Nokia N82 review

The Nokia N82 is one finely equipped smartphone. The latest candybar handset to emerge from the Nokia Nseries production line also happens to be its most heavily featured 'classic' design so far, sporting a 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss crafted optics for high quality images, a GPS receiver inside for satellite navigation, a music player, web browser, Wi-Fi connectivity, plus a full selection of 3G functions including video calling and HSDPA high-speed data capability.

And, underpinned by the Symbian S60 smartphone operating system, the N82 can be customised with many more applications that are readily available to download. It's not just for multimedia fun, either, with a good selection of messaging and productivity tools, including support for emails with attachments and a suite of personal information management apps.

The candybar design of the N82 gives a nod to its N73 direct predecessor, although its spec is more like the Nokia N95 8GB - albeit without the 8GB of internal storage and sliding keypad of that Nokia flagship mobile.

Not that storage capacity alone should necessarily be an issue; the N82 has 100MB of internal capacity but supports MicroSD cards up to 8GB capacity, and these cost under £40, so upgrading to match the N95 8GB's onboard memory is quite an affordable option.

It may feature similar core specs, but the N82 isn't simply based on the N95 blueprints, redrawn for a candybar design. This is a very different looking handset - and a bit of curious one too.

The front panel is very un-Nokia like, but not in a good way. There's a belt of controls buttons - including the navigation D-pad - on chrome-effect plastic spread across the middle of the phone, plus a numberpad that's made up of thin, tightly arranged keys no bigger than rice grains - also backed by silver plastic. That plasticky feel to the lower half of the front extends to the paterned back panel too - possibly Nokia's way of keeping down the price of this high-end specified device. A shame, as a high-end finish would have been welcome too.

While some people may disagree about the look and love the N82's slightly retro design touches, the numberpad is an issue. It's unclear why the keys should be so finger-unfriendily small and cramped - the phone is no ultra-tiny handset; there's plenty enough space below the 2.4-inch QVGA display to have fitted in a more manageable set of keys if Nokia had decided to. Similarly, numbers and controls could have been marked a bit clearer, as white on silver can be tricky to make out.

The navigation D-pad on the N82 is also a touch too flush with the adjoining panels containing the other control. Pressing the left or right control risks accidental thumb-creep onto one of the other keys, which are positioned in pairs on either side. As well as standard-issue Nokia softkeys, menu access button and clear key, there's a thin Multimedia menu key squeezed in on the right of the control pad too.

Cosmetic and finger-tapping niggles aside, the Nokia N82 is a delight as a platform for enjoying multimedia content. Nokia has enabled this smartphone with a neat bit of auto-rotating screen technology that uses a motion sensor to swap between portrait and landscape mode as the phone is tilted. It's a nice touch, adding to the general high-end feel and simplifying the way you can view content to maximum effect.

The phone's size - it measures 112(h) x 50.2(w) x 17.3(d)mm and weighs 114g - may be hefty, even for a candybar-style mobile (it's larger than the N73), but it certainly becomes a plus point when you're using the N82 as a camera.

The added bulk means you have a digital camera-like handful to hold onto while you're composing shots or capturing video images. The camera can be activated by switching open the lens cover slider on the back, bringing the 5-megapixel, Carl Zeiss Optics-armed camera into play. Buttons on the side of the N82 become the camera shutter control and zoom keys when the phone is held sideways, like a camera. That's typical for any phone with camera pretensions.

However, the performance of the N82 could definitely not be classed as typical. The quality of the images you can capture is hugely impressive. You can achieve remarkable results for a cameraphone, with exceptional detail and precision. Images are sharp and the internal metering system is quick and agile in responding to changing lighting conditions. The autofocus system works effectively too, with a 2-step shutter system helping you to finesse focusing satisfactorily.

The N82 also introduces to Nokia's Nseries a Xenon flash instead of an LED light to illuminate low light shots. This offers a big improvement in quality for night-time shots, murky indoors images and other poor lighting conditions. The Xenon flash provides strong, full fill-in lighting, but is integrated well enough with the camera tech to avoid swamping images with light or whiting out shots.

The user interface used here is the same as employed on the N95 8GB. There's a macro mode which helps you capture sharp close-up images, at up to 10cm from the subject. There's a good selection of settings controls too, so you can adjust white, balance, exposure control, light sensitivity, contrast, sharpness and so on to suit your creative tastes or override the auto system.

You can read more about the camera performance and view examples of shots taken with the N82 in our feature 'Nokia N82 camera samples'.

Video shot on the N82 is higher quality than the norm too. You can capture footage at VGA resolution at 30fps frame rate, giving smooth playback that's relatively detailed for a cameraphone. This can be enjoyed on a PC screen or fed via a supplied TV-Out cable to home television via phono inputs. This cable also allows you to project pictures on to the TV screen, or maps, websites, games and pretty much anything you'd normally see on the phone's display.

If you want to tweak captured images or edit video, the N82 is equipped with some onboard software to give you some useful image manipulation tools. They're not hugely sophisticated, but welcome in a phone. Another image-orientated option others will welcome is the ability to add pics directly to Vox or Flickr online from the phone as one of the standard options.

