N95 8GB vs N82 The Real Battle Begins Part 4: Video Playback

When it comes to video playback both the N82 and N95 8GB can play a wide variety of videos including MPEG-4, H.264/AVC, H.263/3GPP and RealVideo 8/9/10. Earlier devices like the N80 and N70 lacked the support for H.264/AVC which just happened to be the format that a big chunk of online videos, including vidcasts are made in. This forced many of us to spend time converting these videos into formats that these devices could read. Currently, both the N95 8GB and N82 are happy to playback almost every video format you throw at them. In round 4 of the battle we take a look at video playback as it isn’t enough for these devices to be just music players. To actually compete with standalone media players they should be multimedia powerhouses being able to play everything you throw at them, in most cases they do an excellent job, but which ones comes on top?

Screen Size: The N95 8GB has a 2.8” while the N82 has a 2.4” screen. 0.4” might not seem like a lot but when actually holding the devices and viewing video on both, the difference is much more dramatic than what you would initially expect. But bigger is not always better right? Well, another determining factor here is the Pixel density. Pixel Density is the actual amount of physical picture elements on a screen, which consists out of screen resolution and physical screen size. Basically this means that if you have two screens with the same resolution the smaller one will look much sharper, because there are more pixels on the screen per inch. In this case both smartphones have the same QVGA screen resolution which in theory should mean that the N95 8GB’s screen with its larger dimensions should be less crisper due its lesser Pixel density, but in the real world this isn’t noticeable at all making the screen size the determining factor. 10 points for the Nokia N95 8GB.

Brightness: This is one pretty easy: some people like bright screens while others like to turn it down a little. Luckily the screen brightness is adjustable, but by simply setting both devices to the max brightness it’s quite clear that the N95 8GB’s screen is much brighter. This will allow it to please a lot more people ranging from dark to really bright screen viewing preferences. I personally believe that the N82’s screen can go brighter, but somehow has been limited (to save battery perhaps?) They might make it possible for the screen brightness to be turned up a few notches, but as it stands right now, the N95 8GB is brighter so 10 points for the dual slider.

Support for extra Video Formats and Codecs: The more video formats and codecs are supported, the less time I need to spend converting video to a supported format or codec. Where’s the support for AVI, WMV and DIVX? Neither the N82 or the N95 8GB supports these natively as results neither gets a score in this category.

Outdoor screen visibility: With predecessors like the N95 and N93 which featured excellent outdoor screen visibility, it doesn’t surprise me that the N95 8GB’s screen maintains excellent visibility even under the extreme Caribbean sun.  While the N82 isn’t as bad as the N76 or even the N93i, it’s clear that the N95 8GB is better. The fact that N82 has a shiny metal front doesn’t help either as you’ll pretty soon find yourself looking at the reflection of the sun than the screen itself. 10 points for the N95 8GB.

Screen rotation: The N82’s auto screen rotation is pretty handy. The N95 8GB kind of has the same thing, but requires you to open the slide revealing the media keys. With third applications allowing the N95 8GB owners to get the same auto-rotation functionality I’d say that we have a tie here: 10 points for the N95 8GB and another 10 for the N82.

TV-out: Both devices are not only capable of playing back video, but display it on almost any other video source through the TV-out feature. 10 points for both.

Extras: The N95 has the louder speakers and Media keys, extra 10 points for the N95.

Conclusion:

When all scores are counted we are left with the following scores:

With its larger screen, better outdoor visibility and brighter screen it’s obvious that the N95 8GB is quite ahead of the N82 when it comes to video playback. The N82 might be the king when it comes to mobile photography, but the N95 8GB rules when talking about video playback.

Comments

[kt]

wow n95 8gb really kicks ass! I prefer the n95 8 gb to n82 not only because of the bigger screen but the "aesthetics" of it. it's an attractive phone!

[Ayon1991]

East or west n82 is the best. yo dude i am not like trained like u..... but i am sure n82 is better than n95 8gb........ cause for its xenon flash...... people are not so blind....... n82's brightness is preferable... i am using n82....... i am i am so happy..... i am lucky that i took the right decision.....

[jackass]

8giga sucks its kinda big. 82 simply rocks yeahh xenon flash rullz \m/

[khalid]

U Hvnt included the things which are best in N82 --
1) Xenon Flash ?? i think u should give 20 points to that

2) The Screen rotation of N95-8gb sucks.. so u should hv given it 6 - 8 points

3)No Micro SD slot , which means N95 sucks.. even though it has 8gb internal mermory it should hv a micro Sd Card.. like N96.. 16g internal memory + micro SD -,-

4)And finally the beauty of N82.. just look how ugly N95 is :S
N82 is soo hot, may b Hotter than ma Wife..
so more points should be added for beauty

So to some up.. N82 or N95 must be equally graded Or N82 should have points

[Chris]

To james:

It is qvga. Multiply 640x480 = 307200 pixels
Now multiply 320x240 = 76800 pixels (= 307200/4)

What you propose as QVGA would be OSVGA (One Sixteenth VGA), as you are using two dimensions, to calculate surface, and not one, calculating just a simple length, for example.

[Chris]

320.. I mean 480

[Chris]

It's not Q VGA, it's 240 x 320/ 320 x 240. Q VGA means quarter VGA which is 1/4 of 640 by 1/4 of 320

[James @ Nokia Creative]

Ah yes. I meant pixel count. (^_-)

[Devin Balentina]

@James,
Hi. Actually, due to the N82 having a smaller screen and similar scree resolution it actually has a higher pixel density than the N95 8GB, but that just isn't noticeable. The bigger and brighter screen of the N95 8GB is more noticable and makes more of a dramatic difference.

@JuzLykToEat
The screen on the classic n95 8GB is brighter I think than the classic one and again the 2.6" vs 2.8" makes a BIG difference.

[JuzLykToEat]

I can't believe there is a big gap between N95 8GB & N82 in the display. Maybe N82 is more to battery lifetime than good display.

i wonder about the classic N95, is it worse than both of them?

[James @ Nokia Creative]

Agreed, it is surprising what a difference the slightly bigger screen on the N95 8GB makes, even with the same pixel density.