Customer Reviews

Nokia 8801 Unlocked Cell Phone with Camera, Bluetooth Music, Media Player--U.S. Version with Warranty

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I bought this phone when it first appeared on amazon for slightly over six. The price has actually gone up and needless markup (neimanmarcus) sells it for nine; however, t-mobile sells for 550 but w/activation 2yr contract. I would stick with amazon because of their return policy.

The phone uses the 850/1800/1900 frequencies so you can use it as a world phone. (The Nokia 8800 supports 900/1800/1900 so you can use anywhere or the USA with t-mobile fyi.) You'll need the 850 to use it in the states w/any GSM provider other than t-mobile and I *beleive* cingular). The 8801 has great Nokia reception as do all of their phones I've used...while people around you in an elevator drop calls normally yours hangs on.

It's important to have a firmware of at least 3.78 checked by typing *#0000# or you may get a rebooting problem seen in comments. Some of those problem could also be from not using the battery lock that swivels to make sure the battery stays down. The one thing understated about the 8801 is that it comes with a 2yr warranty with overnight service and a special number to call that will not make you wait to talk to a person, which is awesome if you ever call it. I've sent mine back because of the slide breaking and it's a painless experience.

The feature set is rich even having strange things like a programmable RFID tag! The browser is fairly useless so download mini.opera.com, plusmo and for instant directions, the free google mobile gmaps is a must when you're sick of 800555tellme not understanding you. Additionally you can run any J2ME apps for AIM, MSN messenger etc. You can make free skype (for 2006 usa-to-usa) calls using www.soonr.com from the 8801 or any phone, which is awesome. And, you can change the look by grabbing free themes (use 8800 ones) via phone.mobile9.com. Try the macintosh themes, very good.

Syncing it up to my PC at work was a snap with Nokia's office suite installed and it beeps every time I have a meeting, which reminds me to get coffee. You can nit the right arrow ? and check your schedule on the go, too.

It's an expensive phone no-doubt but I use it for a home phone & cell so I wanted something nice and sturdy. It works great with Bluetooth devices and even streams music to headphones. I have my mac set to download the latest podcast and bluetooth it to my phone for the commute ride listen.

Battery life isn't THE best but it's not vomit. Plug it in at nite and if you have an extra charger, plug it in at work... problem solved.

The `scratch less' screen is great, the speakerphone works well, the voice tags work well with the supplied ear fob. I really like this phone and recommend it, highly.

Stupidly, I spent $900 on this phone the very week it was made available for sale in the U.S., and then I bought a second one as a gift. The phone kept turning itself off automatically, even when loaded with a fully charged battery. So Nokia sent me a replacement phone (number 1), which had some loose schmutz under the screen. So Nokia sent me another replacement phone (number 2), whose keypad backlighting did not illuminate whenever I opened the slide. So Nokia sent me another replacement phone (number 3), which automatically and inexplicably lost its WAP settings every time I had to switch the phone off. So Nokia sent me yet another replacement phone (number 4), which slid open too far on its very first use, exposing the wiring and circuitry and rendering it impossible to use. So Nokia -- God bless them -- sent me one more replacement phone (number 5), which I have been using for just over one week now and which no longer makes a keypad tone whenever I dial the 3, 6, 9, or # keys.

The phone looks and feels sleek, yes. The charging base emanates a pulsating blue light. The ringtones, composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto, are beautiful. But this phone is a colossal waste of money: all style with no substance. The battery lasts a pitifully short length of time before needing to be recharged. The interface is unattractive and confusing, with various phone functions located counterintuitively in menus where you would never think to search. Incoming text and multimedia messages appear not on a plain, easy-to-read white screen, but rather in plain black text on whatever multicolored theme you happen to have selected, often making the content of such messages impossibly hard to read. Instructions in the user's manual are vague and not at all helpful.

This phone is proof that you don't always get what you pay for. No matter what the asking price, it's garbage. And I should know: I've had six of them.

For some reason this phone seems to be generating a lot of controversy in reviews, often, I feel by those who haven't even used it.

I've had my 8801 for about 2 months now, and I can say with full confidence that it's the best phone on the market... for me.

