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The power of xenon. A photographic powerhouse. Excellent build. FANTASTIC feel in the hand. That's what the N82 is all about. Is it the device for you? That remains to be seen. It's a device not without its faults, but are they forgivable enough... at least to me?
Read on for my initial impressions...
The first thing that strikes me is that the N82 feels magnificent in my hand. It just feels right. The edges are brilliantly rounded and tapered to make sure it feels this way. The build quality is as impressive as a Nokia should be- of course, there's no slider. The only moving part is the much appreciated lens cover. Proper lens protection is a feature I'm sorely missing on my new US variant N95 and the 8GB model. The lens cover is spring loaded this time and operates quite fluidly.
To me, the device is nowhere near as attractive as my N95. A lot of people may disagree, but the fact that the bloody thing is so glossy makes it a real grease magnet. I understand the design was geared more towards the "fashion conscience" crowd- but doesn't that mean they'd be the ones most frustrated with the "greasioucity" of the device? Perhaps shiny makes up for this with them, but I would much prefer more matte finishes, and the rubberized texture of the back plates found on the N95s.
The keypad does not impress me either. We're told that great debates were had on the subject of finding a common ground between usability and style. For me, I'll always be partial to the side of functionality. The more functional a device is for me, the more attractive I personally find it. The keypad array just smacks of Sony/Ericsson styling, and I just don't get it. I'm assured by former and current S/E users alike that I'll get used to it, but I'm not sure why I have to. I hope after spending some more time with this device I can report back that the keys are comfortable and easy to use, but I'm certainly not finding that the to be the case yet. I'm also missing a dedicated edit key- the "pencil" has been removed, I assume in lieu of a "cleaner" button arrangement. I will say that in person, the keypad layout does look better than it does on all the pictures we've been seeing for months and months...
Without holding an N95 8GB or even an older N95 up to the N82, I had a hard time reminding myself that the screen is quite a bit smaller. When compared with these devices, it's pathetically small. Perhaps it's the overall design of the device, or the form factor of a candybar versus a slider where you can get away with a larger screen in a seemingly smaller device, but I'm really not missing it that much.
What I do like very much is the xenon bulb. This makes a world of difference when your mobile device is your dedicated camera too. I take a LOT of pictures with my mobile device. I've printed up professionally bound 8x10 sized books of images taken with my N95 for relatives as gifts. I've printed out 11x14 images with the N95- framed, matted and hung on the walls of my daughter's room. I use my N95 a lot for imaging, and immediately I could tell that I was going to have a hard time going back to the N95 when Nokia gets my trial device back. The flash is just amazing. One of the first things we did in our conference room at the Nokia House when all the Nokians left the room was to close all the blinds and start taking pictures in low-level light conditions. Everyone was ready to check out this new feature- basically the only feature that really sets it apart from the N95- and no one was disappointed. I immediately found the shiniest bright white object in the room- a white coffee cup on a saucer. I flicked open the camera, fired up the macro mode and snapped a shot in full xenon glory not 7cm from the cup. The results were fantastic. With my N95's LED flash, the image would have been impossible. Not the story with this photographic maven. The image was clear, crisp and well defined. The second shot was a peace lily- again, very low-level light conditions, xenon flash fired not 15 cm from the subject- flawless results from the flash. Even in reasonably well lit areas, the added definition from using the xenon bulb as a fill flash was quite impressive and added greatly to the resulting image. I will say that my first night alone with the 1050 mAh battery didn't last long. I started hoofing it in Helsinki snapping shots like a professional tourist on a mission at about 4pm (at which point it was already quite dark in lower Finland) and by the time I met up with my friend in the heart of the city three hours later, my trial unit was already complaining about the paltry amount of battery life left. So there's a price to pay for such a great flash in your mobile, that's for sure- but the three hours I spent walking around the city resulted in nearly 200 shots of downtown Helsinki- so I can't really say the battery life was a problem. We drank until about 11pm and parted ways and at that point, despite my N82 informing me of the impending doom four hours earlier, the battery was still strong enough for me to take about 10 shots, send an SMS a couple times, one short phone call and one drunken mile and a half walk back to the hotel. That seems good to me that it lasted this long after the first low batter warning. One thing that just won't let me make the decision to ditch my beloved US variant N95- the lack of US 3G frequencies and the apparent unwillingness to say whether or not one is in the works. Nokia has been talking big about making a go here in North America for the first time in a long, long while- but why leave this piece of the puzzle out of the box? Why aren't there fully disclosed plans of working on a tri-band 3G chip? Why isn't there anyone willing to tell me if they're working on a US 3G variant? Are they really hoping that NA consumers will pick this one up, only to possibly see a US variant in a couple months... I can tell you right now from experience, not many Nokia users like to take a couple hundred dollar hit selling a device on eBay that they bought not two months earlier at the flagship store in their own country because there's a new updated version with the proper frequencies for the market they bought the original device in.
So right now- as far as initial impression go... I'd say if I wasn't in the US, and had a normal 3G frequency shooting out of the cell tower down the road- I'd be all over the N82. But as it stands, the candybar form factor that I'm not a fan of, the silly keypad layout, the glossy grease magnet housing and the lack of US 3G frequencies are not worth a xenon flash to me... almost- but not quite. If I had never experienced 3G yet, and had no plans to anytime soon in my area of North America- I would be all about the N82. If you're not in the us- I'd say this is something you need to spend some time reading reviews and watching videos of the thing until it's out sometime in a month or whenever it actually hits the shelves. You might even want to wait for a new color- the word is that white is coming in Q1 2008, and I'd have to assume we can be on the lookout of a black variant, no doubt.
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This is going to be my next phone for sure.That is as soon as they produce a black version.
Would still hate to give up my N73ME though.
Great initial revue.