the N82, First Impressions:

I think there's no need to go and enumerate the specs... they're pretty much out there already. But comparing them, to the current flagship phones of Nokia (the N95/N95-8GB), I think they're mostly the same - give or take a feature or two.



Probably the first thing you'd notice about the N82, aside from the candy-bar form factor, is its buttons. Yup, they're small, and a little hard to press - if you're used to the keys of the N95, these could take some gettin used to. Owners of the previous N91/N91-8GB will feel right at home though - as the keys are almost identical to that. They have the same tactile feel too.

So how's the n82 when compared to the N95?

Mmm... well there's the increased ram. The N95 previously had 18 to 25MB after bootup... giving it the infamous "low memory" warnings sometimes. Especially when multi-tasking (simultaneously bluetooth, mp3 playing, surfing the web, wifi, opera, playing games for example). Version 20 of the firmware - kinda fixes all that coz it gave the n95 around 30MB now to play with. The newer N95-8GB had around 70 to 80MB to play with - which makes that the choice for power users out there, who'd shy away from the n95 classic. The smaller n82 does one better in that it has 100MB to play with.

Another thing I was curious about before, was the camera. Well... nothing different in that department too, the image quality is about the same. An n95 with the old firmware was slow - but v20 took care of the speed, and they're about the same speed now. (in autofocusing, viewing the gallery, etc). Having tested an n95-8gb too - the n82 seems to be a little faster than that. Like in starting up the camera or opening larger photos (more than 5mb)... the n82 has it on display already, while the n95-8gb is still on "opening". It's nearly instant on the n82.

One significant thing I did notice though... is that night shots, or shots made in low light, is way better than that made with an n95/n95-8gb. The xenon flash in the n82 rocks! It's way brighter than the LED flash in the n95. The red-eye mode is a little too powerful though, in some shots, it actually GIVES red-eye than taking it away! But it's a good thing that this doesn't happen often.

The camera flashes a strobe before it actually takes the shot. This is the same as the 'autofocusing assist light' in digicams, this is usually done to help the camera focus - especially on total darkness or very low light. The difference here is that in the n95, the strobe is white, in the n82 it's red. It's one good looking strobe alright, hehehe.. :D Just like the n95 with v20 - there's also now a viewfinder grid on the camera. And it shows the battery indicator too.... it kinda' reminds you not to take too many photos with that xenflash when the battery is low. hehehe.. :)

What about general overall speed? I'd have to say that this could be the fastest s60 yet! Opening of apps and viewing photos has never been so easy. Playing the new ngage games (demos are included in the card) is a joy. It really shows off the 3D graphics accelerator chip that Nokia is too quick to boast about, :D I'd say, it's about the same as the graphics speed on the N81/N81-8GB. (which is another phone with a graphics chip.) But the n95 classic, surprisingly, is no slouch either in this department. V20 really rocks... and I do applaud nokia for making the n95 'classic' just as fast in some areas.

One not-so-good thing about the n82 is the screen size. The bigger screen of the N95/N95-8gb is a big plus if you're a mobile gamer. Games, and watching movies on that - is just more enjoyable than in the n82. Although all 3 phones share the same resolution - the physically larger screens of the n95's is more pleasing to the eye. The screen is also a big plus in GPS, in the n82 you'd find yourself zooming in and out, scrolling left to right to see some of the streets and names... no such problems with the screens of n95's.

In the N95/N95-8gb, there's a multi-media key to the right of the D-pad. In the N82 - this is replaced by a smaller key.. still to the right of the Dpad, same as that in the N81/N81-8gb. In the n95, the icons in the multi-media menu are displayed in a U-shaped pattern, in the n82- this is displayed in a V-shaped pattern - with the file/directory info underneath. This is a neat addition, imo, coz it saves from you opening the directory, knowing what your latest file was (and info about it) - while still in the mother menu. The not-so-good thing about it is that, unlike the n95 classic, you cant do anything about the icons/menus that're displayed on it. You cant add or delete icons - there's no chance to customize it.


Another not-so-good thing about the n82 is its data cable. I just dont understand why nokia cant seem to stick to one standard and build on that? Mini-USB's are fine... why did they have to do a micro-USB on the n82? Sigh. Anyway, the connector does seem to be more tight than the mini-USB of the n95. The mini sometimes shimmy from side to side (both original and 3rd party cables)... in the n82, it's nice and tight, no movement whatsoever.

Mmmm... I guess that's it for now... haven't yet explored the other menus of the phone. There's a 'music store' and a new 'MusicMix' feature, it even has one category labeled 'OPM', haven't tested that yet.

Other niceties that's included with this phone are the auto-rotate function of the screen, the 3.5mm jack (which doubles as the TV-out port), and the lens cover. The auto-rotate function uses the phone's accellerometer - a feature also taken from the n95 (but in the previous phone it aint automatic). The 3.5mm jack, fortunately, is the same standard size as most headphones in the market - meaning that you can use your favortite high-end hamburger-bun headphones with this phone. :) Lastly is the lens cover... which is much nicer this time, no more split-door types like that in the n95, but rather just one large cover plate. The split-door types were nice enough though... but there have been reports of mulfunctioning doors, like one is open and one is not. Which is an inconvenience for sure. This same lens cover, rather the absence of it, is a source of continuing debate on nokia's other great camphone - the N95-8GB.

Overall... on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest score, I'd probably give the n82... a healthy 8 (that is if a 9 sounds too cheesy! hehehe..)

cheers!