N85 Review part-2: Lighting

With the first part of the review talking about the design aspect of the phone, this part of the review will emphasize on the lighting aspect of the Nokia N85.  The N85 performed rather well on that front. It is definitely the handset which has it’s eyes set on the crown on N96’s head.

Let’s now look at the lighting aspect of the device.

Back-lighting:

The back lighting on the N85 is the best on any phone so far. By using the AM-OLED screen, Nokia has not only increased the battery life on this baby, but also made the screen very easily readable. Seeing things on the N85’s screen is a pleasure and this device begs you to crank up the brightness to the maximum. If you think that is too much, you can settle for lower brightness, and the screen still looks great.

The one thing I disliked about OLED screens is the fact that readability suffers in direct sunlight. I was just not able to read stuff on the screen. I would give the N85 an honorable 8.8/10.

Notification Light:

It is really nice to see that the Eseries’ notification light feature has been carried over to the Nokia N85. The notification light on the N85 is good and not harsh on the eyes. It is an extremely useful feature to have if your phone is on ’silent’ most of the time. A strong 9/10 for the device on this parameter.

Keypad Lighting:

The N85 scores very highly here too. I found the lighting on the N85 uniform and at no place did the light seem to ‘leak’ out. The ‘call’ and ‘end’ keys are lit very nicely, and I must say that I am a fan of it. All the keys including the camera and volume keys are well lit too. Everything is clearly legible in absolute darkness even. They are soft and not harsh on the eyes. Even the when the lights switch off, they seem to be bowing out at the end of a performance. I must say that I am slowly looking at the N85 as a replacement to my N82 (must resist!). The N85 gets a 9/10 in this parameter. One does not need to say anything more.

N96 Review Part-2: Lighting

My exams have finally come to an end!

This past few days I have been under a tight schedule, posting far and few posts in between. But for the next few days expect me to have a little more time for the blog.

Well without wasting any time, let me get to the pending work at hand. The N96 review. Havig used the device for a fairly long period now. I can tell you a lot more about this device.

Let me start by telling you about the N96 in the lighting department. Now since the N96 is the flagship device, I was expecting it to do away with any problems that have existed with the Nseries and show itself to be a true performer. In the first part of my review, I looked at the design and how it fared in that department. In the lighting department, the N96 has also given mixed results. While on some parameters it has come out on tops, on the others it simply is not acceptable. Read on to see why it is so.

Backlighting:

The backlighting on the N96 is a battery drainer! When you crank the display brightness to maximum and use the phone, be ready to have that thing drain out fast. I learned this the hard way on the N96. The minute you put it to the lowest point, the battery life increases dramatically. I have been using the screen at the lowest scale of brightness and I’m finding it ok. Though I wish I could use it at full brightness. But battery life is more important. For this aspect, I’ll give the N96 a 7.8/10. Even though, the backlighting was set to the lowest notch, it wasn’t that bad.

A little thing you should know, even though there are many levels (6, I think) at which you can set the screen baclighting. Effectively there are only 4 levels, the others don’t have any noticeable difference.

Notification Light:

The N96 does have the notification light feature. Surprised? I was too, since the Eseries had it and the Nseries did not. Finally a small little goodie from the Eseries basket! The the notification light is soft and works in the same manner as it does on the Eseries phones. I think its a good faeture that should have been implemented a long time ago.  For this I will give the N96 a strong 9/10.

Keypad Lighting:

Keypad lighting is where the N96 scores and misses at the same time. The N96 has four keys for the music player function for the top part of the slider, and the lighting for it is not that good. I found it to be below par. The same keys for N-Gage had much better lighting, weird!!!.

The rest of the phone’s keys (on the screen part, and the number pad) are evenly lit, making them easily visible in darkness. It’s surprising that the keys or buttons on the side (volume and camera) do not have any lighting. I guess the owner is expected to intuitively know where those spongy keys are. That is a bad thing to have done Nokia!. Another thing that irked me since the beginning is the visble gaps in the fit and finish of the keypad and other keys. I know that light can leak out, but on the N96 it was ridiculuous. I just hate the fact that the gaps show themselves so clearly when the lights come on.

Notice the light clearly showing the gaps in the keys.

