Review Review Nokia N80 Price tbc Power of three It finally looks like the Sharp 903 www.nokia.co.uk will have a rival in the 3.2- megapixel camera class. Having Stats Features monopolised this quality of camera Rock, Pop etc, while we found a 60% ■ Symbian S60 OS phone for so long, its throne is to volume setting was perfect; any increase OS: Symbian Series 60 be challenged by the N80. caused shrill-damage to the lugholes. ■ Three-megapixel camera Size: 95.4x50x26mm The N80 shoots in 2048x1536- Your songs are stored on miniSD – a ■ Built-in W-LAN pixel resolution for still images and 128MB card is supplied. This won’t offer Weight: 134g ■ Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) Mobile über alles 352x288 for video (in both MP4 much scope for storage, but the N80 Display: 262,144 colours technology format for high-quality footage and can support cards of up to 2GB, which 3GP for handset playback and will allow around 500 songs providing Resolution: 352x416 pixels Pros The Nokia Nseries MMS sending). you don’t share the memory with other When it comes to still pics, the multimedia content. The music player Camera: Three megapixels ■ It’s impossible to has become the N80 just falls short of the Sharp is also backed up by a stereo FM radio Video recording/playback: look beyond the to- but still delivers quality snaps. Its with Visual Radio capabilities. die-for feature set. CMOS lens can’t compete with the Web browsing on the N80 is a Yes/Yes It’s pretty powerful mobile phone early Sharp’s CCD-quality technology in pleasure. Already enriched by the Audio playback: MP3, AAC, stuff. terms of colour representation stunning display, the N80 also boasts adopter’s Holy Grail. and detail and, unlike its Nseries a new Nokia technique called Mini Map eAAC+, WMA Cons stablemate, the N91, there’s no to make full HTML web browsing easier Call quality is excellent but with such Connectivity: W-LAN, But the latest N80 Carl Zeiss lens. The lack of on a small screen. A semi-transparent, a wealth of multimedia features on ■ For such a high- autofocus is disappointing, zoomed-out view of the web page area board, the N80 is prone to battery drain Bluetooth, infrared, USB 2.0 end phone the although it will, naturally, still The N80 struggles with The N80’s video capabilities are you’re reading, shadowed by a complete and you’ll find that you have to charge slide action doesn’t smartphone looks to Internal memory: 40MB knock spots off any other camera- overcast conditions so highlights just as proficient,proficient, with some of the view of the whole web page as it was the juice at the end of each day if you match up. It’s in phone on the market. The 20x are overblown and exposed. There sharpest quality results we’ve originally designed, complement full- frequently consume these functions, Memory card slot: miniSD need of serious have upped the ante digital zoom works fine, but is an LED light for low lighting seen on a mobile phone. As web surfing on the two-inch screen especially web browsing. lubrication. (128MB card supplied, obviously picture quality conditions which does have an expected, digital drag does occur nicely. Along with internet access, the As you can see, the N80 is a and raised the deteriorates as you move in, while affect, despite an unrefined but for the most part, the footage N80 allows email messaging, and you formidable mobile proposition. In today’s support up to 2GB) a macro switch sits just below the impact. But you can’t quibble too is quite slick. You won’t be can read your various attachments like mobile environment, this handset has Java: Yes, MIDP 2.0 multimedia fervour lens. much with the print-quality snaps. disappointed. Word, PowerPoint, Excel and PDF files everything you could demand at the top- through the Office Document Viewer and level and all in a classy and nicely sized Games: Yes to new heights. Adobe Reader. handset. Its feature set may well be too Messaging: SMS, MMS, IM despite being a solid chunky monkey in terms of resolution, with 352x416 Rocking up alongside the main three- much for some, and while niche features Mobile Choice takes and quite hefty, the N80’s footprint is pixels. Here at Mobile Choice, we often megapixel camera – see page 13 for like the UPnP wireless streaming may Email client: POP3, SMTP, close to the Nokia 6280 slider and still wax lyrical about the display quality but details – is a front-loaded VGA lens for only connect with early adopters, an IMAP4 this multimedia reasonably pocketable. Considering that we can categorically say this is