N8: 3 Steps forward, 2 steps backward

T

tierney0088

New member
The N8 is the best Symbian phone to date, however, there are some issues that have yet to be resolved and some new ones that only Nokia could create. Below, I'd like to share some of thoughts and am very interested to hear what you all think. It isn't really a review, rather, it's just some things I've noticed after using the phone for about 72 hours. Also, I apologize in advance for the random nature of the points -- I wrote them as I thought of them.

Issues:

-Call quality is slightly above average. Coming from an iPhone 4, the N8 sounds robotic and unnatural.

-Why does the notification light blink while I?m looking at the actual text message conversation the phone is notifying me about?

-Screen seems dim even at the highest setting, and the resolution is still too low.

-Why is the ?send? button so far away from the space in which my message gets typed? The ?delete? button is closer, and has been hit several times on accident.

-Nokia placed the speaker on the back of the phone. On the camera module. Which happens to be the first part that touches a surface. Sounds are muffled. A majority of the time, if you are using the loudspeaker, you are probably setting the phone on your bed, desk, table, etc. How does this placement help me, Nokia?

-The social networking app is a joke (specifically Facebook), and hardly ever works (yes, it was updated). It is constantly unable to retrieve posts, comments, pictures, etc, not to mention I?m forced to look at ?Ovi? every time I sign into it. Also, it doesn?t tell me if I have any notifications even though the widget is running. Using the web browser to view your information is far more reliable.

-Phone simply doesn?t recognize taps on the screen sometimes, and requires me to close down what I?m doing and pray that it will work the next time around.

-No portrait qwerty. Nothing else needs to be said. No, I don?t want to use swype.

-While using the landscape qwerty, the left/right arrows are right next to the space bar. Naturally, while I?m typing, I keep hitting the arrows, causing the phone to change the location in which my letters appear.

-No youtube app out of the box.

-Many screens one interacts with have so much wasted space, inflated icons, etc. I didn?t know 3.5? could feel so small and constricting.

-No integrated wifi hospot. No, I don?t want to pay for Joikuspot Premium.

-The email client is still unreliable, and messages arrive far later than they do on my other devices.

-Reception is just as bad as an iPhone 4 when the bottom of the phone is held. To compound the problem, if you are writing a text in full qwerty mode (which many of us are forced to do when punching out longer messages), the phone drops signal/connection considerably as your right hand is cupping the bottom of the phone.

-That ugly two sided arrow thing is still present in the web browser, and now we get to enjoy its presence in the music player.

-Volume button has a slight wobble that makes a sound when the phone is being handled.

- Can no longer edit track information on the phone! This was one of the main things I was looking forward to.

-Manual EQ is gone. Seriously, sometimes it seems like they stole all of the negative things from iPhone instead of the good ones.

-No manual included is included in the box. I know many of you don?t care about this, but I miss the days where a device came with a thick manual that described everything in plain English.

-Camera takes about a second longer to load up than I would like. This is basically a camera with a phone strapped onto it; why am I waiting?

-Plastic cover over the HDMI port will eventually break off, and already shows signs of slight wear.

-GPS is still on after I use the camera (with geo-tagging enabled). Of course, while I?m taking a picture, the phone still can?t get a lock on my position in a reasonable time-frame. Nothing?s changed since my N97 Mini.

-No internet radio out of the box.

-Phone randomly asks which data connection I want to use before I take a picture.

-Sharing for photos/videos has been removed. Uh, why?

-2010 and still haven't seen another optical-zoom enabled camera from Nokia. It's not a deal breaker, but it would have filled out the spec sheet.

-I'm not a huge fan of spring-loaded SIM slots.

-Can?t add a song while it?s playing/selected to a playlist.

-Music Store icon is still there even though many of us don't have access to it.

- Menu button isn?t in the center of the phone.

-Camera settings don?t save, even from mode to mode. Still.

-No visualizations in music player.

Love:

-HDMI/surround sound is awesome and works very well

-Camera is of course amazing

-audio quality is superb through the 3.5mm jack, and the phone pushes my Shure SRH840s mildly well.

-BT mouse support + HDMI out = whoa
-Video editor is back

-Battery life is amazing; I really have to beat on it to get it to drop dead.

-Browser isn't actually that bad, and is MUCH improved over Nokia's previous attempts (apart from the N900). Scrolling and zooming work very well.

-Widgets are underrated.

