The Nokia N8 is one of the most solid devices built to date: with an anodized aluminum body that can take some beating and come back victorious and a gorilla glass screen that defeats scratches by nature, it's hard to find a reason why you would need, nay want, a screen protector or carrying case. However, I have come across a few pictures of tortured N8s with scratched bodies or screens and while I knew that it would take a lot of unfortunate events to get them to that state, I knew that I wanted the best class protection for my lovely orange N8. See, I'm a clumsy person, and it isn't a rare scenario for me to drop my phone because I was hand gesturing too much or carrying many items with it in one hand. So I turned to MobileFun whom I knew would have the best and most extensive catalog of Nokia N8 screen savers and cases.

Nokia N8 Martin Fields Screen Protector Review

I had previously reviewed the Martin Fields for my iPod Touch and came away highly impressed, so it didn't even take a second for me to realize that I'd want one of these for the N8. And I was right. The Martin Fields is easily one of the easiest protectors to apply. From the first go, I didn't have any bubbles and it was well aligned on my N8's screen. Unfortunately I received another N8 and decided to keep that one, so I had to remove the Martin Fields from the first one and reapply it to the second phone, and guess what? It was easy to do. I was dreading that step because it never worked for me before on other protector brands but this was a 1 minute process. Suffice it to say, I was impressed.

The Martin Fields is also crystal clear to a point you will forget it's there. It's also well cut to the exact dimensions of the N8 so it blends easily with the device, and it's thin and doesn't interfere at all with the touch experience on the capacitive display. Another nice addition is that it comes with a small protector piece cut perfectly for the N8's camera lens so you can avoid scratches on your camera as well.

My only grief with the Martin Fields is the same as I had with it on my iPod: it holds fingerprints and smudges. It's also a bit difficult to clean as a simple swipe will just spread the greasy residues over it, you will need some frantic swiping on a cloth to get it perfectly clean.

The Martin Fields screen protector for the N8 is available for �12.95 or €15.54 from MobileFun.

ToughGuard Shell For The Nokia N8 Review

The moment I opened the ToughGuard and put it on my N8, I had one thought in my mind: Ninjaaaaa! You can laugh at that, but ninja it is. The ToughGuard is made from black polycarbonate, a plastics material that truly deserves the "tough" moniker. It's not easily breakable but it bends slightly to absorb shocks more efficiently.

The ToughGuard comes in 2 pieces that cover the front and the back of the N8, and snap together on the 4 sides. It has openings for almost all functions of the N8.

On the front, the screen, front camera and light sensor, ear speaker and Menu button are all easily accessible.

My problem with it is that the case is about 2mm thick, which makes clicking the Menu more difficult. It's not a major issue, but you will have to learn to press the button with the tip of your thumb instead of getting your whole thumb on it.

On the sides, everything is still accessible: volume buttons, camera shutter, unlock switch, microUSB port, microSD and SIM card doors. The unlock switch suffers from the same problem as the Menu button explained above: you will have to use your nail to easily reach for the switch below the black shell and unlock the N8.

The lower side of the N8 is fully protected, only leaving a way to access the lanyard hole and 2mm charging port.

However, the top is fully open, allowing full access to the HDMI-out port, 3.5mm headset plug and power button.

On the back, the ToughGuard shell covers the camera bump but lets the camera lens free as well as its Xenon flash and the loudspeaker.

The only missing access on the TouchGuard is here: there is no opening for the second N8 microphone that resides on the lower side of the camera bump.

The ToughGuard is easy to snap on and remove, without being too loose to snap out by itself, it also provides total protection for the N8 while still giving access to almost everything (2nd microphone aside) you would want from the phone. The Xenon flash's power is unaltered with the cover on, the loudspeaker gets even better as it won't lie directly on the surface when the N8 is placed on a table for example, but is now slightly raised, avoiding the muffled sound.

The ToughGuard Shell for the N8 is available for �9.99 or €11.99 from MobileFun.

Conclusion

All in all, with this setup, I have a fool proof N8. I have dropped it a couple of times on asphalt, put it in the bag with keys and other gadgets, and the N8 is still intact. There are some scratches on the Martin Fields and the ToughGuard, but seeing them there makes me thank goodness they're not on the N8. But if none of these pick your fancy, you can have a look at the other MobileFun Nokia N8 cases and screen protectors.

What about you? Do you own a Nokia N8? Have you decided to get some protection for it, or have you decided to use it as is because it is unbeatable?

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