Nokia N82 Review Part I: The Physical
After a week with the Nokia N82, I have prepared the first part of the review for this phone. I will talk about the physical aspects of the Nokia N82 and give a separate review of its features in an upcoming post. Many people consider the N82 simply as a Nokia N95 in a candybar form. While they both share similar features, the Nokia N82 stands out as the winner in the imaging category. In the end, I think that the Nokia N82 won’t win any awards for its appearance, but its features make up for it.
Update: You can also read my Nokia N82 Review of the 5 megapixel camera.
Nokia N82 at a conference room in Nokia House HQ.
First Impressions
The Nokia N82’s appearance does not stand out. I always show off to my friends, family, and even strangers the phones I carry around. Noone jumps out and scream, “I love this thing.” The general consensus on the Nokia N82 is, “it looks okay.” Matt agrees by saying, “it is not the prettiest thing in the world by a long shot,” in the Nokia Geek’s Nokia N82 initial impression. To fully appreciate the Nokia N82, however, is knowing what it’s capable of.
Build Quality. The Nokia N82 feels great in the hands. It is very solid and does not feel cheap or rushed to production. No loose parts or creaking sounds were noticed during my week of usage. Jeremiah feels exactly the same about the excellent build quality in as written in the Nokia User’s initial Nokia N82 impressions. Because of it’s width, smooth surface, and rounded corners, putting this phone in my pocket is also easy.
Shiny. The first thing people notice is the shiny surface. Like I said, some people like that while others don’t. What I don’t like about the surface is the button labels are not very visible when the keypad lights are off. I need to bring it up to my face to have a closer look when I’m somewhere bright. Pressing one of the keys illuminates the buttons helps. You also notice the fingerprints a lot more because of the surface.
Hard to see the labels when not lit.
Color. The battery cover is not shiny like the front, but is warm titanium according to the box. The material is made of hard plastic. Taking a closer look at the back of the phone, you’ll see some geometric patterns. The lines are not embossed, so the surface remains smooth. I am not that crazy about the color, but my girlfriend loves it. A white color version for this phone is expected the first quarter of 2008.
Display
The Nokia N82’s screen display is 2.4 inches compared to 2.6 on the Nokia N95 and 2.8 on the Nokia N95 8GB. All the three phones have the same screen resolution of 240×320 pixels so the texts, images and videos will look smaller on the N82. Right after taking it out of the box, I did not have a problem with the screen size. It’s when I put it next to my Nokia N95 that it started bothering me. The 0.2 inch difference is noticeable. The product manager of the Nokia N82 said that they chose the smaller size because it was the most appropriate for the form factor they were targeting. They did not want the phone to be wide.
Nokia N95 versus Nokia N82 display size.
Accessing the menus are fine to the eyes, but I don’t like browsing the internet on the N82. I find the texts too small to read. While you can zoom in to make the texts bigger, you sacrifice cutting off some of content. I do praise it for helping me become a safer driver. Browsing the web and driving at the same time is harder on the Nokia N82 than on the Nokia N95.
Sharp. While screen size bothers me, I love how sharp the display is. The icons look great, and viewing photos or videos is not a problem. No signs of pixelation anywhere on the display. However, the Nokia N95 (N95-3 model) seems to have a brighter display than the Nokia N82 when both settings are set to max.
The Nokia N95’s display is slightly bigger and brighter than the Nokia N82.
Buttons
User Friendly. People may worry that the numbers on the keypad are too small, but they are raised enough so that pressing the buttons is not a problem. They are also well-spaced out to prevent accidental presses. Jay says the keypads are very user friendly in Nseries Mobile’s Nokia N82 review.
People with bigger fingers might have a problem with upper buttons (left soft key, right soft key, menu, and clear). These buttons are not raised and share the same surface. Pressing the correct function means pressing right on top of the label. Guessing the buttons to press while not looking at the phone itself can get tricky.
Side Buttons. The three buttons placed on the side are the camera button, gallery, and volume controls. I absolutely love the gallery button. Pressing it once shows you the last picture or video taken. Pressing it again shows the thumbnails of the most recent pictures and videos taken.
