Thanks to David Lian who initially got me a Nokia N95 to review, now I am a proud owner of the latest Nokia N-series phone, the N82. I guess I must be one of the earliest adopters of this little piece of mobile wonder. Less than a week into using it, and I am already very impressed.
I love the candy bar form factor
I first saw this phone during the Symbian Night last month. In essence, this phone is combined the best features of the previous two that I have used. The Nokia N95, and the Sony Ericsson K800i. As much as I like the N95, I have always enjoy the power of a xenon flash when it comes to low light photography, the LED illumination from the N95 just doesn’t have enough juice in certain conditions.
Carl Zeiss Tessar Lens with Xenon flash
The N82 basically has it all, other than the Xenon flash with 5 megapixel camera, it has got Wifi, HSDPA (3.5G), bluetooth, GPS, EDGE, NGAGE game engine, and all the multimedia features that matters. I think the only thing that they removed from the phone is the infrared port, something that I haven’t used in years anyway.
the N82 box
The package in the N82 includes a generous 2GB memory card, a stereo hands free earphones, a TV output cable, charger, and the new micro USB cable. I was at first a little disappointed looking at the new USB connector, thinking Nokia has gone back to the way of propriety interface.
After a little bit of investigation, I found out that it is actually a new USB standard that is geared towards mobile device. The mechanics of it is actually an improvement over the mini-usb, it has a little “click” feel to it when you insert the connector and able to “hold” the cable (or phone) much more securely.
what’s included in the package
A couple days after getting the phone, the good people at Carlsberg sent me 3 crates of Tuborg beer for the X’mas Eve Party tonight! For the first time in my life, I have more beer than my fridge could hold (that’s 72 bottles!), it’ll be a fun night with plenty of booze to go around. Thanks Carlsberg!
beer for party (picture taken with N82 with flash)
The picture is taken using my new N82 with flash. I don’t think it’ll turn out nearly as good without using the flash.
One of the many good things about hanging out with femes bloggers like suanie is that sometimes I get to indirectly enjoy some of the extra benefits she gets due to her fame. For example, I too was invited to the local movie Cinta‘s premier; and thanks to her connection (which type I don’t know) to David Lian I get my hands on a review unit of Nokia N95 to play with.
Top of the line N series phone from Nokia, the N95
I have been using this phone for a better part of a week now, and frankly speaking, there isn’t much that this phone can’t do. I am used to the Symbian operating system as I had previously own a Nokia 7610 prior to the SE K800i.
While the K800i does take good pictures and have very good SMS features, it is lacking many extras the N95 offers. The N95 spots a higher resolution with the 5MP Carl Zeiss optics, then there’s the pretty useful Wifi connectivity, and on top of all these, there are GPS and push mail functions. It also supports HSDPA (3.5G), edge, bluetooth, and infrared.
The most interesting function has got to be the GPS. For the uninitiated, GPS, or Global Positioning System, is a set of satellites that allows the receiver to calculate it’s position anywhere on the surface of the earth with access to the sky. This phone includes the maps and routing program that is similar (or the same?) with the Nokia 6110 navigator that the hot chick has. I’m going to rely on the routing feature when I go to JB for a friend’s wedding and then to Penang this weekend since the Malaysian map is included.
That said, there are some minor weakness of this multimedia super phone. The most glaring being the battery life, while the basic phones could now last for almost a week on a single charge, I have to plug this thing to the wall at least every other day, but this is to be expected for something that packs so many features in it. I suppose if you are not a wifi junky and not using the GPS extensively, the battery should lasts for several more days. While the SMS function is superior to that of the iPhone (no forward, can’t send to multiple recipients), it doesn’t have the predictive words function like the newer SEs.
Still, this is a super phone and I really enjoy using it. I just got myself a car charger to eliminate the battery life issue of using GPS for hours. I wish David all the luck to pry the phone out of my cold dead fingers if he wants it back.
