Nokia N8 Review: Nokia's New Flagship
by Mithun Chandrasekhar on January 12, 2011 1:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Nokia
- N8
- Symbian
- Mobile
The N8’s 12MP centerpiece
As I had briefly mentioned earlier, the Nokia N8 has what is probably the best camera to make home in a mobile phone. And Nokia is making no bones in letting people know about this. While Apple may talk about letting in more photons with a backside illuminated sensor, Nokia has actually gone ahead and done something about it—both with the optics and sensor size. At the heart of the N8’s camera is a 1/1.83” sensor which is in fact larger than most point and shoot cameras (which often carry sensors ranging from 1/2.3 – 1/2.5” in size) that are currently available. While a large sensor can’t do much by itself, Carl Zeiss has provided a decent 28mm equivalent lens that makes good of the sensor, given the tight confines and dimensional restrictions of a mobile phone. In fact, much of the N8’s physical profile is dictated by that optical system.
Just to drive home the point as to how serious it is about the N8 as an imaging device, Nokia has equipped the phone with a real xenon flash (and an AF-assist lamp in the same housing) along with an active neutral density filter that automatically slides in place if you were to try and take pictures with a lot of bright light in it. This combined with features such as face detection and video stabilization (not image) make the N8 a reasonably good replacement to most entry-level point and shoot cameras currently available. The N8 could pull off pretty good shots without much issue in all but the poorest of lighting conditions. In poorly-lit scenarios, the N8 succumbs to its camera phone roots and produces visibly noisy pictures that lack detail. Pulling down the ISO manually and using a tripod would help, but this IS a phone after all.
I haven’t been able to pull up a guide number for the xenon flash, but suffice to say that it is an order of magnitude better than the LED/dual-LED flash found in most phones. Also, since the N8 lacks a motorized lens, it has a digital-only zoom which Nokia has consciously restricted to 2x for still photos and 3x for videos for the sake of maintaining image quality. The average size of a 4000x3000 pixel (12MP) image taken by the N8 is about 2.4MB which means it is compressed a fair bit. When set to “Close Up” mode the N8 can focus on objects as close as 3”.
Shots with the N8’s brilliant 12MP camera. The gallery has more camera shots.
Speaking of video, the N8 can record 720p video at 25fps with stereo sound. The N8 has 2 mics; one next to the camera module and another on the front of the phone. In test, the N8 could capture pretty decent audio even in moderately noisy and windy environments. It looks like the positioning of the mics and the noise cancellation algorithms together are doing a decent job of cutting out the background noise. In use, the N8 captured 720p video at an average bit rate of about 10 Mbps in the H.264/AVC format. The N8 makes use of something called an active hyperfocal system to maintain focus between about 60cm to infinity, without having to use a continuous focusing system. To describe this in a little more detail without diving too deep, the hyperfocal length of a lens is a measure of some distance at which, if the lens is focused, everything from a particular point (60cm in case of the N8) to infinity will be in complete focus. In the N8, the camera and software adjust the position of the lens if needed, to maintain this hyperfocal length and hence the “active” moniker. Because of this, the N8 can make do without hefty auto-focusing motors and deliver good focusing performance.
Bench Video
Demo Video
The camera interface itself is pretty straightforward and easy to use. You can easily change the captured image resolution, white balance, color tone, flash, scene mode and ISO options. There are quite a few still photo and video editing options available on the phone and the N8 seems to do a reasonably quick job of post processing. The one thing that I found quite annoying, was having to make all edits in one go on the N8. You cannot “save” a project as such; you have to make all your edits at once and save the file.
In-phone editing options on the N8
The N8 does not support panorama shots out of the box and I found this a bit surprising. Only when I casually dug through the Ovi Store did I find the “Panorama” app by Nokia.
Why this isn’t included from the get go or even pointed to by a link somewhere beats me. Either way, the panorama app does its job without any issues, although I must say I had to read the help section to try and understand how to get it working; not the most straightforward implementation for taking panorama shots. As with most camera phones now-a-days, the N8 also supports geo-tagging photos and videos. At the end of it, the one thing that’s blatantly clear is that the camera on the N8 is not a checkbox feature. It really is a well-engineered piece of hardware that Nokia seems to have integrated very well with the N8, instead of just tacking it on as an after-thought.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
119 Comments
View All Comments
strikeback03 - Wednesday, January 12, 2011 - link
Off the top of my head (and only looking at US releases since I don't follow the international market that closely) the OG Droid went from 2.0->2.1->2.2, Droid Incredible and Droid X both are on 2.2, think the Evo is as well. Seems like for the most part the devices lagging are Sony-Ericsson (which would seem to be due to their skin) and the Galaxy S phones (which other parts of the world have seen updated, so maybe the US ones will be soon). Remember, a major snag in updating Android is the carriers and their need to test and screw with everything. That wouldn't be a problem for Nokia if they are just selling the phones unlocked and you bring whatever SIM you want.7amood - Wednesday, January 12, 2011 - link
I would like to see similar review of the old Samsung Flagship Galaxy S and the new upcoming flagship (Galaxy S2 A.K.A i9100 or i9200 not sure) that should be announced in MWC2011.I used to be a nokia fan but they are so outdated... no more nokia for me...
maybe I will change my mind when I see MeeGo but until then...
