So what's different this second time around? As an update, Nokia's thrown in some cosmetic refurbishments and technological embellishments. On its own merit, one of our test group polled equated it to a biscuit tin with a dent in the middle. The horror. But what did he know of fine design? We said we liked its predecessor, and we say we still like this more exotic-sounding reincarnation. Though like the Sahara wind it's named after, the new 8800 blows both hot and cold.

Design

Given that the entire raison d'etre of the Sirocco 8800 is its design, Nokia has certainly acted like zealous desert warriors in getting the point across. Leaving no superlative unturned, and stopping just short of the proverbial last straw that broke the camel's back, the Sirocco is romanticized as "sensual by nature, intuitively beautiful by design", "created out of the inherent beauty and chaos of nature". The keypad "undulates like the glimmering dunes of the night desert". The "jewel-like navigation key shines like the brightest star in the darkest night". Cest L'amour? Oops, wrong series.

Pretty words aside, the Sirocco Edition is a mixed bag. Where the original arrived in a brushed steel casing and black plastic, the new 8800 is now reborn as shimmery "light and dark" twins. Nokia is hedging its bet on the latter being the more alluring sibling. And we figured we would, too. Until we had the black/dark in hand.

First off, its shiny surface is just as prone to face oils and finger smudges as the silver/white. Secondly, the sinuous design of the 8800 appears more distinct in the silver/white model than in the black/dark. Finally, remove the battery cover and you'll find the base beneath the black paint still stainless steel. Give or take some accidental knocks, and the paintwork could start to chip and show up.

Design-wise, the subtle changes, in our opinion, have provided slightly better ergonomics and improved styling. A signature depression in the lower half of the phone provides a thumb rest. The nudge piece with its left and right shortcut keys has been made more edgy. Oddly, two flaws that plagued the previous edition have been overlooked here.

There's still no way to pump up the volume while yakking with the phone closed, except to access the Nav pad. And as pointed out in the original, the keylock function serves no purpose since the keys are already hidden, if one might add, under a very heavy-duty slider. Speaking of which, Nokia's done little to muffle the loud clack that we complained about when the top lid slides home.

Inside, the keys have been given a slightly more angled and "undulating" treatment. However, this does little to improve on the chiclet-size keys. Texting remains a hit-and-miss affair, particularly if you have big digits or long nails or, worse, both. Take heed of the top edge of the Navi pad where the tight headroom can be nasty. We've had more frustrating miscues than there are swear words.

Features

Features-wise, much of the multimedia functions found on the original are here. So we won't repeat ourselves. However, Nokia has made concessions to the changing times. In place of the previous 0.5-megapixel sensor, it's now a decent 2-megapixel camera even if there's still no flashlight or autofocus. There are now both wired (in white) and Bluetooth headsets, and a stylishly fitted leather glove for the phone.

Disappointingly, for a premium phone, space is (ironically) at a premium. Nokia has again failed to address the lack of an expandable memory, which is a little less forgivable this time in light of the enhanced camera resolution. There's about 90MB of free storage onboard, which may or may not be sufficient, depending on your usage. Given a choice, we'd rather have expandable RAM to exclusive ringtones which, like the previous 8800, enlists the manifold talents of a New Age composer.

In this case, Brian Eno, better known as the father of modern ambient music, throws in some synthesized tunes, evoking what Nokia writes as "... a unique 'sonic texture' that is organic, calm and highly evolved". It's an acquired taste for those more accustomed to popular theme songs and pop charts, but fits in with the phone's exclusivity. There's no way to export this, though there's a delete button if you prefer the space for your own ringtones.

Being a creation of the dessert, the Sirocco's 262K-color scratch-resistant display is fortunately readable even under direct sunlight, with the onscreen text appearing crisp and vibrant.

Performance And Battery Life

A serious flaw in the first 8800 was the awfully short (600mAh) battery life . We're happy to report a welcomed improvement in the Sirocco's batteries to 700mAh. We threw everything we had at it for the two weeks we had with the handset. We had the Bluetooth connectivity on throughout, played the FM radio for hours, made a number of calls and text messages, transferred music files, played some games. The Sirocco chugged on for nearly three days, with the Power Saver feature turned on. Add to that the second included battery, and you have a phone with the stamina to keep going for five to six days.

Bluetooth connectivity was a whiz to use, from transferring music files to connecting to the Bluetooth headpiece. Pairing was fast, and there's a particularly nifty Temporary Visibility feature which, when activated, makes your Sirocco visible over a 2-minute window. This is great for paranoiac users who want to pair quickly with another device but who don't want to leave their phones wide open. The Sirocco also supports the A2DP profile, and we had no issues pairing the 8800 with a stereo Bluetooth headset for music playback.

The Sirocco, however, has two shortcomings here. When receiving a file, there is no indication or status bar to alert you, which ultimately leaves the phone vulnerable to Bluejacking. The other lies with its music playback. Over wired headset and Bluetooth headset, it's in mono. Over the stereo Bluetooth cans, it sounds mono.

We ran this through our Audio Arsonist on our test tracks, and the verdict came back that "vocals were hollow, the mids were irritably noisy with additional noise artifacts, and bass response was flat and lackluster". Of course, as long as audiophiles are aware that the Sirocco doesn't claim to be a music phone, one can almost live with the FM-quality playback. Just as well, as the Sirocco sports a 2.5mm headphone jack. We attempted retrofitting this with a 3.5mm converter hooked to our reference Sennheiser cans, but were greeted with silence.

Camera resolution is more than decent, but failure to add a photolight this second time around boggles our mind. You can forget about night shots unless there's external illumination. And perhaps in keeping with its minimalist exterior, you won't find any dedicated camera shutter on the casing. This means either setting up a shortcut key or delving into the menu to access the camera function. The camera records in JPEG and video clips in .3gp format, though the processing can be a bit laggy.

Reception was loud and clear whether through the Bluetooth headset or via the mobile piece, and the loudspeaker certainly lived up to the first part of its name. However, the Audio Enhancing function previously found in the first 8800, no longer exists. That said, there wasn't much need for improving speech clarity in noisy environments.

Conclusion

Whatever's said about the 8800 series, no one can deny that's it is one handsome-looking phone. At S$1,388 with a two-year plan, though, there's a lot of resistance towards buying a phone that costs the equivalent of two Motorola KRZRs. Still, for those for whom the Vertu is out of reach, the Sirocco may be a little less rich but no less generous with its premium care service which throws in priority repair and a two-year warranty.