Nokia N81 8GB

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Nokia N81 8GB Dimensions (w/h/d): 50 x 102 x 18 Weight: 140g Talk Time: 4 hours Stand By: 410 hours Camera: Camera Resolution: 2.0MP Handset Type: Slide Coverage (Band): Quad Video: Bluetooth: Mp3 Player: Mp3 Ringtones: MMS: Java Games: Radio: GPRS: Email: Internet Browsing: 3G: Flash Memory: WiFi:

Dimensions (w/h/d): Weight: Talk Time: Stand By: Camera: Camera Resolution: Phone Type: Coverage (Band): Video: Bluetooth: Mp3 Player: Mp3 Ringtones: MMS: Java Games: Radio: GPRS: Email: Internet Browsing: 3G: Flash Memory: WiFi:

Dimensions (w/h/d): Weight: Talk Time: Stand By: Camera: Camera Resolution: Phone Type: Coverage (Band): Video: Bluetooth: Mp3 Player: Mp3 Ringtones: MMS: Java Games: Radio: GPRS: Email: Internet Browsing: 3G: Flash Memory: WiFi:

Our Review of the Nokia N81 8GB

Music phones, camera phones, smart phones... gaming phones. With the N81 8GB, Nokia revive the spirit of their N-Gage platform in the hope that a mobile gaming niche can be found and mined.

Music phones, camera phones, smart phones... gaming phones.  With the N81 8GB, Nokia revive the spirit of their N-Gage platform in the hope that a mobile gaming niche can be found and mined.

Available in two editions, one with an 8GB hard drive and one without, the N81 makes a good first impression. It looks like a high end MP3 player, with its dedicated skip and pause buttons and the squarish Navi Scroll (a click wheel to you and me) that's positioned just under the screen.

Yes, it's got an MP3 player, camera and a web browser too. However, the most distinguishing facet of the N81 is the gaming features, so we'll start there. At the top of the front side of the phone is an oblong plate with the earpiece set in the middle - this plate is a rocker key, and discreetly serves as a dual button control. The dual key is backlit with symbols when the gaming function is active highlighting button locations. The aforementioned Navi Scroll also subtly doubles as a D-pad, which works surprisingly well, although can be tricky on certain games, particularly driving ones.

Titles are downloadable from the web thanks to the 3G support. Old school classics such as Worms and Pac Man are available for download from Nokia's Mosh portal, as is lost mobile phone classic Snake II! Titles are being added and uploaded all the time, so check out Mosh for more updates. The 2.4" display supports an eye-melting 16 million colours and QVGA resolution (320 x 240 pixels) which means that games played on the N81 look pretty good, almost PSP good.

Pictures and videos shot on the N81's 2 megapixler don't look half bad either. The built in flash elevates the camera above the standard 2MP lot, so taking pics in poorly lit environs is no problem. The camera, obviously, is more of an accessory alongside the gaming functionality, but it's nice to see that Nokia took the time to squeeze a flash in there. The video recorder is also capable of handling a plethora of file formats (MPEG4, H264, H263, 3GPP, RealVideo 8, 9, 10). The same can be said of the music player, which can play just about anything you could care to throw at it (MP3 (VBR), WAV, AAC, AAC, eAAC, M4A and WMA).

Like the other N series handsets, the N81 is also no slouch when it comes to connectivity - Bluetooth and USB are both present and correct. Although it does not have the same HSDPA connection that graces the N95, the N81 comes, as we've already seen, with 3G compatibility. This enables the rapid downloading of music, video and games.The music and video players of the N81 are capable of playing just about anything you could to throw at it.

Also, like the N95 8GB, the N81's beefy 8GB cannot be improved upon in any way, although with the majority of titles not even hovering anywhere near the MB zone, this isn't a major problem.

The battery, surprisingly, performs rather well. You can probably getting away without having to charge it every day, but be warned that you don't want to be halfway through a game before the power dies on you.

 Pros

Large internal memory.
Crisp, clear sound quality.
Slick and stylish looks.
Great mobile gaming platform.

 Cons

2 Megapixel camera.
No memory card slot.

Our Rating

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The Nokia N81 8GB is a solid and feature packed handset that even matches up well to the Nokia N95 8GB. The Music features on the the N81 make it a good pick for users who prefer tunes to photos.

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