Video: Non Techie’s Nokia N8 review (Previous N95 user) “A brilliant, brilliant phone”

Here’s a Nokia N8 review from a non-techie possibly unknown to you and me. Previously a N95 user, he’s moved up to the Nokia N8 and is very happy with it.

Surprisingly, the only point he seems to have qualms with is the Nokia N8’s camera. The BEST camera on a phone on the market to date. No question. I suspect he’s getting smudges on the camera (that he didn’t get with N95’s lens cover) which easily makes pictures look bad due to obstructing greasy fingerprints. That’s kind of good news since he likes pretty much everything else about the N8.

• Finding the phone very easy to use
• Quite happy with the apps – has download lots that he likes/needs
• Two input method typing (btw, majority of my mates prefer to type on the T9 and have said they did not portrait QWERTY. 😮 well the option would be nice)
• Enjoying the touch screen (“screen incredibly good”), he didn’t want one but finds this very responsive more so than his wife’s N97
• Tough Metal body, rock solid metal casing
• He really, really likes playing with it – which he says is really nice for a phone.
• No crashes, no download problems (in space of a week and a half)
• Speakers – he would have preferred two on either side (like his N95)

Nice, alternative review based on the phone’s own merits as opposed to not having an Apple or Android badge.

I hope this is how most Nokia N8 customers will find the N8 (bar the camera bit of course :p)

Gothtecdotcom

 

60 Nokia N8s for Review for South Africa – Top 8 reviews will get to keep the Nokia N8

Yes, you read correctly. But it is just for residents of South Africa aged 16 and over. Other Terms and Conditions available Here at Nokia Ringaz blog.

Now onto the good bits. An interesting find by Mark from The Nokia Blog sees 60/sixty Nokia N8’s  heading over to South Africa to be reviewed.  The top 8 reviews gets to keep their N8. But who gets these Nokia N8’s to review? Well up to you! All you have to do is

1. follow @NokiaRSA on Twitter (to be contacted by DM/Direct Message)
2. Tweet to @NokiaRSA with the hashtag #N8ReviewZA on your motivation to review the N8 (one tweet per person)
3. Reviewers will be announced on the 11th November 2010 on the Nokia Ringaz blog
4. You must notify your review by tweeting @NokiaRSA with the hashtag #N8ReviewZA
5. Winners will be announced on 26 November 2010

So. What are you waiting for? We’ve been raving about the N8 for quite some time, here is your chance to find out why – and tell the world about your experiences of the most powerful smartphone Nokia has ever produced.

-NokiaRingaz

Most powerful smartphone from Nokia? Isn’t that the N900? Oh no wait that’s a mobile computer.

Nokia Ringaz via The Nokia Blog

______________

PS, you will be in full liability of the phone whilst it is in your possession. Also kinda strict – failure to return (or purchase) the N8 by 23rd November 2010 16:00 will result in disqualification and full liability of R4,799. Well that’s understandable. Sending out Nokia N8s to mostly randoms (possibly some reviewers/bloggers/trusted online personalities).

Video: PhoneArena’s Nokia C7 Review

PhoneArena reviews the Nokia C7 on YouTube. Like the N8 it runs Symbian^3 so expect similar operations. The major differences though are mainly physical.

• C7 is a fingerprint magnet from glossy fascia, glossy edges and camera on the back
• Beautiful display, colours very saturated and punchy
• Similar viewing experience to N8
• Three softkeys – we really like this. One softkey isn’t as usable on S^3 than other operating systems. C7 might be much more practical alternative to day to day user who wants their phone to be a really usable phone.
• Really like C7 build quality, feels extremely solid and more streamlined than N8.
• If you can get passed the fingerprint magnet, we’d really recommend the C7
• Operation identical to N8

PhoneArena / phonearena.com

Videos: PhoneArena’s 2 Part review of the Nokia N8 – a good phone? Of course it is, we’d even go so far to say it’s a GR8 phone

PhoneArena reviews the N8 wondering if it lives up to all the hype.

