Nokia N8 Review

Nokia N8, the best smartphone of Nokia so far, comes with a 12 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and HDMI output capacitive touch screen 3.5-inch. It equipped with 680 Mhz processor, 16 GB internal memory and multiple connectivity options...

Nokia N8 Review from CNET

The good: The Nokia N8 and Symbian 3 offer a better and more enhanced user experience than previous devices. The N8 delivers excellent camera and video quality. The smartphone has solid hardware and offers 3G support for both T-Mobile and AT&T. You get free turn-by-turn navigation via Ovi Maps.

The bad: It's expensive. User interface is much improved, but still trails the competition in ease of use. The N8 can be sluggish. You only get a QWERTY keyboard in landscape mode, and there's no user-replaceable battery.


The bottom line: The Nokia N8 excels as a camera phone, and the improvements of Symbian 3 make it one of the company's best smartphones to date. However, it still has its shortcomings and an expensive price tag, making it a hard sell for the North American market.

Nokia N8 Review from GSMArena

Key features

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
• Penta-band 3G with 10.2 Mbps HSDPA and 2 Mbps HSUPA support
• Sleek anodized aluminum unibody
• 3.5" 16M-color AMOLED capacitive touchscreen of 640 x 360 pixel resolution
• 12 megapixel autofocus camera with xenon flash and 720p@25fps video recording
• Camera features: large 1/1.83” camera sensor, mechanical shutter, ND filter, geo-tagging, face detection
• Symbian^3 OS
• 680 MHz ARM 11 CPU and 256 MB RAM
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
• microHDMI port for 720p TV-out functionality
• GPS receiver with A-GPS support and free lifetime voice-guided navigation
• Digital compass
• 16GB on-board storage, expandable through the microSD card slot
• Active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic
• DivX and XviD video support
• Built-in accelerometer and proximity sensor
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• Stereo FM Radio with RDS, FM transmitter
• microUSB port with USB On-the-go support
• Flash and Java support for the web browser
• Stereo Bluetooth 3.0
• Nice audio reproduction quality
• Smart and voice dialing
• Scratch resistant Gorilla glass display

Main disadvantages

• Symbian^3 is still behind Android and iOS usability standards
• No video light
• Camera interface is decidedly outdated
• Relatively limited 3rd party software availability
• No office document editing (without a paid upgrade)
• Video player has some issues
• Battery life is not on par with best in the business
• Battery is not user-replaceable

Nokia N8 Review from Mobile-Phones-UK

Nokia are pinning their future on the new Symbian ^3 operating system. The N8 is the first device to feature this operating system, and it also has a monster 12 megapixel camera and HD video recording. The N8 could be the phone that determines whether Nokia retain their position as the world's number one phone manufacturer. Come with us for a peek into the future ...

Well, let's start with the basics. The N8 is a classic-shaped phone with a touchscreen filling most of its facia. It's about the same height and width as the iPhone 4, but a lot thicker. Not surprisingly, it manages to fit a screen that's exactly the same size as the iPhone, at 3.5 inches diagonally. The phone feels very solid in the hand, with an aluminium body and anodised scratch-proof paint. Interestingly, the battery is non-removable, as the metal body completely encloses it. The SIM and memory cards fit into covered slots in the side of the phone.

So, we switch it on and the first thing we notice is the screen. It's AMOLED, so it's nice and bright but we can't help noticing that the resolution doesn't come close to the resolution of the iPhone 4 or the HTC Desire. Don't mistake us: it's not awful, but for a flagship phone it could be better. The next thing we notice is the home screen. It's different to what we've seen before on a Nokia, and that's because the N8 is running Symbian^3. Symbian^3 actually has three home screens, and you can swipe between them with your finger. We notice that the capacitive touchscreen is nice and responsive and that the phone responds quickly to our touch, in contrast to the sluggishness of previous Symbian phones. The display flicks sharply between landscape and portrait modes too. In our testing, the N8 seemed to be significantly more responsive and robust than the old Symbian phones that regularly used to freeze and crash. It helps that the N8 has a new, faster processor too. But mutli-tasking can still slow the device to a crawl. Generally speaking, Symbian^3 feels like an evolution, rather than a revolution, which is either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your point of view. It means that existing Symbian users will adapt to it very easily indeed, but it doesn't offer the great leap forward that some may have hoped for. If you've already made the switch to the iPhone or to Android, you may find that Symbian^3 feels like a backward step.

But the N8 is not stepping backwards when it comes to the camera. This is a 12 megapixel monster with a large sensor, Carl Zeiss optics and a xenon flash - just like a real digital camera. Not surprisingly it takes truly excellent photos, with great colour balance and accurate focusing. It's all very easy to use too. It's quite reasonable to say the N8 is the best camera phone ever - certainly it's in the top three. The video recording is also outstanding, with HD recording and good stereo sound quality too. A second front camera supports video calling.

The media player is excellent, with quite smooth video playback, and there's the benefit of an FM radio with RDS. You can also stream content from the web, using the fast 3G connection giving downloads of up to 10.2 Mbps, or the Wi-Fi connection. Audio quality is excellent, either through the main speaker, or piped through Bluetooth 3, the 3.5mm headphone jack or even the HDMI connection directly to your home cinema system.

Another bonus is the GPS system which includes Ovi Maps with free voice-guided navigation wherever you are in the world.

The web browser is new and isn't at all bad, with pinch to zoom functionality and Flash Lite for watching movies, but we don't think that 's a match for HTC or Apple. Facebook and Twitter are catered for via an integrated social networking app. Ovi Store is easier to access than on previous Symbian phones, although it can't match the choice of apps for the iPhone or for Android.

Battery life is surprisingly good. We say surprising, because the battery isn't that big - just 1200mAh - yet the phone can easily outlast most competing smartphones, even with Wi-Fi and GPS in use. The AMOLED screen helps, but the Symbian^3 OS must be managing power consumption well to get this kind of performance out of a middle-sized battery.

The N8 is probably the best Nokia we've ever seen, and you'd have to be a meanie not to give it 5 stars. Sure, it's not perfect, but it's a definite improvement over older Symbian phones, and it's an impressive piece of hardware with a stunning camera.