I think it could have been avoided. Mind you the keypad lighting is good and even. But because of the light leaking out from almost everyhwere, it presents a poor picture. This is not what a phone as expensive as this should have. I will give this aspect of the N96 a 7/10. The N96 could have easily picked up more points and earned a very good score had it not been for the light leaking from everywhere.

The N96 has redeemed itself a little over here. Let’s see how it fares during the course of this entire review. Stay tuned to the remaining parts of the reivew, which will be put up soon.

Notice the light clearly showing the gaps in the keys.

E63 Review Part-2: Lighting,

With the 1st part of the review over, Let me move on to another aspect of the E63, one which is a very important one, Lighting.

Now this is an Eseries phone which look pretty similar to the E71, its elder sibling. For a layman, the E63 would be a plastic clad E71. This is something even I expected, that the E63 was a toned down version of the E71 (not that it isn’t). I thought that the E63 was the same as the E71 on most hardware and software aspects. It turns out that I was wrong, the E63 is a completely different device.

Backlighting:
The screen is well lit and is the same as the E71. There were no problems on that front, Just like in the E71, here too, I have the ‘Light sensor’ set a notch below full, mainly because the amount of light is sufficient. I have no problems in terms of backlighting, The E63 performs as capably as the E71 in this area. Full 10/10 on this aspect to the E63.

Notification Light:
The E63’s notification light is similar to the E66 and the E71’s notification light and it can be configured according to the user’s needs. The light does not flash every 10 seconds like it used to in the E66 and E71 when the phone was in idle mode. It however does blink every 2 seconds when there is an event (missed call, message, email, MMS). The light is not soft, it has definitely been made brighter that the E71’s notification light. The E63’s notification light rests within the D-pad just like in the E66 and E71. The design of the innards is also the same as it was in the E66. Just as the E71’s design did not allow the neigbouring buttons to benefit from the notification light, the E63 does the same. I would give the E63 a 8.7/10 in this aspect. It loses out on mainly because, there is no notification light when the phone is idle.

Keypad Lighting:
The E63 which is every bit a younger sibling of the E71, falls a little short of expectations here. One would have expected similar standards in keypad lighting, but unfortunately, that is not the case. The keypad lights are a soft white colour. While all the keys were evenly lit, I could not help help notice the fact that the D-pad is dimly lit as compared to the other keys on the handset, the same is the case with the key ‘T’. Now it is a rather small thing, but it caught my attention early on, and although, I did not find any problems as such, it definitely did not go out of my head. A new user of this device, is sure to be a little irritated about it. I hope that it can be addressed in some way. Barring that, every key is wonderfully lit and is very much legible in the dark just like the E71. A very strong 8.9/10 in this aspect for the E63. A positive for the E63 here is that unlike in the E71, where some of the light was escaping through crevice between the ’space bar’ and the lower lip of the phone, there is no such occurrence.

The bar was set too high by the previous Eseries devices and it was a going to be as tough for the E63. It has performed well, considering the segment it is aimed at, but in front of the E71, it performs marginally lower.

I am not posting a video of the notification light, since it is exactly similar to the video I made for the E71’s review The only difference is that the notification light in the E63 is brighter when blinking.

Stay tuned for the remaining parts of the review.

E71 Review Part-2: Lighting

I continue to review the Nokia E71, this time it is the lighting aspect of the phone that I will concentrate on. In my last post on the E71 I talked about the design aspect of the phone.

I have found the E71 to be very good on this front. The designers over at Nokia have yet again delivered a product which has uniform lighting across the keypad and the screen.

Backlighting:

The backlighting of the screen is brilliant. Just like in the E66, I am using it a notch lower as I find it sufficient for my needs. There is no portion of the screen which feels lit poorly. The sensor does a good job of detecting the need for backlighting. E series designers have learnt from the mistakes of the various N series phones and made sure that they are not repeated with their line. Reading in absolute darkness has never been an issue with the E66 and it is the same here. I would give the E71 a full 10/10 for screen backlighting, not a single flaw out here.

Notification Light:

This feature which is very much absent in the N series phones (I’m sure you know that by now). The E71’s notification light is similar to the E66’s notification light and it can be configured according to the user’s needs. The light will flash every 10 seconds when the phone is in idle mode and every 2 seconds when there is an event (missed call, message, email, MMS). The light is soft and does not disturb the eyes. The E71’s notification light rests within the D-pad just like in the E66. The design of the innards is also the same as it was in the E66. It is good to see that the E71 is similar to E66 in terms of hardware and is different only to the extent of its shape(slider and candybar). Macbook’s LED lights come to my mind when I see the E71. Probably the only thing that separates the E71’s notification light and the E66’s notification light, is that the light spreads to the other buttons in the E66 and the spread in the E71 is very little, I really liked this spread of light. Just for that the E71 loses a few points. I would give the E71 a 9.7/10 in this department.

