The smartphone market is an aggressive one; several years ago Finnish mobile manufacturer Nokia was at the top of the pile with its lucrative Symbian S60 based E Series and N Series ranges, today it is a brand struggling to keep up with the times. 

 

In order to address this, the company has revamped its aging OS and launched a device which it hopes will rocket the Nokia label forward into the public consciousness once again. 

 

Today TechSmart had the opportunity to preview the device and see what all the fuss behind the Nokia N8 and the new version of Symbian is all about; here are our thoughts. 

 

 

The N8 is certainly not lacking in is features, the device is jam packed with some of the best the smartphone market can currently offer. 

 

It sports a 3.5” AMOLED capacitive touch-screen with a resolution of 360 x 640 pixels which supports multi-touch, a proximity sensor and an accelerometer for auto rotate functionality. With regards to connectivity it supports 10.2 Mbps 3G, EDGE, GPRS and HSDPA while also incorporating Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0 options. This is pretty much on par with what other manufacturers have available.  

 

In addition to these the device also incorporates 16 GB of onboard storage with MicroSD support for up to 32 GB, a 680 MHz ARM processor with an additional 3D graphics accelerator, Symbian^3 OS, FM Radio, MP3 player, document viewer which integrates with a number of formats including PDF and PowerPoint and A-GPS support with Ovi Maps with voice navigation accessibility for life. 

 

 Where the N8 really stands out is its camera and video functionality. It features a 12 megapixel Carl Zeiss optics camera with auto-focus and a Xenon flash which allows it to capture images of up to 4000 x 3000 pixels and capture video at 720p at 25 frames per second (fps). We had the chance to view the device’s imagery capabilities through the TV-out interface on a High Definition screen and we have to admit we were impressed. The optics are clear cut and crisp and certainly does seem to offer one of the best camera solutions on the smartphone market. 

 

In addition to these features, the N8 sets itself apart by offering a wide variety of port options. It features the obligatory micro USB interface and 3.5 mm audio jack but also packs in a mini HDMI interface and a 2 mm Nokia charging jack.

 

What is significant about these options is the fact that Nokia has thought to include a micro USB to USB and a HDMI to mini HDMI to adapter upon shipment. Micro USB to USB allows one to connect a USB drive to the phone and explore and even open files (including video and music) on the phone itself. This is functionality made possible by S^3. HDMI to mini HDMI provides users the opportunity to connect the device to HDMI enabled displays or television screens. 

 

According to Nokia both these adapters along with a car charger ship in the box. 

 

Symbian S^3

 

A lot of fuss has been made about Nokia’s new S^3 platform. It is widely understood that this, coupled with Meego, is expected to rescue the company from the doldrums of Symbian S60, which is horribly outdated compared to the likes of Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS. 

 

So does it do the job? In terms of interface Nokia has put a lot of effort into enhancing the social media and multimedia capabilities of the platform. It now sports social media integration with contacts via the company’s Ovi platform, unfortunately the user is required to have an Ovi account to access this functionality, something we feel is somewhat limiting. 

 

In terms of multimedia S^3 integrates well with music and videos. We got the impression that Nokia took a leaf out of HTC’s book when designing this interface; overall it is well constructed and attractive. 

 

In terms of the basic interface users are given three scrollable home screens to choose from which they can populate with up to six widgets per screen. This however is nothing new and really just introduces run of the mill smartphone technology to the Nokia brand. 

 

Our harshest criticism towards the S^3 platform is that it is almost exactly the same in terms of design, to Symbian S60. While Nokia may argue that it didn’t want to depart to strongly from what its customers are used to we argue that that is exactly what the company should have done. 

 

In fact, Nokia should have run miles away from S60 with the design of S^3, it needed to be completely new, fresh and enticing. The simple fact that the menu structure and even the fonts remain unchanged, which made for a very disappointed TechSmart crew. 

 

Although S^3 offers a host of improvements in terms of speed and integration it looks exactly the same as S60. In comparison to other recently released mobile operating systems such as Samsung’s Bada, not to mention Apple’s new iOS 4, S^3 looks outdated from the start.

 

Measuring in at 113.5 mm x 59.1 mm x 12.9 mm and weighing 135 g the N8 fits comfortably into the standard smartphone range in terms of size. It ships in a number of colour options including green, silver, grey and orange and fit snugly into the palm of our hand during testing. 

 

Overall the N8 is an attractive device, although we do have two minor gripes. The bevelling around the screen is very prominent and we feel that this gives the device a chunkier feel than it should have. The camera and flash are also raised from the device body and does not sit flush with the rest of the phone, while we understand this is a necessary sacrifice to ensure that the N8 stays slim, it was an annoying feature while handling the device. 

 

 

So, will the N8 and Symbian S^3 rescue Nokia’s dreams of smartphone market domination and rocket the company into the public consciousness once again?

 

Although we’d love to say yes; we believe that this device will comfortably position Nokia in the mid-range in amongst the likes of HTC and Sony Ericsson’s less impressive models. The unfortunate reality is that Nokia didn’t take a chance when it should have, what their smartphone needed was a desperately daring offering from the company, not a safe bet. 

 

Will Nokia’s new Meego OS, to be implemented on future N-series devices, provide the kick the company needs? Once again we would have to wait and see. 

 

Nonetheless, at R5500 it is very competitive in terms of overall features and will surely be a hit amongst Nokia fans.