Wednesday, December 1, 2010

My impressions of the Nokia N8


I was at Rockwell yesterday and while picking up a extension cord at True Value I stopped by the Nokia store. Having read the GSMArena review on the Nokia N8 they said this phone had "the best camera in the business", I was really interested to try out the camera. As luck would have it they had a working demo unit of the Nokia N8 and were kind enough to let me try it.  The nice sales lady tried to show me the other features, but I really was not interested. All I care about was the Camera.

I took a macro shot of a little silver Christmas tree. After looking at the picture produced, zooming it all the way the auto focus 12 MP camera with Carl Zeiss optics does not disappoint. This is in no small part to the largest sensor ever place in a mobile phone has (1/1.83"). To place the sensor size into perspective, a high end prosumer camera like the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 has a 1/1.63" sensor and the Canon G11 has a 1/1.7" sensor. Your typical digital camera has a 1/2.3" or 1/2.5" sensor. It also has a Xenon flash. All that is missing really is optical zoom.

Unfortunately, I could not take a copy of the picture with me to post here. You can see some excellent sample pictures here. The picture quality is really impressive. It impressed me enough to consider buying this phone. The camera alone would make it worth it.

Except for its camera, the rest of the phones features are not meant to challenge the Apple iPhone 4,  Samsung Galaxy or HTC's Desire HD or even the newly launched Windows Phone 7 offering. But at Php24,000 with a killler camera, HD video recording and 16GB internal storage, it is priced fairly enough for what it offers.

Looking at lower cost acquisition options, I went over to the fourth floor and inquired with Smart Communications about this phone. Smart Communications is offering this phone free at Plan 2000 in their Gold Rush: The Twelve Thrills of Christmas promo. I am still within the lock-in period of my Smart Gold plan, so I do not think I can avail of this offer. If I could, I think I would seriously consider taking the Nokia N8.


Gold Rush: The Twelve Thrills of Christmas promo


Update: There is a known issue with the Nokia N8 not powering up or powering down unexpectedly. You can read about it here at the Nokia Conversations blog interview and watch the interview with Nokia’s Excecutive Vice President Niklas Savander at this link.

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