The Nokia N82 has some very high-end multimedia features, including the best thing about this phone, its 5-megapixel camera. Photographs are simply stunning. They have excellent clarity, and photo subjects are rendered crisp and vibrant with an impressive accuracy for color. Put simply, the N82 has one of the best digital cameras found on a mobile phone. This is in thanks to the Carl Zeiss optics, but other features such as the 10x zoom also improve the snapshots. The same quality holds true when taking nighttime shots due to the exemplary Xenon flash. Photographs can be taken in five different image quality settings and you can adjust such things as white balance, brightness, contrast, sharpness, light sensitivity, and color tone.

The video camera function performed exceptionally well, with five options for quality and quite a few other settings for customized performance. Because the video has such admirable quality, the notion of hooking it up to your television set (for which cables are supplied) is not as ridiculous a proposition as it sounds for other mobile phones. A stabilizer option corrects for shaky hands and an impressive 100MB of internal memory holds an ample amount of files. There's a microSD port that's great for extra storage.

The other multimedia option that performs exceptionally well is the music player. Capable of playing numerous file types aside from MP3s, songs can be categorized by track name, artist, genre, album, or composer. Best of all is the ability to create playlists on the fly. Songs can be easily downloaded from the Nokia Music Store or, if you prefer less control of your selections, you can access FM radio. FM signals sound quite clear over stereo headsets, and Bluetooth 2.0 is supported. An integrated stereo hands-free speaker delivers sound, through which volume is ample and performance is decent.

Despite all of the stellar multimedia options, there are some disappointments with the N82, one of which you'll notice right when you pull the phone out of the box: its design. Given the price tag of this device, it is surprising at how low-end it looks. The worst thing about this phone is its ergonomics. The buttons on the N82 are small and difficult to use, and since you're forgoing a QWERTY keyboard for a dial pad, text messaging definitely became a bit of a nightmare. The central toggle button isn't much better, with its diminutive size causing quite a few accidental presses.

Above the disappointing keys is a fairly impressive 2-2/5-inch LCD. Able to display up to 16.7 million colors, pictures and video on the N82 looked absolutely stellar. If you're on the move while you're viewing, you'll appreciate the sensor that automatically dims and brightens the screen depending on the light conditions. Additionally, since the phone has a GPS locator, the large and crisp screen comes in very handy when viewing maps. A service is preloaded into the phone free of charge and offers color maps as well as database of landmarks and points of interest. Unfortunately, due to the lack of a 3G network, performance of this application is rather sluggish and not especially useful if you're traveling in a car at a decent speed.

Despite those complaints, the design of the Nokia N82 isn't poor from every aspect. The device is a respectable size for a smartphone. Operating under the Symbian OS, the N82 has a handy program called Quick Office that automatically adjusts Word, PowerPoint, and Excel documents to the size of the LCD. The program is very intuitive and well-designed, but if you like to edit documents on the go, you'll need to upgrade and pay a subscription fee.

The Internet is the other thing easily accessed with this phone. If you're in a Wi-Fi zone, you can pop on for high-speed browsing. If not, you can use the EDGE network, which unfortunately is more sluggish than the newer 3G standards. Given the release date of this phone and its other exemplary multimedia features that encourage downloading, uploading, or streaming large files, this is quite a disappointment. However, you can opt to move files via the micro USB port instead. Additionally, numerous e-mail applications are also supported (POP3, IMAP4, SMTP) and the phone can also deliver messages in real time thanks to push email.

Aside from all of the fancy features, the phone itself works quite well. It operates on the quad-band GSM networks, so you have the option of swapping out your SIM card when traveling. (This is especially useful for long-term jaunts, as you can set yourself up with a local number.) Incoming sound is distinct with a good volume range, and the microphone has exceptional noise-canceling properties, even when used on busy streets in windy conditions. The speakerphone is also dependable, with commendable volume, but the sound was not as rich as one would expect from a phone specializing in multimedia applications.

The Nokia N82 has a host of more standard features including speakerphone, photo ID, 34 ring tones, voice recorder, voice commands, vibrating ringer, and a telephone books with a capacity limited only by the amount of space left in the memory. Battery life is adequate at four hours of talk time and slightly over a week of standby. Overall, the Nokia N82 is a very good choice, especially if the camera is of primary importance to you.

Pros: Exceptional photos and video, great music player, stunning LCD
Cons: Lousy design, EDGE network

Warranty
1 year