Nokia N82 Reviews

Being in the flagship N-series of Nokia phones isn’t quite the accolade that it once was. Initially limited to a few premium handsets, the family has spread to include many devices. For every ‘good son’ N95, there’s a black sheep like the N78… This new one attempts to redress the balance of quality and features, whilst not breaking the bank.

The N82 attempts to get the whole feature-set of the more impressive N-series phones into a more compact package.  The N95 was definitely on the portly side, and whilst somewhat lighter the N82 is a far less appealing phone to look at. They have managed to make it smaller, but the phone is by no means cute. The candy bar design inherited from the N73 is functional at best, with a real old school look to it. The keypad consists of tiny little buttons, and the whole thing has an air of cheapness as though corners were cut to provide more elsewhere…

The specs definitely pick up the slack, as the N82 has all the mod cons in a high end N-series. At 112mm x 50.2mm x 17.3mm, the design is compact but by no means supermodel thin. The N95 is equalled on all fronts with HSDPA, wi-fi, a built in GPS, and a 5 megapixel camera. The internal memory is only 100MB, but is bolstered by an SD card taking it to 2GB.

In the case of the camera, it is a case of the student surpassing the master, as the N82 is equipped with a xenon flash allowing for amazing pictures to be taken even in low light settings. This feature undoubtedly takes this phone beyond even the N95 as far as image capture is concerned, as the pictures have a clarity and a quality none can match. The VGA video recording function is also impressive, and the autofocus and Carl Zeiss optics push this handset to another level.  The N82 is definitely the one to beat at the moment as far as camera functionality is concerned.

The 3.5mm audio jack is placed sensibly on the top of the handset as opposed to on the side, and the multimedia functions allow the N82 to provide a worthy alternative to an MP3 player. There are quality stereo speakers on the side, and the FM radio is always a welcome addition. This is also another handset in the N-Gage stable, now software rather than hardware driven so no more garish gaming devices unfortunately... The demos included are good (as mobile phone games go), and they can even be played on a television with the TV out setting! Just don’t expect it to replace your PS3 anytime soon…

Calls and texting are no big surprises, still a dependable Nokia in that department. The T9 predictive text is as intuitive as ever, and the call volume is reasonable. No distortion and the loudspeaker is perfectly good. Battery life is good, with a talk time of around 4 and a half hours. However, the xenon flash smashes that talk time to pieces, as the N82 lasted only two hours as the official photographer for a night on the town. That was with a lot of pictures and the odd conversation, so it is best to keep track of power consumption.

The auto-rotate feature is nice when gaming, as well as surfing the web to get a clearer view of sites, it is also good to get a handset where the browser included is good enough to compete with Opera. It is obviously into its own when used as part of the camera, but it is this kind of diversity that impresses with the N82. The GPS functionality, whilst another subscription service if you’re after the whole hog, is perfectly serviceable. The 240x320 screen makes light work of any map, with clear routes and turn-by-turn navigation, presented in a slick manner.

The N82 manages to be an amalgam of the great features and functionality the N-series Nokias are famous for, then goes and stuffs into a slightly unappealing box. However, the sheer wealth of features and breathtaking 5 megapixel camera allow this handset to overcome the aesthetic shortcomings to offer an exceptional package. Beneath the retro styling lies a multimedia phone offering excellent connectivity and sophistication, creating an all in one solution to any user’s needs.