If you're looking for all the newest whiz-bang features, this phone is not for you.

If you're looking for a sensible price to performance ratio, it's not for you.

If, however, you're looking for a phone that functions falwlessly as a phone (Great reception, great sound quality, fantastic user interface) and like the feel of a solid slider style phone, then it could be the phone for you.

I hada nokia 8890 for almost 5 years before it finally died, and untill the 8801 came around - nothing filled it's shoes, now I have a phone that does exactly for me what the 8890 did, works great and just feels right to use.

I do feel that a few flaws should be addressed though. The battery life is miserable (but it comes with a 2nd battery that fits perfectly in the little 5th pocket in your jeans). The fancy ringtones are a bit silly. and the Ring volume is a bit lacking.

All in all it's still the perfect phone for me - and I really don't care if anyone else notices it.

In my opinion this phone should be a 2 1/2 stars but I am considering other people's opinions. I am doing this since I believe they are the kind of people who would be buying such a phone.
Who is it for: It is for people who's first concern is the look and feel of the phone. This phone looks great, and it is not light, which makes it feel more luxurious (even though it is a tad too heavy even for that in my opinion).
++++'s : Exceptional Look. Exceptional Feel to the touch. Clear screen. Easy Nokia menus. Bluetooth, Radio , and you know the stuff you would see on nokia's website.

----'s:
1- Buttons are too small, even for a small hand (it might not be the size of the buttons, but the how flush they are)
2- Too expensive for the price it is being listed at ($650). This phone is not considered new any more (it was released in Europe around 3 months ago, and in Asia about 5 months ago). I would say a good price for this phone with all it's +'s and -'s is around $350 - $400
3- Battery life is too short; hence they provide you with two!!!
4- Radio reception is not that great.
5- the internal antenna's position is somewhat awkward. The reason I bring this up is bec. in the manual it says you are not supposed to lay your fingers or hand where the antenna is. Yet this is the natural place you would hold the phone from!!!
6- Even though it is a pretty phone, it can easily become an ugly one: FINGERPRINTS. The brushed steel the body of the phone is made off, clearly shows fingerprints, and it is not easy to clean up (you can clean it up it just takes longer than you would expect)

In Summery: All I can say if you are looking for a gorgeous phone, and don't mind the price, or the short battery life, I will 100% recommend this phone to you, since I have checked the markets in the US, Europe, Asia and think this is by the far the nicest, and best constructed phone out there at the moment (12/2005). But on the other had if looks are not the only thing on your mind I would suggest making your own evaluation of the neg. points I made, and see what you think. Still at $400 I personally think this phone is a good buy, since I believe this phone will have a long life (not saying that to its batteries).

Layth

This is a pretty cell phone, no doubt about it. It has some beautiful ring tones (although they sound better as MP3s on a computer than coming from the phone's speaker -- a bit tinny if you ask me), cute icons, nice sleek lines, and an addictive feel to it when you slide the top up and down. The packaging for the phone is truly spiffy and luxurious. The 8801 packaging reminds me of the masters in the area: Apple and its ipod packaging.

Unfortunately, that's not enough to make this a good cell phone. The keypad is unfortunate. The top row of keys is too close to the lid to be easily accessible. Keys are not sufficiently differentiated for those of us who need to dial in a number without looking at the keyboard.

The two pieces of the phone, the screen/camera bit and the lower portion with the keypad are not solidly connected to each other. As a result, while expanded, the phone feels very rickety and jiggles every which way, making dialing rather disconcerting.

Your mileage will most certainly vary. I am sure for some the looks of this phone will be enough to make it a hit. For me, more was needed.

As with other reviews, the keys are smaller then I imagined. Phone could also use a bit more volume. Camera features sometimes crash but not so much that I'm annoyed. Having been a treo 600 - 650 - 700 user for 3 years, the crash is no where as problamatic as they are. Phone is as beautiful and nice to operate as they claim it is. It just feels right when you slide it open and press the buttons (kind of remind me of those HP calculator buttons). Nice job on the aesthetics/mechanics. Scratch resistant check... and it's something not a million people have it like the razors. But kudos to razor's quad band and price. Bottom line... I wanted something different and don't regret buying it.

