We get a special look at Nokia's newest N-series handset, the N82, with advanced camera features. Would it sway us from the venerable N95? Philip Berne reports from Amsterdam
At the Nokia World show in Amsterdam, Nokia reps were kind enough to give us some hands-on time with the new baby of the N-series, the N82. The N82 is a slim and shiny multimedia phone, at least compared to the much larger N95. Its simple face resembles the Sony Ericsson W880i, with it's flat buttons, but you could easily stack three W880s and not hit achieve the thickness of the N82. Still, the style is simple and understated. We certainly appreciate this more elegant effort over a flashy device like the Nokia N75.
In terms of hardware, the N82 packs the best of what you can expect from an N-series device, which means HSDPA for 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS -- breath -- an FM radio, and a 5-megapixel shooter around back. The camera might be the key selling point on this phone. It uses a Carl Zeiss lens, which have proven themselves much better than lesser camera phone lenses in our tests. Like the N95, the N82 gets auto-focus, but as an upgrade to its older cousin, the N82 also features a xenon flash, which is still an unfortunate rarity, even on serious camera phones.
We didn't get much of a chance to take a look at pics taken with the N82, but the camera seemed responsive and easy to use. Auto-focus definitely makes a difference here, and is always a signal that the manufacturer is taking pictures seriously. We also liked the hard lens cover. Flipping the switch on the back activated the camera, and we were happy to find a way to keep the nice lens free from smudges and scrapes.
We weren't getting great reception with the 3G at the RAI Conference Center in Amsterdam, but the phone's Wi-Fi connection was able to quickly load maps and Web pages on the Nokia browser, which is still second only to Safari on the iPhone. We weren't able to log onto the Nokia music store, but it is there, though the new Universal music deal wasn't present in any way we could discern.
Nokia has also added a new Video Centre menu. Since the phone takes usable, VGA-resolution videos, it's nice to have a portal to upload pics and video directly from the device. On phones with lesser glass, we wouldn't care so much, but Nokia has some presets for Flickr, Vox and other services preloaded, with an easy-looking way to upload directly to the Web. Too bad we're leaving the continent soon, we'd love to give the service a try.
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