• Design wise, N8 feels extremely solid – good weighting behind it.
• Flat top and bottom edge – we were dubious at first but it really helps when picking up the handset.
• AMOLED colours are really vibrant and pixel density is good.
• In direct sunlight it’s still perfectly usable – though gloss may prevent from watching movies.
• CAMERA – Nokia says this could double up as a compact camera replacement – let’s see if it does later on…
• Overall, we really like feel of the N8 – due to the non removable battery, Nokiia have made it more refined – feeling solid dense and secure in the process.
• S^3 doesn’t feel different enough or more to the point, LOOK different enough [oh boy here we go, ]
• Very happy with the music player – it has been rethought through. Once opened, immediately brought to artists and albums – no wading through menu as these are all available within one click from the menu.
• Album art and song integration list – really great idea – makes one handset scrolling a real pleasure
• Loudspeaker is a littlebit tinny and not good for prolonged use
• Photo viewer loads up extremely quickly. Given that these photos were taken by the 12MP camera, we’re really impressed by this.
• There’s absolutely no lag – really happy that this makes the N8 a really good photo viewer and sharer.
• Keyboard layout much improved – in portrait, half the screen is now for your message
• In landscape, keyboard is extremely usable, with a lot of superfluous icons taken away. (ODD, this is something eve Steve Litchfield has issues with)
• Video playback – thoroughly impressed with the N8’s codec support – it just works seamlessly.
• Really great, N8 can double up as a media hub through HDMI – Really is a multimedia solution for all occasions.
• [quite a big general overview on the camera.]
• Web pages loaded on N8 well, but S^3 browser quite jerky. We’re sure Nokia is going to remedy this in the future. We found ourselves switching to Opera Browser, even forgoing pinch to zoom
• USB – to go functionality is fantastic.
• Overall S^3 is a little bit of a let down, whilst it does do a good job of anything it does and doesn’t royally stuff up anywhere, design wise it’s just not pretty. [woohoo, come on style over substance]
• When iOS and Android are stealing the show are making us want to use it, Symbian is lagging behind a bit, not paying enough credence to design which to this day and age is becoming increasingly important
• N8 a good phone? Of course it is, we’ve even go so far as to say it’s a great phone.
• One of the best if not the best camera we’ve seen on a mobile phone [the latter boys]

Whilst we can argue about S^3 usability, in terms of Symbian as a whole, erm YES Symbian ARE paying attention to design of their UI. That’s why there is S^4 – but good to know that whilst achieving all the functionality through the current UI with a rating of “good job” is deemed a fail, for the intended market – this should be more than enough and the N8 will satisfy through the host of multimedia features with a decent UI that pulls it off without frustration – leading to MOST importantly, an excellent overall USER EXPERIENCE of the ENTIRE handset.

via PhoneArena

Video and Gallery: Nokia X3-02 Touch and Type unboxing and first impressions (P)Review

Apologies guys, this post became larger than anticipated.

We have another package from WOMWorldNokia – this time the Nokia X3-02 – the newer X3 sporting TOUCH AND TYPE.

Click here for device details.

[YOUTUBE=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xx8Mr6iepQ8]

It arrived yesterday and I wouldn’t have known it was at the package centre but for some reason I made scenic route and was rewarded with a parcel notification.

In short – for first impression:

The X3-02 is a brilliant handset – solidly built, brushed aluminium at the back, ultra compact with a ridiculously sensitive resistive touch screen display – almost like a capacitive one. A video above and gallery is included.

CONTENTS

1. UNBOXING
2. Box Contents
3. Size Comparison with N900
4. General Handset Hardware Overview
5. Usability?

1. UNBOXING

This is the usual compact, green-friendly packaging from Nokia.

X3 doesn’t come with a see through screen protector so this had to come off. They’re useful instructions though on getting content to your X3 from the Ovi Store.

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2. Box Contents

Box contents include:

• Charger
• Manual and Ovi Leaflets
• Stereo headset
• BL-4S 860mAh battery
• Nokia X3-02

The X3-02 comes in Blue (Petrol Blue), Pink, Lilac, Black (Dark Metal) and White/silver. The back is brushed aluminium.

