Nokia N810 review

800 plus 10

Nokia N810 Internet Tablet
Manufacturer: Nokia
OS: OS2008, Maemo 4.0, Linux
Price: $479 (Shop.Ars)

The N810 is the latest addition to Nokia's Internet Tablet lineup. The Linux-based mobile device offers an assortment of new features and drops some of the familiar functionality found in the previous model, the N800. The N810 also ships with Internet Tablet OS 2008—the new version of Nokia's Internet Tablet operating system—which is built on Maemo 4.0.

Although the N810 is the N800's chronological successor, it is not a replacement. The feature trade-offs and considerable price difference imbue each product with independent value to different segments of the mobile computing market. Nokia's new software isn't a differentiating factor, since it is now officially supported on the N800 as well as the N810.

When I first began to test the N810 last week, my first impression of the product was somewhat mixed. I was impressed with the device overall, but I felt that the new features don't quite justify the higher price tag. After spending a whole week with the device, my perspective is a bit more nuanced. Now, I want to offer a more thorough overview of the N810's strengths and limitations. I will also look closely at how it compares to the N800 and will provide some hints about how to get the most out of OS2008.

Changes

The most significant additions to the Nokia N810 are a thumb keyboard that slides down from the device and a built-in GPS receiver. Despite the added features, the N810 is noticeably smaller than the N800 and fits better in a pocket. The bezel around the screen is slimmer on the N810 and most of the buttons have been moved off of the face of the device. The whole thing looks sleeker and more attractive. The directional pad is smaller and is placed to the left of the keyboard on the sliding panel. The menu button is right below the directional pad. The escape and home buttons are still on the front of the device, but they are on a single slim rocker button that runs along the left side.

On the top of the N810, the zoom buttons are on a rocker by themselves and the full-screen button—which was placed between the zoom buttons on the N800—is a slight distance to the left of the zoom rocker. The power button—which is now round—is at the very center, and a new sliding lock button has been added to the right of the power button.

The headphone and power adapter jacks are still on the right side of the device beneath the stylus. Like the N800,the N810 still has a stand, which blocks the USB port and memory card slot when closed. The two devices both use the same size power adapter jack, and the chargers are interchangeable. The USB port on the N810 is slightly smaller than the one on the N800. The speaker grills, which are now much smaller, have been moved from the front to the sides.

The N810's external memory card slot is designed for MiniSD cards rather than standard SD cards. Additionally, it appears as though the secondary internal memory storage card cannot be replaced in the N810 as it could in the N800. It is 2GB total, and approximately 1.5GB is already consumed by maps for the GPS software.

The N800 webcam extended from the side of the device and could be rotated, whereas the N810 webcam is embedded in the face. Right above the webcam on the N810 is an ambient light sensor, which the software uses to automatically adjust screen brightness and keyboard backlighting. The top left corner of the N810 has a big notification light that will flash in various colors to indicate certain kinds of events, like when new e-mail is received.

On the inside, the N810 has pretty much the same hardware as the N800. It uses the same TI OMAP 2420 processor. The N800 was clocked to 330Mhz by default, but OS2008 brings up the clock speed to 400 Mhz. The increase in clock speed is controlled by the software, so N800 users who upgrade to OS2008 will get the same boost. Like the N800, the N810 still comes with 128MB of DDR RAM and 256MB of flash memory.

The N810 display is slightly smaller than the display on the N800, but the difference is barely noticeable. The N800 display is 4.2", whereas the N810 display is 4.13". Both run at 800x480, which is impressive for a handheld.