Nokia 8800 Arte

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Nokia already has three luxury models under the 8800 umbrella, two of them Siroccos. The latest two additions--8800 Arte and 8800 Sapphire Arte--continue the extravagant tradition of using exotic materials as construction. So what's different this time round? Not much. To its credit, Nokia did throw in some cosmetic refurbishments and, at the same time, upgraded the phone's platform to the newer Series40 3rd Edition. But ultimately, the Arte series still delivers the same look and feel of the earlier Siroccos.

Design

Design-wise, Nokia has made some subtle changes to the Sirocco series. In our opinion, the most significant improvement is the alphanumeric keypad. The buttons are now moderately bigger and the decent tactile feedback has increased the comfort level for texting. Instead of pecking on the keys, we can now type with reasonable ease. Our only gripe is the tight headroom above the top row of buttons. As a result, our thumbs kept hitting the border when texting.

Unlike the 8800 Siroccos, the control keypad is now accessible when the phone is closed. That's a good thing because we no longer need to slide open the handset to read an incoming text message, or pick up a call. Volume can also be adjusted using the navigation pad while the phone is closed.

It's not all roses. We found the navigation pad a tad too small and it's easy to end up hitting the central key when scrolling in any of the four directions. Things got a little more frustrating when we had to make a conscious effort to keep an eye on the left/right softkeys and call/end buttons, so we didn't end up calling someone while getting to the shortcut menu.

At 109 x 45.6 x 14.6mm, the Arte is the slimmest member of the 8800 family so far. And it's all good. The 150g heavyduty weight and metallic chassis also ensure that the premium dollar you'll be coughing up won't make you feel like you were suckered into some cheaper plastic model. That's if you can live with the fingerprint smudges and face oils.

There are two models in the Arte series--the 8800 Arte and the 8800 Sapphire Arte--and they both share the same design mould with a combination of metal and glass. The only differences, besides the color, are that the Sapphire edition uses a sapphire gem stone as the central button on the directional pad and parts of the handset are wrapped in coffee-brown soft leather.

If price isn't an issue, we prefer the Sapphire edition because the Arte is nearly a dead-ringer to the 8800 Sirocco. For current Sirocco owners especially, it doesn't make a lot of sense to invest another S$1,788 (US$1,270.25) for something that looks so similar.

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