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Weighing in at 134 g and measuring 107 x 45 x 16.5 mm, the Nokia 8800 is both heavy and sleek at the same time. The secret lies in a stainless steel cover, giving the 8800 a luxurious feel topped only by the phone's own pop-up slider mechanism. When opened, the slider reveals a 0.5 megapixel camera on the back, as well as a good-looking keypad in the front.
Also in front, we find a 262K colour TFT display with a resolution of 208 x 208 pixels, providing crisp and clear colours in a Series 40 setting. The phone's menu is reached by pushing at the centre of the 5-way navigation pad, where Nokia now actually has incorporated a button to improve usability compared to navigation pads found in so many of its earlier models. We still found it a little bit hard to use, however such issues remain ever-present in petite fashion phones.
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Besides its strong focus on fashion and design, the Nokia 8800 offers a long list of features such as Bluetooth, GPRS, EDGE and GSM 900/1800/1900 MHz for data and voice connectivity. Multimedia features are also present, represented by the aforementioned 0.5 Megapixel camera, an FM radio and also a digital music player supporting AAC and MP3 formats. The quality of pictures taken with the camera is average, and the same goes for the quality of audio produced by the music player.
Furthermore, the Nokia 8800 offers 64 MB of internal memory for storage of images and music, an integrated handsfree speaker, XHTML browser, polyphonic and MP3 ringtones, as well as Java MIDP 2.0 support. Featuring a 3D image engine for enhanced graphics, it should also be mentioned that playing games on the 8800 is a surprisingly pleasant experience, both in terms of loading speed and visual performance.
The reception of the Nokia 8800 is excellent, whereas voice performance, although good, proved only adequate with regard to volume levels. Nokia claims a talk time of 3 hours and a standby time of 8 days; our experiences landed 1 hour and 2 days, respectively. Fortunately, though, Nokia saw fit to include an extra battery in the sales package.
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Availability
The Nokia 8800 is at the time of writing available in Europe for approximately €750 EUR. Its North American counterpart, the Nokia 8801, will be available in the US in September for approximately $900 USD. Nokia 8800
Conclusion
Yet another fashion entry from Nokia, the Nokia 8800 offers a luxurious alternative to ye olde chatterbox. Its stainless steel cover and sliding mechanism ooze of quality and style, with a high-resolution screen topping off an excellent first impression. Its 0.5 Megapixel camera and digital music player are both letdowns, but the inclusion of Bluetooth and EDGE should place the 8800 firmly in the sights of those who fancy exclusivity mixed with good connectivity - and don't mind the so-so battery life.
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