the best video calling. We made a call to the LG adept music player and powerful camera it’s armed to hilt with top-line features we’ve seen from a handset of this class, U880 and the results were reasonable. still give it mainstream appeal. It’s hard Ringtones: Polyphonic, and connectivity options, Nokia has done with crisp definition and vivid colour Inevitably there was digital noise and to predict whether it will meet the dream machine for well to keep the size down. that elevates web browsing and photo considerable drag when the phone was N70’s universal popularity, but out of the monophonic, True Tones, But things don’t start well for the viewing to new levels. While we wait for moved but keep the handset still, and Nseries range so far, the N80 is the The N80 is a mobile MP3 a spin N80 – the slider action is far from those true VGA-quality displays currently the recipient should get quite a clear phone with the most potential. impressive. After the 6280’s fluid action, adorning the Sharp 904 in Japan, this view. Audio was a tad muffled through powerhouse with features Internet browser: WAP 2.0, OKIA hatched the Nseries as an which rivalled Samsung’s best, the N80 will do very nicely indeed. the phone’s speakers so we advise you Nick Renshaw to die for xHTML, HTML elite brigade of 3G multimedia feels too stiff and sticky, as if running Nokia has made it very simple to get use a handsfree device. [email protected] N virtuosos. So elite in fact, that on rusty rails. You will need to give it a your existing digital music library onto Frequency: Quad-band + 3G with the exception of the popular N70, fair nudge but it’s worth noting that our the handset. The N80 is recognised as Talktime: 180 mins getting your hands on these ‘multimedia review sample was a prototype so any a mass storage device when connected computers’ has proved problematic. indiscretions might be temporary. Let’s to your PC via USB 2.0 and it’s a simple Standby: 192 hours The N90 (our Camera Phone Of The hope the slider mechanism improves. procedure of drag and dropping your Stream machine Year) didn’t even get picked up officially The N80 runs off Symbian Series 60 files into the relevant music section by a network operator. Its 4GB-hard- (S60) third edition OS, which proved window. The N80 supports the gamut The N80 offers every possible connectivity option Verdict you could dream of, with wireless LAN, Bluetooth, drive-packing musical sibling, the N91, incredibly temperamental, with slow of digital formats including WMA and If you crave a phone with hasn’t yet hit the shops despite being transition between commands and ACC, while you can create playlists on USB and infrared. The biggest boon is the Wi-Fi unveiled just under a year ago. And the pages. It’s best to test the N80 yourself, the fly. To qualify for Nokia’s XpressMusic 802.11g, which brings faster speeds (capacity everything and then some, dependent) to the mobile internet: 54Mbps N92 TV handset won’t even make it to though, as in our experience, the S60 status, handsets have to support a this is for you. There’s no UK shores because we don’t yet support OS has never been this erratic and 3.5mm headphone jack, and the N80 compared to 3G’s 384Kbps. The advantages to Digital Video Broadcast for Handheld inconsistent, and the fact that our trial obliges with the AD-15 adapter. We this method of accessing the internet on the move doubt that the N80 is an (DVB-H) technology. copy was a vanilla sample might explain plugged in our trusty Sennheiser PX200s are blatantly obvious, but there is a bigger picture awesome convergence phone, Nokia has gone on record declaring its dodgy performance. and the sound quality was dynamic, with involved, namely VoIP. The N80 is being primed to that the Nseries is an exercise in chest There’s no such problems with the strong driving bass. Equalizer settings let you make voice calls over the internet using but it has very limited niche thumping and concept building, showing screen, which ups the ante above QVGA adapt the sound to certain genres like UMA (Unlicensed Mobile Access) technology; this appeal. just how high mobile technology can is basically the new mobile standard for switching reach, but these handsets have niche between mobile and W-LAN networks. It’s surely appeal, with the majority lacking any Also consider only a matter of time before Nokia partners with mainstream allure. So while we wait for a VoIP or broadband company (Orange is strongly up with your compatible system to stream rumoured) to offer a BT Fusion-esque service.