Isn't she a beaut (the phone)? Of course, we're probably just a little biased, but nevertheless we think there are some pretty compelling reasons that the Nokia N80 should be the next phone you consider. We previously said that the the bee's knees for Symbian upgraders was the Nokia E70, and that might still well be true - but we think the N80 will be the option - for everyone else: including those who are coming from a proprietary phone OS. Read on for our reasoning...
Isn't she a beaut (the phone)? Of course, we're probably just a little biased, but nevertheless we think there are some pretty compelling reasons that the Nokia N80 should be the next phone you consider. We previously said that the the bee's knees for Symbian upgraders was the Nokia E70, and that might still well be true - but we think the N80 will be the option - for everyone else: including those who are coming from a proprietary phone OS.
- One: It is a smartphone.
Smartphones are better in general that proprietary OS phones - this is obvious, because of the enhanced functionality. You might not actually need it, but if everything else remains equal, there's no reason not to. This phone, in particular, will run a new browser based on Apple Safari's Webcore, (possibly) offer downloadable firmware upgrades, and include security enhancements to prevent malware from taking root.
It does, however, break compatibility with all existing S60 programs because of the security enhancements, but because the N80 will not be the first S60 3rd Edition phone to be released (the dubious honour belongs to the Nokia N91, which was supposed to be shipping by now) so by the time the N80 comes round next year this should not be too much of an issue.
The S60 platform was shipped on 60% of the converged devices sold on the market in Q2, and Symbian Q3 handset shipments jumped 131% year on year - so even though Windows Mobile 5.0 is (finally) a worthy competitor, S60 will probably remain a viable option for the lifetime of this phone. Finally, the S60 interface is good. We think it's still a little overcomplicated, but to a certain extent this is necessary. And we're likely to create a user guide. (Extra anecdotal evidence - we prefer the Nokia 7610 to the Nokia 8800 for day-to-day use, in spite of the 8800's sleekness.)
- Two: It's small-ish.
You'll notice that it is obviously not the smallest, but it is extremely small, particularly when compared to other 3G phones. It is still bigger than what is arguably the gold standard for 2MP camera phones, (the SE K750i/W800i) but as can be seen from the table below, the size difference is less palpable. (Figures rounded to nearest mm). Also, the Windows Mobile 5.0 alternative is extremely tiny - but has no 3G, and but shipping versions tend to have lacked WiFi.
Note that the N80 is almost the smallest current Symbian S60 handset - it is smaller in height and width than the Nokia N70, and only 2mm thicker. The E60 is the smallest, but it sacrifices camera functionality.
| Phone | Type | Dimensions | Weight |
| Sony Ericsson K750i | Standard - no 3G | 100 x 46 x 20 mm | 99 g |
| Nokia 6280 | Standard - not shipping | 100 x 46 x 21 mm | 104 g |
| HTC Universal | Windows Mobile 5.0 | 127 x 81 x 25 mm | 285 g |
| HTC Tornado | WM 5.0 - no 3G | 108 x 46 x 18 mm | 106 g |
| Nokia 6680 | Symbian 8 | 108 x 55 x 21 mm | 133 g |
| Nokia E60 | Symbian 9 .1 - not shipping | 115 x 49 x 17 mm | 117 g |
| Nokia E61 | Symbian 9 .1 - not shipping | 117 x 70 x 14 mm | 144 g |
| Nokia E70 | Symbian 9 .1 - not shipping | 117 x 53 x 22 mm | 127 g |
| Nokia N70 | Symbian 8 | 108 x 53 x 22 mm | 126 g |
| Nokia N71 | Symbian 9 .1 - not shipping | 99 x 51 x 26 mm | 139 g |
| Nokia N80 | Symbian 9 .1 - not shipping | 95 x 50 x 23 mm | 133 g |
| Nokia N90 | Symbian 9 .1 - not shipping | 112 x 51 x 24 mm | 173 g |
| Nokia N91 | Symbian 9 .1 - not shipping | 113 x 55 x 22 mm | 160 g |
| Nokia N92 | Symbian 9 .1 - not shipping | 107 x 58 x 25 mm | 191 g |
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Three: Connectivity.
The N80 will ship with the following:
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Integrated Wireless LAN (802.11g)
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UPnP (Universal Plug and Play)
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Bluetooth wireless technology
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Infrared
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USB 2 .0 Full Speed with mass storage capability
- Quadband GSM/EDGE ( EGSM 850/900/1800/1900)
- WCDMA 1900 or WCDMA 2100
We don't really know if UPnP will be useful, but unless the WLAN is massively crippled, that's a good thing to have in a next-generation phone. It will enable what will probably be a more cost effective (and still very fast) data connection alternative.
The Nokia N80 also includes the best of yesteryear's personal communications networks - bluetooth and infrared. USB 2.0 support is also nice, particularly when coupled with the ability to drag and drop without the use of proprietary software (at least in Windows XP) making the phone a rather large USB key/reader as well. The clincher is WCDMA 1900 or 2100 support - this means that if you are in a location with 3G networks active (i.e. virtually the whole of europe, most of asia, and parts of the US) you will be able to make video calls and have support for enhanced data connection speeds. This will come at a price, but flat-rate plans should become ubiquitous, if 3G data follows the footsteps of all other data services.
- Three: Design
This reason is of course extremely subjective, but we think it's pretty. Don't you? We're also in favour of a slider design, not really because it's better (even though it does allow phones to be shorter) but because it's alot of fun being able to slide the phone. While we somehow don't think it's going to be as satisfying as the Nokia 8800's slide (WMV video), it's nevertheless a fun feature.
We are a little upset that the slide mechanism is not used to protect the 3 megapixel camera, but it does appear that a camera switch is integrated, which means that the lens will be protected.
- Four: Camera
The Nokia N80 has a 3.0 Megapixel camera. Comparisons between old dedicated digital cameras and on-phone cameras in the 2 Megapixel range reveal that dedicated digicams produce higher quality shots; but that is not the point of an on-phone camera. There are two main functions (in our opinion) for such a camera - to quickly reproduce information, and to take pictures which would otherwise be missed.
The second function is arguably the more important, and provides a very good reason that photo quality will continue to improve - because the sacrifice of quality for portability is acceptable, but the less of a sacrifice has to be made, the better.
The first function, on the other hand, is the primary reason we think that on-phone cameras are useful. There is admittedly a bit of an overlap with the second function, but the most important use to which i put my camera phone is to take photographs of snippets of information which I know I will need. Examples of this are on-line ticket reference numbers (take a picture of your computer screen) or specific portions of text (take a picture of a piece of paper). The macro functionality (close up mode focus range of 17.5 cm to 23.4 cm) will help with this.
[and so - don't bother getting the N90 - even if it's picture quality is better because of the improved optics, the 50% improvement in resolution and reduction in phone size make this a better camera phone. Note that the N90 has the advantage of being available now. *cough*]
- Five: Display and Storage expandability.
The Nokia N80 accepts mini SD (and has hot-swap capability) and has a 2.1" 352x416 pixel 262k colour display. The largest current mini SD cards are 1GB, and are quite cheap as far as phone-compatible memory media goes.
[So don't get the Nokia N91 - it has a 4GB drive, but no memory slot, and a display with only a quarter of the pixel count. It also has a 3.5mm headphone port, but the HS-20 obviates the need for that to be in-phone. Of course, it's possible that the N91 has better audio quality. We certainly hope not, but regret to concede that this would be in line with Nokia practice of never making the perfect phone.]
