Nokia N8 review: First look

As with the iPhone, the battery is sealed inside the N8's casing, so it's not user replaceable. This wouldn't be a problem, except we found the battery life to be disappointing. The specifications list a talktime of 5.5 hours on 3G and a standby time of 400 hours, but we'd cut this estimate in half based on our experiences with a pre-production sample.

The SIM card and microSD card slots are covered and located on the left side of the phone. However, as with the covered ports we've seen on other phones, they feel flimsy. You'll therefore have to be gentle when removing and installing your cards to prevent the plastic cover falling off.

Unfortunately, on paper, the 680MHz ARM 11 processor isn't as powerful as the processor found in rival high end smartphones. It does have a built-in 3D graphics hardware accelerator, but this doesn't make up for the very noticeable lag when carrying out common tasks such as opening applications.

Clare Hopping
Freelance writer

Clare is the founder of Blue Cactus Digital, a digital marketing company that helps ethical and sustainability-focused businesses grow their customer base.

Prior to becoming a marketer, Clare was a journalist, working at a range of mobile device-focused outlets including Know Your Mobile before moving into freelance life.

As a freelance writer, she drew on her expertise in mobility to write features and guides for ITPro, as well as regularly writing news stories on a wide range of topics.