Side view of the Nokia N82.
Power. The power is the only button on top of the Nokia N82. There’s nothing special worth mentioning here. You use to turn on/off the phone, as well as change profiles to silent, normal, outdoor,etc.
Speakers
Built for videos. Both the left and right speakers are placed on the right side of the Nokia N82. Nokia made the decision to do this because they know that people watch videos in landscape mode. With this placement, movies on the Nokia N82 also sound great.
The placement of the speakers benefit the movie-watching experience, but it takes away from everything else. Placing calls on loudspeaker while holding the phone in your hands, decreases the volume of the call because one of the speakers is covered.
Connections
Micro-USB and Power. The Nokia N82 connects to your computer through a micro-USB port. The phone will also not charge through the USB. I also notice that both the micro-USB and power are on the side of the phone instead of the bottom where I usually see it. For example, the Nokia N95 and Nokia N81, these connections are at the bottom. Because of this placement, the Nokia N82 sits upright nicely in my car’s cup holder while being charged. I have to turn my Nokia N95 upside down in the cup holder whenever I am charging it.
Some people don’t like the placement of the Micro-USB and power. In Ricky Cadden’s Nokia N82 first impressions, he says the placement of the micro-USB and power port gets in the way of desktop stands or car mounts with side grips. That is not completely true. I would make sure to buy a desktop stand that lets me use the power port. Take a look at pictures taken by Devin from the Nokia Guide: desktop stand for Nokia N82. You can see that you will still be able to charge the phone while inside the stand.
Nokia N82 inside a desktop stand. Photo by Devin Balentina of the Nokia Guide.
Standard 3.5mm jack. A 3.5mm jack is on top of the phone. This should really be a standard placement on all phones because it is a lot easier to listen to music while the device is in my pocket and the earphones are connected on top. Any standard ear/headphones fit. That same jack also connects to the TV-out cable where you can connect the Nokia N82 to a TV. This is great to show off to your friends and family the DVD-quality video recorded on the phone viewed on a bigger screen. That’s 640×480 resolution in 30 frames per second!
MicroSD and MicroSDHC. The Nokia N82 takes microSD and microSDHC cards on the side. Currently the highest amount of storage available is 8GB MicroSDHC. What I like about the placement is that I do not need to do anything else other than remove the card from the side with the flap cover if I want to take it out. I recently found out that the microSD card on the LG Viewty is placed under the battery meaning you have to power down, open battery cover, and remove battery before you can take out the card. That information makes me appreciate my Nseries devices more.
Camera
Lens Cover. The 5 megapixel camera on the Nokia N82 is protected by a lens cover. I love this thing. I don’t want to talk about the camera functions and the way it works yet because that will be in the second part of the review, but the lens cover works great. I’m not sure if it is spring-loaded, but best way I can explain it is that opening and closing the lens does not feel “cheap” like on the original Nokia N95 (N95-1 model).
The 5 megapixel camera with xenon flash on the Nokia N82.
Xenon Flash. The xenon flash makes the Nokia N82 stand out in the Nseries. Taking pictures in dark environment makes you want to throw away your current cameraphones. The flash on the Nokia N82 is brighter than any phone I’ve owned. Pressing the camera button halfway briefly shoots out a red light from the camera to assist in auto-focus. More on the camera features and thoughts in the second part.
Physical Conclusion
Nokia makes the Nokia N82 the imaging flagship in their Nseries lineup and while it certainly lives up to that title, it doesn’t look like one. The Nokia N95’s form factor looks closer to an imaging phone. The Nokia N82 is also not a beauty queen, but people will buy this phone because of its features. Is the N82 basically the Nokia N95 in a candybar form? Yes and no. They share very similar features, but buyers will need to decide what they use more. Love taking pictures escpecially at night? Go with the Nokia N82. Otherwise take the Nokia N95 with the bigger screen for better overall experience in watching movies or browsing the web.
The second part of this review will go through the Nokia N82’s functions like its camera and video quality, as well as general usage experience. Stay tuned or subscribe to the Nokia blog’s feed.
