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 I recently had the pleasure of giving the Nokia N81 a test run, courtesy of WomWorld. The N81 isn't completely fresh on the market, however still has the potential to win the hearts of audiophiles worldwide.
THe N81 offered the most impressive audio quality I have ever seen in a mobile, and the internal 8GB of storage provided a healthy means of media storage.
Follow the jump for a few thoughts on the device....
The N81 comes standard with a breif manual, data cable, charging cord, headphones (with wired remote attachment) and software installation CD.
The build quality of the N81 initially feels quite solid,
however upon further investigation the phone exhibited the same rattle Stafan
from IntoMobile experienced. This actually didn’t disappoint me to much, as the
slider itself felt solid. The exterior is coated in a high gloss black, which seemed to be prone to fingerprints (again, not a big deal to me). What was a bit more disturbing was the key layout feeling quite cramped, and accidental button
clicks seem to happen quite often. As you can see the media keys are nearly integrated with the d-pad, almost thrown in as an afterthought. The 3.5mm jack provides easy headphone hookup, and the larger volume buttons located on the right side make for easy
The integrated speakers were the best I have experienced on
a mobile; and as noted previosouly, the 3.5mm jack is invaluable on a phone like this. The audio
experience is definitely what Nokia was going for with this one, and with the
exception of the cluttered controls I believe it was quite on target. I was surprised on how loud the speakers actually got,
and my Sennheiser HD
280's provided even audio. Having the 8 GB of internal storage proved useful for storing numerous
music tracks; however this would easily be achievable on a media card as well.
I regretfully couldn’t experience the full N-gage platform
at the time of this trial, as multiple delays pushed the gaming system into the
2008. I did play around with the 3 demos that came on the unit, which offered
mediocre game play and graphics. Potential is there, however we will have to
wait for a complete launch to see the true value of what the platform has to
offer. Lets hope for a complete launch at the Mobile World Conference, as I do have my hopes up for the Star Wars game, which could offer a bite more immersive gameplay than the demos provided.
The Nokia N81 is equipped with an integrated 2 MP camera
with LED flash, capable of taking pictures at resolutions of 1600 x 1200. It
has no camera lens cover; however this is much more problematic in the N95-3
where a lens cover protects a more capable camera.
The picture quality is what you would expect from a 2 MP
camera -slightly blurry images and color shading off. I was impressed with how
responsive the camera was, not only during initial startup but also displaying
the image taken. This likely has to do with the much lighter load the processor
needs to handle for a smaller image size (compared to that of the N95), and is
perfect for a quick snapshot.
Low light pictures are not the strong point for any LED based flash, as
easily visible here. Colors become very washed out, and artificial light
appears to distort the entire image.
In my opinion the N81 can be fixed. Nokia first needs to
convince consumers they are getting what they pay for. At nearly $500 USD, we
would need to see a significant price cut to make this not fall in the same
price bracket as the N95 and newly released N82; while also increased carrier
support to allow new contract customers the same severely discounted choices
they are offered with the N95. The "audio experience" doesn't sell itself
for me, and the 8 gigabytes of internal storage I find to be a limitation in
terms of future options and transfer speed.
The apparent leaked pictures of the suspected N96 may fix
the problems currently plaguing the N81. The wider phone should give the
dedicated media buttons their rightful landscape, and the 5MP camera and GPS
are features we are beginning to expect from the N series line.
I enjoyed my time with the N81, although regret being unable
to use the N-Gage platform. If you’re an audiophile the N81 is definitely worth
checking out, but be prepared to pay a bit more than the feature set may
actually be worth.
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