CHOSE NOT to as the N8 being for photography buffs, they wanted to give you as pure closeness to reality as your eyes would have seen it.

More post processing for future firmware?

There is the “vivid” option. Hopefully in future firmware Nokia can add the “cartoonise me” option :p. But seriously, they should (if “vivid” doesn’t do a good enough job) to make the images pop and look more vibrant than what they actually looked at the time. And like the MAEMO Camera interface, FRIKKIN SAVE the last settings. If the user likes a certain configuration, save them time in having to input them again and again please.

What is great to know is that this would be a VERY EASY OPTION for the N8 to add this type of post processing, i.e. drowning your photos in over saturated goodness. iPhone 4 can NEVER achieve the same level of detail, colour accuracy and brightness particularly in low light, both in the case without flash and with flash (especially moving objects) like the N8. How could you achieve the same colour accuracy if what your camera is saving is its own hallucinated illusion?

N8 original

Just a side note: Nokia N8’s image is 1.79MB for 12MP, iPhone 4 image is 1.95 for 5MP.

Yesterday we saw a post with N8 compression hacked, giving nigh on RAW output (virtually noiseless) increasing file size to 10.9MB (as well as 30FPS 720p video)

It’s interesting to consider this brief from the test:

We put the two cameras to the test. All shots were taken at the highest resolution for each camera. Most shots had settings options set to “Auto.” We had to tweak image settings on some pictures in order optimize for certain lighting conditions, but most of the images were automatically optimized by the camera (ISO, White Balance, etc.).

• Um – preferably set BOTH to auto. See how it would cope as a general P&S WITHOUT any help from the user. It’s difficult to distinguish what the cameras can do (especially if you don’t know WHICH camera is being assisted with manual settings)
• They are not all at highest resolution, N8 has some 9MP shots.

Mucking about in the shop

N8 centre top with iPhone 4 on the right and "iPhone 4 filtered" N8 left

Quick increase in contrast

Saturation Bomb - N8 has blurry background as it's focused on the droid - getting that BOKEH stylie going on.

(Nokia N8 still) The iPhone 4 Filter -_-

Impossible Apple Green (from iPhone 4)

And another

N8 higher contrast vs N8 higher saturation [bottom]”]

Increased Contrast

image heavily compressed and reduced to 600pixel width but you see the point. Just a quick saturation change and bang we have iPhone 4 esque colours

I guess if I actually knew how to use photoshop (or paintshop) I could get the filter right to match the iPhone 4 exactly. As mentioned, it’s extremely easy to just bump up the saturation so if Nokia were to deem in helpful, it could appear in the next firmware update (that’s if VIVID option doesn’t do it for you already).

It seems though that the vast majority of N8 customers right now (and still much, much more to come, awaiting the rest of the global release) are extremely happy with the stunning photos they’re able to capture with the N8 – any time, anywhere in any lighting condition.

Via intomobile