Nokia N8 Megathread

wildefalcon · 13-01-2013 8:55pm

Quick note - the swype 2.1 beta has been fixed and is apparently working fine with the N8, I'm going to DL it now.

Czarcasm · 13-01-2013 9:25pm

wildefalcon wrote: »

Quick note - the swype 2.1 beta has been fixed and is apparently working fine with the N8, I'm going to DL it now.

While you're at it, you should pick up the SkyDrive app that's officially for the 808, but also works a treat on my N8, allows you to automatically upload your photos to your SkyDrive storage account.

The Microsoft Office apps work seamlessly with your SkyDrive account already which is handy for pulling down docs to the phone on the fly for presentations and quick references. I wouldn't go about attempting to edit docs on the phone though!

wildefalcon · 14-01-2013 7:47am

Interesting.

It's something I've never really looked into, micorsoft apps, beyond simple word/excel etc.

I must research the other bits of the app - broadcast and lync and all.

fergiesfolly · 26-03-2013 1:53pm

Sorry to drag up an old thread, but I thought someone here might be able to help.
The battery on my n8 was barely lasting 4-5 hours so had it replaced with a new one.
Left it to charge for nearly 24 hours on its first charge yesterday and it died in less than 4 hours this morning, after very little use.
Is there some setting on the phone that I can change, or is this a symptom of a dying phone.
Just on a side note. When the guy in the shop turned it on when I collected it, it was still dead. I thought there would be some charge in it. Its possible they just didn't change the battery, but they're usually very good, so I'd hate to think they'd fe*k it up.

Czarcasm · 26-03-2013 2:41pm

fergiesfolly wrote: »

Sorry to drag up an old thread, but I thought someone here might be able to help.
The battery on my n8 was barely lasting 4-5 hours so had it replaced with a new one.
Left it to charge for nearly 24 hours on its first charge yesterday and it died in less than 4 hours this morning, after very little use.
Is there some setting on the phone that I can change, or is this a symptom of a dying phone.
Just on a side note. When the guy in the shop turned it on when I collected it, it was still dead. I thought there would be some charge in it. Its possible they just didn't change the battery, but they're usually very good, so I'd hate to think they'd fe*k it up.

Sounds like the most likely scenario I'm afraid.

Two years later I'd still get a days use out of my N8 (that I'm typing this on now!) with mobile data turned on, some music, texts and calls. With mobile data turned off I can go two days easily.

Davy · 26-03-2013 5:53pm

fergiesfolly wrote: »

Sorry to drag up an old thread, but I thought someone here might be able to help.
The battery on my n8 was barely lasting 4-5 hours so had it replaced with a new one.
Left it to charge for nearly 24 hours on its first charge yesterday and it died in less than 4 hours this morning, after very little use.
Is there some setting on the phone that I can change, or is this a symptom of a dying phone.
Just on a side note. When the guy in the shop turned it on when I collected it, it was still dead. I thought there would be some charge in it. Its possible they just didn't change the battery, but they're usually very good, so I'd hate to think they'd fe*k it up.

Did it happen gradually, or what happened?

As Czarcasm already posted, you should be able to get nearly 2 days with light usage. I can get a few days on power saver mode with the original battery.

Have you gone through settings like brightness, 3g, gps etc to see does it make any difference?

If they did a proper job on it, the phone shouldn't have been dead even it was a few days before you picked it up. I would go back and tell them its not right.

fergiesfolly · 26-03-2013 7:24pm

It was a gradual decline with the original battery going back about six weeks. It'd be on powersave from about 6pm every night, getting earlier and earlier as the weeks went by.
Heading back in tomorrow with it. Hoping it was some mistake on their part as I've not seen a phone I've liked as much since I bought it. It'll hurt if its terminal

testarossa40 · 26-03-2013 10:34pm

fergiesfolly wrote: »

It was a gradual decline with the original battery going back about six weeks. It'd be on powersave from about 6pm every night, getting earlier and earlier as the weeks went by.
Heading back in tomorrow with it. Hoping it was some mistake on their part as I've not seen a phone I've liked as much since I bought it. It'll hurt if its terminal

Sounds v. unusual... To eliminate a possible rogue app or two, install Nokia Battery Monitor (free), check Statistics every couple hours or so, and see if any apps are chewing big percentages? It's also got a brilliant Power Saver mode I recommend you use for a while to see if it makes a difference (if it does, prolly not a hardware/battery fault after all...).

FYI, I still get *6-7* days from a single full charge out of mine after 2 yrs. I'm a relatively light user - though I'll txt, check/send emails, & browse news apps every day; and I'll play music every other day. However, I keep it in Power Saver mode thru' Battery Monitor 90% of the time; typically means voice calls are thru 2/2.5G, Data same or Edge, apps are disabled from silently accessing data - except RSS news & email apps, vibrate alert is disabled, and screen brightness is controlled.

