Nokia N81 8GB

I've had this N81 8GB prototype for a while now but I haven't written anything about it cos I'm having a hard time coming to a conclusion to what or who it's for.

There's 3G but no HSDPA, so the experience is not as good as an N95 or E90. The camera is a weedy 2 megapixel unit with a near useless LED flash. The interface is half baked compared with the S60 3rd editions that we're used to by now on the latest Nokia devices. These are just a few of my gripes about the device.

Anyway, let's get on with the pics.

Front view


Back view


Side views



Top and bottom views



SIM tray


Slider open


Extra gaming rocker buttons integrated togther with the earpiece


Side by side pics with other phones:







You can see from the pictures that Nokia meant for it to be quite a good looking device. However, the execution is a bit off. Instead of looking classy-ly glassy, it ends up looking more plasticky cheapie. The phone itself is put together well, feeling sturdy and firm. It has the stiffest keys I've ever come across in a phone, requiring quite a bit of strength to press. This is probably done to ensure longevity when gaming, which is what I think this phone is made for. The extra rocker buttons on either side of the earpiece emphasizes gaming intentions.

The speakers are pretty powerful. Much louder than the N95's, they will make gaming more enjoyable I suppose, if you're the type who likes a big soundtrack while playing games. The audio output through the 3.5mm, I must say, is very very good. It's noticeably cleaner and more defined than the N95 and even my iPhone.

The weight of the N81 8GB is pretty hefty. It's weight is closer to the E90 than the N95, giving a further impression of sturdiness.The action of the slider feels very good. The tension of the slider spring is taut, making it feel much better than that of an N95.

There is 8GB of built-in memory and no removable media slot. With the advent of 8GB cards, this is not good, as with all current 8GB models from Nokia. There seems to be plenty of user accessible RAM. I still can't seem to make it crash despite turning on as many applications as I can.

The arrangement of the keys deserve a special mention. Under the screen are 16, yes SIXTEEN command keys. Not the most ergonomic and definitely very prone to accidental presses. But I suppose acceptable given the space constraints.


The keypad keys are very flat and one dimensional, making text input not as tactile as a more contoured keypad. However, it's not too much of a chore.

New in this device is this thing called Naviwheel. It's similar to the iPod concept where you run your finger around the silver square to control the cursor. The thing is, it works only in a couple of menus and it works like a drunk iPod. Sometimes it works, other times it misses. And it's turned OFF by default. Weird. But if Nokia gets this right, it'll be a great navigation tool.

This is a 3G phone with no HSDPA to turbo charge things. Web browsing over 3G is acceptable I suppose, but it ain't no N95 or E90. Wifi and bluetooth work as usual. They took out the infrared port on this device which I don't miss at all.

Being used to Nokia's latest interface on the N95, I'm finding this interface lacking. The thing that irritates me the most is that there's no WLAN scanning menu on the desktop, something that I would think people would wanna use all the time. You have to press the applications button and select "Extras" before you can see the WLAN menu. Too many steps to get to something so commonly used.

According to other reviews, the search 4.0 application is included in the official release, and that's a great thing. It's like the file browser on the Apple OSX finder. This shot of the search 4.0 application on my N95 8GB placed beside my Powerbook screen:


Let's talk about the camera. I'll just let the pictures do the talking. I've taken pictures of 2 subjects using the N81 8GB, N95, E90 and iPhone. You judge for yourselves. All the phones are simply set to Automatic. I just pointed and shot. All the pictures are compressed with iPhoto with the same resolution settings.

Taken by the N81 8GB (yes, the flash was ON)


Taken by the N95


Taken by the E90


Taken by the iPhone (which we all know is 2MP has no flash)


Round 2.

Taken by the N81 8GB


Taken by the N95



Taken by the E90


Taken by the iPhone


So the N81 is supposedly made for gaming. Trying out the preloaded Ngage demo games, I don't see much difference in playing the same games on my N95 8GB. In fact, playing Asphalt with my N95 8GB proved to be more pleasurable due to it's bigger screen. However, with a fighting game that required 2 hands, the extra buttons beside the earpiece proved to be indispensable. Here a video of that fighting game:



So at the end of the day, who is this phone for? I can't figure it out. I guess if you're someone who is a hardcore phone gamer, someone who values sound quality, someone who doesn't care too much about the camera quality, someone who doesn't use 3G much, someone who likes loud phone speakers, someone who like taut slider springs, this one's for you.

I guess there won't be too many takers...