10 reasons why the N82 isn’t perfect

The N82 is in my opinion currently one of the best multimedia-oriented smartphones on the market, doing everything a N95 or N95 8GB can (sans the slider of course)in a more compact, go-anywhere-do everything package that’s also sturdier due to the candybar design. Its design doesn’t scream “smartphone” like the N95, which should allow it to appeal more to the general market. Not bad neither that it has one of the best cameras on any smartphone, including that wonderful Xenon flash and the impressive low-light performance. Despite of all these notable attributes, it’s far from perfect and here are 10 reasons why.

1. No Optical Zoom: The N82 has the aspiration of being and even replacing your digital camera, but lacking Optical zoom means that you’re pretty much stuck with the digital variant,which by now we all know is pretty much useless. Lacking Optical zoom still means that the N82’s plans for digital camera domination will be cut short.

2. No Media keys:  Having a smartphone means doing many things at once. A lot of times, playing music is going to be “one of those things” and the lack of media keys mean constantly having to open the Media Player to control your music, instead of just pressing a single button.

3. Lack of micro-USB charging. Having the ability to charge via USB not only means one cable to take along, but also charging while transferring data, especially during those firmware upgrades or those long first-time music-sync sessions.

4. micro-USB and charger connector Placement. The micro-USB and charger connector should be placed at bottom phone. Both of them get in the way when I’m talking on the phone and charging the device at the same time.

5. Small screen. Ask any N95 user and they tell you that one of the things they miss is the large screen, which does come in handy when viewing videos or pictures. While sliders have the advantage of being able to house larger screen, on the N82 there seems to be a lot of empty space to facilitate this. Making the phone bigger to achieve this would also seem like an understandable compromise.

6. Speaker placement. The N82’s speakers work great when held horizontally, but try playing your tunes while holding the device vertically and you’ll quickly realize how your hands actually cover the speakers. The placement of the speakers on the N95  works a lot better, but a combination of both should work best.

7. Slow USB transfer. Based on these simple test here, it shows that the transfer speed on the N82 is painfully slow. You could always take out the memory card and use a card reader, but that would defeat the all-in-one purpose, wouldn’t it?

8.Lack of optical Image Stabilizer (IS): Adding Optical zoom means more chances of getting blurry shaky images, adding IS should help a lot.

9. No QWERTY. Not only business devices should equal QWERTY. A N82 with a side-mounted slide-out QWERTY keyboard would be killer.

10. No Flashlight: One thing I liked about the N93 was the fact that you could use the flash as a flashlight and just like the upcoming N96 you could use it during the video recording.

Comments

[yaser]

I bought n82 since 2 months ,till now i discover new interesting points, befor buying n82 i made deep searching on "whats best mobile for me" , i chose "N95-E71-E90-N82" , through long time in searching in net , i have decided to take n82...smart, nice looking,intelegent,nice 5M camera , nice and pure dimensional voice , many many communication options , fast GPS reciver ,cute Radio, whats you need more than that? , frankly i hate this article , if you want to see whats N82 , looking in nwt, you will find that N82 has many dedicated website and blogs .....

[Viper]

I don't agree with the article...the screen isn't small, the placement of the connectors is fine and it isn't a digital camera. It's a phone, get over it. BTW it has the best camera in any cameraPHONE to date though. What I feel that could be improved is overall stability (i get occasional reboots even at v20) and speed.
Better integration of the great flash lite 3 would also be nice (e.g. possibilty to use FL wallpaper, maybe even menu :DDD)

[Phnom Penh Paul]

I agree that the reasons you give as negative points are very picky, in the same way that Jeremy Clarkson disses a car because of the position of the ashtrays etc.
I only bought this phone today, to replace my old (November 2006) N73.
I have read numerous bad comments about the N73, and can only say that the wingers must have bought naff ones, 'cos I've had no probs with mine, apart from the lag times for applications and between taking pics.
I was amazed at the difference with this N82, like comparing a Moggie Minor to a Ferrari as regards speed of applications and camera ready.
I don't think it would be fair to comment on much else at this early phase, but it looks like it has been $465 USD well spent, up to now!
I was very happy with the N73, and my only reason for upgrade is the GPS feature of the N82.
The GPS now has a Garmin map of Cambodia installed, and is an unbelievably brilliant piece of kit that leaves the start up time of my $1750 dedicated Garmin GPS in the dust!
Back to the gripes you mentioned in your 'review'.
It appears that you are after a smartphone more suited to business use, rather than a general workhorse candybar.
It's similarity in size to my N73 sold it to me after spending two or three days in the phone shops and review sites on the net.
It was a genuine toss up between the N95 8Gb & the N82 in the end, and battery life, and size were the decider.
I can live with a smaller screen, and I've never been a slider fan.
Thought I'd put this into writing, and tell you my thoughts.
Any major problems, and you can be sure I'll put them on here.
Stay lucky;
Paul

[Peter]

Two further reasons are:
11. The N82 is a fingerprint magnet.
12. The keys are not as comfortable as one may want (eg. like the E51).