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Size Comparison with N900

It’s very, very slim and fits perfectly in the hand. Having the N900 as a main device, x3-02 feels like I’m just holding the N900’s battery

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4. GENERAL HANDSET HARDWARE OVERVIEW

Below: Alphanumeric text key layout with bottom row relocated on the right hand side. It does take a bit of getting used to but that you will. There’s a dedicated music button and messaging button. Pressing the music button brings up the music player controls in ANY menu.

The screen is QVGA 2.4″ and as mentioned, the most sensitive resistive display. Due to the touch screen, there are NO navigation buttons.

left side is clean, with only a button that’s mirrored on the right hand side to remove the battery cover when pushed simultaneously.

The right side with Volume Keys, Lock Button and corresponding button to unlock the back cover

5MP camera at the back – no LED flash. Out of interest this captures QVGA video at 20fps. Not a camera centric device at all. The brushed metal (brushed aluminium alloy ?) is stunning.

3.5mm jack for any headphones, micro USB connector point (can charge through micro USB too, nice touch) and standard 2mm Nokia charge port.

Very loud and clear speakers at the bottom

Two buttons either side simultaneously pressed removes the back cover for access to the battery, SIM, memory card and wrist strap.
The brushed aluminium back cover. It has two asymmetrical stubs. These are often the parts that break off first but being metal, this should be less likely to happen.
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5. General Usability
Well, I haven’t really used it yet so I can’t comment on true usability.  Just some instant impressions: Menu is pretty quick, apps open pretty much instantly. I have already synced my contacts over from N97 to X3 (though initially from N900- long story. Wish contact transfer could be a more painless affair. Perhaps the centralised Ovi Account – that never worked for me). Camera very basic – no camera button. Zoom in gallery is surprisingly smooth though the photos aren’t too great (then again will have to try this outdoors at day time)

I’ll come back to this in a few days or a week. Any questions, feel free to comment below.

BTW, (Nokia N8 coming soon for testing :D)

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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!

Video: MobileBurn’s Video Review (First Impressions) of the Nokia N8

Michael Oryl, my old boss back in the days of MobileBurn foruming has taken the main seat in reviewing the Nokia N8 (and rightfully so – as it’s often someone else now doing the Nokia reviews)

• Michael seems to be unaware of the UBS-to go function, thinking the adapter was for a keyboard.
• Anodized metal, everything feels really nice on this
• doors for microSD and SIM – it’s kinda difficult to get in there without hurting yourself
• No microSD yet as the device has so much internal storage
• Really good looking package
• HDMI port cover – not a fantastic design but everything else is really quite exceptional
• Homescreen – I find the swiping doesn’t work that well, the lag behind it makes it feel off (unfortunately, the folks at Symbian designed it that way. God knows why – something to do with preventing mispress, I dunno -_-)
• AMOLED display – really nice saturated colours, deep blacks and looks pretty cool.
• A little slow to switch between portrait and landscape but not a real problem (NOT at all helped by LACK of transition to mask the lag. Good going there. Note, it is faster as pretty much everywhere else except the homescreen)
• Swiping within the widgets themselves – cool flexibility, though does sometimes make panel switching difficult – you have to swipe around that widget.

This review seems to be more like a first impressions as Michael doesn’t seem to have used it that long (which is interesting in one sense as you can see how easily Michael is navigating S^3)

Apparently this is a 3 part review but I can only see 2 videos and a sample N8 HD.

Video Sample by the N8

[YOUTUBE=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMiUpl_6jI0]

Video: Nokia N8 Review from Mobile Tech Review.

Here’s a review from the other side of the Pond, but a very fair and balanced one from Lisa at Mobile Tech Review (USA). They’ve slated Nokia and Symbian phones when necessary so it’s refreshing to hear about the good points coming from the new N8 and new Symbian^3.

