The Nokia N82 on a Belated Pedestal: Out in the Real World again

[slitchfield]

Tucked away in my office for days on end, exploring the frontiers of technology, at least in the smartphone world, it's exciting to tinker with the latest touchscreen smartphones and generally live on the bleeding edge. But heading out into the 'real world', as I've been doing for the past week, a world inhabited by parents and cousins and grandchildren, it's best to fall back on hardware and software that's going to be 100% reliable. And, in this case, with the classic Nokia N82, to do some things that no other smartphone could have matched anyway.


Read on in the full article.

I have been using the N82 for over a year and I found it to be extremely stable and reliable. Its photographic abilities have not been matched yet as far as I know and it performs well as a phone, organiser and multimedia device. Its main limitations are screen size which renders internet browsing awkward although still possible if necessary and the lack of a full QWERTY keyboard. Although my contract is due for an upgrade I don't intend to do so any time soon as I don't think there's been any major leap in mobile technology since the N82 was released. I would rather wait and upgrade to something which will not be much outdated technologically in 18 months time when my next upgrade will be due.

[Tejstar]

I own a Nokia N82 too and so far have not found a viable upgrade path. As you mentioned, the xenon flash is invaluable. Using the phone indoors produces the best pictures I have seen from a camera phone. I recently bought a Nokia N79 for my wife and the LED flash is really found lacking compared to the N82. The GPS also works brilliantly, finding a signal very quickly and performing on par or better than my standalone tomtom. Obviously you don't benefit from the large touchscreen that the tomotm has, but it certainly holds onto a signal better.

I was also very sceptical regarding the thin keys but soon got used to them. More than anything the phone just feels very solid and I've been bashing it around for over a year now. I too thought that by now there would have been a phone that had all of the N82 features but better, but to be honest it has just not happened. I can see my sticking with the phone for some time yet.

[nj7]

Complete agree with Steve. I try other phones, like G810, N96 (the worst one), E71, E90, 5800 (the second worst...) and always return to N82. Like the previous comment I thing keep my N82 for more time, or even buy a spare N82, since the price drop and it´s a good deal now. It´s the best camera, GPS, Podcast, and a lot, lot more, always without any reboot and with good battery life (like Steve Said, the low level it´s the screen - dimension and resolution). Sad to see that Nokia it´s on a innovation limit... the time goes away, and nothing match N82.

Couldn't agree more.

Normally around this time of year I would be pondering my next phone but this year there is no incentive to move on from the N82. Even last year I "downgraded" from the N95 to the N82 and it was such a shrewd move.

I'd live to have the iphone interface but I know that I'd be bitterly disappointed with the camera as photos and video capture are a must (young family). I cannot see an S60 device that I'd want to move to and I certainly am not brave enough to dive into any other flavour of smartphone - I've been there done that and got the finger burn marks to show it.

Rock on N82

[highdiver]

Yes, you are completely right to put the N82 up on the pedestal, where it belongs!!!

Better late than never...

[giancian]

It does belong on a pedestal! I haven't found a greater phone still... My only gripe would be the small screen, but it helps to keep the petite size on the phone. I've tried the N96, 5800, Touch Diamond, Touch Pro, Omnia, G1, and I always go back to my trusty N82!

Wow, completely amazed, this is a very good article and I have to say that I enjoyed reading it very much. Sadly the N82 does not have USA 3G :(

[joeyfallon]

Herself and meself both have one and have never looked back. A sweet, sweet handset and ridiculously cheap with it. To think that none of the Irish operators carried it makes me sad.

[clintonjeff]

Completely Agree. I cant do without my N82, and there's still no S60 device that I consider an upgrade to it. Once you use the Xenon flash, you simply just cannot do with LED (single or Dual) at all.

[MWEB]

G810 matched it all the way, and added 3X OZ in to boot

My N82 has been my portable media player, a dig cam and web browser. Am sure that the N82 will still remain the best imaging smartphone despite the nearing arrival of the Nokia N86!

i got one (silver) very cheap from subscription...was forced to trade though to "upgrade" to e71...now am back to n82 (black this time)...so far so unmatched: will readily play ipod-sized free video podcasts downloadable from itunes, 5 megapixel of good quality pics, candy bar form (the most rugged, stable, lasting, & durable form factor), long battery life (4 days for me), has all the applications/software i'll ever need (games, bible, office & dictionary). the only way/s it can improve? add dual-led for videos (but retain the xenon for photos), improve screen size to 2.6" or 2.8", amoled, scratch resistant, increase internal memory to 8gb, increase battery capacity (to offset the bigger screen size), replace with qwerty ala e71 (e71 width is still ok for one hand operation) and improve stereo speakers. i dont mind if overall size will increase (heck, i've had the brick e90). i dont want the touchscreen.

long live n87?

[Zuber]

Come on Steve,

It's bad enough when the Tabloid Press do it.

Do you honestly think putting a rectangular block over the the eyes of someones face really stops them being identified ?

I always found it a bit silly.

I think some scientific research needs to be done into this. Anyone able to recognise any of the children in the picture ?
Zuber

[Kazutoyo]

I totally agree.

I also find it a bit depressing that a ~18 month old device is still the best out there. And really, it still have all the features I want from a mobile device, I just wish for something slimmer (13-14mm instead of 17mm) and with another keypad (the N86 keypad looks very good to me).

A new N82 with the N86 keypad, FP2 and the looks of the E51 would be perfect, although I doubt it's possible to make a good xenon flash device that thin as the xenon flash occupy quite a bit of space. Oh, and the damn media key should go away. No extra keys, I want my symmetric look.