Nokia N82

The N82 has been making waves ever since it poked its head out from under the developmental stage drawing board. As I said before, I was quite eager to test it. Now I have it – and I’m glad I got the chance. Here’s what I can tell you.

Form Factor
The N82 is a bit bulky for some strange reason, but thankfully it weighs just 114g. On one side you’ll find the Micro USB port, a slot for your MicroSD memory card, and the charging port lower down. The other side has the volume / zoom keys, a dedicated key to take you to the gallery and just below that is the camera’s shutter release key. On the top you’ll find the 3.5mm (thank you, Nokia!) earphone / TV-out socket and the power key.

I’m not entirely impressed with the overall design of the device. But I’ll say this, it’s simplistic and the key placement is perfect. Since it’s 3G-capable it has a secondary VGA camera in the front next to the light sensor and above the brilliant 2.4 inch display. The 5 way nav-pad could have had the N81’s touch sensitivity but doesn’t – not that that’s a problem AT ALL! The 5 megapixel auto-focus camera with the Xenon flash are located at the rear and can be activated by simply sliding down the lens cover.

Features and Performance
The main feature in the N82 is the auto rotation of the display. It’s not as smooth as in the iPhone but it’s a good feature to have, especially while surfing the net and you quickly need to adjust the screen to type something in.

Audio and Video
The music player is great. I have no complaints, except that it’s a pain creating playlists from the PC Suite software. But the presets and the manually adjustable EQ are definitely a plus point. Since the N82 can be used with any set of earphones or headphones and also supports Bluetooth with A2DP profile, you can use a Stereo Bluetooth headset like the I-Tech Bluepro for a great music experience. Radio lovers rejoice, for the N82 also has an integrated stereo FM radio.

The video player is commendable too. Since you have the choice of so many video converters, I’d recommend converting files to 3GP so you save a little space. There’s also the Video Center option that you can use to download videos from Nokia. You might want to try using EmTube for YouTube videos.