is it possible to make a brief comparison between the N8 and the N9?

just a small paragraph. your everyday use.
how is the N9 better.

I am asking because I have an N900 & N8 and I'm considering the N9.

Google Maps now pre-caches routes and map data. So if you lose a signal you're still ok and in addition it can re-route offline.

I've tried using Nokia maps extensively while abroad. All the pre-downloaded maps are great if you know the exact address of your destination. However, if you need to search for an address/destination forget about it because Nokia offline search is 10x worse than their online search which wasn't even good to begin with.

I'm not a Google Maps fanboi by any means. I have an E6 and N8 and have been using Nokia phones and maps for the last 5+ years. I would also still be using my N9 if they hadn't excluded street names from the voice navigation!

All that said, I increasingly find Nokia Map's search a disaster relative to the competition and at the same time Google has improved much of their weaknesses. So now whenever my wife and I go out (she has an Android) we just use her navigation.

Sure.

Besides the better UI, it was definitely small things like one- you get 3 icons in the app screen as opposed to 4 on the N9 (higher res of course) and you never got away from that "old phone" look that has been present even since my 5800XM.
Getting to the options or new messages was a pain because you had to get back to the home screen or had to delve into settings to change something simple.

Messages- new texts either would open up in the conversation mode or in one text by itself and then I would have to exit out of that, go into conversations, and get the other ones. The N9 tells you how many and takes you right to the conversations (it doesn't have this split interface stuff like the N8) and I can see easily what's new and what's not and it *always* has the message in the context of the entire convo (like the N900.)

Email- I almost never heard my email go off on the N8 and there was no visual indicator unless you had your mailbox widgets on the homescreen. For a guy with 5-6 email accts, that takes up one entire screen by itself. It was crazy to waste that space with just mail whereas even on the N900 you could have ONE widget that displayed them all. On the N9, I get a systemwide indicator of new mail and it immediately displays it at the top of the feed. Too easy. That and the organization and look is a million times better than the N900's Modest.

Other than that, it overall is a more united, more pleasing UI experience and has the small touches that make it an awesome phone. Swipe is the best interface idea to come about since I don't know what. I mean, I know it sounds like I didn't like the N8 but I honestly did (especially for the camera) but it was still in this old mode of thinking wrt apps and UI (and IMO Android and ios are no better.) I'm sure Belle will make it better but to me there really isn't any comparison anymore. I might have to buy another N9 for when this one eventually dies. It really is that good.

Hope that helped. Was a bit longer than you asked for but I'm still crazy about this phone.

n8 vs n9:

- Coming from n8, i've learnt to be patient with loading times etc but on the n9 this is much improved.

- For multi-tasking you no longer have to press n hold the menu button, the swipe makes it feel so much more pleasing and is faster too.

- Making calls, sending smses, replying to such etc is easier and faster. For example, on the n8 if you want to click a link in a sms, you have to click on the conversation bubble to open the message on its own then click the link. its much more cumbersome compared to the n9.

- The biggest things i miss of the n8 are the fm transmitter and ability to playback 720 & 1080p videos flawlessly. On the other side, the n9 has a much better music player in terms of sorting tracks compared to the lame artists & albums sort on the n8.

- The 12MP vs 8MP is no big deal in everyday usage. Its more reserved for those times you really need a good camera otherwise the n9's camera is fairly sufficient.

- 3.9in vs 3.5in is a bigger jump than it seems on paper. The usability increases multi-fold. Your portrait kb on the n9 is so much more easier to use than on the n8. If you type well on the n8 in portrait mode, you will be speed-typing on the n9. Its that good that i abandoned by blackberry for it.

- apps is not a big problem if you are not looking for localised apps and specialist apps. I've over 70 apps on my n9 and use half of them. Guess the curiosity of every new app made me download so many but you dont require them for everyday usage.

Anyway i carry my n8 as my private line so dont actually miss it much.

Hope this helps in your decision making.

P.S. Be prepared to refer back to these forums for help and apps if you want to enjoy your n9 fully. A bit of a geek is required to use it well.

edit: didn't see someone else do the comparison above. guess i was too late.

such a nice post can never be too late.

huge thanks to both of you guys!
i like my n8 and i love my n900 (posting atm from it )

im gonna grab that beauty (n9) when it get cheaper

thanks again to both