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For the uninitiated, the N82 may seem like a new member of the Finnish company's Nseries stable. Technically, that is right, but its close resemblance to the earlier N95 in terms of features is hard to ignore. Although some mobile phone review sites have made references to the N73, we feel it's more appropriate and relevant to talk about the N82 with the N95 in mind. Our review of the N82 follows below.
Design
When placed side-by-side, probably even a six-year-old will be able to tell the N82 and the N95 apart. In terms of design, the N82 looks radically different from the N95, which is a good move pre-mediated, or not. Otherwise the company will be guilty of bookshelving by introducing several variations of identical phones on the shelves, confusing the consumers (or if you like, giving them more options). This situation is especially rampant in the digicam market where manufacturers produce a single model in a variety of colors.The biggest difference between the N82 and the N95 is that the latter is a slider-phone, while the N82 is a candy-bar model. So users who previously shunned the N95 due to its form factor now have a legitimate reason to pick up the N82. One of the main concerns was that the sliding mechanism may loosen over time. In our opinion, that's a strategic move because it allows Nokia to capture another share of the market which it was previously unable to.
Moving on, the N82 is of a comfortable size and the even weight distribution means we don't have to worry about the phone slipping out of our hands. As for the choice (or lack) of colors, it's a matter of personal opinion. We feel the metallic shade gives a very "bright" persona to the handset, but it also bears a tinge of industrial construction which may not appeal to everyone.
Just like there isn't a perfect phone, the N82 has a few shortcomings. First off are the alphanumeric keys. Maybe there were miscommunications between the designers and engineers during the manufacturing process, because no one in the right mind would fall in love with such tiny buttons. Our only consolation is that the keys are relatively well-spaced-out, so it's a whole lot better than the ones on the Sony Ericsson W880i.
Still on the issue of the buttons, even though each of the softkeys shares the same button with a secondary function, it wasn't easy hitting the wrong key. That said, we would have preferred the functions to be separate. It could be just our review unit, but the D-pad felt rather loose when we pressed it in any of the four directions and light could be seen escaping from the sides. We'd also like to highlight that the build quality was a little shabby on our set because there was a gap between the left edge and the top face. But like we said, it could just be our unit.
We also didn't fancy the shortcut carousel button between the right softkey and the correction function. In our opinion, this is something that could be left out as we constantly worry about pressing it accidentally. The dedicated Gallery button on the right edge of the phone could have been used for that purpose. Only the camera module is at the back of the phone (not like we had expected it anywhere else). Nokia has opted for a mechanical lens cover which is great for protecting the lens. Sliding down the cover activates the shooter.
This time round, the 3.5mm audio port is on the top edge of the handset instead of at the side. This lets us plug our earphones from the top, so there won't be anything protruding from the sides when the phone is in our pockets. Elsewhere, the microUSB port, microSD expansion card slot and charging connection are found on the left edge, while a pair of stereo speakers, camera shutter, gallery key and volume controls lie on the right.
Features
In terms of features, there's really nothing much to talk about since we've already covered most of it in our reviews of the N95 and the N95 (8GB), so we'll just keep it short and sweet. The most distinct feature in the N82 is the addition of a Xenon flash, like the ones we've seen on the Sony Ericsson K810i and K850i Cyber-shots. Compared with LED lights, Xenon flashes are much stronger and able to illuminate subjects better in the dark.)
We mentioned about the microUSB port earlier and even we are getting confused as to which size Nokia favors. Besides rendering all our existing miniUSB cables useless, we are also unable to charge the N82 via the PC, unlike the N95 (8GB). Although that's not a big issue, it's probably good to know that you should try not to lose the cable which comes with your set. If you care to know, Nokia has also dropped the infrared option on the N82.
The N82 runs on the third-edition Symbian S60 platform with Feature Pack 1, so it should be familiar to most Nokia users. Porting over data from their existing S60 phones can be done via the onboard Switch application. We've mentioned before that the Quickoffice app is a read-only version on the earlier N95s. The same goes for the N82 we are reviewing. So for users who have an absolute need to create Word, Excel or presentation documents, they'll have to look elsewhere, unless they are willing to pay for the upgrade.
Performance
With a larger-capacity 1,050mAh battery, the rated talk and standby times are higher than the N95 with a 950mAh cell, though its still less than the 1,200mAh BL-6F option on the N95 (8GB). According to the literature, the N82 has a talktime of 260 minutes and standby of slightly over nine days. Based on our typical usage pattern of making phone calls, sending text messages, taking pictures and listening to music, the N82 was able to keep us entertained for about 2.5 to three days before it winked out.The N82 comes with 128MB of RAM like the N95 (8GB), so we've come to expect a similar kind of snappy response. Truth is, with that amount of memory, it's hard that it will ever be depleted and most of the preinstalled applications can be running in the background without stalling the phone.
As for picture quality, it's one of the best we've seen, on par and better than the Sony Ericsson K850i on some occasions. Although the K850i gave us a better preview of the image on the phone's LCD, the snaps right out of the N82 when viewed on a PC appear more saturated, carry more punch, but sacrifices details. We'll let the pictures speak for themselves, but one thing to note is that the flash on the N82 is brighter than the one on the K850i. It's a pity that the N82 isn't capable of standing on its sides without any support unlike the N95 (8GB). That could be really useful if we are taking night pictures and want to minimize camera shake by using the timer function. The N82 records VGA-resolution videos at 30fps in MPEG-4 format. There's also a front-facing CIF 352 x 288-pixel camera for video calls.
Nokia N82 | Sony Ericsson K850i |
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The pictures shown here were taken using the default camera settings. Clicking on the thumbnails opens up the original images.
Conclusion
Depending on which angle you are coming from, if you are upgrading from a N73, then it's almost a non-decision that the N82 would be the ideal choice. But for current N95 users, it's a less compelling switch and boils down to a choice of going for a larger LCD screen (N95 8GB) or a more powerful Xenon flash (N82). As a camera-phone, the N82 is on par with the Sony Ericsson K850i Cyber-shot, and, in certain cases, betters it in terms of image quality. But, on the other hand, the K850i has dedicated camera controls that can enhance user experience when shooting. Overall, the N82 is a great all-round phone. Despite some niggles that could have been avoided,we'd still recommend it.
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