Originally release in November of 2007, the N82 was a beast of a phone sporting a 2.4″ LCD, Wi-Fi, GPS, MP3 player and most importantly a 5MP camera with Carl Zeiss lens with Xenon flash. This iteration came in silver/white and had mixed reviews. In February 2008 Nokia re-released the N82 in BLACK! and this phone is mighty sexy. Having the same internal components as the previous release but with a whole new outer casing makes this phone a true classic. Many scoffed that it was a Nokia N95 in a candy bar style recreation. This is a huge mistake, this is something new and refreshing!
Nokias’ N-series line has become synonymous with high-end, style/sexiness, and having great multimedia capabilities and the N82 is no exception. The outer casing is built with high quality plastic with a high gloss black finish. Although attractive this makes it perfect for fingerprints, oils, scratches, and other particles that will come in to contact with the surface. The back battery cover is also plastic that is treated with a light grey lined pattern that makes a great contrast to the dominant black. Overall the phone is light but not the point where it feels like a cheap toy. Build quality feels sturdy with minor creaks when heavy/unusual pressure is applied to the phone.
One thing that struck me after the initial minute of use was how comfortable the D-pad is to use. Although the buttons are identical in size the flat large center button makes it alot easier to navigate on the phone and is very accommodating. Comparing the N95 to the N82, the N95s’ D-pad is good but the raised pin like button makes it uncomfortable and harder to use.
The N82 has a unique number pad that strays away from the “standard” flat grouped keys. The keys are raised, small and very narrow. I thought that this would be a issue, at first cursing Nokia’s engineers that they tried to make this number pad more art over function. But after a day or two I easily adjusted to them and did not have any issues punching up lengthy text messages, entering web addresses or dialing phone numbers. Occasionally I did catch myself hesitating mid text when I was mashing quickly, but overall performance was good and I do not think that the design will be an issue with most users.
The N82 sports a 2.4″ QVGA 16 million color display. Although not as large as some of the other N-series phones (N95 = 2.6″ N95 8GB = 2.8″ N81 = 2.4″) the display is easily readable. The screen sits flush with no bezel surrounding it. This allows the clear plastic over the screen to easily attract scratches. With only a few days of use I easily could recognize some fine lines developing and for this reason I highly recommend purchasing a screen protector before using it heavily. I was a little worried since I was used to staring at a 2.6″ screen (trust me that .2″ is a world of difference). But having used it for calls, web and movies, it works well. The screen is clear, colorful, but a tad bit dull. But being smaller and dimmer does have its advantages. I had a huge standby and active time. With the N82 I went two and a half days of heavy use (internet use over edge 2+ hours, 2 hours of calls, 20 photos taken, and 20 min. of GPS) When I ended up at home I still had a bar remaining. The reason behind this is most likely due to the larger battery that it has. The N82 comes with a BP-6MT (1050 mAh) which is 100mAh larger than the N95’s BL-5F (950 mAh).
Update: As of July 3rd there was a hack available on the net that would increase the brightness of the screen on the N82 to that of the N95. One downside to the hack is that the brightness setttings cannot be adjusted after the hack is performed.
The N-series line is most known for the ability to have outstanding media capabilites. With the N82 this is no exception. The N82 has an amazing camera that is worthy of replacing your day to day point and shoot digital camera. The camera is quick to respond to almost any situation with the ability to switch scene modes (auto, user defined, close-up, portrait, landscape, sports, night and night portrait), as well as flash control (auto, on, red-eye (reduction), and off). As with a normal camera the N82 does have a shot timer and burst shot mode. Also color tone selection is available to add that special effect (sepia, black & white, vivid, and negative) and a little something for those emotional shots. These features would be enough to make most consumers jump for joy. But in typical Nokia fashion they have packed alot more to further the experience. After all this is an N-series device. For the photographer that demands more from their mobile photographing session the N82 also have the ability to adjust the white balance, exposure, sharpness, contrast, and ISO. I did mention that this is a phone first, right? Additionally, the camera does have a movie mode that can take movies at a gorgeous 640×480 at 30fps. I can recall times that I’ve taken video with other phones only to be disappointed by the poor resolution and frame rate. With the N82 I’ve been released from those shackles and now have a new standard for mobile imaging. The movies are large, smooth and I cant count the number of times that I have outputted all these to a T.V. Yes! The N82 does not confine you to the 2.4″ mobile screen to share with friends and family, but has a great feature that allows you to connect to a T.V. and play videos, slide shows, etc.
