Nokia N8

“The Nokia N8 is the best Nokia has to offer. A few years back thousands of people would take this to mean the best on the market. Things are not that simple today and Nokia has been learning it the hard way. But the company has been learning.The Nokia N8 seems capable of sustaining balance. In one particular area, it’s the unquestioned winner. Elsewhere, it’s just fair – there are ups and downs all along its spec sheet. As always, it boils down to picking your priorities.The N8 puts the Nseries back to the top where it belongs. Nokia can be proud but they must know it’s just the beginning. Right now they have a winning cameraphone set in pole position. It will be a while before they have one phone to rule them all, if ever.”

“Disappointing is the word that springs to our minds the most when using, and describing the Nokia N8. It’s disappointing that Symbian^3 lacks so much in so many areas, disappointing that it has taken the N8 so long to arrive, disappointing that such beautifully constructed hardware, with such well-considered specs, should be lumbered with an operating system that would have felt second-rate a year ago.If you’ve never used an iPhone, Windows Phone 7, or Android handset, don’t think you will and won’t be stuck watching users constantly, by all means go into a shop and try out a Nokia N8 – the hardware may well win you over, it’s that well made. But if you’re likely to be in a position to compare it to another smartphone platform, you’d have to be crazy to consider Symbian^3, and therefore the Nokia N8, as an alternative.”

“Too bad it's coupled with lame software, a tiny screen, and a slow processor. If Nokia had completely reworked the Symbian OS with a real makeover instead of an barely noticeable upgrade, the N8 could really shine. But it's hard to justify its $549 price when all you're getting is a very good camera. AT&T customers would be better off with the iPhone, and on T-Mobile, we'd recommend the Samsung Vibrant. These devices all run fast, have good cameras, and support tons of applications that can broaden what the devices can do, whether it's to play games, communicate with friends, or find the best places to eat.”

“The Nokia N8 has a lot going for it. It is a multimedia powerhouse, packing a 12MP camera with a huge sensor, Carl-Zeiss lens, and a powerful Xenon flash. The Finnish handset also adds other notable virtues, that the iPhone 4 doesn't have, namely the ability to play almost any HD video file on a big screen via HDMI-out, with 5.1 channel surround sound. It also offers USB-on-the-go, an FM transmitter, removable storage, and free lifetime navigation that works offline in most countries. This feature set will be enough for many, especially Nokia fans and photographers, to pick it over the iPhone 4.The Apple iPhone 4, on the other hand, also has a great camera, and the interface, like everything else on the phone, is very easy to learn and a pleasure to use right off the bat, compared to the functional, but more convoluted ways of Symbian^3. In the end, we have to say that it is not possible to leave out the App Store when comparing the iPhone 4 to another handset, just because it exists. It is rather hard to part with the comfort of your iPhone applications once you are sucked into that ecosystem, and Nokia cannot yet replicate that in the hotch-potch Ovi Store. If we leave the App Store out (and we shouldn't), we have to admit that Nokia has created a real multimedia Swiss Army Knife with the N8, by including some functions that the iPhone 4 doesn't have (FM transmitter, USB-on-the-go, HDMI-out). However, as the financial results of Nokia and Apple show, fighting with hardware means you have already lost the battle. Nokia N8 has very compelling extra features, but with the the Retina Display and the fast A4 chipset, the iPhone 4 already has some of the best hardware out there. On top of that, it is all crammed in the thinnest smartphone on the market, made of designer-grade materials. It also allows you to run some of the slickest programs ever made for a phone. And it is exactly the software, i.e. the overall people-friendly experience that matters most, and that's where Nokia has to play catch up now.”