I purchased the Nokia 8801 simply because I have grown disenchanted with the selection of cellular phones available today. After much searching I had finally decided to purchase the Nokia, and was happy with it at first.

The Pros.
It's a beautifully crafted phone; elegant and sleek, constructed with high quality materials. When you hold the device in your hand it feels substantial, not flimsy and plastic like many other phones on the market. The stainless construction makes not only a beautiful phone, but also something that feels both expensive and durable. Simply put, I bought this phone for its asthetic qualities. The mechanism that allows for the opening and closing of the device is solid. It is quality engineering and the execution is well done, one of the best features of the phone.

The Cons.
As you may have read with other reviews, there is a screen burn-in problem. This happens when the phone activates its power saving function. After two days of use, I began to notice this problem. It is annoying for the first few seconds, but after using other functions of the phone, it is barely noticable. But it is still annoying.
The keypad is an exception to the beautiful and sturdy crafting of the phone. After one week of normal useage, my keypad broke. The bottom left key, the # key, fell off of the phone. It just popped off. The keypad is flimsy injection-molded plastic, and it feels cheap. I don't know why they didn't use metal in this portion as well, as it really lessens the over arching feel of jewelry that the phone has.
Nokia totes that they have an excellent and "special" customer care program for people who buy this phone. This apparently does not cover very much at all. I tried to send the phone back to Nokia for repair hoping that they would remedy my broken key problem. In the warranty information that comes with the phone, which they claim to be "enhanced customer care" they say that they will ship you a replacement phone and then you can then send your phone back at your leisure. THIS IS NOT THE CASE. They have a very finite list of "acceptable" instances that warrants this type of customer care. Everything else you have to ship yourself, paid for by yourself, back to Nokia and their repair department engineers will examine your device and assess whether or not the defect falls under warranty. Mind you, this was a week after purchase, very annoying. I believe that the keypad breaking should be covered by warranty. Nokia thinks otherwise. So after the engineer assesses the situation, they then assess the cost. FOR THE 8801 NOKIA, THERE IS A MINIMUM REPAIR FEE OF $150 DOLLARS. I was informed of this, after spending much money on the phone, thinking I was buying into a premium brand with premium care. So now, I'm out $150 dollars in addition to the money I had just spent to purchase the phone. And this was during the course of one week.

I still think that overall the phone is beautifully built, but I would not buy it again having to go through that experience. The battery life is horrible, which is why they provide you with two. Overall, I had a negative experience with this product. After that week, I went and purchased a Samsung BLACKJACK. I only use the 8801 on special occasions... it's very flashy, but not a great everyday phone.

In conclusion, if you are thinking of buying a sleek, elegant phone that is the envy of all around you...

... wait for the iPhone to come out from Apple in June of 2007.

I hope this review was helpful.

The Nokia 8801 is a beautiful piece of work. People who appreciate fine time pieces and expensive pens (such as myself) would not find the price for this phone outrageous or extravagant.

The Nokia 8801 is a sleek and moderately thin phone. The stainless steel case was designed very nicely, with no hard edges. The curves are in all the right places. Upon picking up the phone and holding it, the combination of solid heft and cool feeling gives the impression that it is a piece of art, finely crafted with every curve and every and edge precisely placed.

Opening the phone is a pleasure. With the flick of your thumb, the smooth upward sliding action is engaged by springs, the track smoothed with ball bearings as the screen sails gracefully upwards. The keypad smoothly transitions to a gentle white glow. Some people are uncomfortable with the "schhk" noise made when the screen is slid up to reveal the keypad, claiming it sounds like it will break. But those are the kind of people who can't appreciate that this is a phone that will last ages due to its strong robust construction.

A smooth and rock solid piece of scratch-resistant glass shields the brilliant screen while it displays vivid wallpapers depicting beautiful waves and leaves.

The speaker (used for speakerphone/music) is surprisingly high in quality. Although it is a tad on the tinny side, the sound is reproduced fairly accurately and without distortion, even at high volumes. The other speaker, the one where most conversations will be played through, is a bit low on the volume even when set to its maximum.

