Nokia N8 up for official €469 pre-order in Italy, available in September
By Thomas Ricker 
posted July 29th 2010 2:47AM
posted July 29th 2010 2:47AM
[Thanks, Faisal]
posted July 29th 2010 2:47AM
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sleek
@Coke $610!!? Thats why Nokia will never be Successful in the US even if they are they sell the most phone's else where.. American's think subsidized phones's are expensive, and no one really likes Symbian anymore anyways they needed this to launch with MeeGo...
469.. that's still MUCH less than 700 EUR (that's the iphone 4 price)
Phones in dollars = phones in euro, that's how the world goes, deal with it engadget
Funny how the USA readers don't realize that price issue tho!
the iphone 4 is not even available at apple in italia (lol) so heres the france one: http://store.apple.com/fr/browse/home/shop_iphone/family/iphone?mco=OTY2ODA2OQ
bang 739EUR!
@Coke
But if Nokia want to regain its control of the smartphone market, they should produce high-end yet reasonably priced phones, otherwise the buyers may think: why do I have to pay more for getting a sluggish phone? Why not iPhone / Android phones?
Apart from that, Nokia should co-operate with Symbian Foundation to revamp Symbian platform (Symbian^1, Symbian^3) at once. Not just about the UI, but the optimisation for the speed (snappy even on a low-spec'd phone).
What's more, Nokia should be more generous with the CPU and the RAM. Just take a look at the Symbian^1 devices, N97, N97 mini, 5800 XpressMusic, 5530 XpressMusic, 5230, C6-00, X6... all have the same 434 MHz ARM 11 CPU, and all have the same 128 MB SDRAM. They are more or less having the same bodies but different clothes, which shows us no sign of sincerity.
@liftedngifted1
Whoa! That was some fast down ranking. This comment was visible when I was typing my 1st comment and when I submitted, it had already been down ranked to oblivion!
This is the price of the unlocked device, you idiot not including carrier subsidies. Whether the neanderthal US carriers are smart enough to offer this phone on subsidy is another matter. For comparison, the iPhone4 costs 700 euros.
@zob I hope they launch it here in North America as well! It's much needed!
@liftedngifted1
See the text "IVA inclusiva"?
That means the about 20% sales tax is in the price. If you deduct that from the price we are back at the 370€ price.
And you would have noticed this if you just had bothered to read what engadget wrote about price. And finally engadget has understood the difference in the way europeans and americans state the price. Bravo.
@Coke Just so that you know, THIS IS THE PRE ORDER PRICE! The actual price AFTER the release will be 370 Euros, as promised!
@iMichael
UI revamp is coming in S^4.
Speed is already ready with gpu hardware acceleration in S^3.
In my RSS reader, it is written "That's just how NOKIA does things, deal with it" but when I clicked, I read "That's just how EUROPE does things, deal with it" . Too much hate for Nokia eh, Engadget?
@iMichael
this IS a high end, yet reasonably priced phone. 469€ before subsidies is an incredible price. If you believe that paying $200 for a phone is a better deal, even though it binds you to a $70/mo. contract for 2 years, you really need some math lessons.
@iMichael
I agree about the CPU and the RAM though, there is no legitimate reason for Nokia to hold on to 434 MHz, 128 MB RAM and no HW graphics acceleration.
The 4 Symbian^1 phones released by SonyEricsson and Samsung (Satio, Vivaz, Vivaz Pro, Omnia HD) all have 600 MHz processors, 256 MB RAM and graphics acceleration, i don't know why Nokia is only now advancing to this level with the N8.
@GGG
This does ave hardware accelerations Research next time
@Coke
Silly europeans actually pricing products what they cost.
Few months ago I would totally agree with you... But after using a prototype of this device I gotta tell you: It is much better, feels much snappier and more polished than any Symbian device I have used to date.
My suggestion is for you to check it for yourself instead of buying into the "more mhz"-hype.
ps. I agree with more ram though.
ps2. dont look only for processor power. It is necessary to have a good balance between processor power and battery life too... Example, its possible to record 720p video for 3 hours with this device. Good enough for ya?
@statickeith
370 + 20% VAT = 444 euro + mail charges = +450euro
Do not expect to get it unlocked for less money dude.
Way more expensive than wave...and it´s only better in the camera provided. Even samsung is giving free navigation...
@liftedngifted1:
>>>>and no one really likes Symbian
Is that why Symbain has more market share than iOS and Android put together? Symbian may not have the best of UI at present, but the underlying OS is one of the best optimized and mature OS around. I have tried iPhone and I currently own one of the best android phones right now (Galaxy S) and I still think that neither iOS nor Android hold a candle to Symbian in terms of performance and robustness of the OS.
@Coke What do Engadget mean when they say they are not seeing it up for pre-order anywhere else???
