3 January 2008

Nokia N82 -:- User Review

This is not only my very first phone review, but this is also the very first article I am writing for the symbian-freak home page. So please bear with me. Ive had to learn HTML very fast, lol.

Anyway, lets get on with review. I have been testing the N82 in great depth for the past couple of weeks now, and in this review, I will be giving my thoughts about Nokia’s latest nseries device, the Nokia N82 which was launched last month at a virtual launch event on November 14th 2007.

I first received this impressive device via post couple weeks ago, and since then I have put the N95 away and been using the Nokia N82 as my primary phone for extensive testing, using it for everyday use as i would do with any of my phones, for things like email, web browsing, taking photos and videos, listen to music and of course sms and phone calls too. And here i will be going into detail on how the Nokia N82 compares to the Nokia N95.

The first thing I did upon opening the box was to quickly find somewhere very dark to take a picture lol, I did have a brief look at the N82 at the Nokia world 2007 event in Amsterdam, and for the short time I did spend with it there, I was very impressed and just had to get some more time with it to put it through its paces properly, from a symbian freaks perspective :)

First thing id like to talk about is the design of the Nokia N82. I read lots of reviews on the net all the time saying that the N82 device is ugly, and doesn't look so nice, but i have to completely disagree with them, the phone looks just amazing in my opinion, it is the great candy bar form factor that we all grew up with, and know so very well before the sliding phones were developed. The candy bar form factor device is definitely a favourite of mine and allways will be, dont get me wrong, i love the slider form factor devices also just as much. And have taken a strong like towards the N95, but i do feel the N82 is somewhat taken its place in my heart.

(i do opoligise about photo quality, my photographer skills are rubbish, and as my digital camera was stolen a couple of years ago, all images are taken with Nokia N95)
*click to enlarge

But i also must admit, i to was one of those people saying the N82 design doesn't look so nice, and some of you probaly read my thoughts about it on forum section after first seing the images. but until i actually got my hands on one in the flesh and had a proper look i realised it is actually a very nice and stylish design. its just the photo's on the internet doesn't do it justice and maybe makes it look cheap plastic looking, but this most certainly is not the case when you actually have the device in your hand. it really is extremely well built solid phone, you wont be able to break this one very easily put it that way.

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The only thing that moves on the N82 is the camera lens protecter, which is also a very good design, and very smooth to open the camera, unlike the N95, which i find to be a little stiff, and sometimes sticks where it locks into closed position, whereas the N82 does still lock into closed position so it doesn't open accidentally, but it doesn't lock so hard closed as the N95 camera lens. You can very easily open the N82 camera with just one hand with the thumb, which can also be done with the N95, but not quite so easy and as smooth as the N82. its a very nice well designed well built camera lens indeed. in fact, overall the N82 is extremely well built, well designed stylish looking phone, and i am very impressed with its looks and build quality.

you can shake it about and there is no rattle, or no moving parts on it at all, no creaking if you squeeze or gently twist the device, unlike the N95 which has the sliding parts which makes it feel and also look a little fragile. whereas the N82 just feels solid in your hand (as all Nokia candy bar devices do) you can just tell it is a very well made strong phone just from holding it in your hand. The N82 weighs just 114grams, and the N95 weighs in at 120grams. And it feels and fits very nicely in the hand.

*click to enlarge

My self, i like the heavy phone and size really doesn't matter either, in fact i would prefer the bigger phone, especially the bigger keypad, it makes so much better for the user input and much less mistakes made. n90 and n93 keypad size is just perfect for typing emails and text messages on due to the large buttons. But the Nokia N82 did however surprise me on how nice and easy the small buttons are to type input with.

Nokia N82 loud speakers, Click to enlarge.

The loudspeakers are slightly different to the Nokia N95 speakers, as the Nokia N95 has 1 speaker on each side of the device, and the N82 has 2 on the right hand side, (both speaker on top while screen in landscape mode)

Nokia know that people like to watch videos in landscape mode, and this design does give the much better stereo sound output while watching your fav movies/pod casts/tv shows or what ever videos you prefer to watch on your symbian device. But the video playback was the only benifit from this speaker arrangement, as other output via loud speaker could be effected, like having a call on loud speaker or even listen to your fav music track while holding device in the hand if you cover a speaker with your hand or finger. It is a nice arrangment for video playback, but i prefer the N95 "one on each side" speaker placement, but this is just my personal taste.

I did also find the Nokia N95 to output the louder slightly better quality audio from the loud speakers, but the N82 definetly has the better quality sound while watching a movie, due to the different location of the loudspeakers (seen in image above) however i didnt find much difference at all between the 2 devices audio output through the headphones, i tested both the N82 and N95 with there respective defualt "out of the box" headphones on each device (ie: i tested N82 headset on the N95 and N95 headset on the N82) and i also tested them both with a set of my own headphones with an exact same audio aac file on both, and like i said, i found that both devices audio output through stereo headphones to be the same.

And the both devices also handled a phone call whilst playing an audio track very well indeed, the music would pause, you talk to the caller, hang up and rather than the music to blare back into your ear at full blast and blow your head off, it slowly starts quiet and graduly gets louder and louder untill the same volume is reached as before the call came.

Nokia HS-43 N82 headphone

I do however much prefer the Nokia N82 defualt out of the box headphones/handfree system (product code N82 headset: HS-43) that comes with the N82 rather than the N95 defualt headphone/handfree system (product code N95 headset: HS-45) they look nicer and doesnt feel so cheap as the N95 HS-45 set, to be honest, i not impressed with the Nokia N95 HS-45 headset at all, the wire is horrible and thick, not pliable at all and also not comfortable in the ear at all, the ear peice is too large for my ears, where i found the N82 defualt headset to be perfect fit for me, much more comfortable in the ear.

Im not a great fan of the "in ear" headset type anyway, but the N82's HS-43 defualt headphones are very nice, a different design to the normal Nokia headphones as we all know them, with the right ear being longer than the left to wrap around the back of your neck. ive never liked this, but the HS-43 has a much better design, they have an adjustable loop that you put your head through, and then the control (much smaller and less bulky than N95 headphone) hangs down by your chest at what lenth you require. I think this is the much better design for Nokia headphones, and im glad they finally got rid of the longer right headphone cable to wrap around the back of your neck style of headphone. I hope we see more headphones like the Nokia N82 defualt set, the HS-43.

.:[ Nokia N82 - Technical Specifications ]:.