NOKIA 8801

Nokia 8801

FEATURES:-

Modes GSM 850 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900(8801) / 8800: GSM 900 in place of 850
Weight 4.82 oz (137 g)
Dimensions 4.21" x 1.77" x 0.63" (107 x 45 x 16 mm)
Form Factor SlideInternal Antenna
Battery Talk: 3 hours max. (180 minutes)
Standby: 192 hours max. (8 days)600 mAh LiIon
Display Type: LCD (Color TFT/TFD)
Resolution: 208 x 208 pixelsColors: 262,144 (18-bit)
Memory 64 MB (internal memory available to user for storage)

REVIEWS:-

Ah, the highly-coveted and much-anticipated Nokia 8801 cell phone. How sweeeeeet it is – truly a head turner. But is the Nokia 8801 worth its high price tag? It all depends on what you value in a cell phone. This one has decent call quality, a plethora of features that are easy to access and use, and a style that demands attention. Battery life, on the other hand, is this Nokia cell phone’s biggest drawback. Call Quality Calls and Speakerphone: Call quality on this cell phone is pretty good. All calls were extremely clear, though sometimes we wanted them to be a bit louder. Unfortunately, there are no side volume control buttons, so you’ll likely have to move the Nokia 8801 away from your ear and use the soft keys to increase/decrease the volume. The speakerphone (Nokia calls it a Loudspeaker) was clear and sufficiently loud, however, to get the best results you should turn over the cell phone placing it screen-side down.

Audio Playback: Audio playback of MP3s and the FM radio through the Nokia 8801 speakers is impressive. The included earpiece also provided decent playback of both MP3s and the FM radio Like many Nokia cell phones, the Nokia 8801 is outfitted.

Ease of Use Menu/Phonebook:with a straightforward interface. Maneuvering through the cell phone’s menu system is simple and once you become accustomed to what each icon represents it should take no time at all to use with ease. We particularly enjoyed customizing the Go To menu to list favorite or most-used features/apps first. Entering and finding numbers takes just a couple of button taps. But this Nokia cell phone is clearly designed with the international jet setter in mind, as it comes with a translator app (though, it takes some time to master) and a world clock. However, if you really want to make the most of this cell phone’s operating system, we suggest digging into the included Nokia Collector and PC Connectivity Suite software. It’s much easier to manage messages, contacts, images, videos and even music (create playlists) if you do it on a PC first and then sync it to the Nokia 8801 – not to mention you have an automatic back-up solution. We should note, however, that it’s easier to follow the prompts of the included software and directly import contacts from Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Notes.

Camera/Video: You would think such a high-end cell phone would at least come with a megapixel camera, but alas it does not. Instead, you get an SVGA lens and no flash (but you won’t miss it). Pictures came out surprisingly well on this camera phone and even the video we recorded wasn’t half-bad. Since it is an SVGA lens, pictures won’t take up a ton of space in the cell phone’s 64MB of shared memory so you should be able to snap away without care, unless of course you plan on storing a lot of music files (these files take up more memory than pics taken with this camera).

Music: As noted earlier, MP3 playback quality is impressive on this music phone. The music player will play MP3s and unprotected AAC files (sorry, no purchased iTunes music) and create play lists – a definite plus. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to store too many songs on the cell phone’s shared memory of 64MB and there’s no expandable memory option. At best, you can save about 10 songs on the Nokia 8801.
Messaging: There are many things we like about the messaging services on the Nokia 8801, but if you’re a hard core texter the cell phone’s cramped keyboard will give you pause.

Connectivity/Bluetooth: We had no problem with Bluetooth connectivity on the Nokia 8801. We were able to pair it with the Motorola H500 Bluetooth headset and are happy to report we didn’t experience any degradation in call quality. We also used it to sync images, music and contacts with the cell phone using the include Nokia PC Connectivity suite. Design Look and Feel: Man, this cell phone is slick. It’s so slick that if the cartoon characters, Tom Slick or Johnny Bravo, had a cell phone it would probably be the Nokia 8801. With its steel casing and ball bearing sliding action, the cell phone is a true head turner. It feels solid in the hand and it’s easy to spend hours pushing the cell phone open and closed just to see how smoothly it glides into either position. For the most part, the Nokia 8801 is a pretty durable cell phone; we dropped it quite a few times and it has yet to show any signs of wear and tear.

Keypad: As much as we like the Nokia 8801’s shiny steel exterior we were more than a little disappointed with the cell phone’s keypad. Sure, those black keys with their stylized block-letter alphanumeric keys are the perfect complement to the cell phone’s silver casing, but therein is the problem. It’s not that the keys are slick or flat, they are just a bit too small (even for people with smaller hands, there will be issues), making misdials a common occurrence. We have one other quibble with the keypad and that’s the three metal bars that flank the bottom of the screen. The two side buttons act as soft keys (each key corresponds to a direction on the display), which in time we got accustomed to using.

Battery Life: When we first opened the black box that revealed the shiny Nokia 8801 we were impressed with the stylish silver docking station (when plugged in to an outlet the bottom reveals a blue lit border– it’s super cool looking) and to see an extra battery. Islippery, so try it a few times before you commit to a regular battery swap). Lighter users who make frequent calls and send/receive the occasional text message will last just over a day, while those who barely use the cell phone will have to recharge every three days.