Its been up for pre-order on the play.com website for the past month!!
http://www.play.com/Mobiles/Mobile/4-/15099085/Nokia-N8-Sim-Free-Unlocked-12-Megapixel-Touch-Screen-Mobile-Phone-Black/Product.html
@iMichael
This phone will most likely be free on ~£25 a month contracts. FAR cheaper than the iPhone which is incredibly expensive when you add up the cost over the life time of a contract.
A quick google shows iPhone 4 is free for £47 a month. Over the lifetime of a phone contract that is a massive difference.
The N8 is MUCH better value for money.
@DefPoet
dam right it does ,its looking like the N8 has most powerfully graphic processor in any phone at the moment
@Kohai
You forget buying from Nokia is usally more expensive, especially in pre order. It will be cheaper, and it is a better device than the wave imho.
@IMarius
Broadcom 2727, 32 Million polygons, 720 p @ 30 fps, full hardware accelerated UI. F yeah.
@iMichael
Good thing the N8 has a much faster processor, double the ram, and an industry leading GPU that does the heavy lifting....
@Dynite
Agreed, for most people the only importance of the unlocked/payg price of the phone is that it is reflected in the minimum contract price to get the phone for free (or a relatively small amount). It's also important when it comes to doing a deal with upgrades.
Nokia smartphones are generally pretty good value for money. Think what you will of Symbian and resistive touch screens, the 5800 can be had for under £190 unlocked. That is a hell of a lot of kit for the money.
@zob wouldn't pay hundred bucks for this junk running symbian poop
@DefPoet Though it was convoluted, I think that GGG meant that Nokia held on to those 5800 specs for N97, N97 mini, C6, etc.
I think the, "i don't know why Nokia is only now advancing to this level with the N8", was in reference to the current bump in specs and hw acceleration
@hell hound
No no, this is running Symbian^3.
Symbian Poop was a ill-fated attempt to break into the portable bio-anylizing market in the late 90s.
@zob
Yes but when it's Apple products they tend to forget it.
The iPhone is 599 euros.. that's $780.
@statickeith
It's already on their website as Coming Soon. Too bad US will only get the black one for starters, I had my heart set on silver.
12 megapixels... dude
@TheOriginalEgyptian Yeah! it is a SmartCamera.
I'm looking forward to a review of this device.
I really want it to prove people wrong, but I have a sinking feeling of how it will go.
I personally have never seen a symbian device run so smoothly. A refined symbian may mean nothing to most, but it would be just what the doctor ordered for me.
@fledge
Oh that's easy... they'll give it 7/10 no matter how good it is, complain that the UI isn't as good as the iPhone's (it won't be but the difference is so small no-one will care), mention lack of apps (but not the ones that come preinstalled), say the screen isn't as good, accuse it of ripping off coverflow (it does) and quote the wrong price.
Of course they'll also gloss over the things that it has in its favour like the fact it actually makes calls and you don't need a computer or proprietary software account to use it.
Bottom line is that this is probably a 8 or 9 out of 10 phone which is about the same as the iPhone 4 and HTC Desire.
Me? The iPhone bores me - sorry, but it's become a bit of a chav phone. Nice but too many people have one - the Desire is getting a bit long in the tooth and the N8 just looks a better option for me... if they actually get it out before end September.
@MarkAnderson
What you just said is exactly what is going to happen. Lots of use of the words "clunky" "unintuitive" "feels like" but no numbers. I really wish they would do a test where they measure the time it takes to do tasks on all different flagships.
Not sure If the price suits this phone. Kinda pricey.
How about 100?
Kidding . . . not
@sumone
Sad face Thursday we have it seems. Cheer up World!
me like
@trey992
It may be a flagship, but that flagship doesn't carry the best snappiest software around.
Me gonna wait for MeeGo
@Dannyp32 me too!
yeah, but is it a magical device?
Kinda...
With this one you can make calls.
@Ricker
I guess you dont understand how the taxing system here in Europe works. But I wont bother in teaching you.
@Mr w00t Changed Nokia to Europe.
@Nestea69 "yeah, but is it a magical device?"
Yeah, you can talk to people, that are actually far away... Cool! Right?
@Nestea69
The magic of the iPhone vanished when Jobs started to compare it to other 'normal' phones.
@Thomas Ricker
Why are you keeping that annoying attitude? Why can't your try to write neutral articles and being a professional journalist?
It's just simple... you pay a phone and you don't have monthy fees / payments. Seems that you like to live in credit.
@mags1979
It's about attracting views and attention, whether by doing it the wrong way (which Engadget is doing with Nokia news) or in a more respectable/honorable way.
And btw, he's not a journalist per se.
@mags1979
he gets on my nerves, and they get stuff wrong all of the time. But the minute Ricker turns into a typical emotionless journalist is the second I stop reading this blog.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtUVHNa1hBM&feature=player_embedded
Just look at this and you will understand everything waht I admire about this phone - mkv, avi, divx, xvid even USB host and Hdmi.