Less than 2 weeks ago, I received my black N82 that I won with the Show Your S60 Smarts contest. I have to admit that I wasn’t initially impressed with the N82 when it was announced, but during the last couple of months, I found myself liking it without even trying it, for one reason only: it packed all that my N95 could offer in a form factor that Nokia had mastered over the years aka candybar, without the heartache that is an Nseries slider. But that isn’t totally accurate as Nokia seems to have overlooked (or under marketed) one aspect of the N82 which is Music. Don’t get me wrong, the N82 has the most important assets for music: a well-placed 3.5mm plug, A2DP support, stereo speakers, a built-in music player, but it does also have some annoying flaws in the music department, like the missing multimedia keys. Those can be overcome with a nice set of tips and tricks.
First tip : Quick access to music
There are 3 different ways I can think of that could allow a faster access to music, despite the lack of multimedia playback keys on the N82.
- Set the music player as one of your standby shortcuts (softkeys or shortcuts). The bad thing about this is that you can only quick access music when in Standby.
- Set Music as your first tab in the multimedia menu. This will allow you to launch the Now Playing screen in 2 clicks no matter what you’re doing on the phone. The problem with this is that there’s the lag time while waiting for the multimedia menu to launch.
- Use MagicKey to set either the multimedia or the gallery keys to map the function of the play button on the N95. Read my guide on how to use this app, and instead of entering 18 in the Maps To field, enter 182. This will allow you to launch the music player immediately in the now playing screen in one press from anywhere in the phone, as well as play/pause music no matter what you are doing. (You can check back in the next days for a full guide on how I am setting up Magic Key on my N82 now)
Second tip : Control the music
There are also 3 different ways to ensure you can control your music efficiently over the N82.
- First one is pretty simple, just get yourself an A2DP stereo bluetooth headset with music control keys. There’s a great collection over at our store as well as others that we have previously reviewed.
- If you have an N95, you can use the in-line remote for the headset (called AD-43) with the N82. If you don’t, you can purchase the whole N95 headset for around 8-10$. I read some places that they don’t work together, so I made sure I tried mine together before buying. (Note: if the N82 asks you which accessory is connected, don’t press Headset, press Cancel. If you say Headset the multimedia keys won’t work)
- This one doesn’t involve buying anything. It’s more of an improvement to music control. The one thing that annoys me is that the keypad keeps locking when I’m listening to music. So I use a freeware called Mr Lock, which ingeniously lets me set a locking time for my phone and also add exceptions, that way my keypad doesn’t lock when I don’t want it to, like in the Music Player (but also gallery, camera, voice recorder and mobireader).
Third tip : Carry more
I am stuck with 2gb memory cards, but I know that even if I had an 8gb card, I would still find it convenient to have an extra card, just in case. This card can be filled with music if the main one has free room for pictures and videos, or free if the main one is filled. But where do you put it so you don’t lose it or forget it? Well under your battery, just over the SIM card slot. If you put the card there, then it’s always with you whenever you need it.
Another way to carry more music (or to free up memory) is to follow snoyt’s tip on compressing music for your phone. I haven’t tried it yet, but plan to in the next weeks.
Fourth tip : Enjoy in company
Music sometimes has to be shared, so you can use your own loudspeakers (read this tip from Devin about using the room’s walls and corners to improve the speaker performance) but you can also use the TV-out cable to either connect to a TV (you will hear your phone’s music and see the screen) or to a set of speakers or to a Hi-Fi stereo.
Last tip : Do more with music
These tips can be applied to any S60.
- Don’t forget that music is not limited to the Music Player, but there’s also the Radio, the Nokia Internet Radio application, as well as the Podcasting application.
- While listening to music, you can use mobbler to scrobble your tracks to last.fm.
- If you’re on the radio or somewhere where you happen to hear a good tune which title you don’t know, you can use midomi (or ShazamID if you happen to live in the UK) to try to get the title.
Do you have any other tips that you’d like to share with us for improving the music experience on the N82? Do you use any of the tips mentioned here or did you just try one of them now? What is your feedback about it? Let us know what you think.