[Devin Balentina]

Hey Jen,

Well I agree that the N82 has to stay small and slim, but having a QWERTY doesnt have to mean sacrificing the size as this design shows: http://www.cameraphonefocus.co.uk/images-articles/lg_f9200.jpg

[Ms. Jen]

The thing that I LOVE about the N82 is the lack of the media keys and the damned horrible gallery key (N95). I can't tell you how many times I have gone to take a photo and instead lost the shot as the N95 was going to the gallery or I wanted to select and ended up in media key menu hell.

I love the near minimalism of the N82 candy bar body. The only thing I would change is the odd small rectangular key pad.

Also, leave QWERTY for the big phones. The delight of the N82 is that it fits in my hands, I have yet to meet a QWERTY phone that fits in my hands let alone in one hand and I can still text with that one hand.

;o)

[Devin Balentina]

Peter, looks pretty good actually.
I thought that media keys on a candy bar should be on top, but actually yours works out pretty good and it's simple.
Thanks.

Devin

[Peter]

I especially like the changes that would make the N82 clearly better without increasing size and price.

I made a mock up of how media keys could be added to control the media player and to start a voice recording. Have a look and tell me what you think.

[prec]

if it's going to be perfect, then nokia will have no further purpose but to produce more of this phone. no radical change will take place if they achieve the "perfect" phone. :D

[flymice]

Most of the reason u placed are quite subjective.. However, if by eliminating your so called bad points stated here, you are better off taping the N82 with a digital cam and with a USB foldable keyboard.. It might cost less too..

[jamaln82]

1. No Optical Zoom: Indeed but don't forget that it's a phone, a people who want a camera can buy a camera. Also, the size of the device is in direct relation with this point.

2. No Media keys: Ok, but is it really important? The most important is that these features are present in this phone. Doesn't it?
In all case, it's possible to setup the screen with the desktop and then to have shortcuts of a lot programs.

3. Lack of micro-USB charging. Indeed, but, I don't know so many people who charge their mobile only through their usb port. Most of time, they make the transfert of what their need, once a week or once by month.

4. micro-USB and charger connector Placement. I'm Ok for this note. I don't like the place of the micro usb too. And I prefered the previous usb ports (mini usb).

5. Small screen : It's not an iphone, or a N95, Is it really interested to have such bigger screen as the N95 if it's not a fully touch screen. Don't forget the size of the mobile : BIG SCREEN = BIG MOBILE.

6. Speaker placement : Ok for me too, for this point. But when you use your n82 as a gps and as a video player : it's perfect.

7. Slow USB transfer : Maybe, but I don't have the possibility to check the speed : but for me it's ok, it's not as if I had 16GB memory inside.

8.Lack of optical Image Stabilizer : Maybe, but, most of time, the N82 calculate the picture very good for me.

9. No QWERTY : Qwerty keypad is cool but not so usefull for common users. And one more thing, In general device with a full keypad are bigger than others.

10. No Flashlight: It's a gadget, I had a flashlight in previous mobile, but I never used it... So I prefer to have a xenon flash instead of a simple LED.

Hope that most of people are alright with my responses about this beautifull device.

Have a nice day

JAMALN82

[666]

>5. Making the phone bigger
>9. slide-out QWERTY keyboard

The N82 could use some improvements, but 5 & 9 do not improve the phone.

The reason why I bought an N82 is that it is a COMPACT LIGHTWEIGHT smartphone that DOES NOT HAVE MOVING PARTS. Together with the 6120c, the N82 is a smartphone that you can keep in your jeans or shorts without getting the "is that a phone in your pocket or are you just happy to see me" response.

Making the phone bigger and adding a sliding piece of future mechanical failure would make the N82 a completely different type of phone: the type of phone that I try to avoid.

[Viipottaja]

Frankly, some of your gripes are not very realistic but I guess they were not meant to be either. I think N82 probably is the best one in the market, especially if camera in low light conditions is a priority for you. If not, the N95 still is the choise to go with.

[George]

LOL nice article.. the next 1 can be 10 reasons why the N95 is worse than the N82.

[MiGs]

I agree that the N82 isn't a perfect phone..

if it was, i don't think i will be able to afford it. =p