Hope this helps - let us know how you get on either way?

cena · 27-03-2013 12:51am

any big updates for the phone this year

Czarcasm · 27-03-2013 7:43am

cena wrote: »

any big updates for the phone this year

I don't think we'll see any more updates for symbian or the N8, Nokia now seem to be pushing people towards their Lumia range of windows 8 phones.

I'll wait I think until the Lumia 920 comes down from being silly money before I'd part with money for one to compliment my N8. If there's a replacement for the N8, I haven't seen it yet tbh.

The camera still holds it's own with the best out there, and only for the offline maps ability the other day I would've been going round in circles for ages.

You can pick them up now second hand in mint condition on adverts for €150, and I'd sooner that than the Lumia 800 for €200 which while it has windows 7.8, will never get windows 8, and tbh about it is inferior in a lot of ways to the N8.

The similarly priced Galaxy S (the S2 is nearly €100 dearer second hand) isn't as good as the N8 either if you were thinking of going down the android route, the S2 being just about comparable with it's HDMI out and USB OTG capability (how many people are even aware of this nifty little feature on the N8?). This phone truly was ahead of it's time, much like the N95 in it's day- another swiss army knife of a phone!

Personal opinion only here but I don't like iphone, straight out. I love the uniformity of the OS across devices, but you'll be lucky to pick up a 16gb 3GS for €150 second hand, and though you can put IOS 6 on it, some components of the OS are unfortunately hampered by the older hardware.

As for OS releases for the N8, well the belle refresh was the last one some time last year, but there's a fairly large community still doing custom roms for the N8 that will give you anything from better battery life to a faster OS experience.

wildefalcon · 27-03-2013 4:44pm

I have to agree with you, I'll not be upgrading when I'm out of contract. Nothing close out there, I've played with the android offerings and they don't offer me anything more than I've already got.

fergiesfolly · 27-03-2013 9:19pm

wildefalcon wrote: »

I have to agree with you, I'll not be upgrading when I'm out of contract. Nothing close out there, I've played with the android offerings and they don't offer me anything more than I've already got.

Considering how fast the mobile phone technology develops, thats saying something about a phone thats nearly three years old.
And an awful lot about that the phones that have come since.

cena · 27-03-2013 10:24pm

fergiesfolly wrote: »

Considering how fast the mobile phone technology develops, thats saying something about a phone thats nearly three years old.
And an awful lot about that the phones that have come since.

the internet browser that comes on the phone is really slow not as fast as on my ipod . What is everyone else using.

fergiesfolly · 27-03-2013 10:34pm

cena wrote: »

the internet browser that comes on the phone is really slow not as fast as on my ipod . What is everyone else using.

opera mini

cena · 27-03-2013 10:35pm

is it faster to scroll through pages

Czarcasm · 28-03-2013 12:10am

cena wrote: »

is it faster to scroll through pages

The Nokia browser on the phone is indeed pants, I'm using opera mobile as I'm typing this right now- fast and handy, with thumbnails of all my sites on the first page, and it does a better job of rendering pages and wrapping text than the Nokia browser too!

I only wish the crowd behind Viber had gotten their finger out and made voice calling available on the N8.

wildefalcon · 28-03-2013 7:43pm

In an ideal world my next phone would be an N8 with a 20% overclock, bigger memory and a bigger visible screen - same size handset - just a screen that goes out to the edge of the phone.

I wonder how much the 808 goes for nowadays?

velosolex · 02-04-2013 5:34pm

Keep getting message "phone memory - delete ........... files" Nokia Suite says that there is 0 of 251 Mb free. I searched this thread but could not find any definitive, how do I free up more phone memory. I got a Lumia 820 from Meteor last week but note that i dose not have "guerilla glass" so as it is as yet unopened I may send it back.

Davy · 02-04-2013 5:41pm

The phone memory can be tricky to clear. You should have set up the mass or memory card as default for downloads etc.

You could remove some large apps from the phone, and reinstall to the mass then. Going into menu > files > C:phone memory, and then thru those folders and remove stuff as needed.

If you long press on 'C:phone memory' it will tell you what is taking the space and this will help you clear etc. Let me know how you get on, or if you need more help

velosolex · 03-04-2013 8:42am

Davy wrote: »

The phone memory can be tricky to clear. You should have set up the mass or memory card as default for downloads etc.

You could remove some large apps from the phone, and reinstall to the mass then. Going into menu > files > C:phone memory, and then thru those folders and remove stuff as needed.

