Recently purchased one Nokia N81 cellphone @14, 000/-. I did a research for about 1-1/2 months to get an idea about a full featured phone within my limited budget constraint.
My first preference is music. So I first leaned on Xpress music phones. BTW I always prefer to have Nokia phones so I ignored the Sony Erricsion phones. But a close research from GSMarena or Phone Arena revealed that Xpress Music phones are good but lacks in regard to phone characteristics. So I have started looking for all featured phone.
Then I stick to the N81 or N95. N81 looks better than N95 and less expensive too. I was stunned when I first saw N96 model in newspaper as it looks similar to N81 except the two buttons (Green and Red) and upper slides.
N81 is mind-blowing slider phone with multimedia features. It has got Navi Wheel feature as same as Ipods. But unfortunately by default it was off, I had to set it from settings. It’s bundled with free 2GB microSD card and upgradable upto 4GB. Earlier there was 8GB version of it, but no longer available in the shops. U can check ebay for a few models, but I doubt those are not fresh models.
U can directly go to the music menu with separate multimedia key. Music is featured with album artwork (all loRD songs are linked with his photo) . MP3/ eAAC/ WAV all format are supported in this digital music player. Bundled earphone is ok but I have teamed it up with one Creative EP 630 and Sennheiser CX400 ear canals for superior experience.
There is WLAN feature. So I connect it to my home network ( Type II wifi modem with WPA2 security) and surf the net.
I have loaded it with Nokia Maps( only a few cities in India except Kolkata are included ) and navigator function. Preloaded maps save a few bucks that maps are visible without networking.
Video format supports MP4 but limited to 15 fps/ H.263 / H.264. Real player is there to play the video. Video quality is excellent too.
N81 flaunts two stereo side speakers. Tones are loud enough that u won’t miss any call in public noise.
There is one offline mode profile too, u’r phone is on for music and gaming but u’r not reachable by u’r Boss ;-).
It also has NGage gaming feature which comprises three games. But I’m not a avid gamer.
Finally call quality is excellent with rich voice experience. Build quality is also good but weighs a little heavy with 140 gms.
I have also packed it with Office Suite and Adobe is preloaded.