Nokia N82 Cell Phone Review - Hardware
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Alfredo Padilla Published on February 05, 2008 Comment on this |
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Keypad
Text Words Per Minute (7.28)
The Nokia N82 scored 36.4 words per minute (WPM) in our test using two hands and typing a standardized sentence. This isn't a poor performance, but you can see below that it fell short of many of our comparison phones. Several of these handsets have QWERTY keyboards, but you can see that a phone with a very comfortable keypad like the Razr2 V8 performed significantly better than the Nokia N82. We found the keypad on the N82 to be very uncomfortable to type on. In particular we found ourselves making many more errors than we would have liked, and we had to practice for a long time before we could type our test sentence without errors. The small old-style calculator type buttons simply don't lend themselves to comfortable typing. Our fingers easily slipped off the keys and we found it difficult to type by feel. We wish that Nokia had gone with a more comfortable keypad for the Nokia N82. | Cell Phone | Words Per Minute | Score |
| Nokia N82 | 36.4 | 7.28 |
| Nokia N81 8GB | 34.4 | 6.88 |
| BlackBerry Pearl 8130 | 42.4 | 8.48 |
| Palm Centro | 39.4 | 7.88 |
| Razr2 V8 | 46 | 9.20 |
| Apple iPhone | 39.6 | 7.92 |
T9 and Auto Complete (5.0)
The Nokia N82 supports T9 predictive text entry but does not support word completion. Given how annoying we found typing on the keypad to be we wish that it did as we could write with fewer key presses.
One Hand Usability (6.66)
For those who like to type with a single hand we do our words per minute (WPM) test using only one hand to both hold the handset and type. We found it was even harder to type on the Nokia N82's keypad using one hand than using two, as we were only able to manage 33.3 WPM. In addition to all the flaws with the keypad we discussed above we found the Nokia N82 was difficult to hold with one hand while typing as the keypad is located very low on the device and so it was difficult to balance it right. We also found that the smooth plastic construction led to the phone slipping in our hand, which also made it difficult. Based on the results of our two WPM tests we wouldn't recommend the Nokia N82 for those who do a lot of texting.
| Cell Phone | Words Per Minute | Score |
| Nokia N82 | 33.3 | 6.66 |
| Nokia N81 8GB | 38.8 | 7.76 |
| BlackBerry Pearl 8130 | 33.57 | 6.71 |
| Palm Centro | 26.6 | 5.32 |
| Razr2 V8 | 40.54 | 8.11 |
| Apple iPhone | 32.1 | 6.42 |
Keypad Backlighting (4.0)
The Nokia N82's keypad is backlit in white light, with both the buttons outlined and the symbols and numbers above the buttons lit up. We found the backlight to be uneven, with keys near the center of the keypad better lit than those at the edges. In particular we found the keys at the lower left and right were particularly dim. The length of the backlight is set using the same timer as the screen backlight. There is no light sensor to turn the backlight on/off automatically and no way to adjust the brightness of the backlight.
Controls
D-Pad/Joystick (4.0)
The D-Pad on the Nokia N82 has some issues. It is similar to the D-Pad found on the Nokia N95 in that's its a smallish square with a raised outer edge for navigating and a large central select button. Unfortunately Nokia made the same mistake as they have in previous handsets with this D-Pad in that the outer edges are not raised enough so that you can easily navigate up/down/left/right without accidentally hitting the center select button. The result is a ton of errors while navigating the interface, so many that we found ourselves wanting to throw the handset at the wall a few times (don't worry Nokia, we didn't). Nokia has experimented with a lot of D-Pad/joystick arrangements, but it's been hit and miss. The N82 is a miss. Touch Screen (0.0)
The Nokia N82 does not have a touch screen.
Jog Dial (0.0)
The Nokia N82 doesn't have a jog dial and it also lacks the scrolling feature of the D-Pad found on the N81.
Soft Buttons (4.0)
The soft buttons on the Nokia N82 are located just to the left and right of the D-Pad. They sit on pieces of plastic that are shared with the menu and clear button respectively. On the left side this works decently, the button is large enough that we were able to hit the soft key without too many errors, although we would have appreciated more key travel and tactile feedback. On the right side soft key, however, there's an additional problem, namely the multimedia button that Nokia has experimented with so much. This small plastic button is very similar to the keypad keys and sits right in the middle of the right soft button and the C button beneath it. Unfortunately it juts up above the surrounding plastic and is just prominent enough that we found ourselves hitting it by accident a ton. We don't even like the multimedia menu, and the fact that it's button is placed so inconveniently makes us like it even less. But more importantly for this section it makes the right soft key more difficult to use.