If you long press on 'C:phone memory' it will tell you what is taking the space and this will help you clear etc. Let me know how you get on, or if you need more help

Thanks Davy, just got your message, will do as you suggested later today.

doney84 · 03-04-2013 4:05pm

Hi all,

Recently started getting the following message every time I try to load the camera, "Unexpected error occurred. Please restart the camera. If this does not help, try restarting the phone".

About 10 restarts later here I'm posting on boards... anyone got any ideas???

Thanks in advance,
doney84

Davy · 03-04-2013 5:08pm

doney84 wrote: »

Hi all,

Recently started getting the following message every time I try to load the camera, "Unexpected error occurred. Please restart the camera. If this does not help, try restarting the phone".

About 10 restarts later here I'm posting on boards... anyone got any ideas???

Thanks in advance,
doney84

Have you downloaded any camera updates lately from betalabs or similar?

Are you on Anna or Belle?

fergiesfolly · 03-04-2013 7:21pm

Thought I'd give a quick update on my phone, since I revived this thread from the dead in the first place.
Bought it back to the repair shop and they changed the battery again and charged it for me overnight.
It lasted 4-5 hours before dying. The battery indicates full charge, up until about 30 minutes before it dies and then the warning beeps start and the battery indicator starts dropping rapidly.
I did a full factory reset, but it didn't have any effect.
I generally never get the same phone twice, but I havn't seen anything else out there that has the same features and "feel" as the n8, so I might go down the secondhand route for a replacement.
If anyone has any recommendations on a new model to replace it, feel free to let me know.

Davy · 03-04-2013 9:23pm

Must be the board so, would be cheaper to get another second hand one than try sort it. You would get one reasonable enough, unless you want to spend a bit extra and go for a 808. I notice you underlined feel, so I get the impression your ruling out the 808?

doney84 · 03-04-2013 9:29pm

Davy wrote: »

Have you downloaded any camera updates lately from betalabs or similar?

Are you on Anna or Belle?

Hi Davy,

I haven't downloaded any camera updates lately and the phone is on Belle.

Davy · 03-04-2013 9:32pm

doney84 wrote: »

Hi Davy,

I haven't downloaded any camera updates lately and the phone is on Belle.

If its just happening then, its not a great sign. You can try reflashing the software on it, and hope that it sorts it.

doney84 · 03-04-2013 9:38pm

Davy wrote: »

If its just happening then, its not a great sign. You can try reflashing the software on it, and hope that it sorts it.

Thanks Davy,

How do I reflash the software & will I lose all data?

Davy · 03-04-2013 9:47pm

doney84 wrote: »

Thanks Davy,

How do I reflash the software & will I lose all data?

You can do it via nokia suite, you can backup your contacts etc before but anything that is on the phone will stay like contacts etc but some apps might not work, but a quick download of the store will sort it out. Maybe just take a list to have, and take a backup just in case

fergiesfolly · 03-04-2013 10:29pm

Hadn't thought of the 808. Good spot. Are they still available to buy new?

Davy · 08-04-2013 4:58pm

fergiesfolly wrote: »

Hadn't thought of the 808. Good spot. Are they still available to buy new?

Yes plenty of options online, they weren't in stores here to begin with

Kenjataimu · 16-04-2013 9:06pm

Anyone ever buy a replacement housing for the N8, few cheap examples on ebay.
Thinking of getting one.

Just wondering is it a straight forward job to take off the old one and put a new one on?

wildefalcon · 17-04-2013 7:19am

It's quite involved, there's a few videos on youtube showing it being done. I've done the end caps and screen, I also changed the rear speaker, which necessitated removing the mainboard, so I've removed the rear casing to do this.

Biggest bit was the upper end cap - twas a pig to remove.

Kenjataimu · 17-04-2013 9:45am

Thanks, I might check out a few of those videos.
If it was a simple take apart and put back together again job I thought I might manage it.

Just don't want to start something I can't finish.

wildefalcon · 17-04-2013 10:20am

If you've the screwdrivers, and the plastic knife or guitar pick, then you should be ok. I'm delighted with mine - new glass and end caps - but nicely brassed metal - it looks well. Plus Belle refresh is very nice too.

I followed the videos by this guy -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_7C8wdysbI

He has a trick for the top cap using sticky tape, which worked for me. I made a mistake by not tightening the two middle scews up tight enough, so the screen stood proud at first. Easy fix.

Kenjataimu · 17-04-2013 12:59pm

wildefalcon wrote: »

If you've the screwdrivers, and the plastic knife or guitar pick, then you should be ok. I'm delighted with mine - new glass and end caps - but nicely brassed metal - it looks well. Plus Belle refresh is very nice too.

I followed the videos by this guy -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_7C8wdysbI

He has a trick for the top cap using sticky tape, which worked for me. I made a mistake by not tightening the two middle scews up tight enough, so the screen stood proud at first. Easy fix.

what was the quality of the new housing like?
And would you happen to have a link to which one you bought.

