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I am exceptional

The new model 8800 is made for celebrities, businessmen, managers, for ordinary people with extraordinary income, virtually for all, who stand for a good style, image and solidity. The package itself doesn't allow you to have doubts about what is hidden inside - something posh. The black boxboard paper, furnished with a metallic clasp with grinded numbers 8800 on it evoked shaking up in the office.

There are two sections - in the first one a shiny phone and a case , in the second - user's manual, battery, stand, charger and headphones. All in black and silver characters and details if possible.

The street price for the silver pearl by Nokia is around 800 euro. The expenditure for the production of this exceptional package is nothing for such a sum. The price itself doesn't respect me much, because in Nokia's review I will point out the same drawbacks as I usually point out in any other phone's review.

Pretty heavy

The newie is pretty heavy. There was aluminum; there was titanium, now it's time for steel. The whole body is made of steel and the result is the monstrous 134 grams. Be prepared. The dimensions, however, will compensate you - height 107 and width 45 milimetres is nothing unusual. The thickness, however which is only 15 mm in the narrowest places, attacks Motorola Razr V3 . The sliding contruction increases the effect of paper flatness.

I am hesitating whether to appreciate the extra weight of 8800 as a negative or a positive feature. There are people at least, who need to know that they have something in their hands. On the other side, we talk about a phone, which most of the time will rest in the shirt pockets of many managers. In any case, this is a luxury tax for the used luxury materials.

A lighter

The phone looks very compact and firm when closed. The matching is perfect. Shortly after the first contact you'll discover one of its biggest drawbacks - you will succeed in leaving your fingerprints on the body of the phone. Besides, in the package there is a black leather case, which has an excellent cleaning ability. In addition its opening is pretty narrow so that every removal means also its partial clean-up. Sometimes, however it's not enough and you have to clean the dabs from your cheeks by yourself.

Nokia 8800 is a phone with sliding construction and it takes a while for everyone, who holds it in his hands for the first time to realize how the opening mechanism works. You have to push down the cogged roller, which looks like a scroll button. At first you won't even think about it. When you get over the spring resistance the upper part of the phone is already "flying".

When opening the keyboard, you'll hear a sound, just similar to the one, you know from the opening and closing of Zippo lighters. Metal is metal. The phone opening tool is very precise and pleasant; I have caught myself opening and closing it all the time.

Two batteries in the package

Thanks god we didn't borrow this sample of Nokia 8800 like the first one. Someone else before us obviously had confused the back cover of the battery with a yoghurt lid and tried to "unstick" it. He didn't only make some scratches on the metal back of the phone, but had twisted the back cover and couldn't manage the classic release by the two side long buttons.

Behind the cover you'll find a battery, especially made for 8800. It has a BL-5X sign and is very small. However we face a lower capacity in comparison with the ones we have used to. According to the manufacturer 600 mAh is enough for approximately 8 days of stand-by and up to 180 minutes talk time. In practice the steel phone usually endures short time. Not much of a problem, because in the package you'll find a second battery of the same type.

Nokia's fashion department keeps Sindre Lia busy; this time, the stainless-steel 8800 and its pop-up slider receives a solid work-out. Open, close. Open, close. Open, close...

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.

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.

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.

Specifications

- Medium resolution colour display
- MP3 player
- MP3 ringtones
- 64 MB of onboard memory
- Bluetooth dial-up networking, headset and stereo headset support
- USB 1.1 connectivity
- Stereo FM radio
- Tri-band GSM with EDGE support
- 88 x 43 x 23 mm, 104 g
- 3,5 hours of talk time, 6 days of standby

Price and availability

The Nokia 8800 will be available throughout Europe in July 2005, selling in the €850 range.

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.

What's positive:
Stylish looks; crisp and clear display; spare battery bundled

What's negative:
A tad on the heavy side; poor battery life

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