Nokia N80 review (Unlocked)

Let's be honest. While we get some neat cell phones here in the United States, the really cool stuff is usually available in Europe and Asia. Such is the case with the Nokia N series. This line of high-end mobiles is jam-packed with advanced multimedia features, and finally we were able to get our hands on the Nokia N80. A quick scan of the N80's features list shows a focus on imagery, as the phone boasts a sharp 3-megapixel camera, a second VGA camera, and image-editing apps. Though it's probably one of the most robust camera phones we've seen to date, it's not all about pictures. The quad-band N80 is a Symbian smart phone that lets you check e-mail (though not with push technology) and view Office documents--and yes, it's a decent phone. The Nokia N80 will appeal to gadget hounds and early adopters, but even then, you'll have to fork over some serious cash for the device. With no backing from a U.S. carrier, an unlocked version of the Nokia N80 will run you around $700. It's rumored Cingular will offer this phone, but that's unconfirmed as of this writing. The Nokia N80 is a little cell phone, short and stout. In its closed state, the slider phone measures 3.7 by 1.9 by 1.0 inches and weighs 4.7 ounces. Though the form factor is compact, it's on the thicker side, so it'll make for a tight fit in a pants pocket. Despite the bulk, it's comfortable--though a little slippery--to hold in the hand, and its all-black case is attractive; the phone is available in stainless steel as well.

The Nokia N80 has a beautiful 2.2-inch screen that boasts 262,144 hues at 325x416-pixel resolution. Colors pop, and text and images are extrasharp; it's certainly one of the best cell phone displays we've seen to date. Below it you'll find two soft keys, the Talk and End buttons, a four-way navigation toggle with a center select function, an edit key, a menu shortcut, a multimedia key, and a Clear button. For the most part, the controls are easy to use, but the toggle and the select button are a bit small, so you have to press them carefully.

To slide open the cover, just push the face upward. The sliding mechanism is smooth and locks into place with a solid click. Once the phone is open, you'll have access to the numerical dial pad. The keys are large and adequately backlit, but the top row of numbers are closely lined with the bottom of the open face, which may cause some problems for users with larger hands. On the left spine, there's a Mini SD card slot, while the speaker and camera activation key are on the right. The placement of the latter is especially nice since it mimics the feel of a real digital camera when held horizontally. Consequently, though, it's a little awkward if you want to take a vertical picture. The camera lens is located on the back along with a flash and a switch that lets you change from normal to close-up (macro) mode. There's no self-portrait mirror, but it isn't necessary since there's a second camera lens on the front of the phone; it's positioned above the screen in the upper-right corner.

Nokia packages the N80 with most of the basic accessories, including an AC adapter, a stereo headset, a USB cable, a wrist strap, a screen shammy, and a 128MB Mini SD card.

The main draw of the Nokia N80 is its multimedia prowess--more specifically, its imaging features. The mobile sports a 3-megapixel camera with video-recording capabilities and 20X digital zoom. The breadth of customization and editing options available on this phone is astounding. You can choose from eight shooting modes, ranging from portrait to sports to night portrait, and five resolutions: 2,048x1,536, 1,600x1,200, 1,280x960, 800x600, and 640x480. You can tweak the brightness, contrast, white balance, color tone, and exposure value. There's also a self-timer and flash. The secondary camera is of only VGA quality, but then again, how often do you find a cell phone with two cameras? The shooting options are significantly reduced, with a mere two modes to choose from: automatic or night.

The N80's camera captures video with sound in MP4 or 3GP formats with up to 5X zoom. You get a choice of automatic and night shooting modes, as well as High, Normal, and Low quality settings. Most of the aforementioned customization features are also available in video mode. Once you're done with your shots, you can touch them up with the preloaded image and video editors. For photos, you can add clip art or text and reduce red-eye, while you can cut audio, trim clips for multimedia messages, and more for videos. Also, the photo-sharing options on the N80 are much more robust than those of other cell phones. In addition to being able to e-mail or save your images, you can use Nokia's Xpress Solutions to print photos, upload them to the Web, or transfer them to other devices.