Nokia N85 Review
Introduction
If you’re a Symbian fan most likely the Nokia N96 represents the best you can get. It is not without its flaws however, like the weak battery and the DVB-H tuner which is usable only in a few countries. The phone is very good but not perfect, and if you find yourself wanting just a bit more then the N85 may be the phone for you. It is the first of Nokia’s N-series equipped with a power-saving OLED display. In addition to helping the battery, it doesn’t fade away in direct sunlight and offers a brighter picture. It’s hard to figure out whose successor is the N85 by just looking at the company’s product line. It is supposed to be a lighter version of N96, but at the same time offers upgrades such as a better display and battery performance; it is almost as if the N85 is an updated version of the N95...
If you’re a Symbian fan most likely the Nokia N96 represents the best you can get. It is not without its flaws however, like the weak battery and the DVB-H tuner which is usable only in a few countries. The phone is very good but not perfect, and if you find yourself wanting just a bit more then the N85 may be the phone for you. It is the first of Nokia’s N-series equipped with a power-saving OLED display. In addition to helping the battery, it doesn’t fade away in direct sunlight and offers a brighter picture. It’s hard to figure out whose successor is the N85 by just looking at the company’s product line. It is supposed to be a lighter version of N96, but at the same time offers upgrades such as a better display and battery performance; it is almost as if the N85 is an updated version of the N95...
Design
The N85 reminds us of the N95/N96 – it’s a dual slider featuring four multimedia buttons which are revealed when the phone is open. The device carries the new ideas for the design of the N-series.
The back panel is in a cream-colored tone, while the front one is entirely black. N85 fits well in a hand no matter the mode you are using it in (portrait/landscape) and is perfectly balanced. In a pocket, the N85 feels slightly thick, but not large or heavy.
The N85 reminds us of the N95/N96 – it’s a dual slider featuring four multimedia buttons which are revealed when the phone is open. The device carries the new ideas for the design of the N-series.
The back panel is in a cream-colored tone, while the front one is entirely black. N85 fits well in a hand no matter the mode you are using it in (portrait/landscape) and is perfectly balanced. In a pocket, the N85 feels slightly thick, but not large or heavy.
You
can compare the Nokia N85 with many other phones using our size visualization tool
It is made entirely of plastic, which bends easily. The unpleasant feel of the slider also creates the impression for a cheap and fragile phone. Moreover, it’s hard to open, especially downwards. We weren’t very I It is made entirely of plastic, which bends easily. The unpleasant feel of the slider also creates the impression for a cheap and a nice phone. Moreover, it’s hard to open, especially downwards. We weren’t very impressed with the overall feel, after all this is a high-end Smartphone.
It is made entirely of plastic, which bends easily. The unpleasant feel of the slider also creates the impression for a cheap and fragile phone. Moreover, it’s hard to open, especially downwards. We weren’t very I It is made entirely of plastic, which bends easily. The unpleasant feel of the slider also creates the impression for a cheap and a nice phone. Moreover, it’s hard to open, especially downwards. We weren’t very impressed with the overall feel, after all this is a high-end Smartphone.
We
had great expectations for the OLED display, a key feature for the model. It
was clear from the start that the contrast is at a very high level and the
colors are realistic, as if the image is alive. All this is thanks to the
characteristics of the organic screens. In contrast to the TFT technology, the
image quality stays consistent when exposed to moderate sunlight. The true test
is when you try to read it in direct sunlight, when then you can clearly see
how the Iphones display gets the upper hand, and N85’s one is not
that easy to use. The keyboard can hardly be called stunning, but we enjoyed
it. It is much more user-friendly compared to the Samsung Innovas Text input isn’t exactly pleasurable, but
it’s acceptable for casual messaging. At first, the navigational buttons create
the impression that they are touching sensitive, but they are actually
clickable keys. The designers have come up with a strange solution for the SEND
and END keys’ they are simply two rubber lines, which are hard to hit
sometimes. Another interesting element is the Navi Wheel. It is a part of the
D-pad which responds to circular movements from your finger. This allows easy
scrolling like seen in N78 and N81. The feature is not sensitive enough and sometimes
interferes with operating the device. Luckily, it can be deactivated. On the
right of the navigational block we have the multimedia key, which opens the
Nokia Xpress Media menu. We’ll get to it later. The nice Breathing function
illuminates the 5-way navigational button and flashes every few seconds as if
breathing. This reminds us of the elegant Nokia 8600. On the right we have the volume rocker and
the locking slider, accompanied by the camera shutter. Talking about the
latter, we have to say that it’s somewhat confusing and we don’t always know
when we’ve reached the auto focus position and when we are all the way to the
end.
