Review: Nokia N8
Oct 4, 2010, 10:16 PM by Eric M. Zeman
Phone Scoop takes Nokia's first Symbian^3 device, the N8, for a spin. How does it stack up against other smartphone systems, can it hold its own?
The Nokia N8 is the company's first Symbian^3 handset. It aims high with a capacitive display, a 12 megapixel camera, and penta-band 3G on board. Does the N8 make up for the N97's missteps? Can it recapture the Nokia glory of old? More importantly, is it worth shelling out $550 for? Phone Scoop finds out.
About the author, Eric M. Zeman:Eric has been covering the mobile telecommunications industry for 17 years at various print and online publications. He studied at Rutgers Newark and University of Kentucky, and has a degree in writing. He likes playing guitar, attending concerts, listening to music, and driving sports cars.
Hands-On: Nokia N8
Hands On with the T-Mobile REVVL 6 Pro 5G
Hands On with JLab's $30 ANC Earbuds
Nokia Phones Coming to New US Carriers in 2022
Nokia N8-00
Comments
Contacts and other negatives
I have used my Green Nokia N8 with Ovi Music Unlimited and 32 GB extra memory (totaling 48 GB) 9 days since I bought it. I read your interesting review.
I understand you dislikes on certain UI features, but some like and some don't. I like most of them.
There are some comments and disagreements I would like to share
1. Contacts
"They are clumsy, and not as simple as those offered by others. For example, it took efforts across multiple days to even create an Ovi account."
Creating Ovi account took multiple days? Really? Never heard from anyone.
Nokia N8 has excellent and intuitive contact application that not only work as simple contact application but extends its reach to Social media. When I got my N8 I first used Mail fo...
(continues)
I understand you dislikes on certain UI features, but some like and some don't. I like most of them.
There are some comments and disagreements I would like to share
1. Contacts
"They are clumsy, and not as simple as those offered by others. For example, it took efforts across multiple days to even create an Ovi account."
Creating Ovi account took multiple days? Really? Never heard from anyone.
Nokia N8 has excellent and intuitive contact application that not only work as simple contact application but extends its reach to Social media. When I got my N8 I first used Mail fo...
(continues)
Agreed!
Exactly my thoughts... I dislike how phone reviewers bad mouth what they don't understand and make unfair comparisons. Just cause Android wants to intergrate your online accounts with your phone contacts; doesn't mean everyone wants that. Symbian is a...
(continues)
(continues)
Frowny Face
I'm sort of disappointed. The proposed hardware of this phone gave me wet dreams for the last few months, yet the review implies that it chokes with its operating system. Boo.
Too bad we're not at the point where one could sideload a different operating system onto any smartphone hardware.
Too bad we're not at the point where one could sideload a different operating system onto any smartphone hardware.
Folks have loaded an Android OS to the N900, Linux other than Maemo has been loaded to it as well. I believe someone figured out how to get Windows 95 to run on it.
If open source continues to gain steam the day may be two to three years out when ...
(continues)
If open source continues to gain steam the day may be two to three years out when ...
(continues)
To each their own... I'm getting mine next week, and I'm excited as ever =)! Android OS is too dependent on google services, iOS is too narrow viewed and restricted, and Blackberry OS just doesn't appeal to me at all. With Symbian, I can control it an...
(continues)
(continues)
Symbian^3... better or worse than S60?
My opinion... worse.
I enjoyed both S80 and S60 immensely. Some of the features that Eric lists as negatives of S60 are actually some of the features I appreciate the most about S60. I love S60 3rd Edition, especially Feature Pack 2. My current phone (a Nokia E75) does not have any issues or insurmountable problems to speak of. It does not crash, it does not pause for long periods of time when the screen rotates, it takes pictures in a snappy manner, and everything works properly (including the browser).
However, S60 5th Edition was, in my opinion, the first departure from decency for Nokia. I finally played with a Nokia 5230 Nuron, and found that I did not like the two-tap interface method. The touch screen was resistive, and re...
(continues)
I enjoyed both S80 and S60 immensely. Some of the features that Eric lists as negatives of S60 are actually some of the features I appreciate the most about S60. I love S60 3rd Edition, especially Feature Pack 2. My current phone (a Nokia E75) does not have any issues or insurmountable problems to speak of. It does not crash, it does not pause for long periods of time when the screen rotates, it takes pictures in a snappy manner, and everything works properly (including the browser).
However, S60 5th Edition was, in my opinion, the first departure from decency for Nokia. I finally played with a Nokia 5230 Nuron, and found that I did not like the two-tap interface method. The touch screen was resistive, and re...
(continues)
I wouldn't put so much weight on Eric's review here. Read other reviews first; some from Symbian site, some from site typically pro Android and pro iPhone. This is not 5th Edition (S^1). It looks like it, which I appreciate, but a lot has been address...
(continues)
(continues)
i agree with you for the most part...
but i think the n8 is capacitive(?)
and they moved to non-removable batteries to make it thinner. its not very friendly for people who like buying non-original batteries but im guessing they are so confident in ...
(continues)
but i think the n8 is capacitive(?)
and they moved to non-removable batteries to make it thinner. its not very friendly for people who like buying non-original batteries but im guessing they are so confident in ...
(continues)
Contacts
"The only way I was able to sync my vast contact database with the N8 was to set up an Ovi account and use Nokia's account sync tools."
Seriously? You can't sync contacts with Exchange and/or Outlook?
Seriously? You can't sync contacts with Exchange and/or Outlook?
No, that's not true. You can sync with Google Contact using Microsoft Exchange, and you can sync with Outlook via Ovi Suite.
