Nokia's best phone in three years

It's been a while since Nokia has released a really good phone, with the N97 receiving, at best, a tepid reception and the N900 getting jeered out of most rooms.

The N8 should leave most of that behind. This device finally moves away from the boxy shape that distinguished the previous N-series phones for the more slim and slick type of design introduced by the iPhone.

A fair amount of thought appears to have given to simplifying the device, which has a touch screen and uses only a single button. It also features easy access to your SIM and storage cards and has an HDMI port.

The only noticeable drawback to the design is the heavy duty (for a phone) 12MP camera, which adds a large but not really troublesome bulge to the back of the handset.

Nokia has seriously improved performance too, thanks to a 680mhz processor.

However, considering how well it's designed, what's frustrating is that Nokia insists on using the Symbian^3 operating system.

Okay, I'm willing to recognise that Symbian^3 is a major, major step up from previous versions. Nokia has cut down the number of steps required to do basic tasks, such as get your e-mail, but adding icons and apps is still more complicated than it should be.

Expectations not met

The user interface is also messy. Symbian^3 lets you place three types of buttons on your screen: apps, links, and widgets.

This may sound good from a functionality standpoint, but all the arrows, scrolling text and different-sized icons makes for difficult viewing.

And despite its processor, the phone doesn't operate as smoothly as either the iPhone or Android. I realise that's a high standard, but I was expecting this phone to surpass it.

The one big issue that Nokia has yet to adequately address is applications, or the general lack of them. The Nokia Apps store, called Ovi, has an atrocious lack of anything really innovative or even current.

We know Nokia has been feverishly trying to change this — for example, the popular app Foursquare is now available — but the store still seems very limited. However, the N8's price at Dh1,999 is very competitive, considering that most other smart phones are starting a Dh2,200 and head sharply up from there.

Bottom line, anyone looking to upgrade to a smartphone would not likely be disappointed, but I wouldn't buy one to replace your iPhone.

Pros

• 12MP camera with flash.
• Picture and video editing software.
• Large touch screen.
• Error-free digital keyboard.
• Easy access to SIM and storage cards.

Cons

• Lack of downloadable apps.
• Not easy to customise home screen.
• Sluggish operating system.
• Setting data connection can be difficult.
• Screen can appear cluttered.