Nokia N8

Nokia used to be the go-to company for intuitive mobile phones but it’s recently slipped, losing ground to Apple and phones running the Android operating system.

It hasn’t yet managed a top-class touchscreen phone and the N8 is an attempt to put this right. It’s snappily designed with a chunky slab of aluminium and a 3.5in touch-sensitive screen that’s bright and vivid. And the screen was responsive, thanks to the speedy processor powering the phone.

Since the N8 – unusually for Nokia – has a sealed battery, if it runs out you can’t pop in a spare. Fortunately, the phone will easily last through a full day and beyond – unlike some rivals.

Nokia loyalists will recognise the interface as a revamped version of the familiar Symbian operating system it’s used before. In the past this has been erratic at best but it’s been hugely improved.

The virtual keyboard was straightforward, though it is easier to use when the phone is on its site in landscape orientation. The screen has gentle but effective feedback to let you know you have made contact with it. The N8 has the basics right, too, with good signal and call quality.

The 12-megapixel camera has a flash and uses a mechanical shutter instead of an electronic one, to deliver better-quality images. Image quality was impressive, and it can also shoot high definition video.

Even better, there is a mini-HDMI connector so you can play the footage back easily on a big-screen TV with an HDMI socket. This also worked well in conjunction with the N8’s excellent iPlayer program which downloads BBC shows quickly and plays them back in pristine quality on the handset, and in watchable quality on a full-size TV.

The HDMI cable is supplied, as is a micro USB cable for charging and connecting to a PC to synchronise calendars, contacts and more.

The N8 will be too chunky for some, and compared with Apple and Android phones there is a disappointingly small number of app downloads.

But there will be many who want a smartphone that combines powerful features with the ease of use for which Nokia is famous.

And on those terms, the N8 is hard to beat.