The N82: What more to wish for?

Zatni Arbi ,  Contributor ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 05/12/2008 10:51 AM  |  Sci-Tech

N82: The N82, seen in this photo, is Nokia’s latest cell-phone hit that features, among others, Assisted GPS, Search and a 5-megapixel camera with autofocus and a Xenon flash.

It's not very often that we see a new product from Nokia with a somewhat classic look.

By that I mean a candybar-type cell phone with the display screen on top and the keypad at the bottom.

The new N82 is one of those increasingly rare products: It is pretty large for a new model, and it is a thick one, too. At a glance, it seems to be a plain and simple model of days gone by; not exactly a head-turner.

Nonetheless, every time you see "N" in a model name, you can be sure it's loaded with lots of features.

Indeed, the N82 has almost everything you can think of packed into a single mobile device.

But, first let's talk about its prominent classic look. The N82 has a stainless steel face with silver sides. Turn it over, and the back panel and the battery cover are made of plastic. It's almost as thick as the N95.

Back to the front panel, the biggest difference from the really old models is perhaps what I'd call the "belt". It consists of a series of buttons. The green "call" button is on the far left while the red "hang up" button is on the far right. In between there are the soft keys, the menu and the delete buttons.

The belt's buckle has five-way navigation and a select button. Everything is flushed with the stainless steel panel. A newer version of the N82 comes entirely in black, which looks even more handsome.

An interesting extra is a protruding button embedded between the right softkey and the "C" button. This button calls up the "gallery", which allows you to see all the images and videos stored in the phone.

Usually, the problem with a candybar model is that you can inadvertently press a button and make an unintentional call. It happens more frequently to male users. Incidentally, according to Nokia, 60 percent of males are in the habit of stowing their cell phones in the front pocket of their pants; it is more likely they will make unintentional calls, especially if the user has set a lot of "speed dial" keys.

The N82 can be set up to lock its keypad very quickly. To unlock it, you only need to press the left softkey and the "star" button.

This also helps preserve battery life, which is an important feature for this cell phone given the range of capabilities it has.

The N82 certainly offers more than meets the eye. If you take a closer look at the front panel you'll find a secondary camera. This indicates that it is a 3G phone, which allows video calls.

At the bottom there is a four-row keypad. The keys protrude just enough to make it easy to dial numbers or enter text.

The audio capability is not bad. On the right side, there is a pair of speakers, just like in the N95. If you want to use a pair of good headphones, there is a standard jack on top.

However, it's the N82's primary camera that I've found impressive. First, it has the best lens cover I've ever seen on a cell phone. Like other high-end camera-phones from Nokia, the optics are made by Carl-Zeiss. Another very important feature is the Xenon flash light. It is the first on a Nokia cell phone, although some other models from its competitors -- like LG's Viewty -- already have it, too.

I found the images captured by the N82's camera were of better quality than that of the N95 -- another super-cell phone from this Finnish company. That's not to say that the N95 takes poor photos, though. Both models come with 5-megapixel cameras.

My impression of the N82 model's camera was confirmed by the award that this particular model received from Technical Image Press Association (TIPA). This year, the cell phone was chosen as the "Best Mobile Imaging Device in Europe". TIPA is a non-profit organization for photo and imaging press in Europe. It is the largest association of photo and imaging magazines.

The camera has an autofocus lens, and it is capable of capturing DVD-like video clips. For storage, a high-capacity MicroSD can be inserted in the external slot. With an 8-GB MicroSD, which is almost as small as a shirt button, you can store up to 3,600 high-quality photos.

The cell phone has an internal motion sensor, too. Tilt it sideways, and the pictures will be displayed in landscape format. Turn it upright, and you'll see the photos in portrait mode.

There are other high-tech features as well. You can store maps and the mobile phone is GPS ready, which makes this cell phone a great navigation tool. In addition, it supports HSDPA and it is also Web-ready.

What's more, from the menu you can see that it's also ready for Voice over IP (VoIP). This means you can cut down on calls by using the Internet through Bluetooth and WLAN connections. Sharing pictures and videos is as easy as before. The Assisted GPS (A-GPS) is another strong point of this cell phone. you can download maps free of charge from Nokia's website.

Another new feature found on the cell phone is the "search" function: You can search the Internet as well as the cell phone based on a long list of categories. For example, you can search for emails, bookmarks and notes.

Nonetheless, no man-made product can be 100-percent perfect. No matter how good it may be, there are always a few things that could be improved. In the case of the N82, I found that the screen becomes washed out in a bright environment, such as in sunlight.

Battery life is something that you have to monitor when using N82: It is better to always have a car adaptor in your glove compartment, because if you take a lot of pictures with the flash and forget to turn off the WLAN -- which I quite often do -- the battery won't last a whole day.

Apart from these two hitches, the N82 is a marvelous device. It's priced slightly below the N95, but the software works faster than the N95 and it has a comparable, if not richer, feature set.

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