Have you decided to purchase a phone from the popular and well known manufacturer, Nokia? Don’t know what choosing between these two handsets from N series? N8 or N9? The process can be rather difficult and tiresome, that’s why we’re giving you a hand by comparing them. We’ll analyse their most imprtant technical details to see which one does a better job and worths your attention.
What’s the first thing you notice when looking to a device? The design, obviously, which is also the first component we’ll be focus on our comparison. Putting these two Nokia’s devices head to head, it’s a fact that they are a little bit out of the ordinary. The manufacturer did operate some changes in its recent line-up of devices and N8 or N9 are two concret examples. N8 looks like a bar shaped phone with a single button on the left, available in a variety of vivid colors. On the other side, the N9 is thinner, taller and wider than the N8. Its form factor is modern and stylish, ressembling more like a rectangular, but quite interesting for Nokia. In terms of precise dimensions, as we were mentioned before, the N9 is taller with its 116.5mm compared to N8′s 113.5mm, wider with 2mm extra and just a little bit thinner. Both have the same weigh; 135 grams.
Going further, we’ll stop at the display. Each device is fitted with an AMOLED capacitive touchscreen for more brightness, intense color and battery economy compared to the LCDs. While the N8 incorporates a 3.5-inch screen with a resolution of 360 x 640 pixels and protected with Gorilla Glass, the fancy N9 features a larger and curved display with 3.9-inch plus a better resolution: 480 x 854 pixels. Both come with multi-touch input and accelerometer sensors.
What about the camera section? You might be impressed by N8′s performant camera with its 12 megapixel on the back at an impressive 4000×3000 pixels with Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus and Xenon flash. It is also completed by a secondary front-facing VGA camera for video calling. Video capture is 720p HD and features geo-tagging or face detection. Regarding the N9, it comes equipped with a standard 8 MP rear camera with Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus and dual-LED flash combined with a secondary front-facing camera. It also captures video at 720p as the N8, which is practical the winner of this section.
The processor segment is relevant when deciding about your next smartphone. Both phones have a single core processor with the newly N9 including a more powerful 1GHz Cortex A8 CPU and a TI OMAP 3630 chipset, while N8 integrates a 680MHz ARM 11. The ARM 11 has proven to be a reliable and capable processor, but the Cortex A8 technology has much more to offer. N9 packs a a roomy 1GB of RAM, compared to N8′s only 512MB. Regarding the storage part, both has the same 16GB internal memory, with an extension posibility. N8 can be expanded up to 32GB, while N9 supports 64GB. All these infos lead to one conclusion; N9 is the winner.
In terms of software, things aren’t the same. The stylish N9 comes with a new platform, Linux based operating system, MeeGo 1.2 ‘Harmattan’. The central aspect of the processor is the gesture control and N9 has this feature. A button-less device, with three purpose-built home screens, the N9 comes with a lots of apps preloaded plus more to be downloaded from the Ovi Store. As for the N8, it runs the legendary Symbian^3 processor, this time with an update including multi-touch support, tuned-up graphics, improved multi-tasking and more. While the N8 has an improved OS running, we believe the Meego has much more to offer.
Speaking of the connectivity part, both handsets are compatible with Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, 3G and Bluetooth. While the N9 will hit the market this autumn with no official details, the N8 is already available and you can purchase it.
Wrap-up
If we take into consideration all its internal specifications, the upcoming N9 is the winner. It comes with a better display, a more performant processor with a large RAM plus a complete new operating system. N8 isn’t bad at all too, but it all depends on what you wanna do with your new phone. You want it just for calling and other basic functions or you need it for multimedia? Does the design aspect balances a lot in your decision? Analyze all details and make the best investment.
