Nokia N81
Mobile phone
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Nokia N81 and Nokia N81 8GB are mid-range Symbian OS mobile phones announced by Nokia in August 2007 and released the next month. It runs S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 1.
| |
 | |
| Manufacturer | Nokia |
|---|---|
Availability by region | 2007 |
| Predecessor | Nokia 6111 Nokia 6290 Nokia N76 Nokia N80 Nokia N91 |
| Successor | Nokia N85 Nokia 5800 XpressMusic Nokia N97 Mini Nokia X6-00 |
| Related | Nokia N95 8GB Nokia N78 Nokia N82 Nokia 6110 Navigator Nokia N96 |
| UMTS/GSM 850/900/1800/1900 | |
| Slider | |
| Dimensions | 102×50×17.9 mm (4.02×1.97×0.70 in), 86 cc |
| Weight | 140 g (5 oz) |
| Symbian OS 9.2 | |
| Battery | Li-Po 1050 mAh (BP-6MT) |
| Rear camera | 2 MP / 1600 x 1200 px |
| Front camera | CIF Video Call Camera |
| Display | 240 x 320 pixels, 2.4", 16M Colors |
| Data inputs | Keypad |
The N81, like the Nokia N73 Music Edition, was primarily marketed as an entertainment device focused on music, and it debuts the Nokia Music Store service.[1] It was also heavily marketed as a mobile gaming device for its prominent inclusion of N-Gage services.[2] It was the first device that came preloaded with the N-Gage 2.0 in 2008 (albeit in public beta), and features two dedicated gaming buttons that can be used for compatible N-Gage games; this would later also appear on the N96,[3] N85[4] and 5730 XpressMusic.[5] During the launch of N-Gage 2.0, the N81 was specifically chosen by Nokia in advertisements. It has stereo speakers.[6] Several reviewers have claimed that the N81 has, much like the older Nokia N91, a very high sound output quality and therefore highly suitable for audiophiles.[7][8][9][10]
The four-way silver-coloured D-pad below the display also contains a new capacitive sensor called the Navi wheel, which allows scrolling in the S60 gallery and music player applications by 'stroking' the key, in a similar manner to the iPod click wheel.[11] It is a unique feature that rarely appears on mobile handsets.[12] The Navi wheel would later also appear on other Nokia Nseries handsets: N78, N85 and N96.
Other than these, the N81 has more modest specifications compared to the Nokia N82, with a 2-megapixel camera, lacking both GPS and HSDPA, and weighing 20 grams heavier.[13] However the N81 did have an ARM11 369 MHz processor, the fastest on a Nokia device at the time.[14] The Nokia N81 notably features a sliding spring-loaded physical keylock on the top of the device, located next to the 3.5 mm jack.[15] It is the first Nseries device that uses microUSB instead of miniUSB.
The N81 8GB features the titular 8 gigabytes of internal storage. This version retailed for 430 euros before taxes, 70 euros more than the standard version which requires a microSD memory card to expand its 12 megabytes of storage.[16] N81 would be succeeded by the Nokia N85 in 2008.
Reception
The Nokia N81 had a lower sound output compared to the N91 due to the release of the new firmware version. According to Nokia, they must follow an international standard wherein a device's initial or default volume must be set too low to cause any damage to its users.
CNET found it buggy, slow, and badly designed.[17] S21 gave it 3/5, praising its feature set, while again criticising the "plasticky" design.[18] However its musical capabilities have been highly praised.[13][19]