Tomorrow will be a sad day in these parts, because tomorrow is the day I pack the N82 back into its box and send it back to the folks at WOM World.
To say that this phone has changed how I view mobile technology would be an understatement.
I expected to use the N82′s camera heavily over the last two weeks, and as the photos attest, I lived up to that expectation. What I didn’t expect was the way in which the N82 freed me from the burden of feeling like I had to create art-with-a-capital-A in every single photo. Snapping quick shots was fun again, and I had the added bonus of being able to upload photos and video from nearly everywhere. Immediacy has its benefits.
I wasn’t terribly pleased with the tiny, pill-shaped raised buttons on the N82′s dial pad; I found that I ended up using my thumbnail to press the keys because there wasn’t enough positive response from the phone when I used the pad of my thumb to make calls, compose text messages, or to navigate through the N82′s menus. The button design gives the (visual) impression that they would require quite a bit of force to commit the selection; even when I found that this wasn’t the case, I still ended up using my thumbnail on the keys. I even ended up with a painful split thumbnail, which was one of the more unpleasant consequences. I would prefer larger, recessed keys, but this is purely a personal preference.
The N82′s manual was laughable. Don’t get me wrong, it was quite extensive, but it wasn’t indexed in a way that I found intuitive. I found that I had different terms for items — like “sending a message”, for example — while Nokia used other terminology. If you’re selling a phone whose major selling point is a 5 megapixel camera, I would expect to see “Taking a picture” as a sub-heading of “Camera” in the index. Interestingly enough, there is a stand-alone entry for “recording a video” in the index.
Phone calls were clear and completely undistorted which was a welcome change from the phone on my Treo 650. I didn’t have the opportunity to use the included hands-free kit, nor did I use the speakerphone, but the N82 is more than adequate for someone whose telephone needs are pretty basic.
Other than the camera, the feature I relied on the most was the N82′s wireless capabilities. I was reluctant to use my provider’s data network to send files because of Canada’s exorbitant data rates, but because of the N82′s WLAN settings, I didn’t have to worry about what my phone bill would look like at the end of the month. I loved having this choice, and this feature one that sold me on the N82 in the final tally.
I really, really don’t want to send this phone back. I wish it were available in Canada right now, because I know that my own blogging and picture sharing habits would drastically change because of this tool. I’ve said before that the N82 would never take the place of my MacBook or my DSLR, but that is beside the point. If you’re in the market for a new phone and you’re a hardcore lifeblogger, you should definitely add the Nokia N82 to your short list.