Having maps of the entire UK and Republic of Ireland in your pocket is pretty useful too. The Assisted GPS (A-GPS) system on this phone utilises a built in GPS receiver plus network location information to ensure fast fixes on your pocket and accurate pinpointing on onscreen maps. The N82 's supplied 2GB MicroSD memory card is pre-loaded with UK and Ireland mapping information, points of interest and addresses. Nokia Maps software on the phone can home in on your position and pull it up onscreen rapidly - satellite fixes are quick and reliable, usually taking 30 seconds to a minute from activation.

You can plan routes and search for locations quickly and easily and get instructions for navigation. Full voice turn-by-tun navigation is normally an upgrade, but Nokia is supplying N82 buyers with a free three month trial of the service, after which users can choose whether to subscribe or not.

The full voice navigation package makes it perform much more like an in-car sat nav system, although mapping information and detailed search facilities can be useful in themselves. The system enable you to get sat nav instructions for either on-foot or in-car modes and view maps in 2D or 3D. We found the system straightforward to use, accurate and responsive, and it's certainly a worthwhile mobile phone extra to have. We expect a whole lot more Nokias to come with GPS this year.

Using GPS on the phone will have an impact on battery life, so it's worth making sure you have a full charge if you're expecting a long route guidance session, or an in-car charger to maintain power as you go along. It's also possible to upgrade mapping info online, by purchasing downloadable guides or getting mapping updates for free automatically in areas where you don't have mapping coverage.

The multimedia functionality of the N82 is similar to the N95 8GB, although there are no dedicated music or video player controls on this model. The music player inside is Nokia's latest S60 standard device, while RealPlayer software takes care of video playback.
Again, Nokia's music player is functional, neatly designed without being eye-catchingly innovative. Tracks are arranged in standard categories, and playback is operated by the D-pad.

You can easily sync tracks with a PC's Windows Media Player using the supplied USB cable, or copy tracks over using Nokia's Nseries PC Suite software. Alternatively, dragging tracks over using the MicroSD card as a mass storage drive will do the trick too.

Audio quality can be excellent if you swap the run-of-the-mill earphones Nokia supplies with higher quality ones of your own; usefully, there's a 3.5mm jack on the top of the phone to accommodate any regular set. Our Bose in-ear set tested on the N82 really banged up quality levels, revealing more lower frequencies and smoothing out some of the harsher top end the supplied earphones gave. There are stereo speakers on the side too, so you can crank out sounds to entertain/annoy others too - they're loud but lacking in bass. Plugging in headphones also give you the option of tuning into the onboard FM radio.

The N82 has a full Nokia Web Browser onboard, so you can browse the full internet fairly easily - and quickly too using Wi-Fi or 3G. The N82 is also geared up to support Nokia's latest online content applications and services that are collectively grouped under the 'Ovi' umbrella. It's one of a handful of Nseries handsets that currently supports the Nokia Music Store over-the-air and PC-based music download service. Nokia Video Centre, a streaming video service bringing together a number of online video sources, is also supported, while the N82 is N-Gage gaming enabled too.

While N-Gage is yet to launch, there are impressive-looking preview games loaded on the phone, plus a download option for the full N-Gage app when it goes live.

The N82 caters for work as well as play. There's an easy to set up and use email client that can handle a variety of attachments. Zip manager, Quickoffice and an Adobe PDF reader application give you full viewing rights to documents received or copied to the phone, while you can pay to upgrade to editing using the Quickoffice viewer software. With the tricky numberpad, you may be inclined to connect up an optional Nokia Bluetooth Qwerty keyboard to help with typing - there is support for this upgrade too.

As is normal with Nokia smartphones, the N82 comes with sufficient organiser functions to keep you busy, including calendar, to do lists, and comprehensive contacts, which can be synced with a PC using Nokia's standard software. Stereo Bluetooth and UPnP connectivity are also on the spec list.

The N82's battery pack isn't the same upgraded power unit that's been packaged with the N95 8GB. Quoted battery life is consequently slimmer than you can expect with Nokia's top-of-the-range sliderphone. Nonetheless, Nokia estimates a best-case scenario of up to 225 hours standby when using the phone on a GSM network or 210 hours on 3G networks. Talktime is reckoned at 260 minutes on GSM or 190 minutes on 3G. Music playback, with the mobile connectivity switched off, can roll for up to 10 hours, according to Nokia, while video playback alone can reach up to 200 minutes.

Every multimedia-packed 3G phone has to negotiate power trade-offs, and with added A-GPS and Wi-FI in the mix, there are extra potential demands on resources with the N82. While personal usage patterns will determine individuals' specific power handling experiences, with moderate gadget-bashing we found the N82 to cope for 3 days comfortably between charges. Take more pics or surf on Wi-Fi or a while, and you'll get less. But overall the battery rundown wasn't bad at all for a handset that has so much functionality to occupy your time.

The N82 puts in a superb performance as a cameraphone, producing some of the best pictures you're currently likely to get from a mobile phone. The handling of the camera is straightforward and the automatic metering system onboard is very accommodating for casual snappers. The N82's other GPS headline-grabbing function works admirably well too, and is a useful addition to any pocket phone's armoury.

We were a bit frustrated by the keypad layout - too small for a big phone - and a bit disappointed that the phone's too-plastic finish wasn't improved to match the stunning device inside.

The N82 is still, however, a remarkable mobile phone that offers a top range of features, excellent connectivity and fine imaging qualities. If you're after a candybar equivalent of the N95, you've got it with spades.

Nokia N82 technical specifications.