27 minute hands-on with the Nokia N8

Matthew Miller from Nokia Experts and ZDNet has put up a 27 minute hands on with a certain blue Nokia N8. Given that he’s somewhat well-versed in the use of Symbian devices it was a pretty smooth and thorough run-through given the obvious time and format limitations.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nd2PlLV88aU&feature=player_embedded]

Some of the key take-aways from his video are below in quotes (“) my comments are after the  hyphen (-)

“RF reception is outstanding” – being in a basement seemed not to hamper his ability to pick up T-Mobile 3G.

“Video recording is very good” – We’ve seen a bunch of videos available online and they’re all pretty darn good.

“Games play quite good on the N8” – Seen quite a few demos of 3D games available and they’re pretty smooth while running.

“the missing podcast app”  – Obviously something Nokia have neglected even though there should be a free-ware  app available online. To add to that, where is a decent internet radio app eh Nokia?! Developers?!?

“The display looks great and touch works well” – Somewhat surprising but definitely a positive.

“The hardware is simply FANTASTIC and feels awesome in my hand” – Well that’s something we’ve heard time and again, I’ll have to get one in my hands before passing judgement on this however.

“The new Ovi Store is very good and I am buying apps from it” – This after vowing not to buy from the Ovi Store because it sucked so bad LOL :D, have to agree somewhat with him on that. The current incarnation of the store for S^1 devices, while much improved  on the original is not particularly fun to use or browse. Glad to see that’s changed. Now if only there was a greater selection. (Looks at lazy iPhone blinded developers.)

“I love that smart dialing is on the dialer” – I’ve seen it a couple times and it definitely looks nice. My only real criticism here is the lack of integration with the call log. Possible target for PR 1.1/2.0 firmware updates  please?

Also mentioned in the video is the great battery life on the

On to the negatives then

“The Calendar bites and needs work in future Symbian updates” – I agree that the UI for the calendar could definitely use some work. It is ADEQUATE at best, good to see the multiple calendar and Caldav support though.

“The software keyboard is OK, but a bit frustrating that prediction is poor and there is no portrait QWERTY” – I think everyone at Nokia probably realizes that the keyboard in both portrait and landscape could use some serious work.

First and foremost, the keyboard needs to hover and not cover the UI and entry fields. It’s rather cumbersome having to exit the keyboard and then re-enter it just to see what your friend said in the text you’re trying to reply to (4 taps and the associated pauses). Then there is the issue of only T9 in portrait, FIX THIS ASAP NOKIA.

While some (myself included) would find that T9 is faster, more accurate and easier to use with one hand, the OPTION to use a portrait keyboard that hovers is something that all of us would GREATLY appreciate. PR1.1 or earlier if possible please. That said, sources say that an English language portrait keyboard is indeed ready, just being held until other languages have been finished. Here’s to hoping for a pretty good prediction algorithm.

The iPhone and HTC Android devices are somewhat excellent in the regard.

As an addition, and I know this is beating a dead  horse, but please Nokia for the love of God push that browser update out ASAP. I’m rather underwhelmed by what I’ve seen thus far.

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Category: 3rd edition, 5th Edition, Android, aPPLE, Applications, Battery Life