-Being able to use older charger AND the micro-USB is a nice touch.

-I can delete any bookmark from the browser. Finally.

-The sheer amount of message and ringtones is astounding, and of course, you can still use whatever song you want for either as well.

-Animations actually work without choking the phone up.

I could go on forever, but these are the things that really jump out at me.

I think the N8 is a decent device for the mid-range, but for many of us, there are just a few things that kind of leave us scratching our head. Certain things were omitted from the phone that have been on past Nokia devices, and those things almost break the experience for me. It makes me wonder why I can drag and drop files from a portable hdd, yet, I can't edit any of that information on the phone (I'm referring specifically to mp3s ). Seems like common sense to me, but, maybe they are holding out the more "computer" like features for the N9.
 
This could very well be the case. Have you asked people how you sound on the N8? People have said that my "old phone" blocked outside noise better than my current one.
 
> -The email client is still unreliable, and messages arrive far later than they do on my other devices.

I have two business accounts that forward to a gmail account, but when I setup a gmail account it just really slow at retrieving messages, sometimes half an hour later than my desktop at home.

I could not have that, so setup one Microsoft Exchange to that gmail account, so I can sync gmail contacts, and Google calendar, and setup two IMAP accounts for my business email accounts, and setup one Yahoo email account.

On the IMAP accounts, I get mail before it arrives on my desktop, which is excellent.
 
Maybe, but the things that annoy me the most haven't been mentioned in any reviews/hands-on, etc. I think this phone is one of those devices that one needs to see for first-hand to decide if it's for them or not.



I did that first thinking the same thing, and it simply didn't work. Perhaps there was just some sort of error at the particular time I was doing it. I'll go back to it to see if my experience improves.
 
I was too annoyed with MFE gmail not working for sent mails and now set up gmail imap properly by not agreeing to the nokia TOS.

IMAP working fine for me for gmail, I have it set on 30min auto retrieve and it's been fine so far... though it never really stays connected for imap idle.

My other email account on IMAP seems to behave better.
 
yup... while the app is better, the connections part is still lacking... MFE sucks. No syncing multiple google calendars, and I'm learning there may be a big issue with some WPA2-Enterprise wifi networks (my E5 on my wife's work network)
 
Howard ripped the call quality in his review too. TBH I thought it was pretty good, (actually no problems at all).


Agree about the dim screen. Should be able to set it higher and use the traditional BP-4L to accomidate battery performance needed for the extra backscreen light.


Disagree about the back speaker, and I still think there is enough room when you put the phone on a desk since the camera module props it up a little.


Definitely agree about the recognition of phone taps. As I said in my thread, "sometimes you can't tell if you missed the target or if it's the phone's fault."


Keyboard could be better, "overall" it will once portrait drops.


In regards to the hotspot. I would never use an app for that anyway. Even with my e72 I still use Nokia PC suite to connect. Let your phone's battery get a little help. My attitude is that I keep my laptop in my laptop bag, so the USB cable will be in there anyway. No biggie for me.


I still think it has better reception as the iP4. I've killed calls on the iP4, but haven't with the N8.

In regards to the manual. I'm a PDF guy. Open it up and use search is the way to go for me.

Forget about the plastic covering over the HDMI, I think the SIM and Memory card covers will break off first.

& finally the browser IMO is truly that bad. It was my dealbreaker of where I sold my phone and said, "CYA in February". I've seen that POS enough on my e72 and hopefully the new browser IS all that because the current one makes me wanna go in my car and pull out the laptop.


With that said I still really like the N8 and like I said I could see myself buying it "Again" in February especially since GPS is so good on that phone. Till then I'll be rockin my e72/Galaxy S combo... :)
 
I thought I would give you my opinions on your concerns on a point-by-point basis because it's pretty revealing how people perceive the same things differently.

I find the call quality excellent, although to be honest I've never really found call quality lacking on any modern device with the exception of the 3GS.

The notification light doesn't seem to do anything terribly wacky when you're engaged in a conversation but it seems to me like if you're in Conversations, lock your screen, receive a message and then unlock straight into conversations, the light will keep blinking and the notification in the top-right will show a received message - the one you're already looking at.

I find the screen brightness very satisfying on the middle setting but the auto-dimming sensor is too aggressive. Sometimes it will enter a state of hysteresis and dim-brighten the screen too quickly. It's very noticeable. Also, the sensor is easily covered by your left hand.

