Domo arigato Tomoharu Yazawa, the Black Nokia N82 is amazing
Posted by Stefan on Wednesday, April 30th, 2008 at 3:30 am under Nokia
Back in November I had the pleasure of attending the Nokia N82 product launch with several other bloggers. We all got a chance to meet one of the Product Managers who worked on the Nokia N82, Tomoharu Yazawa [23 minute video interview]. He was, without a doubt, one of the coolest cats in the room, answering all of our questions without any hesitation all while sounding highly enthusiastic, professional and down to earth. If I could have changed anything from that day I would wish he could have joined us for dinner and a few drinks.
I want to let you guys in on a little secret, well it isn't really a secret, but many of you will be surprised to know that I never actually purchased an Nseries device, ever. The Nseries brand turned 3 years old on April 27, but for a majority of those 3 years I was a Series 40 fan. The devices not only looked better, my personal opinion, but they were vastly cheaper. For a college student with no job that made a huge difference.
During the summer of 2006, after selling off a few of the digital toys I had stopped playing with and doing a quick job here and there, I had enough money to spend on the first device that would introduce me to the world of S60, a Nokia E61. I liked it so much that I started blogging in the fall and the hard work I was pouring into Ring Nokia made WOM World notice; they started providing plenty of other devices for me to test, 2 weeks at a time of course.
Last year when I moved to Finland the Nseries Digital Marketing team couldn't believe how crazy I was to actually pull a stunt like that, so they gave me a Nokia N95 as a present and it served me extraordinarily well. The GPS helped me navigate around a foreign land and the camera was brilliant for taking pictures to show my friends back home what this strange new country they couldn't find on a map looked like. On November 14 2007 the Nokia N82 launched and I was one of the first people to get a review unit [N82 Review]. I remember telling Tomo (that's what we called him) how awesome this device would look like in Black, he said he'll take the idea into consideration, but made no promises. In December at Nokia World in Amsterdam and I bumped into Tomo again, this time with a new larger batch of bloggers at either side of me, and we all pounded the drum asking for a Black version, no promises were made, but he could tell how badly we wanted one.
Fast forward to today, Fedex woke me up at 9 in the morning to deliver a Black Nokia N82. This is the first Nseries device I have spent my own actual money on and it is just as beautiful as I was expecting it to be. Now I know someone is going to say "Ummm, you have a Silver Nokia N82, why did you buy a Black Nokia N82?"
The answer to that question is that there is no other way to show how much you enjoy a product than by paying for it, the same applies to music, art, anything really. This is my way of saying thank you to Tomo for not only listening to my suggestion, I'm positive I wasn't the first to suggest Black, but for creating a mobile phone that I can actually tell people I love owning and using on a daily basis.
Domo arigato.
Picture of my baby after the jump.
Oh and since I know a lot of you will ask, differences between the Silver and Black: The soft keys (Left, Right, Symbian and C) are not mushy, but instead very clicky in a good way. The dpad is also higher (aka more raised) and not as mushy, but still not as clicky as the soft keys.
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April 30th, 2008 at 3:45 am
The N82 is quite simply the best phone I've ever used or owned. It has the design I prefer, not being a big fan of slides, and it has the features too. I also bought a black one which arrived just yesterday. Having seen the new Nokia line up for the next few months, both announced and as yet unannounced, I see some nice handsets and quality products, but nothing to tempt me away from the N82. It's rare to get a phone that performs well and looks good, the black N82 ticks both boxes.
April 30th, 2008 at 7:38 am
Great for you.
i am also considering a switch back to symbian sooner than later as i am bored of my iphone and dont think i will wait until the n96 as i am always wary of moving parts in phones.
the e61i successor will not have the xenon flash so i am too considering the n82 but was wondering if the white variant has the mushy silver n82 keys or the nice black n82 keys
April 30th, 2008 at 8:46 am
It still has the dullest, dimmest screen in history.
"Tomo" should be ashamed of himself.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:48 am
I just wanted to know, I live in Canada, where could I purchase a N82 Black which ships to Canada? Is PhoneSource-USA the only one?
April 30th, 2008 at 10:58 am
is the screen really that bad set on the highest power?
April 30th, 2008 at 11:11 am
I want one pretty bad, but I just can't go back to 2G after having used the N95 NAM here in the states…
…maybe beg him for a US version!?
April 30th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
It still has the dullest, dimmest screen in history.
"Tomo" should be ashamed of himself!
April 30th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
How do you get the WLAN signal strength in the status bar? Even if WLAN search is set to off?
May 1st, 2008 at 5:28 am
The screen on the N82 is not bad, at all. Perfectly viewable in most conditions, I haven't had any issues with it at all.
May 1st, 2008 at 8:45 am
Silver version has gathered quite a lot of negative feedback on Russian mobile-review forums, mostly for bad adjustment between front panel and sides… Navikey also often makes some whacky-sticky-clicky noises. I am waiting for black N82 to start shipping in my country, but looking at the build quality of my 6120c I`m seroiusly worried about N82. I decided against buying online, and wil get it in street outlet just to make sure to get one that will not squeak at every keypress.
May 1st, 2008 at 9:38 am
to Avi Nagra: Nokia N82 from Canada
http://cgi.ebay.ca/New-Colour-Nokia-N82-Black-5MP-GPS-WiFi-2GB-519-Local_W0QQitemZ140228033040QQihZ004QQcategoryZ3312QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
May 1st, 2008 at 9:40 am
This is by the way the best device i ever bought…Just amazing, fast, great picture and video recording quality, the gps is working good, wifi and more features. I have the black version, and i love it so much! Great job Nokia!
May 1st, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Any idea if there will be an upgraded version of the N82, as there was with the N95? I'm tempted to buy one, but I'm thinking of waiting for an upgrade with some tweaks to an already great phone.
May 3rd, 2008 at 10:11 am
I was probably the first person in all of Vancouver to get the Black N82 and I love it. It is my upgrade from my SE W810i and since that never had 3G I really don't know what I'm missing.
But I do have a couple issues w/ the OS. Stefan and many others praised this phone to be "speedy." To be honest, I find it very slow compared to the java based os of my w810i. My old phones OS did all the same things, so I'm confused to know why it seems a tad slow.
Also, Its kind of unfortunate how there is no transitions between icons. Maybe I'm just not used to it but that seems a little lame. I remember watching a video Stefan posted months ago regarding an upgrade for S60 devices which would allow them to finally get transitions in the menu's and stuff. I wonder if that will work for N82's or just for the next gen of Nokia phones.
The Screen isn't blazingly bright like Samsung and SE phones but it really isn't bad.