I’ve been carrying the Nokia N81 8 GB phone in my pocket for several days now and this much is certain: it’s an awful lot sweeter than its predecessors, for the most part. Everything about it is better–the form factor, the color, the display, the keypad, the whole nine yards.

The N81 8GB, as the name would indicate, offers 8 GB of internal solid state storage, putting it on par with an iPhone or solid-state iPod as far as media storage. With built-in Realplayer software and integrated music browser and player, the N81 8GB makes an ideal media instrument. If you’ve been thinking about combining your music player and phone into a single device, now might be the time. The N81 even has stereo speakers in the enclosure (as does most of the N-Series), allowing you to monitor the media player without the need for headphones. And of course, if you need headphones, Nokia provides earbuds in the box.

There’s a lot to love about this device. It feels better than the other phones in the N-Series that I’ve tried–especially the N73. I’ve noticed that with some of these phones, it’s hard to know where to place the phone against your ear when you begin a phone conversation, and you sort of had to move the earpiece around on your ear until you hit the sweet spot. Not so with the N81 8GB–it just feels right.

The N81 8GB offers a 2 megapixel digital camera with flash, though the lens cover (which is clear plastic) doesn’t offer a protective, closeable cover, as on some of the other N-Series phones. Over time, I suppose this could lead to scratches that might make the camera less effective. But then again, if you really need a great camera, you’d be better off with Nokia’s flagship N95, which has 5 megapixel imaging and a Weiss lens to boot.

Gamers will enjoy the N81 8GB, as it comes with three pretty nifty demo games and access to Nokia’s N-Gage gaming platform. The three demos include a 3D soccer game and a fabulous-looking side-scrolling space shooter (which is impossible on the scale of an old Psygnosis game and visually reminiscent of one as well). Though I struggled with the controls for these games, I suspect that’s because I’m not very good at video games and not any fault of the device itself. On either side of the earpiece is a cradle-rocking button bar that lights up when game mode is active and more or less disappeared at other times. Pretty nifty.

As with some of the N-Series phones, built-in GPS allows you to interact with Nokia’s superb mapping/tracking program, though I’ve not had occassion to putz with it yet. There are a few other goodies as well: finally, a good calculator program, for one. And a caller-facing camera lens for video calls and self-portraits. The call-quality on the N81 8GB is typically good and sounds identical to the N95 (the only Nokia phone on which I’ve had any real issues with call quality is the N73).

Casual users of the media features may be satisfied with the N81 8GB’s relative small display (though it’s at least as big as the new iPod Nanos), but I can’t see myself watching anything more than a 2-minute YouTube on the phone’s display, since it is rather small. Of course, if it were any bigger, the phone would be a hooptie. Size versus functionality is a big gamble for the phone makers, and the N81 8GB strikes a very good balance.

The phone’s user interface is quite snappy. It has an updated look with more depth than previous N-Series devices. The only time this phone has responded slowly was while navigating SMS messages, but, again, that could be a Ted thing. I have like 2000 text messages in my inbox and I never bother deleting anything. (Though the N81 8GB does make it a little too easy to delete stuff–the Clear button is in the spot where the hangup button is on all the other N-Series phones.)
As usual with the N-Series, I’m glad Nokia has kept the charger receptacle the same size, as I can use the N81 8GB with my mobile charger, the same one that works on the other N-Series phones I’ve tried. In addition, my 3G SIM card went right into the N81 8GB with no issues (though it was a little hard at first to locate the SIM card slot–they’ve cleverly hidden it away in a slide-out clip under the battery), and Nokia Transfer Wizard utility transferred my address book and calendar in about 5 minutes over Bluetooth from the previous phone I’d been using.

I suggest you give the N81 8GB a shot. If you need a phone that does it all–this might be it.