Hands On Review: Nokia N82

Design/Construction

After a 53-day experience with the Nokia N95 8gb I can't possibly avoid comparing it to my new N82. The N82 is just like most candy bar phones but with tiny keys. I find the N82 easier on the grip and the 14 grams lost from the N95 8gb is very much evident especially during heavy texting.

The N82 is not a perfect phone in terms of quality but neither is the N95 8gb.

Keypad/Keys

I personally like the quality of the the keys and it reminds me so much of my Nokia 8850 before. Frankly, the pics and some reviews lie because the quality of the keys came as a surprise to me coz I never expected it to be this good. Initially, texting could be a bit of problem but that's only for a few days. You just have to get used to the tiny keys but after that there wouldn't be a problem at all.


Display

2.4" display is another surprise. The 2.8" screen of the N95 8gb is obviously larger but while most people would prefer the larger screen let me tell you that it may have some disadvantages too. One would be some colors would not appear as sharp as it would appear on a smaller screen just like in the case of the N82. Colors are crisp, solid and very natural. There are a couple of themes that would appear ugly in the N95 8gb that are now looking great on my N82 despite the fact that both models have a screen resolution of 240 x 320 pixels.

The N82's screen contrary to reviews cannot be classified as dim. I can't understand why they tagged the screen of the N82 as such. Sure the N95 8gb has a brighter screen due to its screen size advantage but the N82 still manages to produce crisp and clean color reproduction.

User Interface or OS

User interface is just like your typical Symbian S60 OS-based phone. Same user-friendly interface and I can't find any fault as far as the interface is concerned. As expected with 128mb of RAM and speedy ARM11 332Mhz processor the N82 performs very well even if there are numerous apps running in the background.

Multimedia

As for audio quality the built-in speakers is good at best. Even at max volume the speakers cannot possibly match the N95 8gb's deep, thunderous sound. However, the bundled headphones is very impressive and there is no need to look look for a new set of headphones. In fact, the overall sound quality of the N82 with headphones is superior to that of the N95 8gb. Again, I don't understand why and I am basing my comments on my own experience with both models.

Connectivity/Browser

Browsing in the N82 is pretty much like the N95 8gb sans the larger screen. I can't find any faults with this phone's ability to display large web pages even those with flash animations.

Camera

The N95 8gb took clear pictures and took some tweaking for perfect shots. The N82 in contrast needs no tweaking and all you have to do is point and shoot that's all. If you're looking for a phone that could take the place of your point and shoot digital camera or DSLR for those casual shots then the N82 is definitely worth looking at. I am truly impressed with the N82's cam output and I can safely say that it can give my Olympus 8MP digicam a run for its money. Nokia has done a truly excellent job with the built-in cam of the N82.

Performance

As I've already mentioned above the N82 pretty much performs just like the N95 8gb. Battery life is obviously inferior to that of the N95 8gb's but I haven't really maximized the potential of the unit because I've spent less than 48 hours with it. In my own experience battery life improves after a charge and drain cycle of about two weeks.


Conclusion

The N82 is a steal imho. While its price plummets really fast I would it give it a higher value for money rating than the N95 8gb. It has most of the N95 8gb's features except for humungous capacity of course but I will probably wait until the 8gb MicroSDHC becomes locally available. :)

Hands On Review: Nokia 6120 Classic

Almost a month na sakin tong phone and so far ok naman.. uunahin ko ang:

design/construction

-for me, ok lang yung design, hindi man sya ganun ka appealing pero yung size nya is very compact talaga, at isa yan sa nagustuhan ko dito sa 6120.. pero medyo prone sya sa fingerprints at grease.. lalo na pag pinagpapawisan kamay mo.. at mas maganda kung gumamit ng crystal case for extra protection from scratches & dusts.. very smooth kasi tong 6120 kaya konting scratch lang mahahalata na agad.

keypad/keys

-maliit tong phone kaya maliit din ang mga keys, kung mabilis kang mag type expect mo na na magkakamali ka talaga dahil dikit dikit ang mga keys, pero less ang errors pag medyo dinahandahan mo.. isang factor din yung may malaking mga daliri, siguro mas suited to sa mga babae or mga taong may maliliit na fingers..
-yung sa D-pad naman ok na ok sya, maganda ang response at napaka bihira ang errors sa pag navigate.. yun nga lang quidaw ka sa paggamit at huwag gamitin ang kuko sa pagpindot kasi nagagasgas agad ang chrome paint nito, nagasgas yung akin dahil pinahiram ko sa pinsan kong bata, naglaro sya ng games,panay kuko ang ginamit nya sa D-pad kaya may mga gasgas.. kaya di ko na talaga pinapahiram! (kainis bababa na value nito! hehe!)
-yung other keys naman are not that ok lalo na yung symbian key at "c" key, ang liliit! kaya dapat gamitin ang tip ng daliri sa pagpindot..

Display

-2 inches lang ang display, kahit maliit very vibrant naman and very satisfied naman ako, pero siempre iba pa rin yung malaking display kasi mas enjoyable for watching clips & viewing photos..

User Interface or OS

-gaya ng sabi ng karamihan, isa ang 6120 sa pinakamabilis na symbian phones ngayon, yung OS nya is S60 ver. 3 Feature Pack 1, same sila ng N95, N82, at mga latest na Nseries phones..
After 2 years ngayon lang ulet ako bumili ng smartphone.. Nokia 6600 was my first symbian phone, sobrang bagal talaga, magvview ka lang ng pictures aabutin ka ng ilang sigundo sa pagbukas.. at madalas din maghang, kaya after nun hindi na ako nag smartphone, pero nung binili ko to, a breath of fresh air talaga!!!
yung perception ko sa smartphone ngayon ay nagiba na.. dahil talagang nagimprove ang OS comapred sa mga sinaunang smartphones or N-series phones.. kaya satisfied talaga ako sa performance nito =).

