I’ve been using the Nokia N81 for a couple of weeks now and I must say I wasn’t that quite excited about it as many would have. Despite the squarish and heavy built, this model is a beauty. Let me share some of the noticeable features of this unit.
The Nokia N81 8GB is a Special Edition primarily because of the Bose headphones that came with it. Oh, there’s that very special packaging too. See unboxing pics here.
And I have to admit, the Bose noise-canceling headphones were a big turn-on. It really does filter out ambient noise very effectively. It even has its own Lithium Ion battery that fits snugly in one of the earpieces for that extra umph. I originally thought it’s wireless and hooks up via Bluetooth but it turns out audio connection is via a 3.5mm stereo jack.
The phone itself though is a little heavy on the hands. I compared it with my friend’s Nokia N95 (120 grams) and it still feels much heavier despite being just 140 grams.
- Nokia N-Gage. The platform is not unique to the phone but it sure does make the gaming experience more enjoyable. I tried the try-before-you-buy games and they were cool but could not switch to multi-player or arcade mode unless I pay the subscription.
- Game Controls. On play mode, you switch the phone sideways (horizontally) so you can use the dedicated game buttons. The 2.4″ screen wasn’t as big as the 2.8″ of the N95 but the display is clear and crisp.
- Multimedia Controls. There’s also another set of controls for music called the Navi Wheel. The navipad is easily accessible on the front panel of the phone. Reminds me of the old iPod trackwheel.
- Storage. Aside from the phone memory and an external microSD card, this unit comes built-in with 8GB of storage — enough room for music, pictures and podcasts. It’s like having a phone and an iPod Nano in one.
- Connectivity. Bluetooth, Wireless LAN, 3G (not HSDPA!) and micro USB 2.0 — it’s all in there.
A couple odd stuff though…
- A different USB connector, not the standard micro USB one. Don’t know why they wanted to change that. What if I lost my USB cable? Where will I get a replacement?
- Music Player can only load playlists of downloaded songs (prolly from the Nokia Music Store), not imported ones from the PC. I had to use the File Manager in order to play my mp3 songs and it wasn’t fun not to have a playlist with that.
Then, there’s the 2MP camera which didn’t get as good picture quality as the N95. There’s no auto-focus either. Sure, this model was made specifically for gaming and multi-media so I shouldn’t be asking more than that — but still, I find the unit a little lacking.
Frankly, if not for those great Bose headphones, I wouldn’t be playing my music off of this phone. Nokia needs to try a little harder on this model.
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hmm.. I wonder how much those headphones cost solo?
Nice review Sir Yuga! I also got hold of this last January, and it’s music capability is excellent. It adds much bass and sonic response due to the embedded music chip and a direct 3.5mm slot.
sylv3rblade,
Those headphone cost for about 25,000php - from a Bose retailer in Trinoma. But in the US, it would just normally cost not exceeding the $400 level price.
Great review!
I would like to know if all n81 8GB Versions comes with those cool big headphones? Because I saw that wellcom is selling nokia n81 8GB for only 16+++…
@dapeke, the headphones are sold separately. only the special edition has it. The phone alone cost around 17k.
you can add songs from the pc onto a playlist as long as you import it into the music player. you just need to go to the music player. options then refresh, it will search for all available mp3s and add it to the library so you can make a playlist with those songs.
Sir Abe, may I ask how much did you purchase your phone (in Pesos)?
And where in the Philippines did you buy this ‘N81 special edition’??
I couldn’t find it anywhere here in the Phils!
Hi Jon2,
I didn’t bought this one. It was sent to me for review. The phone alone though costs about Php18k in local stores. You will need to buy the Bose headphones separately and they cost Php20k!