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NOKIA N8 Pro Reviews

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pocketnow‘s review Edit Like Unlike

It's been a while since I've used a Nokia device. A few years ago I had the Nokia N95 and it was a great device in many ways. Today I have been extremely impressed with the Nokia N8. The camera is great at both still photos and HD video and the software features are very powerful. Unfortunately, the software tends to be a bit buggy, slow and difficult to use. The frustration with entering text cannot be ignored. It all feels very unpolished and clumsy. On the other hand, the hardware design and capabilities are incredible and gorgeous. Every time I pick up the N8 I think to myself how amazing it would be if the beautifully-designed Windows Phone 7 was running on this beautifully-designed Nokia hardware. Maybe someday we'll see.

8.0 Rated at:

Published on:
Feb 15, 2011

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brighthand‘s review Edit Like Unlike

At $550, the N8 is not exactly the easiest of purchases. Because it's compatible with both AT&T and T-Mobile, that hit on the price is a bit easier to swallow. And at the same time, there are better overall user experiences in mobile devices available for lower prices (on contract). It is hard to say that the N8 is the best product that Nokia could have done here -- yet it is a very solid one that many people would feel ultimately comfortable with. Given Nokia's history of finding its stride, I think that the N8 is a good sign of things to come from both them and Symbian.

7.0 Rated at:

Published on:
Nov 25, 2010

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www.whathifi.com‘s review Edit Like Unlike

If you refuse to play ball with Apple and value the importance of a camera, this Nokia is great. But it isn’t the best smartphone.

8.0 Rated at:

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AnandTech‘s review Edit Like Unlike

Had the N8 launched at the end of 2009 or the beginning of 2010, before the explosion of Android slate devices and the iPhone 4, the N8 would have clearly been the best smartphone with little competition. But it’s not all so gloomy. Nokia still commands massive brand recall in a lot of major markets. And the N8-00 is a solid smartphone. In fact, Nokia sells the N8-00 as a ‘mobile computer’ and while I’ve always thought of this as being a marketing gimmick for their Nseries devices, I am fairly convinced that the N8 actually befits this tag. With most definitely the best camera ever seen on a mobile phone, the N8 is a worthy replacement to basic point snf shoots.

n/a Not rated

Published on:
Jan 12, 2011

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reghardware‘s review Edit Like Unlike

The N8 is the proverbial curate's egg. It offers very capable hardware with real benefits, particularly for imaging, and wraps it in a rough UI. Indeed, it retains much of the cruftiness of the Symbian S60 5th Edition interface, which feels clumsy and, in today's market, unnecessarily complicated. Yet the market has moved on in terms of user experience and applications choice. So whether this phone is for you depends on how much you value its features, against how much you can put up with the UI.

7.5 Rated at:

Published on:
Nov 02, 2010

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www.trustedreviews.com‘s review Edit Like Unlike

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.

7.0 Rated at:

Published on:
Nov 23, 2010

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Pocket-lint‘s review Edit Like Unlike

While the N8 does offer some quality features such as its 12-megapixel camera and HD video capture, not to mention its music player and generous built-in memory, it feels slightly clunky when compared with the rest of the top-tier smartphones currently available. That, along with its clumsy interface and disappointing OS upgrade makes it hard to fully recommend.

6.0 Rated at:

Published on:
Nov 12, 2010

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Engadget‘s review Edit Like Unlike

You know it, we know it, and Nokia sure as hell knows it. The Finnish mobile-making team shot itself in the foot with its N8 launch purely through a bungled execution on the software front. It's not unreasonable to believe that the hardware for this device was ready as far back as April -- which shines through with the perfectly thought out and built handsets our review team was provided with -- but delay after delay on the Symbian^3 front meant the awesomely specified hardware didn't see the light of retail day until, arguably, too late.

5.0 Rated at:

Published on:
Oct 14, 2010

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PC Pro‘s review Edit Like Unlike

And apps remains another Achilles heel. There simply aren't enough good quality apps in the OVI store to compete with either Apple's App Store or Google's Android Market. This is ultimately why we can't bring ourselves to recommend the Nokia N8. Yes, it's packed with features, and yes it will do pretty much everything you want it to. As long as you're used to Symbian's vagaries, there are some tempting prices around that make it worth a punt. For everyone else, however, Symbian^3 undermines all the good work the hardware design of the N8 achieves; it simply isn't good enough to compete at the top of the market any more.

