My N8 review

M

*mumultuhin kita*

New member
Just some random thoughts.

Obviously I'm not covering everything here, but this is a little lengthy to post in the N8 thread.

So here goes...




What I Like:


Build Quality ? Solid with no creeks. Also the camera on the back does not stick out as much as I thought either. Feels great when you hold it in your hand. It may not be all metal (top and bottom are plastic) but it still feels like a luxurious device.


GPS - This is very underrated in reviews that I have read. I am getting instant lock on indoors with Google Maps AND with Trapster. Trapster on my e72 needed to be outdoors for faster lock. Indoors doesn't matter on the N8 - it is INSTANT LOCK and it is AMAZING.

Camera - Not much to talk about that hasn't been said.

Music listening with BT Mono Earpiece - This is something that Android can't figure out, and something I enjoy using at work. (of course I'd rather use my wired headset whenever possible)

Nokia Internet Radio - Extremely important to me. Had to hunt for this app on the web but it works. :)

Multitasking - Next to the N900, nobody does multi-tasking better than Symbian.

Calls - Loud and Clear

Text Messages - Very organized in a threaded view

Nokia Notifications Widget - Very used to this from the beta use on the N97 and can't imaging a Nokia phone without it TBH.

Phone Audio ? Play a song and the volume comes from under the camera area, but it is LOUD and very CLEAR.

HDMI - Love it

Media & Music Player - Love them both. (Only wish the Music player had the voice search feature like the e72 but maybe we'll see that in a later update)



What I Don't Like:


Stock Browser - Pinch to zoom blows on this old dinosaur. Hopefully the new browser is worth the wait (Feb 2011) and hopefully it will use text refow. (meaning that when you resize the text it automatically resizes fitting the screen).

Unfortunately it's all Opera till the new browser arrives. BTW Skyfire - Where are you?

Youtube - No dedicated app and using it in the browser is very clunky


Ovi Store - Sometimes it seems faster and better than what we've been used to and then there's other times when you search/browse for an app and it takes FOREVER with the "LOADING circle message".

Also install more than 2 apps and you might get error install messages where you need to reboot and go back in the store. This has happened to me on multiple occasions.



Hardware doors on the side - I feel like I'm going to snap one off (even by being extra careful). This is not good if you swap SIMS and Mem cards a lot like me.


Lag ? I'm not talking about going from different homescreens (I have thrme effects disabled)

The N8 doesn?t have the memory issues like the S60 128MB devices, but from time to time you get that phone freeze lag for a second or up to 10 seconds even when you only have one app open. Hopefully an update can help, but IMO Nokia should have used 512MB of mem on this phone. It?s not a dealbreaker, but it is annoying at times.




Could Have Been Better:


Touch Responsiveness - Many times I'm pressing something in a text box and I can't tell if it didn't register or if I missed the target. Definitely a lot more sloppy than what I'm used to with Android.


Keyboard ? First it needs Portrait as an option. You gotta laugh when Opera Mini does it so well (they did it well on the N97 too). Landscape keyboard is doable (yes I know subjective) but IMHO not as responsive as what I've used on Android.



Personal Concerns:


Battery ? Too inconsistent. The first day I was hard on the device (Downloading tons of stuff and kicking the tires a lot) so I?m gonna throw that out the window. However since then with the same day to day usage I?ve gotten mixed results. One day I finish with 5-6 bars left. Another day I might have 1-2 bars left.

The battery seems to behave the same way as my e71 did. Basically leave the phone idle for a while and come back and you lose 1-3 bars and wonder where they went.


Maybe I got a bad battery, maybe my phone was part of the first initial bad bunch of phones released but the concerns posted on Nokia Conversations IMO seem very real.

I'm currently looking at the back of my N8 and still feel that you could have gotten a removable BP-4L battery in there, maybe using a slide door (AKA Motorola Style) and it would have looked great but whatever.




Final Thoughts:


Overall I'm looking at the ?N8 experience? just like I'm looking at my "e72 experience". When I first got the e72, it was sold within a week because it was too buggy at launch. Once v3 firmware arrived, the phone became my most reliable workhorse phone I?ve ever owned. (Still own and use it)

The N8 needs (at least) one solid update to iron out the launch bugs.

