Background:
This review is coming from someone whose last cell phone was a Sony Ericsson W800i and was pretty happy with it for about 2 years but every good thing must come to an end.well in my case my W800 didn’t die but I felt it was high time to upgrade.
Factors which had top most priority for cell-buying decision was:
· Good screen for Internet usage
· Good music player
· Lots of connectivity options
· Must not have a proprietary port for headphones
· Ample memory storage
· Good Camera
And my choice/hunt fixed down to the mighty Nokia N82. Why I called it ‘mighty’? You will understand it from my review below.
First of all we need to look at what all feature it has to offer and then I will try my best to elaborate on it according to my usage and experience with each feature.
Spec Table:
· Network: HSDPA / GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
· Size: 112 x 50.2 x 17.3 mm, 90 cc, 114 g(candybar form factor)
· Display: TFT, 16M colors, 240 x 320 pixels, 2.4 inches screen size
· Memory:
o 100 MB internal memory,
o 2GB card included,
o 256MB NAND memory,
o 128MB SDRAM memory
· Connectivity:
o GPRS- Class 32, 107 kbps
o EDGE- Class 32, 296 kbps; DTM Class 11, 177 kbps
o 3G- HSDPA(3G not in India yet, but I am hopeful)
o WLAN- Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, UPnP technology
o Bluetooth- V2.0 with A2DP
o No Infra Red
o USB- V2.0 MicroUSB
· OS: Symbian OS 9.2, S60 rel. 3.1
· Browser: WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML
· Camera:
o 5 MP, 2592 x 1944 pixels, Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, video(VGA 30fps), xenon flash secondary CIF videocall camera
· Features Galore:
o Built-in GPS receiver
o A-GPS function
o Motion sensor(with UI auto-rotate)
o Installed Maps application covering over 100 countries
o MP3/AAC/AAC+/eAAC+/WMA player
o Video player
o 3.5 mm audio output jack
o TV out
o Stereo FM Radio
o Organizer
o Office document viewer
· Battery: Standard battery, Li-Ion 1050 mAh(BP-6MT)
· Standby time: Upto 225 Hours
· Talk Time: Upto 4hr 20 min
Spec table details obtained from https://gsmarena.com
I will review all the features as mentioned in the order of sequence in the above mentioned table.
Network:
Well I think in India we have GSM 850/900 MHz band being used. Call connectivity depends on the network service provider. For the record, I am using Vodafone connection and till date haven’t had any issue with the network.
Now for the call connectivity/call clarity, this phone definitely does the job pretty well. Signal reception is strong…. I checked it…on average I get around 70-80% signal strength in Mumbai. My W800i used to have around 50-70% signal strength.
Size & Looks:
The phone is just a tad bit on the bigger side, with not too much weight.
Faceplate is silver color , with a large screen and lots of buttons. Call accept(Green color) and Call end(Red color) buttons are at the edge and of considerable size, which by they way ‘I like it there’!
# key replaces the functionality of pencil key in this cell, so no pencil key anymore.
Now the keypad, this keypad is not being liked by many as it has small keys, like those of N91 if I recall correctly. But the difference is the considerable amount of spaces in between the keys, so chances of pressing a wrong key by chance is very minimal while typing. I have big hands but still I didn’t face any problem while typing text.
On the reverse side it has a very nice camera cover which covers the 5MP Carl Zeiss lens from dust and can be opened by sliding towards right which also activates the camera.
It has 5way D-pad without touch sensitivity unlike N81.
On the top of the phone we have 3.5mm headphone socket and the power off key.
On the left side it has MicroUSB port, memory slot and charging port.
On the right side it has volume/zoom keys, gallery key and camera shutter release key.
Overall I am happy with simplistic yet classy look of N82.
Display:
In one word, “Awesome” is what I would say for the display of this phone. Crisp, clear, bright screen display with ample amount of screen space. Just love watching videos and pictures on this display.
Auto Rotation is another feather in the cap of brilliant Nokia display/interface. Works when u tilt your phone towards left only. Works without any transition effect unlike Iphone, but I got no complaints here.
Memory:
Has onboard 100MB memory. Has 2GB MiniSD memory card bundled for a hot swappable memory card slot. I have researched on net and till now its confirmed that one can use upto 8GB memory card in it. I would most probably be upgrading to 8GB card in some time.
Connectivity:
Now comes my favorite part. I have a Vodafone internet connection for 300/- per month with unlimited usage(special plan for corporate connection, I work in an MNC and Vodafone is official mobile service provider along with Airtel).
EDGE works like charm in this phone….I can safely say that on average I get around 12-15 KBps when I use it with my laptop for net-surfing which is if not great but still fine for normal surfing.
WiFi works fine. Havent tested it extensively yet but used it in Inorbit Mall, Malad(we get free WiFi there) and it works pretty well.
No complaints with Bluetooth 2.0. Has A2DP in it…haven’t tested it coz I don’t have a Bluetooth stereo headset but works well with laptop.
Camera:
5MP Carl Zeiss optic camera with XENON flash! Do I need to say anything more about the camera? It’s simply great! User interface camera incorporates lots of Scene Modes, Grid display and other usual frills of a regular digicam. All in all I am more than happy with the result I am getting from this camera.
GPS:
Haven’t tested it yet properly. But I promise I will give an update on that soon.
Music Player:
Usual N-series music player software. Nothing new to write home about. Works well is all I can say. Sound quality with given Nokia headset is just OK. I used my Creative EP-630, and I must say ‘WOW’.
TV out
I got Nokia TV out cable bundled in the box. Does not display a crystal clear picture on TV but it works.
BATTERY:
U
