Nokia 8800 Arte summarized review

The phone contains the same elegant design as the 8800 Sirocco, but now in a strong black, with 3G connectivity, a 3.2 megapixel camera, 1GB on-board memory, and an updated retail package with stylish accessories.

The first thing we notice in the 8800 is that it's very heavy comparing to other phones. I believe that this is justifiable by the materials used: sapphire, glass, and stainless steel. In size terms the 8800 Arte contains decent dimensions when compared to an everyday phone when kept in candybar form, and when slid-open it possesses equal dimensions to most slider phones.

On the hand, the phone feels solid and not slippery. There are no shaky parts, and you probably won't hear anything moving inside. I said probably, as the only parts that make noise when the phone is shaken violently (most normal people won't do) are the buttons for the battery cover, the two of them.

When the device is slid open, the numeric keypad is revealed. The usual 12 keys are present, but although they are very thin and quite wide, the typing is done effortlessly as they are carefully rounded, and the '5' key has the usual bumps. However, on the first row, you might face difficulties to type as it is too close to the front panel elevation.

Few disappointing details is the light escaping below the call keys, and the excessive glossy surface, which attracts a great number of fingerprints, mostly visible at daytime.

At daytime we are faced with another challenge: Nokia hasn't got many phones with OLED displays, and this QVGA display shows strong colours and correct brightness adjustment, but in direct sunlight, visibility becomes reduced.

The 8800 Arte relies on the Nokia OS with S40 UI 5^th edition. It is not a smartphone, and only possesses multitasking capabilities with the music player, which you can run at the same time as Java applications as well.

Bluetooth v2.0 provides a clear voice transmission to the included BH-803 Bluetooth headset, but there is no Infrared nor Wi-Fi, which would be useful to connect to the many hotspots found today.

3G helps in increasing the speed for internet browsing and downloading, but you cannot execute videocalls, as there is no front camera on the device.

The 3.2 megapixel camera has autofocus but there is a tremendous lack of quality which sets it back from phones such as Nokia N73, and here it's not only the Carl Zeiss lens that's missing.

The built-in 1GB memory can be useful for music, although the data transfer rates are very disappointing, at an average of 0.41MB/s, and earphones would complete the music section of the phone, as they are an accessory that is really missing from the device.

One simple change would have brought my choice of rating up: the price. The lowest price I found in South Africa is R13 500, which is ridiculous and would rather classify this phone as a low-end Vertu.

Advantages: Sapphire, glass, and stainless steel body; stylish retail package; long-lasting battery; well-laid out keys.

Disadvantages: Display can't cope with sunlight; price is excessive; software could have been S60 (smartphone); earphones not included.

Rating: 7.3/10

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