Norman John on 24 November 2007:
Great review Mark. I`m looking forward to read your second review.
Matt Jones on 24 November 2007:
Top work Mark. Looking forward to the rest.
Tip on 24 November 2007:
Great review! Candy bar form factor with good feature list(most of all camera) and i’m sold so it would have had majorly sucked to keep me away from it =)
Mark Guim on 24 November 2007:
Thanks everyone for the comments! By the way the Nokia N82 is now available for purchase. Check the price check for the Nokia N82
Are on 25 November 2007:
Nice review, thanks!
Alex on 25 November 2007:
Great job Mark! Greetings from Germany!
Stefan Constantinescu on 25 November 2007:
Wicked job Mark!
Daan on 26 November 2007:
Great review !
Can anyone tell me when u use this phone in a car mount like the Nokia Universal Holder CR-39 I use, if the side buttons are pressed when u put this phone in it ???
Greetz
andy on 26 November 2007:
Nice review, the best review on the physical part i have read… Can you tell me how the navigation button is? Maybe compared to previous n-series? Is it pleasant to ude?
I’am already excited to read the next part!
Thanks in advance!
HeavyGod on 27 November 2007:
Really good and really interesting post. I expect (and other readers maybe :)) new useful posts from you!
Good luck and successes in blogging!
Rajaie AlKorani on 27 November 2007:
Hey man nice review, keep up the good work, im lookin forward for the second part.
Also nice site you have
Mark Guim on 27 November 2007:
Thanks again for all the comments! Part 2 should be up before the weekend. Papers due this week that I have to bang out first.
TiTo on 30 November 2007:
very good review Mark..but I have question very important to me >>which mobile is louder and better in speakers sound N95 or N82 because I like to use my mobile for music and video playing witout headset?? plzzzzzzzzz answer it..thanks
TiTo on 2 December 2007:
which mobile is louder and better in speakers sound N95 or N82 because I like to use my mobile for music and video playing witout headset?? plzzzzzzzzz answer it..thanks
Jimmy on 18 December 2007:
Hi Mark, I am using the N73ME and totally disappointed with the voice tag function on my phone. It simply does not work. I have brought this up to Nokia and they acknowledge that this function does not work on the N73 even though it is there. I tried a N80 and it works perfectly. I am comtemplating to change to the N82 but need to have your advice on the voice dial function. Would it work properly ? My N73 does not work at all.
Jimmy
Nokia N82 on 18 December 2007:
That was an awesum review, this is a phone that will have journalists frithing at the mouth - the first decent camera phone with the faster shutter and return speed - take a pic and the phone is ready in milliseconds to shoot again.
A dream come true for pure journalism.
Nokia N82 on 22 December 2007:
I can’t believe that this phone is already available on pay as you go - It used to take ages for new phones to be released, especially the higher end models.
http://www.phoneslimited.co.uk/Nokia/N82/Pay As You Go.html
Hez on 13 January 2008:
I’m wanting to read Nokia N82 Review Part 2 but I couldn’t find it here, is it already published?
jimmy a. on 13 January 2008:
wow this was a great review and i have been looking forward to purchasing this phone i was actually going to make the purchase two weeks ago but couldnt intill now but now i have hurd rumors of new colors such as silver titanium white and possibly black and i just wanted to know if these are really true???
Aleksandar on 26 January 2008:
Thanks for excellent review. I was undecided about it, but now i know what is my next phone. I’ll wait your next episode of this review.
PS: I hope i’ll find it in black or gray colour, becouse this yellow cream colour i don’t like too much. Thanks again.
David on 1 February 2008:
I got my n82 exactly a week ago and have been really impressed with it. My previous phone was an n73 and this is better in every way. The n82 keypad is much easier to use than it looks and the phone is very responsive in use (unlike the n73). It’s also just that bit smaller than the n95 so it doesn’t bulge in your pocket and is slightly thinner and lighter than the n73.
