Product Listing

Nokia N8 - A New Approach

By Seow Tein Hee - 22 Dec 2010
Launch SRP: S$785

Performance

Portrait of a Symbian

By now, most of you might have heard a thing or two about the N8's performance rating. And if you're seeking some form of confirmation from our review, we do have some thoughts to share.

A smartphone should typically be designed to be all-encompassing at no expense to its overall handling speed and performance. Can we say this is the case for the N8? Sadly, no. Within the first few hours, we experienced sluggish response from the device several times. Using its social network app, as we've mentioned, is as good an example of its less than acceptable performance. Sadly, it doesn't stop just at that. When it comes to apps loading, we could count the seconds before it finally gets it running. Also, transitioning across apps was a time-consuming affair, which led to the N8 crashing on us on occasions.

In fact, due to the number of crashes we've encountered, we decided to wait for yet another unit to arrive and reconfirm our findings (which is one of the reasons why we weren't as timely for this review). Alas, it was nearly the same situation, which got especially worse when we pushed the N8 to its limits with as many apps running simultaneously as possible. A quick check of the firmware via over-the-air also reported no immediate updates, leading us to believe the experience we faced is as current as you can get up till the point of publishing this article.

Our evaluation doesn't stop short of its overall usability. There is still the multimedia and battery mileage to consider when we assess the N8's performance. First up - how does it fare as a music and video player? We were duly impressed with the clarity and rich colors presented by the 3.5-inch OLED display. Audio quality was rich, with a range of equalizer settings for you to choose from. Nonetheless, the act of playing a video or audio clip is both convoluted with its multiple layers on its user interface, and slow during its initial loading.

The 3.5-inch OLED display gets a nod from us with vibrant colors and good quality. Though we did wish the screen resolution could be a tad higher.

As we've explained in the Features page, the N8 places a strong emphasis on its 12-megapixel camera. In the sea of negativity till now, is it going to be a redeeming point? Fortunately, it's a resounding yes. Compared to other mobile devices, the N8 utilizes a relatively larger sensor size at 1/1.83-inch. In imaging terms, this leads to a greater dynamic range. Typically speaking, this gives the N8 a better grasp at noise control.

If you need to look at the hard facts, our resolution and color test charts have the results to show for. On the resolution chart, the N8 returned values slightly beyond 1200 on both the vertical and horizontal LPH. This sets itself as a close match to dedicated compact cameras. And if you need more convincing, the color chart showed a faithful reproduction of each color, balanced with no overly warm or cool colors across the palette.

An above average reading of 1200LPH on the resolution chart, with rich and well-balanced colors on the color chart, provides the N8 with redeeming qualities.

Noticeably, the test image is crisp and sharp, especially at the fringes with no visible artifacts. Its attention to details is evidently seen in the distinct separation of the fur.

Finally, we touch upon its battery mileage. We subjected the N8 to a video at a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels resolution. This video is played repeatedly, with its screen brightness and volume set at 100%. To push the device further, we also activated its Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, which gave us the final results as charted below. For comparative purposes, we put the N8's results against the LG Optimus 7 (Windows Phone 7), HTC Desire (Google Android) and the Apple iPhone 4 (iOS)

Specifications/Device Nokia N8 LG Optimus 7 Apple iPhone 4 HTC Desire
Connectivity
  • Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n
  • Bluetooth 3.0 + A2DP
  • HSDPA
  • GPS with A-GPS
  • Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n
  • Bluetooth 2.1 + A2DP
  • HSDPA
  • GPS with A-GPS
  • Wi-Fi 802.11b/g
  • Bluetooth 2.1 + A2DP
  • HSDPA
  • GPS with A-GPS
  • Wi-Fi 802.11b/g
  • Bluetooth 2.1 + A2DP
  • HSDPA
  • GPS with A-GPS
Dimensions
  • 113.5 x 59.12 x 12.9mm
  • 125 x 59.8 x 11.5 mm
  • 115.8 x 58.6 x 9.3 mm
  • 119 x 60 x 1139 mm
Weight
  • 135g
  • 150g
  • 137g
  • 135g
Screen size
  • 3.5-inch, 360 x 640 pixels
  • 3.8-inch, 480 x 800 pixels
  • 3.5-inch, 640 x 960 pixels
  • 3.7-inch, 800 x 480 pixels
Battery
  • 1200 mAh
  • 1500 mAh
  • 1420 mAh
  • 1400 mAh

With a 1200mAh battery, the N8 lasted close to 4 hours 27 minutes. We see this as an average number, which should have been higher given the fact that it is using a smaller OLED screen compared to those within the comparison chart. Matching up against the Desire with similar weight and dimensions, the lower mileage from the N8 puts it at a disadvantage on the portability scale, with only the Optimus 7 scoring lower due to its less efficient power management. Compared to the previous flagship, the N97, the N8 fares a lot better, but competition has since stiffened up quite a bit as well.

Aside from the above intensive battery test, we also subjected the N8 to the normal usage pattern one might get out of it. This includes web surfing, constant push email, occasional multimedia playback and the usual cellular functions such as calls and messages. Luckily, we managed to drain the battery in roughly a day without any incidents. For if it did crash and hang on us, we would have been unable to use the age-old resetting method - removing the battery.

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7.0
  • Design 7
  • Features 8
  • User-Friendliness 6.5
  • Performance 6.5
  • Value 7
The Good
Good 12MP camera with attention to details and sharp imaging quality
Good viewing experience with OLED screen
The Bad
Sluggish and unpolished user interface
Below expected battery mileage
Poor design/placement of often used buttons
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