Volume Control (3.0)
The volume keys on the N82 are located on the right side of the phone near the top. They buttons are a single piece of plastic that rocks up/down, with a small indentation that's supposed to help you distinguish between them. Unfortunately this doesn't do its job very well, in fact the volume buttons provide terrible tactile presence when you are trying to find them by feel. They are ever so slightly raised above the surrounding plastic, and we found ourselves having to run our finger up and down the right side of the phone several times before we could identify the button and figure out what end of it we were at. When pressed key travel is very slight and tactile feedback almost completely absent, meaning that once we did find the damn things we weren't sure if we were pressing them correctly.
Power and Standby (5.0)
The power button on the Nokia N82 is in its typical place for Nokia handsets sitting in the center at the top of the phone. It is slightly recessed, which makes it difficult to press, but for a power button this is actually a good thing as you don't want to hit it by accident. A long press on the button will turn the handset off while a single tap on it will bring up a menu where you can switch profiles or lock the keypad. We found it fulfilled its function admirably, even if it was a pain in the but to press when we wanted to it's better than having your phone turn itself off all the time.
Other Buttons (5.0)
In addition to the buttons discussed above the Nokia N82 has several other useful buttons, and one that seems less useful. Let's start with a couple of the ones we like. To the left and right of the D-Pad and below the two soft keys you will find the typical Series 60 Menu and "C" buttons. The Menu buttons will take you to the applications menu with a single push and the home screen with two presses. We wish the order were reversed, but either way it comes in useful a lot. The "C" key is used as a backspace when entering text and also acts as a general delete button, for example when an application is highlighted in the applications menu and you hit the "C" key you are asked if you want to uninstall the program. Similarly in the messaging application when you have a message selected and hit the "C" buttons you are asked if you want to delete it.
Between the right soft key and the "C" button is another button that we like less. This is Nokia's Multimedia button, with which they have experimented so much. We've never been particularly impressed by Nokia's various iterations of the multimedia menu, and their newest version of rotating tiles is no different. What annoys us even more, however, is the prominent location they have given this button on the Nokia N82. Sitting between two other buttons that you use a lot the multimedia key is unfortunately prominent. It resembles the number keys on the N82 and sits above the two surrounding keys. Most people will use those buttons a lot more than the multimedia button and will find that they will hit the multimedia key on accident way too much. We think this placement is so poor that we aren't rewarding any points for this button.
Getting back to buttons that are actually useful on the right side of the Nokia N82 near the bottom you find the dedicated camera shutter and gallery buttons. This is typical of Nokia's N-Series handsets and they do a solid job. One annoyance with all of the Nokia N82's additional buttons is that there is no way to change their functions. For example the gallery button can't be assigned to another function if you find you don't need it to do that, ditto with the Multimedia key. This is unfortunate as both Windows Mobile and BlackBerry devices give you control over at least one or two buttons on the device.
Display
Primary Screen Gross Resolution (8.0)
Like all of Nokia's more recent high end handsets, with the notable exception of the E90, the Nokia N82 has a QVGA (320 x 240 pixel) display. QVGA is pretty typical on cell phones nowadays and does a solid enough job, but we have to say that we're starting to wonder why high end handsets like the N82 have the same resolution as entry level handsets. Here's hoping that 2008 is the year we start seeing HVGA, as on the iPhone, or even full VGA displays start to become mainstream.
| Cell Phone | Resolution | Score |
| Nokia N82 | 320 x 240 | 8.00 |
| Nokia N81 8GB | 320 x 240 | 8.00 |
| BlackBerry Pearl 8130 | 240x260 | 6.50 |
| Palm Centro | 320 x 240 | 8.50 |
| Razr2 V8 | 320x240 | 8.00 |
| Apple iPhone | 480 x 320 | 9.00 |
Primary Screen Pixels per Inch (8.33)
Pixels per inch (PPI) is a measure of how densely pixel are packed into the screen. Higher pixel density leads to richer colors and sharper images. Lower pixel density can cause items on the screen to seem washed out and pixelated. The Nokia N82's pixel density measures 166.7 PPI. This is pretty solid, we don't start worrying about pixel density until it drops below the 140 - 150 range, and should provide most users with a good viewing experience. You can see below that it's about the same as several of our other comparison handsets, with the Centro and Razr2 V8 doing a bit better.
| Cell Phone | Pixels Per Inch | Score |
| Nokia N82 | 166.67 | 8.33 |
| Nokia N81 8GB | 166.7 | 8.34 |
| BlackBerry Pearl 8130 | 164.57 | 8.23 |
| Palm Centro | 205.7 | 10.29 |
| Razr2 V8 | 181.8 | 9.09 |
| Apple iPhone | 164.8 | 8.24 |
Screen Physical Size (6.0)
The Nokia N82's main display measures 2.4 inches diagonal. This is a little larger than the 2 - 2.2 inch displays you see on most cell phones. You'll notice the extra screen real estate, but we also think that Nokia could have fit a larger 2.6 inch display on the device as found on the original N95.