Andy Burgin on 1 February 2008:
Still not decided yet wether to get the N82 on contract or wait for the new batch of Nokia phones for 2008,like the review says the phone does not stand out, attract good reviews but i think Nokia will release a Black version soon so will get better looks an more attraction i think so its early days so will still have to make my mind up wether to get the N82 soon or not
Varun on 2 February 2008:
N82 is a great phone.. I was not happy with the keypad a bit but then got used to it
http://www.fonearena.com/blog/2008/02/03/nokia-n82-review.html
fiedaus on 2 February 2008:
did n82 have image stabilizer
Adnan on 4 February 2008:
Hi
Great review
really important question to me please can anyone answer this: aj_adnan8@yahoo.co.uk
Is this phone louder than the n73 also when or are they going to release the blck version?
Thanks and ideas thanks adnan
Ruben on 9 February 2008:
Hello I need a LCD sreen for my n82….
James Allen on 14 February 2008:
Great review Mark and some excellent photos.
One thing that got me intrigued though was that desk stand. Is that a generic stand and is that all it is? Rather than being a charger as well? Looks superb with the N82 in it. Either way, could you let me know where I could get one of those?
Kay on 14 February 2008:
Really good review and to anyone who is thinking about the N82, our Fashion Director is using one this week to do London Fashion Week coverage and take photos using the phone:
http://www.wallpaper.com/fashion/fashion-weeks-uncovered/2047
She’s a total gadgetphobe but if she can work this phone, then anyone can…
luc valette on 18 February 2008:
So frustrated !!!!!!!!!!
After reading all these positive reviews I had so much expectations (I loved the N73 so I was an easy target!).
I bought the N82 2 days ago and am extremely frustrated, and the customer hotline did not give a …..!
Feeling hopeless I registered to My Nokia to send a feedback as a last attempt to get someone care about my issue.
I still hope they live by the standard that every customer would expect from a global leader, and give them one week to provide satisfactory support (I also work in a global company that would not let a customer that dissatisfied).
If they do (or they don’t), I will keep you posted so that you have the exact idea of how great this company is. Or is not.
Stay tuned !
Will on 20 February 2008:
Great features and everything, but battery life is bloody awful. Been using it for 2 months now and mine practically lives on the charger. My old N73 lasted 3 days per charge, this supposed upgrade lasts less than a day on the same volume of usage. I don’t even dare to use GPS on it yet cause it may not even last 10 minutes….very disappointed with it.
luc valette on 24 February 2008:
So frustrated — Episode 2: consolated.
Well, finally all is back to order as the Nokia customer service facility finally accepted that I return the n82 and get my refund. I was really worried as both the online support and the call center were ignoring me or just refusing the return. Obviously we’re not yet at the age of efficient phone or web support, that’s for sure !
Anyway I can start again my quest for the phone that will fulfill my needs.
So here is what was wrong with this purchase of the N82:
1- I decided to buy it after making a phone feature comparison on the Nokia Europe/UK website. Selecting my requirements (GPS, Wifi, Bluetooth, camera) I finally ended-up selecting the N82
2- reading first a few reviews to be sure, I confirmed my choice and was left with the feeling that, being the promising next big hit after the N73, this phone would include all the features of the N73, especially the possibility to type SMS from a computer thru Bluetooth, and the most expected business card scanner
3- finding a good deal at Best-Buy, I finally bought-it after spending a few hours comparing it with the N95 and talking to Best-Buy staff
4- once home, problems start: no way to find neither the Wifi connection wizard, nor the business card scanner (there is a bar-code scanner though, that can decode business cards which have it printed, but the feature is far away from the N73 business card scanner that was able to OCR the card and put in all arranged in your contacts)
5- pushing a little further, no way to write SMS in the Nokia Lifeblog application: it’s really impossible to type sms with this phoneset as a) buttons are really small b) the letters above the buttons are microscopic and c) the stainless-steel
face is brighter than the letters in daylight, so the PC feature is a must at work
On the positive note, I could download many maps (thru the night at it was quite slow) of the world (France, London, NY, SF, Shanghai, Beijing, Hong-kong, which left me 500 MB free on my 2 GB card) and got the GPS to work exactly as expected, giving me position, maps, routes and turn-to-turn voice and screen directions during the 1st 3 trial days of the service (after the 3 days, I could still use the maps, get the position with standalone GPS or network-using AGPS, find routes, but could not have the turn-to-turn real-time voice and screen direction until I pay the year, month or week fee).