strikeback03 - Wednesday, January 12, 2011 - link
They reviewed the Epic and Fascinate (2 of the US versions of the Galaxy S) and most likely will get some form of the S2 whenever available.Samus - Thursday, January 13, 2011 - link
Nokia is similar to RIM in a lot of ways. They make solid hardware with outdated software. But that isn't a bad thing. Their products are reliable, refined, and built to last. I don't think many people here with HTC and Samsung phones can say the same thing. I simply don't see business users using them. Battery life, reliability, and overall finish keep most people I know who depend on their phones away. Android has great promise, but with the exception of Motorola, who makes good hardware running it?Voldenuit - Thursday, January 13, 2011 - link
I'd add HTC to the list of good handset makers (regardless of OS), although their track record does vary (as does Motorola's). And their Sense UI is a lot more usable than Moto's (horrid) Blur.Samsung puts some cutting edge hardware in its phones but the build quality is often wanting, and the reliability is not good in my experience. My fiancée went through 3 (!) Blackjacks in 2 years, each device would start failing after several months, and she eventually replaced it with a Moto Bravo. She had the option to get a Galaxy S variant (I think it was the Captivate?) but declined due to her negative experience with the brand.
Definitely agree with you about Nokias being built to last. My N70 lasted nearly 4 years, and that was with some nasty drops and bumps. The N8 had a recent nasty fall the other day, and I was very relieved to find it made off without a single nick or scratch (fell onto some metal railings).
jonup - Thursday, January 13, 2011 - link
Most people that look at spec sheets do not get these benefits that Nokia phones have. All these people know is that "My phone has more MHz than yours" and "I want iPhone 4". What is been overlook is that as much as Symbian OS is been bashed it is very efficient OS and does not require as much resources as some other OSes.This review also does not give the phone's excellent standby efficiency justice. Since most of the time the phone is in your pocket, the standby efficiency quite make up for the not so good battery life in the benchmark scenarios in this article. With normal use you would get 3 days out of N8, something out of reach for iPhone 4 or most Androids, which meanwhile have larger battery capacities. Smaller battery allows for use of better quality materials while keeping the weight down.
For all the performance freaks, I recommend to get a Samsung. I have own one and my boss has an Epic, they brake just in time for the newest and the greatest SoC release; which by the lay seems like is every three months now.
To all the N900 lovers, have you seen one? It is literary twice as big as my phone and weights almost 2.5 times. And while solidly built, it still feels too plasticy.
Voldenuit - Wednesday, January 12, 2011 - link
Good job Mithun!I confess that I couldn't wait for the AT review, so I ended up splurging on the N8 a month ago.
Fortunately, I haven't had the issues that you had with the Ovi Store and email - I was able to use the Ovi store on the device just fine, and I have gmail set to 15 minute synchronisations with few problems - it correctly identifies read messages in my inbox, although it will not mark a message that I receive on the phone and then subsequently read on the PC as read.
I've also had no problems with GPS acquisition (using Ovi Maps 3.06) - lock is pretty speedy even in urban areas and accurate enough for turn by turn navigation. I like that you can download maps for offline use, very handy if you're going overseas on a trip, for instance.
As you've outlined, the camera is great, and easily as good as a high end compact, as long as you're happy with a prime lens. In fact, the lens appears sharper to me than the Canon S90's.
Battery life is nothing short of superb. I've just recharged the phone today - the (3rd party) battery monitor app reported the battery at 15% after 5 days and 21 hours of mostly standby and light use (facebooking, email, some calls, some music viewing). With heavy use (Angry Birds, 720p playback, music, internet), I've had to recharge the phone every other day, which is still stellar.
Also worth noting is that there is no need to root the phone to sideload apps, and you can also run java apps compiled for general smartphones. Being a nokia, it is a phone first and foremost, and the call functionality is great - the speakerphone is crisp and clear, handset is great, and there is a LED notification light for missed calls and messages.
When I first purchased the phone, I found the UI took some getting used to compared to, say, iOS, but now that I am accustomed to it, have grown to love the phone. If you think that Nokia is out of contention because of the weak CPU, you might be surprised by how full featured it is. Couple that with top notch build quality, great call quality, a superlative camera, very good battery life, great GPS and navigation apps, and the N8 is a definite contender.
mythun.chandra - Wednesday, January 12, 2011 - link
Good to know you're enjoying your N8!If Nokia keeps to its commitment of updating Symbian^3 on a regular basis, it actually may be a very viable alternative to the other platforms. The only issue as I see is that Nokia does not seem to have a clear cut platform roadmap. They have S40 for the lower-end devices, S^1 for entry-level smartphones, S^3 for the higher-end devices and Meego...well...we're not sure when and how Meego fits in. This, according to me is going to be a problem for Nokia.
Voldenuit - Wednesday, January 12, 2011 - link
Thanks mithun!BTW I notice that mention of the camera is conspicuously absent in the conclusion section. Until the rumored Panasonic Lumix phone appears, the N8 is the best choice for photo enthusiasts on the market, and perhaps some note could be made of that in the recommendations.
For me, at least, it's more attractive than getting a S95 or LX5. Although I lose out on the zoom and capture parameters (you can only control ISO and EV in 0.5 stop steps over a +/- 2 EV range), I end up with a device with a very nice lens, good detail retention, and the ability to edit, geotag and upload my images all from the one device. If you're travelblogging, the N8 makes a very good companion. For reference I have a GF1 and a 40D, so I'm pretty keen on photography, and the N8 has delivered all I could ask of it in a carry-everywhere package.
mythun.chandra - Wednesday, January 12, 2011 - link
From the conclusion page:"With most definitely the best camera ever seen on a mobile phone, the N8 is a worthy replacement to basic point and shoots." :)