Interface
Themes
The N85 runs on Symbian S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2. We were nicely impressed by the transitions between the menus and the option to change their appearance by using different themes. This makes them a pleasure for the eye and gives a modern look to the otherwise boring S60 interface. The multimedia menu is the same as we’ve found on other Nokia such as the N96. It offers information for the track currently playing, latest photographs, video, N-Gage games available, current position defined by the GPS and the contacts. Nokia has also added the option not only for visual but for audio themes as well. This lets you change the entire sound scheme - ringtones, slider sound, etc.
Standby application
You can now choose whether or not to see the Standby application horizontally in the upper part of the screen or vertically on the left. We are familiar with the first mode from all previous models and it has six shortcuts as well, which you can change according to your needs. The second option however, shows four icons, which roll out when selected and offer additional choices.
Task manager
The Task manager is now accessible from the options of every menu and is also visualized horizontally. This allows for a few rows to be visible if you have several applications running and lets you stop them easily or switch between each of them.
Phone book
As we’ve covered in other S60 device reviews, we find an excellent phone book with multiple fields, and now with a large picture on an incoming call. When searching it makes no difference if you input first or last name for the system to look for since the results you get include them both also. When adding a new contact you are provided with the “basic” fields, but with the “Add Detail” function you have almost no restrictions on the number of fields and you can add a lot of phone numbers. We also like having the option for adding a given field several times, for example we are able to record the numbers of three phones all as mobile.
Organizer
There are no surprises in the organizer, and as you’d expect from a Smartphone it has all the bells and whistles. In the calendar you can add four types of notes (appointments, notes, anniversaries and tasks) and there is a field for time, alarm and others. You still have an unlimited number of alarms, notes, calculator, unit converter as well as a file browser.
Messaging:
From here, you can send an SMS, MMS or e-mails. Unfortunately, for the last ones you can only configure one mailbox. At least the settings for the more popular web mail servers (Google, Yahoo) are automatically filled in. You have a Message reader at your disposal, which is usually seen in the business class devices. For the visually impaired, or just the lazy, this application can be very handy. When activated, a female voice reads the entire contents of the message, including the name/number of the sender and the title.
Connectivity
The N85 is equipped with A2DP Bluetooth support and Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g) as most smart phones of this price range are. For quite some time the S60 web browser been one of the best. Although a few steps behind the touch screen leaders in user-friendliness, it is still very pleasant even for frequent use. Pages render correctly and are relatively easy to navigate through using either the d-pad or the optical mouse. Shortcuts, such as pressing 8 to activate the Panning mode, make the browser even easier to navigate. As found in newer S60 phones such as the Nokia N95 8GB, the browser is capable of handling Flash objects, though large Flash files caused it to choke at times. Most notably, this means that you’ll be able to watch YouTube videos.
5.0 Mega Pixel at the Back
The N85 is an all-in-one Smartphone, and so, we expected
Nokia to have paid close attention to the camera and the different
possibilities for image editing. We’ve known for a long time now that the Carl
Zeiss optics don’t necessarily guarantee good images, despite what Nokia’s
advertising may lead you to believe. However, we’re quite satisfied with the
quality of the images and issues we ran into are pretty standard Under
artificial lighting colors look somewhat cold, but in warm light, such as
sunlight, the pictures are topnotch. Unfortunately, if the room is softly lit,
most of the dark places go pixelized and the image loses a considerable part of
its overall quality. We’ve found the double LED flash isn’t good enough, mostly
because of the limited area that it’s able to light up – barely two meters.
It’s hard to understand why Nokia didn’t use a Xenon flash instead, seeing as
how it was used in the N82.