Just wary of ordering the cheapest on ebay in case they are poor quality or bad fitting. Thanks for your reply.

wildefalcon · 23-04-2013 7:42am

I just went for some that were described as new and genuine. Which they were - though I suspect that they were taken from scrapped phones, rather than new, new.

I think I'm going to have to change the speaker again - the dust kills them I think. This time I'll stick some sellotape over the speaker aperture and see if it makes any difference.

wildefalcon · 19-05-2013 6:18pm

Just noticed new maps on the Nokia Suite today! Great to see that they still support the old map application.

Czarcasm · 19-05-2013 8:34pm

wildefalcon wrote: »

Just noticed new maps on the Nokia Suite today! Great to see that they still support the old map application.

"New" maps wildefalcon? What's that about now, sounds interesting as I use the maps apps for sat nav to get around on an almost daily basis.

Oh also running Delight Belle 6.1 CFW on the phone now. For a three year old phone, it's like the phone that just keeps on giving!

wildefalcon · 20-05-2013 6:36am

They release new/updated maps every now and then, it's been a while since I connected the phone to the PC and there was an alert for updated maps. Good to see.

chris2008x · 20-05-2013 7:03am

I miss my N8 why oh why did I get a crappy Lumia.

Czarcasm · 20-05-2013 7:42am

chris2008x wrote: »

I miss my N8 why oh why did I get a crappy Lumia.

I have to be honest, the Symbian platform may appear "dated" etc, but from what experience I've had with the various Lumias, I just can't warm to windows phone at all at all, purely from a functional perspective as I care nothing for apps. If I'm expecting to fork out €400 on a phone- it had better be capable of everything short of brewing a decent coffee!

The N8 still fits that bill tbh, in terms of both hardware and when you stick a custom rom on there it holds it's own in terms of speed with the Lumia 820 or the S3, and it's actually still comfortable enough to type this out with my thumb while holding the phone in the same hand! You could say the same for the iphone ergonomically speaking at least, but the iphone for a €500 phone has FAR too many other shortcomings for my liking!

Speedsie · 20-05-2013 5:11pm

My N8 just packed up today. Devastated! It shut down while I was charging it, and will just not turn on again.
Does anyone have any ideas, or is it dead?

Speeds

wildefalcon · 20-05-2013 5:22pm

Have you held down the power button for 20 seconds? Until it vibrates 3 times? And then on again.

Otherwise it may be beyond DIY help.

Speedsie · 20-05-2013 5:31pm

Yep, tried that....

Davy · 20-05-2013 6:13pm

Speedsie wrote: »

My N8 just packed up today. Devastated! It shut down while I was charging it, and will just not turn on again.
Does anyone have any ideas, or is it dead?

Speeds

When plugged in, does the indicator light beside the usb port, or the screen light?

You could change the battery in it

Speedsie · 20-05-2013 7:00pm

No lights when plugged in. I might bring it into FM mobile on Friday so.....

Davy · 20-05-2013 7:07pm

Speedsie wrote: »

No lights when plugged in. I might bring it into FM mobile on Friday so.....

Ok, let us know how you get on. If you dont get sorted send me a PM and I might be able to sort you with a battery

Speedsie · 20-05-2013 7:19pm

Will do! Glad to think it might not be dead! Great phone, and I've really no idea what I'd replace it with.

Francie Barrett · 20-05-2013 10:50pm

Are you just charging through USB? If so, there are known issues with the USB port packing up in after a couple of years. My Nokia E7 for example has become temperamental with certain chargers (a prelude to the port failing altogether). At least with the N8, you have the option of charging via the old standard Nokia charging pin.

Francie Barrett · 20-05-2013 10:56pm

Czarcasm wrote: »

I have to be honest, the Symbian platform may appear "dated" etc, but from what experience I've had with the various Lumias, I just can't warm to windows phone at all at all, purely from a functional perspective as I care nothing for apps. If I'm expecting to fork out €400 on a phone- it had better be capable of everything short of brewing a decent coffee!

The N8 still fits that bill tbh, in terms of both hardware and when you stick a custom rom on there it holds it's own in terms of speed with the Lumia 820 or the S3, and it's actually still comfortable enough to type this out with my thumb while holding the phone in the same hand! You could say the same for the iphone ergonomically speaking at least, but the iphone for a €500 phone has FAR too many other shortcomings for my liking!

Great post. I've tried both Windows Phone and Android and neither phone quite manages to measure up to Symbian. In fact, every time I read Steve Litchfield extolling the virtues of the Pureview 808 on AllAboutSymbian I have a massive temptation to just hit up Handtec and snap up a Pureview 808 for £270.

Nokia N8 Megathread

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