The Send button is on a whole other screen. Checkmark, then send. STUPID.

Agree about the speaker. It's very loud and powerful, except when you put the phone down. On soft surface it's totally muffled and even on hard surfaces it's substantially muffled. I wonder whether they could have used the edge of the raised camera bump for the slot.

I have never had issues with the social networking app. Once you're signed in, it stays that way. On the first sign-in after a reboot, it does the Ovi thing and takes a while to get there but on subsequent sign-ins I find it quite quick. I don't use it a great deal, and I don't use the widget at all, but I have no complaints with it. I treat it as sort of a Twitter news feed with almost no facebook use so we're probably looking at it from two different angles.

I find that tap sensitivity and behavior is application-specific. The Ovi Store seems very sensitive to scrolling. If you touch and move your finger just the tiniest bit, it thinks you meant a scroll. In other apps, like the social app for example, you have to whack away at the soft keys to register a touch. Mostly, it's fine.

Portrait T9 is absolutely insane. The person who decided on that should be shot and everyone else who let it go through the chain of command should be fired. That said, use Swype. Even if you just touch-type instead of Swyping, it's still a better keyboard. Of course you'd be crazy not to Swype because it's just so awesome. I can't wait for the portrait to be fixed.

The YouTube app is made by Google, not Nokia. At any rate, it's there now.

A lot of screens are definitely straight-up out of S60v5. Lots of wasted space, no press-and-hold context key press, sloppy kinetic scroll, etc. Unlike you, I have no specific objection to the double-ended arrow mechanism for bringing up hidden keys though.

Integrated WiFi hotspot? That's picking some serious nits. :silly:

The e-mail client suits my pretty simple needs. I don't sync meetings or anything like that. Straight up G-mail and G-mail hosted MX accounts. It works very nicely for me.

The only time I can get the signal to drop when I cup the bottom of the phone is on a subway... Underground. It's very easy to do in low-signal areas, that much is certain.

Not sure what you mean with the volume buttons. They're fairly soft, but I find the keys are much better than on something like the Captivate, for example. On that thing I cannot touch the phone without changing the volume.

Editing track info is a HUGE loss on the music app. What it gains in glitz it loses in functionality. No problems with the EQ - I always use flat. As for visualizations, I can't imagine why I would want them to waste my battery. I don't use them on my PC either because I just can't imagine why I would want them at all.

No manual? I think that's fantastic.

Race the camera with a camera. I think the start-up time is perfectly competitive. On the other hand, I find that the shutter release is WAY too stiff.

The swing-out doors that are attached by little rubber bands or whatever seems pretty stupid, I agree, but I trust that Nokia has tested these sufficiently. I couldn't care less how the SIM card is loaded.

I find that GPS + camera causes the camera to crash periodically. I haven't noticed that it stays on indefinitely afterward, though.

I don't use Internet radio.

I haven't had any data connection prompts at all after setting everything up... Except from that crap Top Apps app that Nokia delivers. This is their own software and they couldn't get it right, lol.

Photo sharing is there. Twitter and Facebook are integrated right into the camera and gallery. And there's Pixelpipe plus several other plugins available too.

Optical zoom would have made the phone a lot bigger. Also, optical zoom is directly at odds with a larger sensor. That's why most P&S cameras have such tiny sensors and why SLRs have canons for lenses. It's also fragile.

The Music Store icon is definitely a slap in the face, and it's not alone. National Geographic? JUNK. Paramount movie ads? JUNK. Top Apps? JUNK!

I don't know why you think the menu button has to be in the center of the phone. I don't think it matters where it is along the bottom. Pressing it while holding the phone with one hand is going to be dicey no matter where it's located.

Some camera settings should definitely save and some shouldn't. Sharpness level? Color temperature? Yeah, save that. ISO setting? Flash setting? Scene Mode? Ehhhh, I'd prefer not. Tough call here - I guess they figured that between all and none, none is better.

I agree with most of your likes, although I am not totally satisfied with the quality of the music output. 99% of people will never hear that periodic ticking, but it's there and it's annoying. I also don't agree with you entirely on the screen transition animations. They're inconsistently applied throughout the device and they absolutely do choke it up from time to time. Also, sometimes scrolling is jerky and sometimes it's not. Annoying.
 
