I’ve taken a look at how the N82 performs in the imaging, build quality, and music departments. However, equally important is how well the device performs day-to-day, in regular usage. With plenty of RAM, GPS, TV-Out, a rock solid battery life, and other nice little features, how well does the Nokia N82 hold up as a daily use handset?
For starters, the Achilles’ Heel of any mobile handset is the battery. It doesn’t matter what features the handset has, how great the UI is, or anything else. If the battery won’t last through a day or so, you won’t be able to enjoy the handset at all. The Nokia N82 is equipped with a 1050mAh battery, the same as the N81 8GB, actually. When I first found out the size of the battery, I was a bit worried. Afterall, the N95-1 came to market with a measly 950mAh, and well know how well that worked out. A measly 100mAh surely can’t make the difference it needs to.
I’m pleased to say that the N82’s battery is rock solid. I’m going to make an assumption that the N82 team talked to the N95 people, and worked ALOT on maximizing how the handset’s various features actually use the battery. It seems as though the N82 was optimized for this battery. The N95-3 has a 1200mAh battery, and it seems to do nearly equal, so there’s still some optimization that needs to take place there.
Plenty of RAM is present on the N82, and you shouldn’t ever see an application closing down or the dreaded Memory Full message. I’m able to easily listen to music and snap a picture, or leave Maps running in the background and read/respond to an SMS. The RAM also keeps the phone’s UI snappy, with little delay when navigating the menu or opening applications. Applications such as ShoZu that typically slow a phone down have zero issues on the Nokia N82, which was awesome, as you know I love to love ShoZu when it works correctly.
Overall, I’d say that the Nokia N82 is a killer handset, with a killer price and feature set. There’s absolutely no outstanding reasons to not pick one up if you’re in the market for a new imaging handset. It really seems as though the N82 team pored over feedback from the previous few Nseries handsets and took it all to heart while they were designing this one.
