Previews

Hands on with Nokia's great new smartphone hope - N8

Light but with a mighty punch

Hands on with Nokia's great new smartphone hope - N8
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We've been waiting for Nokia N8 to arrive in store for the past four months or so, and it's looking like we'll be holding on for at least another four weeks.

The current UK release date for the £320, €370, $499 (if unsubsidised) phone is said to be September, maybe even October.

"We've been burnt before by giving out release dates too early," one of the PRs told me. "But at the moment we don't know the exact date anyhow."

With such a long lead time - the hardware itself has been around since the spring, with much of the work up revolving around the new Symbian^3 operating system - Nokia is making sure that this, its most important device launch for years - will be as perfect as these things can be.

Gonna be winner?

Still, what's significant isn't that the Nokia N8 will be an iPhone-killer, much less a Droid X, iPhone 4, or Nexus One-killer.

Unlike these devices, the N8 isn't aimed at the Ferrari or Maserati end of the market. Instead, think of it as an Audi, most importantly one that you can buy for the price of a Vauxhall.

Basically, the plan is you'll want an N8 instead of a Samsung Wave or a generic Sony Ericsson-come-LG, and despite the very Nokia/Symbian nature of the device, even Samsung, LG or SE owners probably will.

Most obvious is the build quality, which is even better than what I would call 'typical Nokia'.

The frame is aluminum, so light but in a classy way, and even the chamfered plastic ends work, albeit in a way best described as characteristic, rather than handsome.

It's a similar situation with the colours. The obvious black and silver finishes are great. The lime green version that's going out exclusively with Vodafone is frightening.

Down to detail

The bulge on the rear of the phone that houses the mechanical lens and Xenon flash for the 12MP camera, and a secondary microphone, is also best described as functional, but I think the consequential picture quality of the still and HD video footage is well worth the minor irritation.

There are the usual array of side buttons - lock, camera shutter, volume, etc - while the power is hidden away on top of the phone. The only front-facing button is the flush home button, but it has the requisite travel and solidity.

Other features worth mentioning are the front-facing camera for video calls; the ability to connect via mini-USB to your plasma screen for 720p and Dolby 5.1 Surround sound, and to any USB stick using the provided adapters; and the fact that you can also use the mini-USB in conjunction with the main power jack for quicker charging.

Provided memory is 16GB internal plus optional 32GB via microSD. HD video playback time is 7 hours, or 50 for music. There's an FM radio receiver and transmitter, too.

Physically. then, despite it effectively being a large screen, the N8 ranks alongside Nokia devices I've previously used and loved ranging from the 8110 to the N95 and N81. It looks, feels and handles like a Nokia, which is a good thing.

Softly software

The flipside is how this Nokianess - technically Symbianness - feeds through to the software and user interface.

There are many good things about the new Symbian^3 operating system. It's fast and smooth - running at 60 fps - and there are plenty of sensible features lifted from the competition.

There's the Apple-style music carousel, the Android-style three home screens, plus the now standard ability to have all manner of widgets and feeds running live on the main home page.

Various odd Symbian legacies have been fixed with now only single presses required to open folders and launch apps. You can customise menus to see information in the way your desire, while worthwhile Symbian legacies such as multi-tasking, supported since back in the day, can be handled with a long press to bring up all currently running apps.

Access to the Ovi Store is highlighted with an icon on the home screen and it has a cleaned up user interface once it launches.

Still, behind this facade, there's still the traditional Symbian UI and information flow with an applications folder for some apps, while others (Nokia ones) get their own icon.

Games are filed away in a specific Games folder, while various settings, connectivity information, and other utilities are provided higher icon status.

Depending on your view and familiarity to Symbian, this is either comfortable or retrograde. Still, at least now it's hidden behind a curtain of home screens and widgets, so for most of the time you can pretend it's not really there.

Going to be game?

The final point - which is perhaps surprising for a site called Pocket Gamer - concerns games. Basically, the current pre-production handsets don't have any games pre-installed so it was impossible to give a view on how the N8 will perform in this regard.

There's also the issue that being the first Symbian^3 device, the games and apps currently available on the App Store won't necessarily work on the N8 without being tweaked.

The better news is that titles such as Rovio's Angry Birds and Gameloft's Asphalt 5 will be available for the N8 launch, and I'd expect plenty more to come along in due course. But at the moment, other than hopes concerning its potency, that's about all that can be said on the subject.

In conclusion. A quick 20 minutes hands on with the N8 suggest it's the best smartphone Nokia's made for a couple of years.

It won't be the best smartphone in the world, if only because of its operating system. But in terms of value of money for hardware features, you won't do better for a while.

Jon Jordan
Jon Jordan
A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon can turn his hand to anything except hand turning. He is editor-at-large at PG.biz which means he can arrive anywhere in the world, acting like a slightly confused uncle looking for the way out. He likes letters, cameras, imaginary numbers and legumes.