N-Series gallery

We just received a bunch of new mobiles to do some of our testing. It's amazing to see the perceiption of the size of the mobile can differ depending on its form factor and look. Before having all my latest S60 mobiles together I was almost sure that:
  N70 and N80 were really small device
  3250 was a kind of brick
  N90 was a brick !

Check the picture:

The size of 3250 and N70 do not differ that much, the latter being only slightly thinner. The 6680, which is quite old now , is still competitive when size is concerned. The N90 is the biggest of all devices, followed by the N71. I just don't like those two mobiles but I am not a big fan of clamshell designs.

As far as the screen is concerned, the N80 and the N90 are quite incredible with their high resolution (352x416 pixels). The lines and fonts are just smooth and most screens just beautifully rendered. The N71 is in the middle (240x320). And its hard to go back to the default 176x208 resolutions (all other devices).

Keyboard

As far as keyboard is concerned, I cannot believe Nokia has so unusable round cursors. Do the Finns have special fingers ? Or maybe it's me ? Actually the only S60 device I can use is the ... 6680! The 3250 is fine with its small joystick but some keys (clear key especially) are just to small. The N70, N71 and N80 have the similar keyboard, they are just OK. The N90 round cursor is just unusable for me.

Camera

Here is now a little comparative of the pictures taken by those phones:

Cameras.jpg

The image have been taken in full resolution for all phones and then reduced to 256x192 resolutions but no other processing have been applied. Not something you would do for your real picture but this is still representative of what you can achieve for web publishing.

The 6680 and the N71 both have problems as far as camera is concerned. The 6680 has a lot of noise and cold colors (but only a 1.3 megapixel camere) while the N71 is really too filtered with blurry pictures and really warm colors. The 3250 is slightly better with no real issues but not the quality you need keep printed pictures.

It's not a surprise to see the N90 taking the lead here as it is advertized by Nokia as an imaging oriented device. I probably should have turned the flash off to take the "Accredited Symbian Developer" logo but with a little bit of post processing, it's just superb. The superior optics definitely helps and there is a lot less noise than compared to the other devices.

The N80 has the highest resolution (3 Megapixel) and is not bad at all but it clearly miss the N90 optics.

Conclusion

I did not have time to really use all these phones for a everyday use but they all have all what you need - and probably a little bit more. Audio quality and network receiption was good in all cases.

The N80 is probably the best compromise: nice form factor, decent keyboard, excellent screen, good camera and up-to-date software platform.

If you want to take picture, you may prefer the N90 but I cannot really recommend it due to its size and keyboard.

The N70 is a nice phone with no major drawback nor quality. I like its look it's also a good choice. Same is the 6680 despite the fact that it's a little old and has a lower resolution camera.

The 3250 would be your choice if you are a music geek and does not suffer major issues either.

And the N71 is finally the device I really like less. It has a good screen - not the best however - but that's all.