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
HTPC in your pocket?
So while the GPU in the N8 is competent, the display it drives is quite up to the task itself. Nokia is making use of a 3.5” AMOLED panel, running a resolution of 640x360 pixels. While certainly not the highest in terms of pixel density, it is vibrant and crisp with good contrast. The AMOLED panel on the N8 is very good and surprisingly, it actually uses a regular RGB sub-pixel grid, unlike the Pentile configuration found in most other AMOLED displays. This makes the display, in general, sharper than other AMOLED’s, especially when viewing text.
N8’s visibility outside is decent (left), but nothing great.
It has very good visibility indoors and decent visibility outdoors—especially for being an AMOLED display—but still isn’t quite as good as some regular LCD displays. Even though the N8 is Nokia’s current flagship device, it doesn’t have the outdoor-visibility enhancing ‘Clear Black Display’ technology (aka polarizing filter). The ambient light sensor does its job very well and adjusts the brightness within a second or two of change in the lighting conditions. It also does a good job of maxing-out the brightness when outdoors under sunlight, although it doesn’t seem to want to dip to the other end when in complete darkness.
The N8 excels as a camera and as a phone. But another area where it does quite well for itself is multimedia. There is another first for the N8; it is the first mobile device to sport a complete implementation of the Dolby Digital Plus standard. What this means is that the N8 is capable of streaming out 5.1 audio without any issues.
Video playback on the Nokia N8
The N8 also houses a v1.3a-spec mini HDMI connector (Dolby Digital Plus needs at least a v1.3 connection) up top that works just as it should. Connect the N8 to your TV using the included cable and you’re all set. And Nokia has paid a lot of attention to its implementation of HDMI-out on the N8. Instead of simply mirroring or cloning the N8’s display over the HDMI connection as most phones do, Nokia has implemented what it calls a “native” mode, wherein during media playback, the on-screen controls are the only thing that is displayed on the N8. The actual image/video stream is only visible on the HDTV and it is unobstructed by the playback controls. While it doesn’t really change how you would watch videos or images per se, it just goes to show the level of detail Nokia has gone into while implementing seemingly inconspicuous features.
The N8 also supports Matroska and DiVX playback out-of-the box without having to download, install or configure anything. I threw a couple of 720p DiVX trailers at it and it played them without issues. I did have some trouble with a couple of MKV’s encoded using “high-profile” (even though the specs say it supports it), and a few high-bit rate videos (I think around 10Mbit/sec is the usable limit) where I would only get the audio stream playing, as the N8 could not identify the video stream. But it was awesome to just drop stuff off onto the N8 and watch it go. If I found one issue with the video player on the N8, it has to be its inability to resume playback from where it left off; whether this means you explicitly press pause and close the video player or just directly switch over to another app, the N8 starts playing back the video from the very start every time.
The N8’s excellent media handling coupled with USB OTG make it a great basic ‘HTPC’
And speaking of go, the N8 is one of the few devices that supports the USB OTG (On-the-Go) standard which allows it to act as a USB host for certain devices. Once again, this works flawlessly. I copied a couple of ripped videos onto a USB drive, plugged it into the N8 (via the supplied USB to micro-USB dongle) and the N8 immediately picks up the drive as a mass-storage device and lets me browse its contents. Again, no need to install or configure anything. The only restriction here is that the drives must be FAT32 formatted, not NTFS. The N8 is capable of providing up to 200mA over its micro-USB port, but I could use externally powered devices (such as my 1TB external drive) without any issues. I tried using a bunch of devices such as USB flash drives, digital cameras and they all seem to work fine. But I had two portable drives that understandably didn’t work with the N8 because of power requirements; I could just hear them power up and down continuously.
Just out of curiosity, I tried connecting a Logitech EX100 wireless Keyboard+Mouse combo and it worked! I could use the mouse to navigate and interact with the menus without any fuss and in seconds I was typing out emails on the N8 through the keyboard. This really does make it a viable HTPC option. Nokia has also thrown in an FM radio (with the wired headset acting as an antenna) and the N8 can also act as an FM transmitter. While not entirely useful in this day and age where almost every vehicle comes with at least an AUX IN jack, it certainly is a nifty feature for those who don’t have any other means of streaming audio through their vehicles speaker setup. In my brief use of the N8 as an FM transmitter, it did quite well even in areas with multiple transmitting stations.
And Nokia has another bit of surprise here. The N8 comes with 16GB memory built-in that can be expanded using microSD cards, currently giving you a maximum storage capacity of 48GB. While a lot of phones currently available come with large amounts of storage memory, in my experience, I rarely ever end up using more than a couple of gigabytes simply because of the painfully slow transfer speeds. Not so with the N8. I have recorded sustained read speeds of 13MB/sec and write speeds of about 10MB/sec. This means I can transfer a 700MB video in a little over a minute. Have a look the numbers below for comparison.
| Device | Read (MB/s) | Write (MB/s) |
| Nokia N8-00 16GB | ~13 MB/s | ~10 MB/s |
| Palm Pre Plus 16GB | ~15 MB/s | 1.5 MB/s |
| ADATA C802 4GB | ~13 MB/s | ~4 MB/s |
I couldn’t get more specific information on the Toshiba THGBM1G7D4FBA13 MCP used part used in the Nokia N8, but it contains four 32Gbit Toshiba-Sandisk MLC NAND die along with a flash controller.
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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." :)