Many people familiar with the N-series might be reading this and saying “so what?” or “this is nothing new”. This is true, most of the new N-series devices (N95, N95 8GB, N81, etc) are known for having great image quality and capabilities well beyond a normal phone. For the N82 Nokia threw in a couple new features that even N series owners can appreciate. The first is the addition of geo-tagging. This feature allows the user to tag any photo that is taken with coordinates using the built in GPS. Then the user can choose to upload this to a map so that they can have a layout or keep the photos private but always have the exact location where the photo was taken as data. This feature has been sought after by many S60 owners that have the GPS feature on their phone. Hopefully this feature will be included in future firmware upgrades. One of the more truly unique features about the N82 is that the unit is equipped with a Xenon flash. This feature alone makes this phone absolutely amazing. Many people have reviewed and talked about it, and in reading these online I always felt that maybe there was some over exaggeration. But using it personally they were spot on. It brings a whole new experience when taking pictures (especially at night). Previously many phones have come equip with either a LED, dual LED, or no flash. The LED offered some illumination but would generally be in effective after 3 feet and the overall illumination of the subject would be weak. At best the LED could be used as a flashlight. However, the Xenon flash reaches way beyond that and illuminates things perfectly. The power of the flash is just like that of a regular camera. I have no need to hesitate when I am taking pictures in a dark area. Even to this day it is still a unique feature that only a handful of phones on the market have, and most of those are other Nokia models. Oddly enough the N96 (Nokias’ next gen flagship phone) will not even come equipped with this great feature and is instead using a dual LED. I believe that the Xenon flash is something that any user can appreciate. The N82 Xenon flash definitely produces a “wow” factor.
Comparison Shot of the N95 (left) and N82 (right) with flash at 10 feet
Comparison Shot of the N95 (left) and N82 (right) with flash at 5 feet
When talking about the musical capabilities of the phone, the N82 is by no means on the lower end. Although the dual speakers are oddly placed on one side, they are clear, loud and very stereo. Comparing them to the N95 is difficult because they sound different but I can’t quite figure out what makes them different. The N82 produces rich sounds that don’t sound stressed when the player is set to 100% volume and even though they are coming from small speakers are still able to emulate bass. The music player supports album art and does come with visualizations (although these are basic). The music player comes with a shuffle, repeat and equalizer option. The equalizer has six pre sets (default, Bass booster, Classical, Jazz, Pop and Rock) as well as the ability to create a new preset with an 8 band equalizer. For those that enjoy using their phone as a music player the N82 comes prepared with 3.5mm jack (perfectly located on the top of the phone) that will fit all your favorite headphones and A2DP support for stereo Bluetooth capability.
Dual speaker on N82
The phone comes with built-in GPS receiver that is capable of A-GPS (provides for faster lock times). The N82 accomplishes reasonably quick GPS location locks, at most taking 15 seconds. The application that comes bundled with the phone is Nokia Maps. The N82 came with version 1.2 installed (version 2.0 is currently available for download) although the software is preloaded, the maps however are not. If you are not using a 3G data connection it is highly recommended to load the maps in advance at home using the accompanying software. You are given a choice of what areas you would like to load to either your phone or the memory card. However if you are on 3G you will most likely survive with on the fly downloading of the maps (although less efficient). Nokia Maps has an integrated “search” feature that allows you to search the map for points of interest. Visually the map can support the traditional 2D (top down) view or 3D view which puts the map at a 3rd person angle. One important feature that most users will look for with GPS equipped phones is the ability to use navigation. However this is not a standard feature of the software and must be purchased for an additional cost. Unfortunately for the user Nokia Maps does not have a onetime fee, the user must subscribe to the navigation service (1-year=$141.53, 30-day=$15.71. and 7-day=$14.14)
Overall I enjoyed experiencing the N82. I did have to worry quite a bit about not scratching the unit but what a small price to pay to be able to enjoy having the ability to photograph at all times of day with excellent quality. Compared to other phones on the market I believe that Nokia is going in the right direction and luckily we will be able to see more from the N-series line in the near future. Pushing the limits and capabilites of a phone only allows over companies to re think their products and compete to create a superior product that is going to thrill the consumer in the end.
