Nokia N8 review

Much anticipated smartphone is a multimedia powerhouse, but let down by poor user interface

Nokia's N8 handset has finally landed, boasting the all-new Symbian^3 platform. Unveiled in June, the N8 boasts a dazzling array of multimedia features in a bid to tempt mobile buyers away from Android, BlackBerry and iPhone handsets.

Nokia hasn't skimped on the specifications, and the 3.5in 640 x 360 Amoled touch screen offers a visual experience close to other high-end devices, such as the Samsung Galaxy S.

With dimensions of 113.5mm x 59mm x 12.9mm, the N8 fits nicely into the palm of the hand, and it's not too heavy at 135g. The scratch-proof anodised aluminium casing gives the device a stylish appearance and protection from everyday use.
Symbian^3 OS
Symbian^3 is an improvement over previous versions, but it is still not at the level it should be. There are three home screens packed with widgets and applications that can be viewed in landscape and portrait modes, a nice touch that many other smartphones lack.

Each home screen is divided into four rows, which can house four application shortcuts or display one widget such as email or social networking updates.

We were disappointed that the widgets cannot be expanded to take up the whole screen, as people now want as much information as possible crammed onto the screen. The same problem was apparent in the Nokia C6, which runs on an older Symbian platform.

In our tests we found that customising the home screen was a bit of a chore. It was not possible to move widgets between panels. Instead, each of the three screens has to be customised individually, and even then it was fiddly. There is no sense of integration like there is with Apple iOS4 or Android home screens.

Pressing the Home button brings up a more detailed classic menu catering to Nokia fans, and the company has been generous with the apps it has preloaded onto the phone.

Bloomberg, iPlayer, Skype, Spotify, Wikipedia, Yell and YouTube are all there from the get-go. Ovi Maps with voice guided navigation as standard is a bonus, and Nokia's Ovi Store also houses thousands of apps.

Nokia N8 review

Much anticipated smartphone is a multimedia powerhouse, but let down by poor user interface

A middling 680MHz processor means that the N8 isn't the fastest of devices, and a split-second delay between initiating and loading an application is apparent. While this delay doesn't hinder performance generally, there were periods when the device slowed down significantly and had us twiddling our thumbs.

As the N8 is capable of multitasking, users need to be careful not to keep too many apps running in the background and inadvertently using up battery.

Interface
It seems Nokia has decided to play it safe with the interface by making tweaks to the old Symbian platform, instead of going for a complete redesign.

The N8 comes with a full touch screen Qwerty keypad and while it is one of the best Nokia has created, it is still short of the great input interfaces offered by the iPhone 4 or Galaxy S.

Typing in portrait mode brings up a classic alpha-numerical keypad which is a tad disappointing, considering this is method smartphone users are no longer accustomed to. It's little things like this that make it clear Nokia is reluctant to move on. The decision not to go with a mini Qwerty is baffling.

Thankfully, when the device is used in landscape mode a full Qwerty appears. Unfortunately, the keys such as the space bar, enter, delete and shift are simply too small and make inputting text quite awkward.

Browsing
The default browser is made to look distinctly average when up against mobile browsers such as Safari and Opera Mini in terms of speed and formatting.

The N8 shows as much of the web page as possible but users still have to click on a double-ended arrow in the bottom right hand corner and then it's another three clicks before being able to navigate to another address.

The font is readable when a web page is loaded, but pages do not automatically resize to fit the 3.5in touch screen, which is disappointing. Pinch-to-zoom is another letdown as resizing is jerky and doesn't always zoom in on the intended area.

Nokia N8 review

Much anticipated smartphone is a multimedia powerhouse, but let down by poor user interface

Double tapping on the screen zooms in and out of text, but again there is no automatic reformatting when zooming in, fragmenting the reading experience even more. We found scrolling was not the smoothest experience either, with the page jerking as we moved down.

Business users will be pleased to know that email is easy to synchronise, and options to add Ovi, Yahoo, Gmail and Windows Live are just a couple of clicks away. Adding Exchange accounts requires more information such as domain and email address, but is still quick to set up.

Connectivity
Being touted as a multimedia device, we'd expect the N8 to excel in this area. The HDMI output is the standout feature, allowing the device to be connected to larger HD displays. This could have useful multimedia and business uses as it allows HD films and presentations to be transmitted onto bigger screens without the need for a PC.

Bluetooth 3.0 with A2DP, Wi-Fi and 3G round off the wireless connectivity options.

A micro-USB port is also included, allowing the device to be synchronised with a desktop, and micro-SD and SIM cards are inserted through the left hand side of the device via two-hinged gates.

Nokia has chosen to seal the handset so there is no access to the battery, an alarming trend that most smartphone manufacturers are starting to follow. This could make the device unattractive to business users who may be used to swapping batteries when on the move.

However, on the plus side, SD cards and SIM cards can be inserted and removed in a matter of seconds, and the phone reboots quickly. The device comes with 16GB of internal memory and supports SD cards up to 32GB.

Multimedia
Users needing to make conference calls can do so with the front-facing VGA camera, and watching videos from the pre-loaded iPlayer app was a pleasure. There was no lag over Wi-Fi, and picture quality was decent. The browser runs Flash Lite 4.0 and is able to play most videos without trouble.

The jewel in the crown for the N8 is the 12-megapixel Carl Zeiss-powered camera on the back. Nokia claims that it is the best camera in a phone and, judging by the snaps we took, we think the manufacturer has a point.

With autofocus, face recognition, 2x digital zoom and Xenon Flash, our pictures appeared crisp and clear.

The N8 is also capable of video recording in HD in 720p at 25fps with 3x digital zoom, and Nokia claims three hours and 20 minutes of recording time.

Battery life
Nokia touts a maximum of 720 minutes talk time and 400 hours standby, and the device lasted two days with medium use.

In our tests we found that we spent significantly less time using the internet because of its fiddly nature, but did use functions like the iPlayer and the camera.