The Nokia N81 8GB is one of the latest cell phones to come from the Nokia N-series line of products, and includes some exciting new features such as the new N-Gage gaming platform, and 8GB of internal flash memory. Is the N81 8GB a decent choice for the music lover?

The N81 8GB has a nice shiny black finish for an extra sleek look and a 2.4-inch screen with a 320×240 resolution. Below the screen are controls for certain aspects of the device. Nokia certainly tried their hardest to cram as many buttons into the front of the device as possible. For example, the Talk and End buttons are only small buttons on the side of the phone’s body which are very hard to push. We found that we were pushing the other buttons on the front instead. Also on the front is a main menu button, media controls, and a clear button.

The slider design hides the keypad that allows you to push the screen up to expose it. The keys are backlit for dialing phone numbers or text messaging in low-light situations. On the top of the N81 8GB are two dedicated gaming buttons, a 3.5 mm headphone jack, a lock keys switch, and the power button. On both the left and right sides are speakers for listening to music and other audio from the device. There is a 2 megapixel camera on the back with a flash.

The N81 8GB is geared towards the mobile gaming and music market, and works with the new N-Gage and Nokia Music Store services from Nokia. The built-in music player supports MP3 (VBR), AAC, eAAC+, AAC+, WMA/M4A, and WAV formats, and allows you to create playlists on the go. You can also listen to the FM radio using the built-in tuner, but it requires the use of the included headset.

The built-in camera works good, but the photos had a slight gray tint to them. The videos recorded with the camera record at 15 frames per second, and these however, looked great. We transferred a few MP3s to the device over the USB cable, and the stereo speakers sounded great. There was no distortion to the sound at full volume. The only problem with the N81 is that it is slightly underpowered, sometimes stalling when switching between applications. Call quality was good like most Nokia phones, but it’s cramped navigation controls and middling performance disappoint.

The Nokia N81 just doesn’t feel like something to spend $500 dollars on, you might want to look around for something else.

Pros

• 8GB of flash memory built-in.
• Good call quality.
• Impressive stereo speakers.

Cons

• Sluggish performance.
• FM radio requires use of headset.
• Cramped navigation.

Final Verdict
3.5 out of 5 stars.

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