6.5 Rated at:

Published on:
Nov 04, 2010

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Phone Arena‘s review Edit Like Unlike

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.

n/a Not rated

Published on:
Oct 20, 2010

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brighthand‘s review Edit Like Unlike

The Nokia N8 comes off as impressive, albeit almost incomplete still. Given what I am used to from Symbian devices, it is smoother, faster, and a bit more polished around the edges. It leaves me more in an anticipating mode than I would have figured.

n/a Not rated

Published on:
Oct 16, 2010

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Phone Scoop‘s review Edit Like Unlike

The N8 is a solid effort from Nokia that has many strengths. The hardware is excellent all around. The controls all work, the device feels good to hold, and it has a nice, bright screen with decent resolution.

n/a Not rated

Published on:
Oct 05, 2010

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GSMArena‘s review Edit Like Unlike

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.

n/a Not rated

Published on:
Oct 12, 2010

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Macworld‘s review Edit Like Unlike

The N8 is a remarkably hot-and-cold phone. It has some amazing features, such as the camera and video support, but the software is almost too frustrating to work with. I can onlyt imagine what a superphone the N8 would be if it had a different OS. Symbian needs a complete overhaul in appearance, functionality and performance; little tweaks here and there just won’t cut it. I’m excited to see where Nokia’s Meego platform with Intel may go, but we may have to wait awhile before any phones start to surface.

n/a Not rated

Published on:
Oct 16, 2010

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Softpedia‘s review Edit Like Unlike

There's no doubt about it, Nokia N8 is the best product of the Finnish manufacturer and the flagship of the company's Nseries lineup. Unfortunately, Symbian ^3 is not on par with the phone's hardware, even though it seems that Nokia's engineers tried their best. This makes me wonder how would the smartphone work when running Android.

n/a Not rated

Published on:
Oct 18, 2010

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Phone Arena‘s review Edit Like Unlike

As usual, in the end it all comes to personal preferences. Both handsets are outstanding representatives of the first and second cell phone producers in the world, but there are many differences that will make picking one or the other an easy choice, depending on the usage scenarios. If you watch a lot of movies on your commute, read e-books and documents, play games, or just prefer the slick TouchWiz 3.0 and the versatility of Android plus Android Market on a giant 4” Super AMOLED screen, powered by the most powerful mobile graphics chipset so far, you may want to go with the Samsung Galaxy S.

n/a Not rated

Published on:
Oct 18, 2010

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CNET Reviews‘s review Edit Like Unlike

The Nokia N8 excels as a camera phone, and the improvements of Symbian 3 make it one of the company's best smartphones to date. However, it still has its shortcomings and an expensive price tag, making it a hard sell for the North American market.

8.0 Rated at:

Published on:
Oct 08, 2010

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SlashGear‘s review Edit Like Unlike

That shortfall will be the N8′s biggest hurdle, not functionality, and Nokia’s challenge is to better educate would-be users to the strengths of the handset: the superlative connectivity, the excellent camera and the offline flexibility of Ovi Maps. The N8 is certainly the best Symbian device to-date (though we’re keenly awaiting the hardware QWERTY ‘board of the bigger E7 later in the year) but it’s not all-round perfection. No smartphone is, of course, but Nokia’s rivals generally do a better job of highlighting their strengths. With MeeGo (or, indeed, Android) the N8 could’ve been a clear winner; with Symbian^3, Nokia has to persuade users that the N8′s undoubtable abilities outweigh its particular compromises.

n/a Not rated

Published on:
Oct 10, 2010

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Phone Arena‘s review Edit Like Unlike

The Nokia N8 is another one of those handsets that leaves us conflicted. It’s got some truly amazing elements: the camera, the video playback, the luscious build quality all make us want to forget everything average about it. That said, we can’t. Symbian^3 just doesn’t visually stimulate us enough to make us want to use it, with the homescreens and menus looking dated, Syncing contacts and calendars with anything other than Ovi being unintuitive and an internet experience that could be improved upon. That said, you won’t find a better camera phone on the market, and you certainly won’t find a more versatile video playback phone either. If you’re okay with Symbian^3 and are of the mindframe that hardware is king and multimedia options rule, then we can whole-heartedly recommend the Nokia N8. If however, your eyes are set on an OS that gives you greater versatility in the future, perhaps you might want to look elsewhere.

8.5 Rated at:

Published on:
Oct 07, 2010

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LAPTOP Magazine‘s review Edit Like Unlike

The Nokia N8 has an excellent design and one of the best cameras we've seen in a smartphone; 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.

6.0 Rated at:

Published on:
Oct 06, 2010

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MobileBurn‘s review Edit Like Unlike

I have a hard time with the Nokia N8. I love the phone's industrial design, and the fact that it is available in cool colors. The 3.5 inch touchscreen is adequate in size, and the phone's camera is truly a wonder. HDMI support and an FM transmitter are gravy.

8.0 Rated at:

Published on:
Oct 05, 2010

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PC Advisor‘s review Edit Like Unlike

The Nokia N8 is a slick and stylish smartphone with superb multimedia features. But the Symbian software is a long way from competing with similar offerings from Apple and Google.

7.0 Rated at:

Published on:
Jun 16, 2010

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Pocket-lint‘s review Edit Like Unlike

The N8 is definitely a step-up for Nokia in its quest to compete with Apple and the likes at the top of the smartphone market. The media features, especially the HD video functionality and the high-end camera are actually much better than you'll find on any Apple or Android device.

n/a Not rated

Published on:
Jun 14, 2010

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The average pro reviews rating is 7.1 / 10, based on the 23 reviews.

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