Nokia N80ie mini-review

[gf f]

Hi guys,

I've been asked to write a review of the Nokia N80ie now that I've got mine 'upgraded' to it, so here goes.

Size/Weight/Hardware: obviously the same as the Nokia N80 always was - the hardware is identical, even down to the labelling on the front - the N80ie still says 'N80'. I personally love the design of the handset, it feels great in the hand to use, is comfortable, and the screen is among the best on any mobile phone. Sure, the screen could be bigger, but thats what the N95 is for.

The software is where the biggest changes are, so here's my breakdown of each section:

Messages: Same as it was before. Message retrieval from the memory card still isnt lightning quick, but fast enough.

Contacts: Biggest change here is the inclusion of the VoIP integration within each contact. You now have entries available for Internet Calls where you put the contact's SIP number/addy.

Calendar: The same as before.

Music Player: I think that the sound quality has increased slightly, at least through my bose headphones it certainly seems more 'crisp'. Otherwise, no obvious changes.

Gallery: You now have the ability to send your photos directly to Flickr (and other providers when they decide to support the device). This is included in the N73- it functions identically to that. The camera algorithm has changed very slightly, there's a very minor improvement in low-light shots, and video has improved very slightly also. It still leaves a lot to be desired with it being a 3mp camera.

Imaging: No changes.

Clock: No changes.

Web: Newer version of the web browser has been included. It feels a fair bit quicker than the old one, and I've had no 'out of memory' errors so far. A nice update.

Internet: A folder with the new internet apps; Internet tel. (this is where you enable your wifi connection to hook up to the voip service). Download (nice catalog tool for installing more stuff on your phone). Search (nokia's nifty search facility). WLAN wiz (enables easier connectivity to Wifi networks, and provides ability to search for networks from the standby screen).

My own: All of your usual additional software.

Connect: Same as before.

Office: The usual office apps.

Tools: Now includes a 'settings wizard' which helps you set up some of the phones features in a tutorial style way. Handy only if you're a beginner.

Overall, the software changes are pretty nice and work well. The VoIP ability actually works really well - I have it set up with Gizmo and it intergrates into the phone perfectly - calls are handled just like regular GSM calls, etc.

Onto the things that matter:

Battery life: this unfortunately hasn't improved - if you are looking to use the VoIP features you might as well invest in a few spare batteries - leaving Wifi on isn't a good idea. I am one of the few who get fairly good battery life out of the N80 - 2-3 days if I'm lucky and thats with moderate use. I played around with Orb earlier on for almost two hours (switching between wifi and 3g to get it working) and it knocked the battery down 3 bars - decide for yourself if thats good or bad!

Was it worth upgrading? I think so. I really like the VoIP integration and the new web browser. I wasnt expecting a miracle with the battery life and I didnt get one!

Any questions feel free to ask.

[yAY*itS*miSsY]

Question, would you move to the N95 based on specs alone or wait till the next best Nokia comes out?

Are you blogging via the N80?

Thanks for the review.

[shna]

I wouldn't move to the N95 based on specs alone - it can have all the power in the world and still manage to flop as a device (although I can't see this happening). I'd give it a month or two after release before jumping to the N95 to see if anyone has any major problems with it first.

Yes, I've been blogging from the N80 using Lifeblog. The link in my sig was to my now out-of-date blog site, the new one is http://grumpysteve.livejournal.com. I really like Lifeblog - really nice (if simple) piece of software.

[loveChrist]

One more thing that people thinking of upgrading to IE fw should know is that the free RAM is reduced. This is important to note on our resource-starved N80s!

I still get 'out of memory' errors when viewing a few large pages consecutively.

[niecee 40]

I've yet to experience these out of memory errors on the N80ie firmware, but thats not to say they don't exist

[christ_jewells11]

I have a constant app load so that might be it. All kinds of stuff running in the background on my phone...

[whomeohno]

When you say upgrade, do you mean buy a new phone? Or is there a process where you can trade in your old n80 for the n80ie? Or.. do you update the firmware?

[lithguy]

Just a firmware update, that's all.

[Deez]

IHave to agree about the loss of ram compared to the last N80 version. I'm missing about 2 megs since I flashed to IE firmware. Doesn't sound much but I notice it when surfing.
Should add that the camera can now shoot sequences in larger formats.
The N95 is a general upgrade for the N80-everything is a little better but there is no wow factor. The gps is useless as long as it can only be used with Nokias maps and the memory available is hardly any better. The camera sensor appears to be too feeble to handle 5mb pics.

[tergator]

Agreed on the N95. I'm waiting to see what gems Nokia comes up with for S60 3rd FP2... so that i can be pissed that there's no GSM850, US 3G, or HSDPA support!