Keypad Lighting:

The keypad lighting is in white for this handset. The white colour seems to be quite in vogue now days. All the keys are uniformly highlighted across the the handset making it very easy to be read even in pitch darkness. The soft keys and menu buttons are evenly lit. Nobody is going to complain of dimly lit buttons over there. The ‘qwerty’ keypad also is lit very evenly. I found no problems in reading the keys in darkness. Although, the size of the keys is a problem and the feeling that I got when using the E66, is missing here. The volume and record key on the right side of the phone is also illuminated. When it comes to lighting the keypad, the engineers at Nokia have done a great job. The white E71, I feel will offer a better experience over the dark (mocha) E71. So if you have an option between the colours, go for the white E71. Not only does it look very beautiful, but I think it will offer better legibility than even the dark E71. The keypad lighting for the E71 gets a solid 9.5/10.

The bar set by the E66 in this category was very high. It scored a perfect 10 in all the departments of lighting, a hard act to follow up for the E71. The E71 tries to trump the E66 here, and though it can’t quite match the E66, the E71 comes a very close second losing by mere 0.8 points to the E66.

E66 Review Part-2: Lighting

The second part of my review of the E66. In this post I will concentrate on the lighting aspect of the phone.

The E66 continues to impress me on this front. The designers and engineers have really paid a lot of attention towards the E series. The backlighting of the screen and the buttons is impeccable. To be very honest I think, I have yet to see a phone that can better it.

Backlighting:

The backlighting of the screen is bright! I personally am using it at one notch lower since it is more than enough for me. Just goes to show that Nokia has indeed been listening to the complaints of poor screen lighting for the N82. The N82 pales in front of the E66 especially since both have the same size screens, resolution, colour output. I wish Nokia had addressed it in the recent firmware update for the N82. Overall the baclighting for the screen is even and does not hurt the eyes at all. I’m sure when one has to read something on the screen in absolute darkness he/she would not be disappointed. On this front I would rate it as 10/10. Hard to find any fault here.

Notification Light:

Why am I devoting an entire section to it you ask? Simple this feature which is present in the E series phones is largely absent in the N series. I had seen the notification light in the E50 and thought it was nifty, though dull. This phones throws any of those apprehensions straight out of the window. The notification light’s duration can be set in the phone. I don’t remember seeing that in the E50 (it might have been there). The notification light is bright and ‘flashes’ every ten seconds. Flashing is not the right word I feel, as it does not flash like the N80’s light would, it is very much like the Macbook’s white standby light. Very good Nokia. Also, If you see the pad closely when the light flashes, you will find dots surrounding the inside of the D pad, this gives the E66 a real sci-fi look. Again I will give it a 10/10.

Keypad Lighting:

The backlighting for the buttons is in white which according to me is perfect for this kind of handset. Any other colour would have just spoilt the look. The keypad lighting is in one word ‘perfect’. All the keys are higlighted equally and are very legible in pitch darkness. I doubt anybody having a problem typing or accessing a function in the night or in complete darkness. The keys on the top half(screen part) are brightly lit, thus allowing one to clearly see what he/she is pressing. As for the keypad, there is nothing which goes against it. Another factor that makes reading the keys easy is the fact that they are big and the alphabets and numbers are clear. In pitch darkness I had absolutely no problems typing messages or navigating through the UI. I don’t foresee anybody comlaining about reduced speeds in typing in complete darkness. One thing which I liked a lot, was that the area surrounding the keypad (numbers) was also lit (just like ambient lighting), this thoughtful addition goes a long way in providing comfort of usage. I don’t know if the same holds true for the grey handset. Again, here it scores a perfect 10/10.

When it comes to lighting aspect, the developers of this phones have outdone themselves. Good job guys!If the development of the E series continues like this, it won’t be long when people start prefering it over the N series. I feel the N series team needs to take long and hard look at the E series phones.

Read part-1 here.

Backlit Screen and Keys.