Nokia N8: review (10)
Nokia is selling the N8 as a smartphone that can... well, do pretty much anything, really. As it says on the box, the N8 can perform everything from social networking to web browsing, although the impressive video/camera system is clearly the centrepiece of the package.
But before we get into the inner workings of the N8, let's take a look at the hardware: The device itself is encased in an aluminium body and its front features the 3.5in capacitive touchscreen.This is pretty standard fare for current generation touchscreen phones, and the N8 was fairly responsive to our touch.In fact, we rather liked how the phone vibrated mildly when we pressed buttons on-screen; it provided some nice tactile feedback.Flip the phone around and you'll see the N8's much-touted 12-megapixel camera, which protudes from the back like a hump.This disqualifies the phone from being called sleek but the tradeoff is worth it; the camera comes complete with xenon flash, Carl Zeiss optics and the ability to shoot HD videos at 720p quality. Or, put simply: Wow!The camera is honestly the best thing about the N8; if you're a casual camera user, the point-and-shoot functionality will be more than sufficient to capture sharp, high resolution (4,000 x 2,248-pixels by default) pictures.If you're more of an enthusiast, you can play around with options like the white balance, colour tone and macro setting to get a more perfect shot.The video-capturing feature is further complemented by the HDMI port located on the top side of the phone; when you're done recording your masterpiece and editing it with the N8's built-in (albeit very simple) video editing app, you can plug the phone directly into a compatible wide screen TV to share your video with friends.