Excellent call quality on mine, both in signal strength and quality of sound. Those talking to me say that it sounds great. As for the brightness, if you need it any brighter, I'd suggest seeing your eye doctor. You might have early onset of cataracts. ;)
 
A lot of those comments where nitpicking, for example:
"Camera start up time'... have you tried other phones, N8 camera starts up quick.

-No youtube app out of the box.

Yes, but YouTube does play in the Nokia browser. A native client is now available that works on the N8.

I agree with the social messaging. If it doesn't work, don't include it. Album browsing doesn't work. You can't see who 'liked' your posts. Its quite embarrassing. The Facebook app sums up Nokia.. release half finished products. Very rough.

A few of your other comments will be addressed in the PR1.1 firmware such as the portrait keyboard.

The entire GUI is rough, too many clicks.

Also why do I see a "User Guide" option on *EVERY SINGLE LEFT MENU*??

If Nokia care about themselves, all the GUI issues with be fixed in PR2.0, the GUI would be almost perfect. Its something they have to do...
 
Galaxy S is a great phone, especially if you can find one unlocked, unbranded (there is a Latin America model floating around with 850/1900/2100 3G). The one I had never received Froyo, even though it was officially released by Samsung. I can only imagine how much better it is with 2.2 or 2.3 -



-I've tested it blindly with several people, and each and every time, they said there was too much background noise to hear me as clear as my other device (iPhone 4). The noise cancellation on the iPhone 4 is excellent, and people really appreciate how well they can hear my voice. Granted, they think the N8 sounds really good too, it's just that they find my iP4 sounds more clear.

-Youtube does make the app, yes. Since Nokia found it "necessary" to make a social networking app instead of waiting for Facebook and Twitter to jump on board with the platform, I would have expected them to tackle the lack of Youtube. Er, actually no, I don't want them to do this.

I've seen cheapo LG phones with a dedicated app, so I would expect the N8 to have the same -- out of the box.

-I hold my phone with my left hand (I'm right handed, BTW), and it takes some adjusting to hit the button. To add to the problem, the bottom chin of the phone bends in slightly.

-Agreed in regards to the camera settings, however, I would love the option to choose.

-Wifi hotspot is just something I really enjoy using...I would have loved it if Nokia included this.

-I'll have to listen for this music "ticking" on some quiet songs, as I've yet to hear it. If it's as annoying as the old N95-3 hiss, that's a deal breaker for me.

-The animations come off as though Nokia is trying too hard to make the phone pretty, but compared to past phones, I feel as though they don't kill performance.

-My camera is slow to start because about half the time, the phone prompts me to choose a data connection to use as soon as the camera app loads. It's very annoying, and there is no rhyme or reason as to when it does it.

-Past Nokia devices contained a "sharing" system that allows one to post pictures to flickr...out of the box. It bothered me as I always thought that was one of the things Nokia actually nailed...and then they take it out.
 
Yes, I've used other phones. Other phones don't ask me to make data connections when I'm trying to take a picture.

Youtube in the browser is a nice idea, but when I just want to watch a quick clip or show someone a video, the browser is the last thing I want to go through.

I like the UI in S^3, I just think there is more fine tuning that needs to happen. I also can't stand the fact that Nokia has taken out core things that have worked out well for them in the past. They added "250+" new features, but they took away a ton of already useful ones.



Compared to what?
 
I've seen that model, but went with the i9000M made by Bell instead using my AT&T SIM. I get the 850/1900 3G bands as well. Currently on 2.2...


The Galaxy S is the best Android phone that I used, but there are days that I wished it would be more like Nokia and vice versa.


In the end, if the N900 was more AT&T friendly and had (slightly better battery) that would probably be my one and only phone to this day. Until the day comes when I find my N900 successor (hopefully it's the N9) I will continue being a phone whore... :lol:
 
I'll ask a few questions without it coming off as baiting or troll-ish, which isn't my intent:

Are people maybe setting their expectations too high for the next, supposedly February, firmware update for the N8?

I know people are expecting a new stock browser most of all, but realistically does anybody think this new browser will match in usability to the Android browser or iOS mobile Safari?

Most of all, I know many fans insist that there's nothing inherently wrong with Symbian per se, but the GUI needs a facelift....but is this true? With a new UI team, can Symbian ever be as smooth in operation as the Android experience on a Desire or Galaxy S? If so, wouldn't it be there already?

I'm beginning to suspect that the core OS may just not be able to 'scale up' to match competing platforms.
 
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