But whatever, buying a Wifi phone that has no wifi was not acceptable for me.
After a little bit of research, I found out: according to one post on the net, Wifi is forbidden on cell phones sold in this country! well, I’ve no problem with that, every country can have its own laws. But what was not acceptable to me is that the only feature comparator available on Nokia websites selects the N82 based on the Wifi requirement, and does not mention at all that it is a country specific feature !
So you end-up selecting a phone for a feature that will not be in the same model you buy.
You could argue that the Best-Buy Shanghai staff could have mentioned that there is no Wifi, but according to a few reviews I read on Best-Buy it’s something you can not expect …
My conclusion: Nokia customer service was understanding, after insisting a little, and accepted the return, so finally no issue on that side (and the personnel was really charming, not like the call-center ones).
However, if Nokia really want to make a great phone experience (and service), they need to change quite a few things:
- stop removing great features from a phone to its successor: a) business cards scanner of the N73, is awsome, just keep it! b) ability to send SMS from the PC software
- provide a global feature comparison website that clearly mentions what is or not available in the countries: not only people buying from Europe need that
- create a real on-line global support service with customer caring agents who find solutions for the customers in place of their current agents who just send standard e-mails: people who buy high-end phone with GPS … travel and need support on the go
So what will be my next phone now ? With my requirements:
- great camera (with optical zoom would be even better than the N82)
- GPS
- bluetooth & wifi
- business cards scanner
- send SMS from PC
- not Windows, please !
Maybe a Nokia, but which one ??? Any other suggestions ?
Thank you.
luc valette on 24 February 2008:
– Episode 2: consolated.
Well, finally all is back to order as the Nokia customer service facility finally accepted that I return the n82 and get my refund. I was really worried as both the online support and the call center were ignoring me or just refusing the return. Obviously we’re not yet at the age of efficient phone or web support, that’s for sure !
Anyway I can start again my quest for the phone that will fulfill my needs.
So here is what was wrong with this purchase of the N82:
1- I decided to buy it after making a phone feature comparison on the Nokia Europe/UK website. Selecting my requirements (GPS, Wifi, Bluetooth, camera) I finally ended-up selecting the N82
2- reading first a few reviews to be sure, I confirmed my choice and was left with the feeling that, being the promising next big hit after the N73, this phone would include all the features of the N73, especially the possibility to type SMS from a computer thru Bluetooth, and the most expected business card scanner
3- finding a good deal at Best-Buy, I finally bought-it after spending a few hours comparing it with the N95 and talking to Best-Buy staff
4- once home, problems start: no way to find neither the Wifi connection wizard, nor the business card scanner (there is a bar-code scanner though, that can decode business cards which have it printed, but the feature is far away from the N73 business card scanner that was able to OCR the card and put in all arranged in your contacts)
5- pushing a little further, no way to write SMS in the Nokia Lifeblog application: it’s really impossible to type sms with this phoneset as a) buttons are really small b) the letters above the buttons are microscopic and c) the stainless-steel
face is brighter than the letters in daylight, so the PC feature is a must at work
On the positive note, I could download many maps (thru the night at it was quite slow) of the world (France, London, NY, SF, Shanghai, Beijing, Hong-kong, which left me 500 MB free on my 2 GB card) and got the GPS to work exactly as expected, giving me position, maps, routes and turn-to-turn voice and screen directions during the 1st 3 trial days of the service (after the 3 days, I could still use the maps, get the position with standalone GPS or network-using AGPS, find routes, but could not have the turn-to-turn real-time voice and screen direction until I pay the year, month or week fee).
But whatever, buying a Wifi phone that has no wifi was not acceptable for me.