• Perfect phone for travelers – PENTABAND world 3G phone
• 3 homescreen reminds of N900 – lots about it does and that’s a good thing
• CAMERA – the real show stopper – not just the highest rated megapixel phone in US but really DOES TAKE THE BEST PICTURES *cough*engadget*iPhone*
• Unique torpedo design – you either like it or you don’t
• Solidly built alumin(i)um casing –
• Ports fiddly, hard to pull off (and that’s about the HDMI, god knows, the memcard door is a puzzle and a half – maybe that’s just me, Lisa didn’t seem to mention problems with it here.)
• Symbian^3 looks a lot like Symbian of old in terms of icon styles, something you feel at home with.
• AMOLED Capacitive – very sharp, very vivid, very bright no complaints at all.
• Downloaded a few apps already, 5th ed apps work fine
• Music player – very apple like fashion – wonder what lawsuit’s gonna come up there
• REALLY LOUD, loud, loud speaker on this thing – it’s quite good quality.
• 256MB RAM, doesn’t sound like a super lot, Nokia and Symbian are very good on very little memory but it could stand to have more (lagging after 6 heavy apps apparently)
• Web browser tested over T-Mobile 3G – works just as well with a AT&t sim.
• Pinch zoom not quite as fast as iPhone and Android (we’d like to see a couple of updates)
• The rendering itself is quite beautiful, you can even see flash ads.
• Scrolling speed is good – no inertia scrolling (what, there’s no kinetic scrolling in browser? hmmm.)
• (Similarities are compared with N900 about the browser – I’m not sure if there’s confusion with N97*)
• All sorts of advanced HTML buttons work just fine.
• YouTube flash embedded – it’s pretty good actually.
• Photo Viewer quite fast  – 12MP camera images
• 720p Video – if you’re a photo buff, it’s definitely good.
• Video stabilization is very effective to prevent the bouncing in video.
• Frame Rate video playback is good, in sync with audio – pretty good for 680MHZ CPU (that’s because of that mega broadcom chip doing much of the Graphics Processing)
• Nokia’s Ovi Maps – much loved in Europes.
• Handy shortcuts on homescreen – no wandering through menu
• Readonably large phone but smaller than T-Mobile Vibrant and Captivate (though thicker).
• Nice presentation box.

[YOUTUBE=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3fDnv064NU]

*Happily, Symbian 3 isn’t just a reworking of the old OS to gloom on touch, as was the case with S60 5th Edition. The N8 reminds us of the very respectable Nokia N900 smartphone running Maemo: it’s designed from the ground up for touch, as as such it has a capacitive multi-touch display and no stylus.

Thanks to chfyfx for the heads up.

Video: The Phones Show – Episode 117 – Nokia C3 Review

I meant to write about this yesterday when I saw Steve Litchfield’s Nokia C3 review in the infamous Phones Show.

Skip to 2:27. The review is sandwiched in between a couple of Droid pieces, the first the Moto Droid X and the second, the huge Dell Streak.

The C3 is NOT a smartphone, but it’s quite feature packed and gives QWERTY messaging to the masses. I’ve been smitten with its beautiful design, and if you aren’t expecting too much, it’s sort of OK inside.

Steve is a little more critical and is unhappy with confusing layout of certain aspects of the phone (settings menu), and the lack of multitasking. Well, millions of iPhone users have dealt with that for quite a while, and this is 1/10 of the price of that :p.

• Keyboard, speaker, battery excellent
• No 3G
• Not good enough for Steve (well, I doubt it would be for any ardent smartphone fan, let alone one of the giants of Nokia-Symbian-Smartphone blogosphere)
• Verdict – avoid like the plague and spend a little more and get E63 (hmm, possibly not an option for all. Anyone who is able to watch Steve’s show probably are more discerning customers anyway)

I do wish Nokia had made the C3 S60 3rd edition. I mean, for a similar price, you could get a 5230 (though C3 does have WiFi and 5MP cam advantage)

At the end there’s a user story including Symbian handsets like  the Nokia N79, 5230 and i8910.

3lib.ukonline.co.uk via stevelitchfield

Video: Nokia C6 video review

Next up is a 2 part US video review by Smartphoneenvy of the Nokia C6, the ‘budget’ version of the Nokia N97 mini.

As noted in the video unboxing:

C6-00 Tech specs

C6-00 INFO Forum Nokia

Carphone Warehouse UK still lists the Nokia C6 as coming soon

Nokia Shop has the C6 available for £289. But it’s worth noting buying from Nokia direct is more expensive. E.G. In the UK, the £79.99 Nokia C3 is listed as £119.00, so expect the C6 price to be much cheaper that what Nokia has listed.