Multimedia

Camera

2mp camera w/ LED flash, average lang ang camera, pero much better sya sa 6300 at sa 5310. yung LED flash may tulong din kahit papaano lalo na pag madilim talaga.. pero di sya pwedeng gamitin as torch or light for video recording kaya medyo disspointed ako..
yung video naman is QVGA @ 15 frames per second w/c is acceptable naman lalo na't mp4 encoding sya.
-may secondary CIF cam din sya na pwedeng gamitin for video call or self portrait, pwede rin sya mag record ng video pero QCIF lang..

Multimedia/mp3 player

Very smooth ang playback ng video player ng 6120 kahit QVGA 30fps pa yan.. hindi choppy unlike ng ibang feature phones.. yung mp3 player naman ay ok lang din, nagsusuport sya ng album art at playlist.
sa quality naman ng sound, kahit mono lang speaker nya, malakas naman at medyo solid, pero malakas pa rin ang speakers ng 6233 at 6300..
through earphones naman.. pag full volume, basag sya.. malakas pero kulang ng bass,gumamit na ako ng A4tech, original, at ipod earphones ganun pa rin.. disaapointed talaga ako kaya dito ko namimiss ang 5310 at 6233 ko.. =(
Cute din yung video editor at photo editor! nakakaaliw!

Connectivity/Browser:

-may bluetooth sya pero walang infrared, pero sakin ok lang, pero minsan naghihinayang din kasi may mga applications gaya ng "remote control" ang ma mimiss mo dahil applicable lang sya sa mga phones na may infrared.
-no wi-fi
-Browser naman, wala pa akong mabibigay na comment kasi hindi ko pa nagagamit, kaya useless ang 3G at HSDPA nito sa akin, lintik kasi na SUN Cellualr na yan, hanggang ngayon wala pa ring 3G!!! ;)

Battery Life:

-For me the battery really performs well, above average sya, in normal usage like few texting, calls, camera, gallery browsing, mp3 playing...umaabot sya ng 3.5 days.. much better sa 6233 at 6300. ;)

Conclusion na agad mahaba na eh!

-masasabi ko lang sa phone na to ay.. almost perfect!
kung maayos-ayos lang yung keys, maganda ang sounds at may wifi hindi ko papalitan ito.. pero sa price nito, best buy talaga!
maliit pero very powerful! highly recommended! =)

Hands On Review: Nokia N95 8gb, a Do-it-All phone

Design/Construction

I tested the N95-Classic before I bought my N95 8gb and the latter definitely has superior overall quality especially the keypads and the slider mechanism. I just hate the lack of a camera cover but I don't think it would be a problem for me since I do take care of my phones very well.

I can't say anything negative about the design and construction.

Keypad/Keys

Keys are quite easy to use and texting is a breeze. One of the best texting Nokia phones I have had in a long time.

Display

2.8" display is also one the best in the business with outstanding sharpness and is one of the best for movie playback and web surfing. The huge display is also a luxury for the built-in 5MP camera.

User Interface or OS

User interface is pretty much your typical Symbian OS-based phone. Layout is standard fare for Nokia S60 phones and you can't complain about it since it is definitely user-friendly. Just be careful when installing 3rd party apps.

Multimedia

Video playback for me is a surprise since I converted some of my downloaded TV series into .mp4 format and playback is very smooth and quality is oustanding for such as small screen. It is really like playing movies in a small laptop to say the least.

As for audio quality the built-in speakers is outstanding and you can actually tweak it to suit your taste. The bundled headphones is not that impressive however but with a 3.5mm jack you can always look for a good set of headphones. Not much of a problem imho.

Connectivity/Browser

Browsing is also quite good since I am using a Wireless router at home. The N95's ability to capture Wireless signals is outstanding coz I have tested it when I had my vacation last month in Singapore. Some people complain about the lack of a touchscreen but personally I don't like touchscreen phones. Pages even those with heavy flash movies can be viewed without any problems although Youtube movie playback via the browser is not yet supported as of the moment (although a recent fix via firmware v.15 has addressed this issue but this is only available for Euro versions). I can't wait for firmware v.15 for Asian versions.

Performance

128mb of RAM with demand paging plus a fast 330mhz cpu makes the N95 8gb perform like a dual-core laptop. There are no more lags and almost everything comes to you in an instant. Thanks to the laggy N95 Classic and Nokia has learned its lessons very well. Battery life is also a strength of the N95 8gb. Even with heavy browsing and texting it would take 2-3 days before the battery totally runs out. Again, thanks to the Nokia N95 Classic's poor battery life.

Conclusion

The N95 8gb version is quite pricey at 29-30k. But all I can say is if you need a Do-it-All phone then this one is for you. I never had any regrets in purchasing this phone. Numerous useful features, outstanding performance, huge memory capacity, superior multimedia playback, pc-like browsing experience, GPS, FM Radio, 5MP Camera with Carl Zeiss optics what else can you ask for in a phone? Who needs a Xenon flash anyway? Given the same lighting conditions such as in the outdoors the N95 8gb can definitely go head to head in picture quality with its N-series cousin the N82. I don't need the Xenon flash because my point-and-shoot digicam takes care of my photography needs.

I am just glad to have a Do-it-All phone. ;)