Nokia N8-00
Phone Scoop Review
Oct 4, 2010 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? read review ›
User Reviews
Average Ratings
N8 Nice Step-up from N-95
I own a small Cell Phone Repair/Replacement phone shop and have been in the business almost 20 years. I have had Nokias as my main phone for the majority of that time. My last phone was an N95 and I loved it, but wanted a better camera. The N8 does not disappoint.
I found the camera to be the best on the market hands down; nothing even comes close.
The reception is top of the line, for any PDA out now, as you would expect from a Nokia.
The GPS connects faster than the N95(I had a Garmin program in it), especially while your driving, although it's still faster to do it at a stand still. The maps included are easy to use, as helpful as the Garmin were, and an obvious upgrade to the Nokia maps of the past. Downloading is quick and convenient using WiFi.
I refuse to pay for a Data package through AT&T or anyone else. Therefore, I rely on the WiFi for all my Internet connections. It's very easy to turn off any Service Provider's Data(You only have to do it once,too) and only use Wifi when it's available. All I can say is it is faster than any other phone's wifi I've used(And I repair them all!).
I love the no "Bloatware" thing too. I hate having AT&T's, or any SP's, logo and crap they put in a phone; and obviously Factory Direct Nokias such as the N8, dont have it at all.
All in all a great phone. The only Con I can say is it froze on me twice in the last 3 months. Hardly a Con at all when I see all the freeze problems on most PDA's.
Regardless, here's the quick fix if it does happen to yours: Hold the power button down for 8-10 seconds until you feel 3 quick vibrations. The phone will power down. Wait 20-30 seconds and power up. Problem gone.
Evolutionary; Not Revolutionary
For all things having to do with using a smartphone the N8 shines. Calls, calendar contacts, camera all work well.
It is generally quite responsive. A few seconds here and there it hangs, it will spontaneously reboot, but rarely. Twice in two months it has rebooted. Three times in two months I've had to turn it off and turn it on again because it was acting sluggish.
Battery life on the N8 is excellent. Several days of light use without visiting the charger is outstanding.
The UI is a zero learning curve UI for anyone who has used a Symbian device in the past. Everything is pretty much where you'd expect it.
The display is bright, contrasty and capable of use outside.
Capacitive touch screen is just that - not as precise as the preferred resistive touch screen. The "stylus" has a contact area about the size of a pencil eraser, not a pin point.
Music sounds good through good headphones. HDMI HD output looks great on a HD TV. It is about average through the Composite TV out cable.
Camera- HD video recording may stutter a little bit. Camera firmware produces stunningly nice images from the 12 MP sensor. Very low noise/low artifact.
I like the device and it holds my secondary line SIM. My primary is in an N900. Some of the things that are holding it back from "First Phone" status:
1- Sometimes the interfaces hangs for a few seconds.
2- Screen resolution is Symbian standard - too few pixels.
3- Capacitive touch screen
4- No physical keypad
This is a huge step up from the 5800 XpressMusic, my former secondary device. It doesn't feel or act like "Son of 5800" at all. It is closer to the N97 experience at its best but smoother.
There are numerous apps in the Ovi store that add functionality and ease of use to the device. Many Symbian 60v5 applications work without incident on the N8-00.
This gets 4/5 because of occasional lagginess. Once someone figures out how to overclock the ARM 11 processor this will certainly clear up.
Nokia N8...Why Not?
Nice, solid phone, period. Some differences from Android and Blackberry? Obviously.
Pros--Build, Screen, Screen Response, Camera, Camera, Camera,
Cons--A bit of a learning curve for Symbian OS, Options for Apps are limited
Overall, a real nice phone. Would consider going back to Android or B-Berry, but have found things I like in all 3. Yes, I am bit of a phone hoarder
Perfect Phone
Nokia N8 does not lag or hang. The touch is so smooth and the phone reactions are just superb.
There is not a single thing that any phone can do that this phone can't. Tons of Symbian applications are coming out.
One of the BEST if not the BEST
First off, let me begin with the only CON:
The UI doesn't have eye candy like iOS/Android.
Pros:
However, feature wise, this phone can do it all:
It goes without saying that the hardware is the best (12mp camera, xenon flash (not LED), strong built, HDMI output, FM Radio Transmitter, FAST GPU, Front Facing Camera...)
As far as the UI is concerned, it has made major improvements to Symbian^1 and continues to evolve. Feature-wise, this phone can do it all. And now with Nokia's backing, more and more applications are getting developed for this platform everyday).
hide detailed ratings
Camera still in the top 3
The camera in the Nokia N8 still dominates almost every other phone camera to date (now 2016) - and the N8 turns six years old this year. Only Nokia PureViews can match or outperform it. I had an 808 PureView for a while, and there was very little difference.
Unfortunately for us all, there is very little support and few new apps to be found for Symbian. For simple messaging, email, mapping and multimedia, it is still very capable. Web browsing and modern app support, not so much anymore. Calling is as good as it gets and battery life is excellent if you go easy on the screen brightness. It has great little perks like a built-in FM radio, USB-OTG, HDMI and even composite video out. You can even plug in a USB hub and use a PC's keyboard and mouse while using HDMI for video out.
I ditched my N8 a year ago for a BlackBerry Passport, but the camera alone on the N8 makes me want it back. It is THAT good.
