Nokia have struggled in recent times, and it's easy to pinpoint the exact occasion things started going wrong. It was 9th of January, 2007. Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, stepped up to the dais at the Macworld Apple convention - and in his hand was a prototype of Apple's latest gadget. A phone without a keyboard; a phone that would instead depend entirely on touch screen technology and a 'virtual' keyboard. The Apple iPhone shook the phone industry to it's (Apple-)core, and nowhere was this quake felt more acutely than in Finland, at the HQ of the undoubted kings of hand-held phoning. Nokia would strive for 3 years to react to Apple's game-changing phone. Their attempted iPhone killer was code named the N8. Was it another bomb, or a worthy challenger?
Every year Nokia have a flagship mobile phone, designed to display their most up-to-date research and development. In 2011 that flagship is the N8. My first reaction to the N8 is that the handset's pretty slick - the rounded finish is appealing, and the alloy casing gives it a superior look and feel. What leaps out at you is how many external buttons and slots decorate it. The right-hand side features a screen-lock switch and camera key, the left comes with a micro-USB interface and SIM/microSD slots, while on top is an HDMI port.
An essential component of any smartphone is the touchscreen. The N8's touchscreen is 3.5-inches, with 640 x 360 resolution, and made from 'Gorilla Glass'. Gorilla Glass, according to Nokia, is entirely scratch resistant. And when Nokia say scratch resistant, they certainly mean it. I rubbed keys and even a fork against it, and I must admit it didn't leave so much as a hairline mark. You can put your N8 in a pocket or bag and it'll remains pristine.
The operating system used by the N8 is the Symbian 3 - and it's the Achilles Heel of the N8. Symbian's OS is lethargic, has remarkably few in-built applications and seems dated, archaic even, in comparison to the Android and iOS. It's a little foolish that after spending so much time crafting a phone that is good-looking and well constructed, Nokia then went with a sub-standard OS that leaves the user with a bad taste in his mouth.
Soon after bringing out the N8, Nokia released the E7. It was shocking just how different the E7 and N8 were. The E7 is a lot larger and more heavy than the N8 (135 grams to 176 grams). It has a bigger display screen that includes a 'ClearBlack Display' - what this means, in lay terms, is that the phone alters the brightness automatically depending on the level of direct sunlight. In contrast to the N8, the E7's camera doesn't extend from the rear. That allows the case a more smooth touch and allows it to be placed flat on a table with the slider open. Despite the fact that the camera is more elegantly added to the E7 than the N8, the image and video quality is flat, and not as impressive as the N8. The E7 also has a QWERTY keyboard that slides out from the base of the device - this explains the bulk of the added weight of the phone. Sadly a change Nokia have not made is the mediocre Symbian 3 OS, so you'll have to put up with lethargic navigation and a limited selection of applications.
However, which of these phones do I consider better? For me it's undoubtedly the N8. The E7 is way too large to hold comfortably in your hand - a flaw which is amplified by the sleek metallic cover, which caused me to drop the E7 several times while using it. The QWERTY keyboard is a nice add-on, but also means the weight of the E7 is excessive. Quite why Nokia decided to go with a lower standard camera for the E7 is puzzling, but it's not good enough for such a costly phone.
Both phones have failings - mostly as a result of the awful operating system, but while the N8 is fantastic aside from its OS, the E7 is cumbersome, bloated, weighs too much and - bizarrely for a mobile phone - too big to grip in your hand.
While the N8 is not as consistently superb as the iPhone 4 or the Samsung Galaxy S2, it is nonetheless a step in the right direction for Nokia. It's clear evidence that the Finnish phone giants are far from finished.
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