NOKIA N8 SYMBIAN ANNA REVIEW

This is the classic case of a device realizing its potential
much after we expected it would. The Nokia N8 has
been around for about a year now, but the completely
undercooked Symbian^3 OS had ruined what was a
superb phone, at least as far as the hardware is
concerned. However, that has changed now, with the
Symbian Anna update.
Look & Feel
The design of the phone has been left unchanged, but
a new colour has been added – hot pink. Maybe that’ll
help appeal to a wider demographic!
Click to enlarge
The 3.5-inch touchscreen takes up almost all the space
on the front, with just enough left for a hardware key,
for the Menu. The SIM card and the microSD slots are
on the left side panel, along with the micro USB port.
The right side panel has the volume rocker, the display
lock slider and camera key. Turn the phone over, and
there is no battery cover that can be opened. Nokia
went the Apple way and made the battery
inaccessible to the user. While that is a good thing since
there are less number of moving parts on the phone,
but does pose a bit of an inconvenience when the
battery needs to be replaced. The 12MP camera does
sit in a platform that bulges out. Quite understandably,
since the massive camera needs space and the
extremely slim form factor definitely didn’t offer
enough space. However, since one complete side of
this raised platform bears all the weight when the
phone is kept on a flat surface, it will get scratched and
the colour will wear out quicker. Are we back to the
days when the kept the likes of the Nokia 6600 face
down, mostly to prevent the battery from getting
scratched?
There is no doubting the solidity of the phone. And at
135 grams, it isn't the lightest around. However, the
3.5-inch display means that the phone fits in very
comfortably in the same hand that may be used to
type out an SMS. Maybe that Menu key could have
been a touch sensitive one.
Features
The biggest update this phone has received is the
Symbian Anna update. And a breath of fresh air is has
been. The Symbian^3 that had originally come with
the N8 was sluggish, prone to freezes and crashes, and
immediately killed any expectations that it was the real
iOS and Android beater. With Anna though, the phone
does feel lighter, and less stressed. Minor UI
improvements include icons with rounded edges and
slightly redesigned menus. However, the promised
update to allow widgets of multiple sizes has been left
out. That’s a huge disappointment since the very
limited size means Facebook and Twitter widgets are
out of question.
When this phone was launched towards the end of last
year, the 12MP camera was the best around. We
expected the competition to catch up in the space of a
year, but no. This 12MP camera is still pretty much the
best we have seen in smartphones.
Performance
With a 680MHz processor powering the N8, it was
never going to be the fastest smartphone around.
However, post the Anna update, it does feel a lot
faster. The UI is smoother, apps respond quicker, and
even flicking though the home screens and apps list is
relatively stutter-free. Now relate this to the
experience with the original Symbian^3. The phone
was extremely sluggish, would refuse to open apps
until its mood was made up, there were constant OS
freezes and crashes – and the inevitable reboots.
If this is the amount of development that we have
seen with Anna, Symbian still has a bright future.
Provided Nokia can pair it up with faster processors
and generous amounts of RAM.
Thanks to the slicker UI experience, the touch response
has also improved. Typing out messages is a delight
now. The on-screen keypad has been tweaked
slightly, but we still find it more comfortable in the
landscape mode.
If you use the phone to click a lot of pics, this camera
will surely impress you a lot. The 12MP one is still the
best around, even though it has been almost a year.
This one does well even in not so good lighting
conditions. 720p HD video recording is worth its salt.
We had praised this web browser when we had
reviewed the Nokia E6, and it is just so much better to
use on a bigger display. Pages render quickly even on
a slow EDGE connection, but some pages don’t really
snap fit well. However, that is a minor niggle, and we
really wont be too bothered about that.
Battery life, however, is what makes our eyes well up
with tears of joy. The battery on the review unit that
we received lasted us three days from full charge to
complete discharge. And this when it under load of
quite a few calls, lots of WhatsApp chats, continuous
web connectivity (EDGE or Wi-Fi), doses of web
browsing and even sessions of Need for Speed.
Reminds us of the days of the N95 and the N82, those
batteries lasted a week before we plugged in the
charger.
Our Take
The Nokia N8 is a smartphone reborn. The much-
needed OS update breathes a fresh lease of life into a
device that was floundering despite its rock solid
hardware. At around Rs 23000, the N8 does make
sense as a smartphone, now. The excellent 12MP
camera, much improved OS performance and excellent
battery life should work in its favour, when you
consider the options.
Price: Rs 23867
Specs
Platform: Symbian Anna; Processor: ARM-11 @
680MHz, 256MB RAM; Display: 3.5-inch AMOLED
(640x360 pixels) capacitive display, Gorilla Glass;
Storage: 16GB built-in, microSD slot up to 32GB;
Camera: 12MP with 720p HD video; Battery: 1200
mAh; Extra features: USB-on-the-go feature for file
transfer from USB devices, HDMI out