After a little bit of research, I found out: according to one post on the net, Wifi is forbidden on cell phones sold in this country! well, I’ve no problem with that, every country can have its own laws. But what was not acceptable to me is that the only feature comparator available on Nokia websites selects the N82 based on the Wifi requirement, and does not mention at all that it is a country specific feature !
So you end-up selecting a phone for a feature that will not be in the same model you buy.
You could argue that the Best-Buy Shanghai staff could have mentioned that there is no Wifi, but according to a few reviews I read on Best-Buy it’s something you can not expect …
My conclusion: Nokia customer service was understanding, after insisting a little, and accepted the return, so finally no issue on that side (and the personnel was really charming, not like the call-center ones).
However, if Nokia really want to make a great phone experience (and service), they need to change quite a few things:
- stop removing great features from a phone to its successor: a) business cards scanner of the N73, is awsome, just keep it! b) ability to send SMS from the PC software
- provide a global feature comparison website that clearly mentions what is or not available in the countries: not only people buying from Europe need that
- create a real on-line global support service with customer caring agents who find solutions for the customers in place of their current agents who just send standard e-mails: people who buy high-end phone with GPS … travel and need support on the go
So what will be my next phone now ? With my requirements:
- great camera (with optical zoom would be even better than the N82)
- GPS
- bluetooth & wifi
- business cards scanner
- send SMS from PC
- not Windows, please !
Maybe a Nokia, but which one ??? Any other suggestions ?
Thank you.
Ahchung on 28 February 2008:
The N82 display you’ve mention has a size of 2.4″, but the display of the N82 i’ve just bought is size 2″. Are you sure the display is 2.4″? Did you measure the display?
Rasool on 28 February 2008:
Wery Good For Me.N82
GPS&Camera
Good……
Wesley on 4 March 2008:
luc: It seems that no Mainland Chinese phones have Wi-Fi: http://wtanaka.com/node/7767
But you can probably find a Hong Kong N82 in Shanghai.
Zack on 6 March 2008:
Hi,
where is the “editing” or “pen” button ? to select and copy/paste texte ?
Msg back,
Thanks
Ham on 12 March 2008:
* I KNOW HOW TO CHANGE THE N82 FRONT COVER*
FINALLY- HOW TO REPLACE NOKIA N82 FRONT COVER AND SWAP YOUR KEYPAD OR REPLACE WITH A BLACK CASE WHEN AVAILABLE….
FIRST:
YOU NEED A TOOL CALLED A SS-93
THEN DOWNLOAD THE ABOVE PDF:
http://fileshare.eshop.bg/downloadsm/34994/Nokia_N82.html
Job done!!!!
Kashif on 26 March 2008:
After installing new updated firmware for nokia n82,the backside camera shows black screen …but front side camera is working fine..any solution?
Enrique on 27 March 2008:
@Kashif:
WHAT NEW UPDATED FIRMWARE?
James Allen on 27 March 2008:
Hi again,
Please could you let me know where you got that lovely desktop stand from? I would really like to get hold of one.
Mark Guim on 27 March 2008:
@James I got it at the Nokia House HQ in Finland when I was invited for the N82 launch.
James Allen on 27 March 2008:
Thanks Mark.
It’s a gorgeous looking unit. Just a case of trying to track it down now. You don’t have a model number do you?
Nikhil on 28 March 2008:
Hi,
I’m Nikhil.
I bought my N82 couple of months back.
I have put the contacts to appear as “First Name Last Name”. But still, whenever I receive a message, the sender’s name appears in my inbox as “Last Name First Name”. Can you help me set that right??
Thanks!
Jaimie on 29 March 2008:
i absolutely adore this phone .do you know if its available in australia or china .?
lkiki on 31 March 2008:
don’t buy it in mainland China: the WIFI feature is removed as per regulations. HK should be OK though. dunno about australia.
krn on 31 March 2008:
@ Jaimie: I’ve seen the N82 available at V’fone in Sydney on a $49 plan, the N95 on a $79 plan.
