Exterior
I have no Doubt that the first thing to catch your eye when you see the Nokia N8 will be the Colours. With recent times we have all gotten used to not having colour options when it comes to high end smartphones but this is some thing you won't experience on the N8 . With the N8 being available in Silver white , Dark grey , Orange , Blue and Green ( Like my review unit and my favourite! ) It's really hard to see how you won't find a colour that suites your look and personality. So you can choose a colour but does it look good? In my opinion , YES! The N8 combines a more rigid industrial look with some smooth flowing lines ( Reminds me of looking at a F1 car.. Smooth and straight in all the right places :) ) these combine to form what is a rectangular minimalist looking phone that has curved smooth sides a straight top and a straight bottom . When looking at the front of the phone most of what you'll see is the AMOLED screen, the Screen is 3.5" in size and can display up to 16million colours. One problem I dreaded when I heard and saw this was the weakness of AMOLED in sunlight. Due to the way the technology works it makes it incredibly difficult to view the screen in direct sunlight, so how does the N8 handle this?
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| Both AMOLED Screens Look good.. |
The Next thing you will see on the front of the N8 is the menu button which rather oddly sits on the bottom left. I understood this on My N97 where call keys were in the centre but on the N8 ? It isn't something that comes in the way often and the menu button gives good tactile feedback without being a pain to press ( i.e.my N97).Is this a design flaw?
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| Camera and Light sensor.. |
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| Menu Button |
To me, no. It is more suited to left handed people but no right handed person can say this buttons position made them hate the phone and with me moving from the Nokia N97 I had no problems adjusting.
So still on the front...above the screen we have two small circles those being the Front facing Camera which is more for Video calling ( more on this camera later) and the other being the Ambient light sensor. I'm glad this sensor works and doesn't ever seem to annoy me as it did on my Nokia N96,and it actually functions unlike the ornament on my N97.It's also worth noting that the speaker and noise cancelling mic on thr front are almost invisible. Some thing that I like and much better looking than the "Nostril" Speaker on the HTC Desire.
That's pretty much the front done..Moving to the back there is only one thing that catches your attention and that is the protruding Camera. The camera sticks out about 3mm to 4mm in a rectangular shape housing the Camera, Flash , Loud Speaker and Video Microphone. This whole piece can sometimes worry you as you place the phone down on a hard surface because it seems prone to get scratched. With the camera not having a lens cover the last thing you need is a scratched Camera Lens. Nokia have said that this won't be a problem as the camera glass is scratch resistant , I didn't test this as I don't have the courage to damage the N8 just in case Nokia are wrong.
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| Protruding Camera ,Xenon Flash and Monospeaker. |
The stand out piece of the back to me is the silver engraved Nokia N-series branding on the back this tiny thing gives the phone a high end stylish touch at the back and a student like me definitely appreciates it ,also compared to the cheap printing in the back of the N97 this is in another league!
You also need to know that unlike most past Nokia phones the N8 doesn't have a removable back cover. Which mean's no easy battery replacement for the everyday user. To be honest this only adds to the look of the back which is a huge plus and let's face it how many of us have replaced out battery in recent times? Even the Iphone4 doesn't have a removable battery and I'm sure any Iphone user will agree it's not something that's going to bother you often!
Let's now move onto the sides which are a bit more busy..
On the left you won't have much to do with your fingers , the Sim and Micro SD card gates are at the top. They aren't easy to open and that's a plus because they aren't removed often and the last thing you need is those two loose and opening randomly. What does get me thinking is the colour of these gates. I've had bad experiences in the past where all the side buttons on my Nokia N97 are now plain white. This isn't a normal problem because my N96 and N95 didn't peel off even after two years of use so I hope that Nokia have made these and the right side buttons right. Moving down the left you'll come across what looks like a small hole but is actually the Charging LED which comes in handy when you don't want to have to look at the screen to check if you are fully charged. Next to the LED is a clean cut Micro USB port which has no cover so careful not to get dirt into there!
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| The Left side is Not used Much.. |
On the right you have most of the buttons on the N8 starting with the volume rocker. The rocker is a bit large for my liking and I often found my self searching for the buttons edges, its no train smash and still works but I would have liked to see the Button just a bit shorter. The Unlock slider follows, now this little slider is quite important and is used very often I found the size and placing to be just about right. It feels solid yet easy to slide. One thing that worries me is that this slider was a huge problem on the N97 where it simply broke off, Don't get me wrong the N8 is built much better than the N97 and that's obvious but again I hope Nokia Built this slider right and only time and use will tell ( hopefully I get that use :) ). The camera button comes next and with the N8 packing such an awesome camera it's also a very important button. The size is perfect but what initially got me was the spring of the button. Being a two stage button it needs that spring and while at first I thought it was too springy after using it many times in my picture review I can tell you it's perfect as it is and you may start thinking you're using a Nikon SLR instead of your N8. Nokia added small touch around these buttons which is a tiny silver ring in the indentation..Its not something you going to buy the phone for but its a small detail which enhances the class of the phone.
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| The right side is where you have to do your pressing.. |
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| Top |
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| Bottom zoomed to see Charging pin |
The top houses another of the N8's stand out features and that is the much spoken about HDMI out .
The connector is a Mini HDMI one and is covered by a gate made of black glossy plastic that fits into the connector to ensure its kept clean, again it's the small things that count here. On the right of the HDMI connector you see the power button and to the left the 3.5mm Headphone connector (also used for TV out) I think that the position of this is just right as you won't find it on the way whether listening to music or watching a video in either landscape or portrait mode.
The Bottom is also made of the shiny plastic and is empty except for the Nokia 2.5mm charging pin that is in the centre and never came in my way through use.
That's it for the look of the phone ..So let's move on to how it feels
The N8 at 113.5 x 59 x 12.9 mm is no Sony Ericson X10 mini, but I Found that no matter who you are ( my sister my brother or my dad) the phone fits into your hand comfortably and wont make you stretch your fingers too much to touch the top of the screen. When it comes to feel there is no comparison for the N8.Made out of Anodised Aluminium the phone is Rock solid and has been proven by many drop tests. The metal feel gives you the confidence to say I don't have to worry about this phone splitting into tiny pieces! Being Cool to the touch is an odd feeling in a cellphone but definitely something I got used to and love. The Anodised Aluminium is also Scratch resistant so you won't pull your phone out the pocket with your keys and see a nasty streak through your N8 :) The tricky bit when holding the N8 is making sure your fingers at the back don't dirty your camera lens though I found my fingers naturally moving away from the camera so no problem there.
In Conclusion..
The Nokia N8 has definitely been built for the wars ,and it needed to be . After the build quality flop of the N97 I was expecting alot and I got it. It also has an individual look that is original yet appealing , in the last two weeks many people have had there hands on this phone and not one could say its ugly. Its going to be hard to let go of the N8 ..Because it just feels so good!
Students : Students need a phone that stands out ,but also defines there personality while being practical. The N8 does it all, different colours ,great size and build while being eye catching.
Business Users : While colour may not be so important to Business users, build quality is and so is practicality and overall look. We know the N8 is built superbly and is practical so what about business look? I think the N8 does the Job and makes a statement "I'm a no none sense solid businessmen and I demand the best"
Technical Users : While most technical users need a good looking phone for some phone cred with their peers, they too need a practical phone . With the N8 they simply "got it" . No group of techno buddies could ignore the N8 being take out the pocket!
And here are some video's I found for you..
N8 Screen Strength
Nokia's N8 Drop Test..
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