Nokia N81 Review

I run across the street to the PO box, hoping for more hockey cards in the mail. Indeed, a few arrive, but then I see a packing slip for a parcel. I see “Andy Abramson” on the package and think only one thing – phone. Getting back to school (I’m on lunch at this time), I open the package, and see the nice, shiny packaging of the Nokia N81 8GB. I must admit – I was immediately turned off, when I saw Maroon 5 on the cover. Let’s just say Nokia doesn’t have great taste in music – In my opinion, as a pop group, Maroon 5 couldn’t pop corn. Okay, "Wake Up Call" has a decent chorus (as seen here http://youtube.com/watch?v=mnxmLR5h7yE), and Makes me wonder has an OK tune to it (http://youtube.com/watch?v=dwBk2eIyYE0&feature=related)– but here’s where my “musical ADD” kicks in, and I’m unable to listen to these songs fully. Anyway – I’m getting off topic here.

So, once removing the Maroon 5’d up packaging, I find a phone. An unlocked GSM phone, but a weird thought flashes through my head – “this isn’t a Nokia phone…” I honestly thought it was an LG chocolate at first (http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone2=2085&idPhone1=1533 they look alike, no?) but quickly realized that the Nokia logo, and a colour scheme beyond black and orangeish/reddish, and the fact that the sealed package said “Nokia” on it all contributed to the same phone I expected at the moment I opened up the package. So, giving the phone a look-over, I see at the top left of the screen “N81 8GB” and I think “Sweet…” because from my experience – internal memory is way easier to deal with, so you not only don’t have to deal with the add-on memory as a separate storage device when connecting it to the computer (in comparison to the internal phone memory – much like on the N95) – and not only that, but it’s cheaper too (an 8gb micro SD card would easily go into 3 digits – whereas the memory is built in here.

The layout of the phone I ultimately found to be good. At the top, there are dedicated game keys, which can be used in games (of course), as well as the gallery when the phone is in sideways view mode, to zoom (which I found to be useful). There is a “hold” switch at the top for keeping the keypad locked to prevent pocket operation (which, if activated while the slider is down, deactivates when the slider goes up – similar to the N95’s design – where software-wise, the slide function was built completely around locking and unlocking). The navigation I found to be well-designed. The directional pad was somewhat difficult to push on because of its narrowness (especially in Canada during the winter, and you have numb hands and you want to navigate. It hurts!). But what made the directional pad unique was the fact that the inner rim was touch sensitive, and could be used to scan its way through photos, music, menu options, etc. Very similar to the iPod’s clickwheel design – which I was not only used to, but found to be very innovative and easy to navigate with. Surrounding the directional pad on the outside are 5 dedicated MP3 buttons – Play/pause, stop, forward, backward, and music menu. They are arranged in such a way that you can operate it handsfree, again, like the iPod’s clickwheel – so you don’t have to go taking it out of your pocket to change the song like other phones like the N95 do (ok, so it has the double slide, but those buttons are hard to push, and you have to slide something out for it). What I really like, is the fact that there’s a dedicated Master Media button, that will direct you to your carousel-like index of media – which, by default is music, but by either left/right buttons, or inner rim scrolling, can switch around to games, camera, contacts, internet, and maps. Finally, the other buttons, I have mixed feelings about. The menu and clear buttons are conveniently placed, but the talk and end buttons could have had better placement. I found when sending a text message, when hitting the clear button to make a correction, on multiple occasions, I found myself hitting the end button by accident, closing the text message, and going to the standby screen. This could be prevented by putting the buttons on different panels of plastic, so that accidentally pressing one button instead of the other becomes physically impossible.

Now, the operating system – regular, standard issue Symbian – with the regular firmware tweaks to adapt to the phone’s hardware. The wi-fi function I found rather useful. The browser I find to be a little hard to work with, in the sense that it’s hard to reach certain functions like refresh without going to the master menu, going forward and backward is confusing at first, and I hate how moving the cursor around is limited to the pre-arranged grid, and hitting more precise buttons requires some intense tweaking and re-positioning. Not cool. I also found that while scrolling through pictures, they come out fuzzy, but then focus in. I found this to be bad too. Some decent games were included on the phone (demos, of course) all with complex functions such as using the extra 2 dedicated gaming keys (which made it a more intense experience – let’s just say I used up the demos pretty fast). But essentially, the operating system is the same as you will find it on any N-series phone.

The speakers delivered loud, clear sound, not tinny at all. However, the camera has awful, grainy pictures that are pathetic for 2 megapixels. The front facing camera is the quality I would expect from an 0.3 megapixel lens – as we’ve experienced on just about every phone, with the exception of the N90 and N91 in the nseries.

Wired: sleek, sexy design has eye appeal – media based design built around speakers, MP3 controls, and clickwheel-style directional pad. Great games, and with the proper advertising campaign built around gaming controls, as well as the actual games, could help the phone sell really well. The 8gb storage was outstanding as well.

Tired: Too easy to push the wrong button, seeing that the menu button and the talk button are on the same physical panel of plastic – same deal with clear and end, which are 2 entirely different functions, and incorrect use can result in disaster. Awful camera. Glossy back prone to fingerprints. Touch-sensitive inner rim of the directional pad is inconsistent, voice dialing could have done a little better speed-wise.

Bottom line: Decent phone. Not amazing, but decent. Great for MP3s and wifi, the phone as a phone isn’t bad either. The games are nice too on it, and the 8gb storage, plus mp3 and game controls make this an elite entertainment phone.

Next steps: Get a 5 megapixel camera like the N95, fix the plastic problem, and perhaps make the OUTER rim touch sensitive for easier control, and we’ll have ourselves a prize-winning phone. In my eyes – the N95 takes the cake in the Nseries so far. I have yet to see a better phone.

Overall rating: 3.5/5 – 70%