Actual N82 User on 6 April 2008:
Lucky you for having found this. Pay attention as this is the real deal as I have an N82 and don’t work for Nokia yada, yada. Sorry though, I’m going to try not to write the very long review this device requires. Mainly going to focus on the negatives that nobody else will tell you to save your having to buy one to find this stuff out.
Problem number one: the user manual is too short by tenfold. Tenfold. At least. And often you only get something like: “Blue Water Widget Mode: enables blue water widget mode”. Sure. Over half your N82 usage knowledge will be from trail and error and educated guessing.
No page or jump scrolling button function (that anybody like me knows of—see problem number one). Without a mouse, the four way button (I’m sure it has a tech name but you know what I mean) moves the cursor one pixel at a time. So so for web pages, but not so good for maps. Pretty obvious deficiency that they could have easily solved.
Lock and Roll is here is stay, it will never die. Excuse me. As a candybar, you need to lock the keys. However, some events unlock the keys auto and some temp unlock them and some trigger but you have to remember to unlock the keys first. What, you think this all would be stated in the user guide? Reread problem number one.
$%^&ing backlightless. Since the backlight stays off, no way of telling if the keys got unlocked or not (see above). Hey, I’m cheap, but I’m sure I’m not the only one who checks the call duration meter so as to talk fast and hang up before hitting that next minute. No good on the Nokia as the backlight goes off in 60 seconds max with no possibility of a reprieve. (Yeah, I know about the workaround app that you have to remember to start and then terminate.) This issue hits you all kinds of places over and over again. Best I can do (given the lack of documentation) is the double suck of hitting the power/mode button. This will force the backlight on but sucks once because of course doing so every 59 seconds is a big pain and sucks twice because if you press it wrong the phone thinks this means you want to power off. Now and without confirmation.
Someone wrote, “…runs on a needlessly complex OS that buries useful apps.” Okay, sure. I’ve had to actually “type” into the find feature to track down apps like the calculator that I know are there but I’ll be damned if I can find them anywhere. The six softkeys are very handy but with this full-featured beast, I need 20 (and then I’d need softkeys to organize the 20 softkeys…). Hmmm, maybe some documentation would help.
App parameters for amateurs. Found out (remember, inadequate documentation), that the recorder app happily pauses without notice when you go away to something else like the maps app. It’s still there and running, just no longer recording like maybe this is why you ran the recorder app. The video recorder doesn’t care that you are a power user who has plugged in an 8GB card, you get one hour of recording at a time no ifs ands or buts. And if you weren’t a power user like me, why would you get this phone?
Integration disappoints me. I guess convergence just is not here yet even though a device like this is. I can’t tag a GPS lat long to a contact. I can’t properly tag a note (or a doc like a PDF or image showing how to get to their home) to a contact or, heaven forbid, tag a note to a stored GPS location (that the phone calls a landmark). How about recording something via the recorder app and attaching this to a calendar event? I could go on and on and on. That it offers less in this regard than the 10 year old Palm Pilot I was using does really surprise me. It also does not seem that everything, literally the hundreds of settings along with all the data can be backed up for fully recovery. As a sane person I don’t want to have to go through all the setup work again.
There is a whole bunch of other stuff, but you have the high points here and after all, there are professional reviews out there.
On the good side, the camera works really well…for me. I suppose photophiles would scoff, but the 3mp works fine for me and meets one of my purchase goals to always have a camera handy. Same too for the video recording. Not great, but not bad and meets my needs. The true flash works out really well. I use my N82 more as a camera than anything else. From my N82 experience, I’d rather have an N95 (bigger screen, sexier, no key locking issues with the slider I presume) but that flash thing led to the N82. I’ve taken to using the flash and close-up mode to use my N82 as an always on me document scanner. Thank you, thank you, yes, I know I am starting yet another trend. Those forms the doctor’s office made me fill out, I now have a pretty decent copy.
