Right now I’m sitting in a hotel room graciously provided by WOMWorld (sponsored by Nokia!), holding a Nokia N82 also graciously provided by WOMWorld. Alas, I’m only borrowing it for the duration of the trip, but it’s long enough to answer some burning questions about Nokia’s latest and greatest candy bar.
Anyway, a special thanks to Donna and Lucy for hooking me up and getting me out here. (here being Florida)
Some quick first impressions of the N82 phone.
Tomorrow we’ll be hitting up the Nokia Star Sync event in Miami for some lip-syncing? karaoke? singing? fun. Come join us at the Bayside Marketplace and you just might walk away with some sweet prizes.
So, without any further ado (note that a lot of comparisons are against the original N95, because that’s what I had on hand):
-Build quality: for the most part, pretty solid. The front of the N82 uses some shiny plastic that’s made to look metallic, the sides are the same as the N81, and the back is more plastic but with a glossy surface. But it still manages to feel heavy and all in all, it’s a well built device.
-Menus are faster and more responsive than ever. The gallery still lags. Boot-up time was much faster compared to the (original) N95.
-The stereo speakers are clearer, but also lower in volume than the N95. Same goes with the loudspeaker.
-The camera. Pretty sick (that’s the good sick), and faster too. Post-processing has been improved to only a couple seconds per shot, and the picture quality looks superb. (see upcoming entry for a photo shootout between the N82 vs. N95 vs. FujiFilm z5)
-No navi-wheel. Even though it looks similar to the N81, the N82 I tested didn’t have the functionality or settings for it.
-The multimedia key has been randomly squished between the right soft key and the C (delete) button. Might be a little annoying for people with big fingers. Nokia also moved the Call/End buttons to the sides but these are surprisingly easy to press.
-The N82 ships with Snakes, and two N-gage demos: Fifa 07 and Asphalt 3, the latter of which looked good but was easily one of the most boring games I’ve ever played on a cell phone.
-USB connector. It’s an odd, almost alien UFO shaped port that I have never seen in this universe.
-Screen rotation sensor. Works as advertised. No flashy animated screen rotations, it just blinks and switches from portrait to landscape and vice versa. Nice touch.