Black N82 - Ebony Beauty

1st Impressions: Impressive What Else!
Originally the N82 came with Silver or White, or Titanium color (whatever!). For some reason many considered it fugly as hell, well that includes me as well. If you do not know what fugly means, try to imagine if “The Predator” and “The Alien” have a daughter, then you know what it is! But to be fair, there are others who will die for the White N82 and will pledge their undying devotion to its ethereal beauty. But of course that is understandable, there are many who do look like The Predator, ya know... Ok, I am just kidding guys! Don’t shoot me with your lasers!

The Black N82 to me looks like the N73 Music Edition, except that the N82 has a better black finish, however the D-pad on the N82 is so much better that the N73 stick-button-pad concoction that I really hated and to this day I still hate it! Like the way I abhor the Ericsson T-39m problems with the end-key pressing and causing IC pins being broken, which after all these years I am still pissed with that, anyway enough of that otherwise this will turn into a full blown rant on the T39m fiasco or the N73 d-pad brouhaha.




Bling, bling- Ebony Beauty
In this situation, color indeed does make a difference! This Black N82 is a pure delight! From a fugly white puke of a thing that you want to defenestrate, came an ebony beauty that is a pure delight. To be honest the N82 White was not that bad, it’s just the front that I really dislike. The Black N82 is different though, the back, the front, side, top and bottom are all beautiful to look at. Compared to the N95 8GB, it is again so much better. For some reason, I kinda see the N95 8GB color as more like of a flat black, whereas the Black N82 is vibrant black- again, much better. It could just be my eyes though...

I love the candy bar platform on mobiles. Most of the cell phones that I have used are candy bars, so I do have a complete bias over it. However, you have to understand that it is really annoying to have a wobbly slider. One of my pet peeves is when N95 slides open while inside my jeans pocket. Ugh! I hated that! Of course, none of that is present here. My demo unit didn’t have any creaking spot either and it really feels good in the hand. The weight is balanced and not slippery as well. Just love holding it!

Sexy Specs
I wanted this to be a definitive N82 User Review, so if you are ready, I am going full throttle now and will run down the specs for the benefit of those uninformed.

Specifications:
Operating Frequency WCDMA 2100 / GSM 850/ 900 / 1800 / 1900
Band Functionality: WCDMA/ GSM
Enabling Technologies: XHTML, HTML, MMS, Java MIDP
Software platform: S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1 based on Symbian OS v9.2
Dimensions: 112 x 50.2 x 17.3 mm
Weight: 114 g

Primary Screen display
Resolution: 240 x 320
Color Depth: 24 bit

Keypad
2 Labeled Soft Keys
5-way Scrolling

Camera
5 megapixel autofocus camera and Xenon Flash
Camera Video Frame Rate:30
Red-Eye Reduction, Flash, Self Timer
Carl Zeiss Optics

Secondary Camera
Resolution: 320 x 240
2x digital zoom

Memory
Memory Card: microSD and microSDHC up to 8GB
SDRAM Memory: 128 MB
Unlimited Heap size, Unlimited Jar size

Browsing
HTML over TCP/IP
S60 OSS Browser
WAP 2.0
XHTML over TCP/IP

Messaging
MMS+SMIL
SMS
MMS

Java Technology
MIDP 2.0, CLDC 1.1
JSR 135 Mobile Media API
JSR 172 Web Services API
JSR 177 Security and Trust Services API
(there is no need to list em all)

Audio Format
AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, MP3, MP4, M4A, WMA, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, Mobile XMF, SP-MIDI, MIDI Tones (poly 64), RealAudio 7,8,10, True tones, WAV

Video Format
3GPP formats (H.263), H.264/AVC
MPEG-4, RealVideo 7,8,9/10

Digital Rights Management
OMA DRM v1.0, OMA DRM v2.0
OMA DRM Forward Lock
Delivery Method: MMS, OMA Download, HTTP Download

Network Data Support
HSDPA, WCDMA
EGPRS, GPRS
HSCSD, CSD
Dual Transfer Mode (MSC 11)

PC Connectivity
Bluetooth
UPnP, USB
WLAN

Extra Features
GPS
OpenGL ES 1.1 Plugin
PoC (Push-to-talk over Cellular)
Stereo FM Radio
Stereo Handsfree Speakers
Still Image Editor
SyncML
Themes
TV Out
Visual Radio

Photovoltaic Photography
The 5 mega-pixel CMOS picture element is coupled with the CZ Optics is basically the same as with the N95 range, not much to elaborate on this. The Xenon Bulb is a different story though. This is Nokia’s 1st Xenon on their phone and on the N82 it is simply amazing as far as night shots are concerned, or any other shots requiring assisted light for that matter. I will not dwell much on this as this is one area that many blogs and reviews have already focused much, like I always say: naft said!

The Works: Sink and Ref included!
• Menu speed is superb- like N95

• RF is as good as it gets- the voice quality for calling is superb on both ends
• The overall built is solid- no creaking part
• Camera cover is nifty
• Battery life is decent- removing the cover does not require rocket science
• MP3 Player Barks!
• GPS works- especially with the A-GPS
• Memory a plenty – load em up!

• Great New Themes- also a plenty

• Switch works better than Transfer- these apps allows complete transfer of phone data from one Nokia Phone to another Nokia Phone, in case you don't know...
• Wi-Fi is zing! (I love the S60 Internet Radio on Wi-Fi!)
• Bluetooth- bites as it should! (works well with BH-900 & BH-201, a bit slower to connect though, compared to the N95)
• User Data Preservation - a big relief! C’mon Nokia! Every S60 should have this!

Clunky Keypad, Dimly Display and Hyperactive Accelerometer
Everything looks all so rosy with this one heck of a black brobdingnagian in feature gadget, however I got a few hiccups and both are- Kaboom! Three weeks of continuous use and I can’t get to like the keypad. I text a lot, and write short notes on my phones (yea I do, it is a trick I have learned from using E61, and continue to do so), there is no way I could live with this clunky keypad. I need bigger keys. So, if you are accustomed in using large keys, you might want to think twice about this baby. For me, it can be a deal breaker, but that’s just me. Do take note, that N82 is basically the same keypad form-factor as the N91, and very close as well to the new N78, so be warned about these phones.

If you also love bright screens on your phone, might want to think twice again. Granted, the N82 screen size of 2.4 inches is not the same as the N95 8GB’s 2.8” screen. Yes, it is smaller, however I think there is no reason that it should be dimmer. It is simply relatively dimmer among N-series. This gets my dissaprove-alche face!

The accelerometer has a mind of its own! Well, it is a great thing having it, but I find that it's a bit hyperactive. I wish the sensitiviy can be adjusted so that I can tone it down. It is a minor annoyance though, and it doesnt happen a lot. So, its ok, it is better having it, than not having at all, besides some of the games that you can run with it is cool!

These are basically my only gripes with this otherwise perfect bar phone. The keypad is a deal breaker for me, it has always been that way with such keypads, so it’s just me, don’t let that stop you if you find that this Black N8 is indeed an ebony beauty.

Bottom Line
Bottom line, if you love candy bar phones, hates the sliders and flips, and wants “everything on it”, check out Black N82! So far none can equal it as far as features are concerned and bang for the buck!