I never thought there can be a smartphone, which will be so loved that its owners will not even think to change it to Nokia’s current “king” – the Lumia 800, or Apple’s most amazing iPhone 4S, or any other high-end smartphone. However, it came out that there is such a phone, and it’s Nokia’s famous N8.

The Nokia N8 was released on September 23, 2010, at the Nokia Online Store, and became available worldwide on 1 October, 2010. It became the best smartphone in Nokia’s history with record pre-order numbers (though the actual sales were more modest). But – guess what! Even after more than a year from its release, this particular model is still popular among general public. Why?

It seems that the answer lies in the fact that the Symbian OS is not dead at all (or at least it’s not as dead as it was originally thought). While the whole world is preoccupied now with Google and Apple competition battles, their platforms and phone reviews, Symbian continues to attract ordinary users with its simple but nice user navigation and use.

Take, for example, Ntutu Letseka, also known as the Mobile Bishop. Ntutu writes that he now owns several smartphones (among them are the Samsung Galaxy SII and the HTC Desire S), but his favorite device is still the Nokia N8. Ntutu writes that the secret is in the hardware of the phone, for while software can be theoretically improved, the hardware stays fixed.

It is not surprising therefore that while Ntutu can brag his other smartphones among his friends, for ordinary daily tasks he takes out from his pocket the good-old N8. While it is of course true that the N8’s Symbian^3 OS cannot in any way be compared to Android, iOS or even Windows Phone, the smartphone nevertheless possesses a secret weapon, which makes it absolutely unbeatable – its camera. The handset boasts a 12MB (!) sensor camera with Carl Zeiss and Xenon flash, so it can take high-quality images even in low light conditions.

Ntutu mentions another interesting psychological factor in favor of the N8 and its Symbian 3 OS. While there are so many Android and iOS apps available for download that can produce over time what Ntutu calls “the chronic app fatigue,” Symbian has just enough applications needed for every possible operation. I agree with Ntutu in this point, and I think that the Nokia N8 is definitely still there and there aren’t many devices built as nicely as the Nokia N8.