Nokia N8 unboxing

Nokia's latest attempt to establish dominance over the smartphone market starts today with the N8.

The N8 boasts a widely praised 12MP Carl Zeiss camera and multimedia functionality, along with the very latest version of the Symbian mobile OS, Symbian^3. You can read our full N8 preview here.

Alas, the PR person who sent this model to me appears to have already been inside to pre-charge the handset.

See below as I chronicle this momentous occasion.

Looking good - the imprint of the phone highlights the potential contents inside this blue cuboid. This is a lot less cluttered than my 6700's box, which I seem to remember depicted three chums bouncing around inside a van, having fun.

The cretins.

Nokia hasn't quite broken away from the old style of boxing, it seems. That text looks scary.

'...And it is decreed that the first born in every family shall be named Nokia, after your mobile saviour, the one true mobile manufacturer...'

You may be forgiven for thinking this is the first shot again. It isn't, we're now inside the box.

Isn't this exciting?

After lifting that second lid up we're finally at the phone.

The clever way that the imprint of the phone on the upper two layers of packaging lines up with the phone itself has been somewhat muted with this box, as whoever opened it before me has put the tray in upside-down.

If your box looks like this, then somebody else probably got to it first. Imagine the power cable and HDMI converter all in separate plastic bags. I know it sounds too far-fetched, but if you scrunch up your eyes really tightly you might see it.

Do you love manuals? Well you're in for a treat as the N8 comes with three.

And here it is, in the flesh - my hand. There's a Nokia N8 in the way of the picture.

What horrible fingernails. Oh here's the left-hand side of the device

Yes! It's the right-side of the device. The camera button's the one on the far left, screen lock follows, and finally I believe those two are the volume controls.

It's good to see that Nokia phones are still made in Finland.

Ah, 'HDMI', looking as '80s logo' as ever. There is an HDMI port actually underneath that - it's not just a pretty face.

In fact, with the headphone jack sat over on the right-hand side, you could say the top was the most 'multimedia' of all the N8's sides.

Finally let's take a closer look at the back of the phone, where the imposing 12MP camera lives. Say cheese - it's captured your soul.