Also it needs to get as many of the S60 apps working on S^3. I know this isn't Nokia's fault but it can only help.



Would I recommend this device? ? Yes?. However if you can wait, then WAIT TILL AFTER the first update.


Right now I?m debating if I want to keep this in a drawer or sell it and come back. Someone I know is interested in the device, so I am leaning towards selling it for now.


Bugs and all, I am still a fan of this phone and see it replacing my e72 after the first major update or two? :)
 
The battery issues have me puzzled. I am getting and have gotten great battery life with my N8. It has consistently been better than my N97 (and I loved the battery life on that). I use my phone ALOT throughout the day for various things and have yet to run out of juice. I wonder if there is a batch of bad batteries?
 
That's what I've been figuring which is why I will probably have a second go round with this phone down the road.


The phone that I've been using does not have longer battery life than the n97...
 
I think it's just a matter of conditioning a new battery and setting up battery-using functions effectively. Turn off the big clock screen saver. Set email sync away from soonest, etc. I'm getting better battery life out of my N8 than my E71, I think.
 
I sent my original N8 away to Nokia repair because of the poor battery life, received a replacement phone today so I'll see how this one goes.
 
Great suggestions, unfortunately I have all syncing off and not using the clock screensaver either.

Good thing this doesn't use live wallpaper or the Nokia Conversations thread would really be out of control... :lol:
 
Good review ccrows, and since I've agreed with your POV/posts before, I gather I'd feel the same way about the N8. For me, a new Nokia would need to run Meego anyway...

And T-Mo's G2 beckons as well.

BTW, I only wish that my E72 was as reliable as yours. If it worked great, I could easily rock it for another six to twelve months. Some days, its fine, other days it's a freeze/crash fest.
 
Thanks. :)


As much as I would love to leave the Death Star at times, I still don't want to give up my employee discount that I can't get with T-Mo.



With that said, Meego is definitely on my radar no matter what provider I will be using... :cool:
 
you should probably send it in for the battery. mines been great. when i tried it with the screensaver on it lasted way more than a day and that's with me using it a lot more than usual. with the screensaver off, i can get 2+ days easily.
 
Same here, actually I didn't notice any difference with and without the clock screensaver on and both getting 2+ days of use. But yah I think this has been the best nokia phone I've ever owned.
 
yea mines just on none. the screen just turns off. i would say that thing takes like 1/3 more power. could be more. if i weren't so scared of running down the battery all the way down i could give you a more exact measurement lol i've killed a few batteries letting them run all the way down.
 
i'm pretty sure you can go 2+ days with the screen saver on still. it's just since i was doing a battery life test, i stressed it a little more than what i would normally do. but i did the same thing twice and that was my experience. yours could differ of course.
 
Nice review! I agree with most of the things you said .. the GPS lock time is indeed impressive! It has been an overall positive experience for me so far.

About the battery.. ATT has horrible coverage around my workplace, so the phone is trying hard to get signal all the time, I think that drains my battery the most, so no more than one day. On weekends I just use it a lot so same thing. I have the big clock screen saver on all the time. I should probably start using the power saving profile more often. I had to charge my E71, E72 and my Iphone4 every day as well, so i dunno. Nokia Energy Profiler is showing that the phone idles at 0.05 watt (on 3G, no live connections) , which is pretty much what my E71, and E72 did. I am noticing that playing 3D games drains the batt the most, I am assuming that the GPU is power hungry. And every game is different, i can play angry birds for way longer than I can play racing academy... I guess angry birds is easier on the GPU
 
I wouldn't worry about the Big Clock screensaver affecting battery life, it uses very little power. The biggest battery drain is no doubt the OLED display particularly when there's alot of white on the screen, e.g web browsing.
 
I find that the phone lasts forever when doing tasks like web browsing and texting and whatnot. It's very good with Tx/Rx and screen power consumption. No doubt that the GPU is the biggest pig on the phone, which makes some sense. Playing a 3D game is going to crush your battery - full to dead in a couple hours, I imagine. You've got the screen on constantly, you're using the very powerful GPU and you're probably using full CPU and lots of RAM too.
 
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