Now, all of this physical beauty is made a little less attractive by its innards. My only complaint about the physical aspect of the phone is the keypad: I feel that witht he rest of the phone being so exquisite, the plastic keys ruin it. A metallic feeling like that found on the RAZR keypads are in order. Actually, I also found it slightly difficult to remove the battery cover, but that was in the beginning: I have since grown accustomed to the most effective way to remove the cover.

The software side has some flaw. Oftentimes I find it difficult to read the words because it is not displayed on a white background. Practically all of the schemes and backgrounds make it hard to read: fine tuning it was the only way I got around it.

Another flaw was the screen saver. The screensaver will display the time and date on the LCD when not in use. However, it is displayed over a darkened band across the screen. I discovered after a week of usage, anything displayed in color had a discoloration across that band. This is basically a burn-in problem. On the other hand, whites are not affected. In fact, I should call and ask them about this...

I enjoyed using the different phone profiles, customizing each one for my particular needs. Especially useful was the automatic use of a profile when your phone is docked in the charger. You can even set profiles to expire at a certain time. A good example for such usage: turning it to Silent profile for 8 hours while you sleep. It will revert to your current profile at the end of 8 hours.

The Bluetooth capability is robust: you can listen to music through Bluetooth. Also, you can record conversations, although every five seconds there is a beep (apparently barely noticeable to the other side). It is easy to use the music player, though as many reviewers have noted, it is a shame that the phone included such a small amount of memory or failed to include the option of expandable memory via a slot.

There is a small suite of useful tools, including a stopwatch, countdown timer, alarm clock, and even an FM Radio. However, in order to utilize the radio you must connect a wired headset, the reason being that the wire acts as an antenna.

I find the battery life just fine, though I put it in the beautiful desk charger every night. The desk charger, like the phone, is a beautiful stainless steel, with the same gentle curves. The base pulses slowly over 10 seconds or so, fading in and out, emitting a sharp blue. I would've preferred white or a softer glow, but I don't look at it too often anyway. The charger can charge the second battery. For clarification (which I needed before buying), this set on Amazon does come with the second battery. I have yet to use it though.

Overall, this phone is worth it if you are not a user who requires lots of technology or business features, and would like to impress people. Every person I've shown it to got jealous: half of them got mock angry and mimed throwing the phone into the ground. Don't keep this phone in a pocket or its pouch: it was meant to be gazed upon and lusted after.

This phone has attracted more attention than any other phone I have ever owned. I switch my phones out about every 6 months for one reason or another (bored with it, it breaks, etc). I think I will keep this phone for a while. Everyone who sees it allways asks if they can see it and hold it. It just looks cool!
It does not offer as many options as some phones out there, but it does come w/ Bluetooth, 2 batteries, a charging dock, a pouch, and a hands free (wired) option. It feels more solid than the Razr and not as bulky as the Treo 650 (my last 2 phones).
I have not had to switch to the other battery and the bluetooth works great! The pouch isn't the best carry option (I purchased an after market holster) and I already had a bluetooth headset so I didn't use the wired option.
I have noticed it is very easy to turn the power off by mistake. I set my phone to lock the keys after 5 sec, but it's not much of an issue since the phone automatically unlocks when you slide the keys/screen up.
Overall, a really cool phone that works great. In my opinion has all the options you could want in a CELL PHONE, and some that are nice to have (calendar, camera) from time to time but don't really make or break it for me.

I have owned this phone for about 6 months now. It was given to me as a gift last summer, and although it was an expensive purchase, I can honestly say that if someone hadn't bought it for me, I'd have bought it myself.

From its sleek stainless steel cover to its scratchless screen, this phone is definitely a one of a kind out there in the market.

I have seen people compare it to the motorola razr, but I can't see any grounds for comparison, except for possibly the battery life which is very weak. But, it does come with an extra battery, and the desk charger makes it possible to charge both the phone and the extra batter at the same time, so Nokia really did think hard about fixing the flaws.

All in all, this would be the perfect new accessory to your handbag/pocket. Not only is it a 'matrix-looking' phone, but it does everything that a phone does, and with style.