Display:
The phone display size is a littler larger than the Nokia average, at 30mm × 30mm (1.65" diagonal), and can display 262K colours. Compared to the Nokia 7610, the display is immeasurably better. Individual pixels are not visible from normal viewing distances, and even close up you have to strain to see the individual pixels. The viewing angles are decent from everywhere except the top.
Colours are bright and vivid, and the display performs brilliantly even under sunlight. Finally, if you are using polarized sunglasses, you will be glad to see that the screen is unpolarized.
The quality of this display is truly amazing, considering that the Symbian Series 60 phones were widely regarded as having excellent screens when they were released. Indeed, the display is so good that even though the Nokia 8800's camera can capture a picture with a resolution of only 0.5 megapixels, while the Nokia 7610 can capture a picture with a resolution of 1.0 megapixels, when such captured images were viewed onscreen on each individual device, the Nokia 8800 seems to have taken a better shot.
Of course, zooming in or looking at the pictures on a computer monitor dispels that effect; but this is a sure indication of how the Nokia 8800 display is superior. Do note that the Nokia 6230i has the same screen; this might mean that this new screen is set to become the default Nokia Series 40 screen soon. We hope that the same pixel density is maintained even for Symbian devices: After playing with this phone for awhile, it was with horror that I realised that the N70 and N91 were stated to have screens very similar to the Nokia 7610 in terms of size and pixel density.
Connectivity:
The Nokia 8800 comes with two connection options, Bluetooth and a 2.5mm port.
Bluetooth is compatible with a wide range of headsets, and other devices, while the 2.5mm port provides compability with the headset which ships with the device. For some reason Nokia enjoys including a 2.5mm port with it's 8000 series phones.
The lack of a pop-port means that the only connection possible to a computer is via bluetooth; the Nokia DKU-2 or CA-42 cables which allow USB connection to a PC are incompatible.
Telephony:
The next question is how well the Nokia 8800 functions as a phone. I'm glad to report it does not disappoint. Signal strength always remains high, and all the standard Nokia functionality is present. This means that it works very well, generally. For the uninitiated, this means that there is a call log (incoming, outgoing, missed, received), speed dial, voice dial, user groups with special ringtones, phone book which contains other information, including multiple numbers, addresses, e-mails, thumbnail images (with CallerID support), and custom fields. Ringtones are totally customizable (mp3/amr/mid/aac support), and ring out loud and clear. The tones which ship with the phone are supposed to be very exclusive and everything, but basically they're pretty soft and rather wacky. I suggest selecting your own tune.
Also, the thumbnail CallerID pictures are rather tiny. FSCaller works so much better (but this phone is not Symbian, in case you haven't noticed.)
User Interface :
The Nokia 8800 uses the Series 40 interface; with nice new icons. It is very snappy; there is no serious delay in any menu, including the gallery. Unfortunately it does not seem very polished. Three examples of this will suffice: first, there are multiple types of views (see below), and there is no consistency by default. Second, there are several options (e.g. bluetooth on/off) where there are only two options. Instead of allowing a single keypress to rotate between the two, you are instead thrust into a new menu, and you have to use up/down and the center d-pad key to pick the option you want. Third, there are several instances where you use the right selection key until the penultimate selection; the right selection key suddenly becomes useless, and it becomes necessary to use the center d-pad key.
These issues should be solved. While taken alone they are not particularly important, or even worth mentioning; a large part of the Nokia brand is built upon the conception that Nokia phones have impeccable UI design. This certaintly used to be true; but the addition of new buttons seems to have obfuscated the situation. To further complicate matters, other mobile phone manufacturers are improving at a relentless pace (except for Motorola): Sony Ericsson has caught up already. These problems aren't difficult to correct; and they should be, as quickly as possible.
There is one other issue I would like to specifically point out, which is horrendously irritating. While the Nokia 8800 phone book does synchronize with Outlook, via PC Suite, a huge chunk of phone book search functionality is missing as compared to a Nokia 7610. In the Nokia 7610, both the "first name" and "last name" fields are checked when you type in a name. This means that searching for "ch" will give you both "Martin Chan" and "Chris Donalds." This is lamentably absent in the Nokia 8800.
It is true that this was never available previously in Series 40; but Nokia should really add that to the to-do list. Click here to read our ten suggestions for improving the Nokia 8800's UI.