| Cell Phone | Size Diagonal (inches) | Score |
| Nokia N82 | 2.4 | 6.00 |
| Nokia N81 8GB | 2.4 | 6.00 |
| BlackBerry Pearl 8130 | 2.15 | 5.38 |
| Palm Centro | 2.2 | 5.50 |
| Razr2 V8 | 2.2 | 5.50 |
| Apple iPhone | 3.5 | 8.75 |
Screen Brightness (2.55)
To see how bright a phone's screen can get we turn up the screen brightness to maximum and use a lux meter to see how bright the screen gets. We found that the Nokia N82's screen was remarkably dull, measuring only 26 lux in our test. This is an extremely low score and at first we thought there might be something wrong with our lux meter. We tested several other phones to see if we also got overly low results, but didn't find anything amiss. We also used another lux meter just to make sure everything was alright, and indeed there didn't seem to be anything wrong with our tools. The Nokia N82 just doesn't have a very bright screen. On the controls side the Nokia N82 offers four brightness settings for the screen and controls for how long the backlight stays on before it turns itself off. Lacking is a light sensor to automatically adjust the backlight for your situation.
| Cell Phone | Brightness (lux) | Score |
| Nokia N82 | 26 | 2.55 |
| Nokia N81 8GB | 75 | 5.50 |
| BlackBerry Pearl 8130 | 80 | 8.50 |
| Palm Centro | 54 | 6.90 |
| Razr2 V8 | 156 | 9.10 |
| Apple iPhone | 168 | 15.40 |
Screen Bright Light Performance (3.5)
To test how legible the Nokia N82's screen is in bright light situations we turn the brightness up to maximum, shine 3000 lux of light onto the screen, equivalent to a bright sunny day, and judge how legible it is. We weren't particularly impressed by the N82's legibility. We could more or less make out icons and other major interface features, but text was completely unreadable and there was a lot of glared. Given that the best tool to ensure that a screen is legible in bright light is brightness and the N82 put up a terrible screen brightness test this actually isn't that surprising. You'll likely have to go find some shade if you're trying to use the N82 in the sunshine.
Color Depth (10.0)
Like most high end Nokia phones the N82's screen is capable of displaying an impressive 16 million colors. This is much higher than the sixty-five thousand color displays found on most of our comparison phones. The practical result for users is that colors will look very true on the display.
| Cell Phone | Colors (thousands) | Score |
| Nokia N82 | 16000 | 10.00 |
| Nokia N81 8GB | 16000 | 10.00 |
| BlackBerry Pearl 8130 | 65 | 6.00 |
| Palm Centro | 65 | 6.00 |
| Razr2 V8 | 65 | 6.00 |
| Apple iPhone | n/a - unknown | 6.00 |
Ports & Storage
Power & Data Ports (4.0)
Nokia moved away from their traditional Pop-Port for data transfers to the Mini USB standard with the Nokia N95. The N82 continues this new standard, but moves to the newer and less widely used Micro USB. We can't ding Nokia too much for using this as we are supporters of standardized connectors and Micro USB is simply the next step in a popular standard, but the practical result for users will be that they will find fewer accessories, dongles and cables that fit in the connector than they did for Mini USB. Because of this we are awarding one point less than we would have for Mini USB.
On the charging front Nokia hasn't done as well, sticking with their relatively new slim-line proprietary charger. Given that the Micro-USB port on the N82 is perfectly capable of handling charging as well as data duties we're not sure why they're sticking with the proprietary charger, but there it is. Needless to say we won't be awarding many points for this proprietary port.
Headphone & Jack Compatibility (8.0)
On the headphone side we are pleased to see the Nokia N82 support a standard 3.5mm jack for headphones. This is a big improvement over their older handsets that used the proprietary pop-port for headphone duty. It allows you to use any high quality headphones you might have on hand with the N82. We are also happy to see support for wireless stereo headphones via Bluetooth using the A2DP profile.
Internal Storage (1.0)
The Nokia N82 has 100 Mb of internal memory available for storage. This should be plenty for most users if all your are storing are your PIM information, a few files and a handful of photos taken with the camera. If you intend to really put the Nokia N82's multimedia capabilities to use, however, we suggest you invest in a memory card.
Expansion Slot & Format (7.0)
For expansion the Nokia N82 has a Micro SD slot located on the left side of the handset and protected by a plastic cover that is tethered to the body. The cover is easy enough to open, but does impede easy access to the slot so it's a little fiddly getting a card in or out. We prefer covers that rotate out of the way to make access to the card slot simple. We are pleased that the Nokia N82 support SDHC cards, currently available in Micro SD format up to 4 GB but by the end of this year you should see even more storage available.
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