The GPS is slow starting (as all the reviews say, perhaps slower), but I live with it. (Note that I don’t have a data plan—just use WiFi and USB—so this makes things different in a number of areas for me like no AGPS, YMMV). Oh, pay attention to this. Navigation, not Voice Navigation as everyone reports, is a (pretty hefty IMO) extra charge per time option. I thought that I would just navigate looking at the screen and skip the voice and save the money. You don’t pay, YOU GET NO, NO, NAVIGATION. It seemed pretty cool during the brief trial period with issues like you might expect like sub-optimal routing in strange ways. I miss it and would use it if I had it (with or without the voice talking) but I have no problems just navigating like I had for 34 years before I got my N82.
WiFi is fine, web browsing okay (remember, only tedious one pixel scrolling). It will connect to hidden access points (and I wish my laptop did so then I would hide my wireless router). Bluetooth works okay. But—I tried for grins to link to my Bluetooth mouse and this did not work and then my mouse started tracking poorly. Bluetooth stereo headphones were fine. Another parameter nit, Bluetooth-PC xfers way too quickly timeout. Like when, gee, imagine this, you have a bunch of photos or some video that you want to xfer to the PC—get the USB cable out. I mean, I don’t care if the xfer takes all night, let it run!
Oh, of course, the phone works. People say it is the clearest they have ever heard, wireless or wired. I say, who cares. It works okay, fine. Voice dialing I find useful along with voice known caller announcement. Just keep the damn backlight on so I can see who is calling or what my call duration is, etc. Just one more thing, its locked up twice so far requiring power cycling. I’d rather it didn’t but this has not been devastating to me.
Arbi on 12 April 2008:
Very good review Mark! Thank you for all advices , I’ll consider them . You see I’m buying a N82 soon and I wanted a good review , such as yours , and this helped me so much ! In the 2nd review don’t forget to tell us about and how to use GPS on N82 ! please ? And thanks again !
Sam on 21 April 2008:
Great review Mark.
I just wrote up my own review based on my own experiences with the N82 that can be found on my blog http://madfortechnology.blogspot.com.
It is a great phone but does have some design problems that make you shake your head at Nokia (after all, they have so much experience with these things).
The screen comparison with the N95 is pretty dire. The extra brightness also seems to improve colour accuracy/vibrancy. I must grab an N95 and compare them myself.
Have you updated to the new firmware yet? It makes the phone even faster.
Sam
Bernie on 22 April 2008:
Just bought the N82 and it,s a rough ride with the Instruction Manuals, for example:-
Eject the memory card
1 press the power key
2 select remove memory card
Where the devil do I find this option?
Can anybody help
Regards
Bernie
vivek on 25 April 2008:
i just got my n82 week ago
i use GPS DATA
i get my position longitude & altitude figures
i feed thet figures in google earth
then i got the place about 50 km away from where i get position by n82
what is the reasion of it
vivek on 25 April 2008:
calculator in n82 is cheaper one
even in nokia 2630 calculator has three options standrd/loan/scintific calculator
can i install in my n82 like 2630
matt on 15 May 2008:
great phone but does anyoneknow why it doesn’t charge through usb, is this the case with all nokia phones can/will it be fixed in an update
Dennis on 10 June 2008:
hey i recently purchased an N82 here in India & i jus luved the phone, be it form factor or features. i jus wanted to ask you whether it is ok to upgrade the nokia maps 1.0 dat comes with it to the nokia maps 2.0 that i hav downloaded from the nokia beta labs website will it harm my phone in any way? BTW i luved ur review.
Peace
Mark Guim on 10 June 2008:
@Dennis Yes I recommend upgrading to Nokia Maps 2.0. It did not harm any of the phones I upgraded.
Thanks everyone for the comments!
JR on 16 June 2008:
Hello…
I am using the Nokia N82 for the past 2 weeks and it seems to developed an annoying squirting sounds when pressing the keypads on the left side particularly the lower left keys.I’am little bit worried.
Any idea whats wrong with my unit? is it nor
HOPE TO HEAR FROM YOU GUYS.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
JR
Alan E on 17 July 2008:
Hiya,
Been a nokia phone owner for years and always like to upgrade to a top of the range model every year, currently using the N82 but apart from finding out that I cant change the snooze time, i also like to check my previous calls durations aa well as when i made the calls, but i can seem to do that with this phone. Any ideas??