Nokia-N8

Introduction
People have been expecting the Nokia N8 for quite some time and, luckily, most fans aren’t disappointed. This phone seems to set the standard when it comes to camera quality, features and storage capacity. As most of us expected, Nokia created one of the best touch screen phones around and they clearly focused on each and every detail before the release: the phone looks great and it performs even better.

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Design
On the design front, there is nothing to complain about. The Nokia N8 looks amazing, even if you don’t usually like touch screen phones. The screen is placed in the center and it only leaves room for a small rim on each side and a somewhat larger rim on the top and bottom of the phone. This is also the place where you will find the main button, which can be used for accessing the menu and a few other functions. Luckily, you don’t have to worry about scratching the phone, so you can drop it all you want or keep it in your pocket along with your keys: it comes with a scratch-proof screen. When you turn the N8 around, you will notice the Carl Zeiss lens, the Xenon flash and the company’s logo. All of the connections are located on rim of the N8 and you will be surprised to see what Nokia has in store for us in that department.

On the side of the N8 you will notice a few safety gates for the MicroUSB slot, MicroSD card and for the Sim card. Most of the connectors are placed on the top of the phone: the mini HDMI port, the 3.5mm headphone jack and the power off and power on switch. The charger port is placed on the bottom side of the phone, but you can charge your phone directly from the MicroUSB slot through your computer.

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Features
At first glance, the phone seems a little underpowered, especially when compared with the big dogs of the phone industry: a 680MHz processor and only 256MB of memory for a phone that can record 720p movies? Luckily, the Symbian^3 operating system knows how to use these resources to its advantage and it is no surprise that the N8 performs better than some of the high quality phones that have stronger internal components. In every day use, this phone rises up to the expectations when it comes to performance.

On the storage side, the phone will come with 16GB from the factory and you can add up to 32GB more if you decide to buy a MicroSD card. This is especially useful if you plan on filming 720p movies and you don’t like deleting anything. If you don’t have music on your new 48GB phone, you can always turn to FM radio. The signal is clear once you tune in to the right station, but most people won’t feel the need to use this feature.

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One of the most exciting features included in the N8 is the HDMI connection. You can now drag and drop video files from your computer (including .mkv files) straight to your phone without using a third party software. After that, just plug the phone into your TV through a HDMI cable and you can watch high definition movies from the Nokia N8. If you playback these files directly on your phone, you will see them through the 3.5 inch AMOLED display at a 640 x 360 resolution, which is not bad, but not exceptional either. 

The Nokia N8 closes the gap between digital cameras and phones with its superb 12MP camera. The shutter button will allow you to focus on your subject before you snap the picture and there are plenty of adjustments that you can use to your advantage. The auto-focus feature will kick in at about four inches from the subject if you are using the macro mode and it will provide high quality pictures every single time. The flash is quite effective in night shots, but even without it, the details are impressive and the only drawback is a little bit of noise which can be taken care of in post processing.

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The Nokia N8 is one of the best phones when it comes to recording; it offers 720p movies at 25 frames per seconds. There are a few other devices which can top it in terms of performance, but even so, the phone won’t disappoint you. The only situation which might cause you problems is if you plan on focusing on a small object, which is closer than two feet from the camera. Other than that, you won’t have any problems and you will actually be surprised by the audio quality of your recordings. Not only will the sounds you record will be loud and clear, but the speakers of the N8 are also quite powerful when playing any other content.

Browsing the internet on the Nokia N8 is a breeze most of the time. You can easily use the pinch and double tap features and navigating the internet will go without a hitch. The QWERTY keyboard is only available if you turn the phone around and use the landscape mode. You can watch YouTube videos without a problem thanks to the built-in Flash Lite software, but you won’t be able to upload videos, except through your email. You can also go to Ovi Maps if you want to see where you are and you will be surprised how well this app performs.

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Pros and Cons
When it comes to taking pictures, the Nokia N8 is one of the best if not the absolute best phone for the job. Recording is not going to disappoint you either. Besides this, you can use many features quite easily and multitasking is available, which is a huge advantage for the Nokia N8.

On the downside, the Symbian^3 system will be slower than you would expect from time to time and some websites will cause problems, especially if they are not available in mobile version.

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Conclusion
The Nokia N8 has certainly exceeded the expectations when it comes to technology and specifications. The phone is very well built, the navigation system is almost perfect, and the camera is incredible.

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