The start-up speed is average and is no match for the Motorola ZINE ZN5, but it’s at least as fast as Nokia’s older phones. This is a bit disappointing – we were hoping to see some progress in this aspect. The viewfinder loads in about 4 seconds and it takes additional 1 or 2 in order to focus in a brightly lit room. In case of soft lighting, focusing can last up to 6 seconds, which is too much and the moment could easily be missed. It’s the same story with saving an image– about 4 seconds. Keep in mind that we saw the same results with Samsung’s INNOV8, which has an 8MP sensor compared to the N85’s 5MP. The sad news is that there isn’t any improvement in the camera speed since N95 (with its newest software installed.) Strangely, while capturing videos, the phone interface is not good. That reflects on the videos and they freeze every few seconds or so. This is in direct contrast to the N96, which had phenomenal video quality.
Audio
The interface is quite simple, with a very nice overall design, though it’s not as pretty as the iPhone’s. We didn’t have any trouble with our test music, except for the fact that it managed to show only one of six album covers. The artist and song names were perfectly recognized, and it had no difficulties with sub-folders.
The start-up speed is average and is no match for the Motorola ZINE ZN5, but it’s at least as fast as Nokia’s older phones. This is a bit disappointing – we were hoping to see some progress in this aspect. The viewfinder loads in about 4 seconds and it takes additional 1 or 2 in order to focus in a brightly lit room. In case of soft lighting, focusing can last up to 6 seconds, which is too much and the moment could easily be missed. It’s the same story with saving an image– about 4 seconds. Keep in mind that we saw the same results with Samsung’s INNOV8, which has an 8MP sensor compared to the N85’s 5MP. The sad news is that there isn’t any improvement in the camera speed since N95 (with its newest software installed.) Strangely, while capturing videos, the phone interface is not good. That reflects on the videos and they freeze every few seconds or so. This is in direct contrast to the N96, which had phenomenal video quality.
Audio
The interface is quite simple, with a very nice overall design, though it’s not as pretty as the iPhone’s. We didn’t have any trouble with our test music, except for the fact that it managed to show only one of six album covers. The artist and song names were perfectly recognized, and it had no difficulties with sub-folders.
Sound quality
Sound quality is decent if you’re using some nice
headphones, the included ones are predictably subpar. Low and high frequencies
are far from pleasant, but are good enough for video playback. You can try
turning on the “stereo widening” in order to achieve better sound quality. The
stereo speakers are really loud and high-quality. We didn’t like the position
of the speakers when holding the phone in portrait mode; you’re actually
placing your hand on top of one of the speakers. It’s not a big deal, but
sometimes even such small details can spoil the overall impression of the
product.
FM Radio
Besides the standard FM radio with RDS, the N85 offers something a lot more interesting – a built-in FM transmitter. After you choose a band, the device starts transmitting any sound it makes. This way you can listen to music with your car radio, for example, without any additional accessories. However, the broadcast coverage is not wide enough and in order to deliver some decent quality you need to place the phone right next to the FM receiver. If you’re thinking of operating your own illegal radio station – forget it, it won’t work.
FM Radio
Besides the standard FM radio with RDS, the N85 offers something a lot more interesting – a built-in FM transmitter. After you choose a band, the device starts transmitting any sound it makes. This way you can listen to music with your car radio, for example, without any additional accessories. However, the broadcast coverage is not wide enough and in order to deliver some decent quality you need to place the phone right next to the FM receiver. If you’re thinking of operating your own illegal radio station – forget it, it won’t work.
Video
After enjoying some nice music capabilities, we hoped that we could experience some top quality video support, in order to take advantage of the OLED display! However, it was not meant to be. N85 is only able to play MP4 files with the H.263 codec, which are not good enough for today’s standards. This is totally unacceptable for a modern multimedia phone.
Software:
It was long ago that the integrated memory of a device could limit its possibilities for data storage. N85 comes with 73MB integrated memory, but the good news is that you’ll find an 8GB memory card. Most of the popular N-Gage games are stored on it. Every one of them can be easily installed as a demo, and afterwards you can choose three of them and order their full versions for free, using the codes provided in the kit. Some of the more interesting titles are Asphalt 3, Snakes Subsonic and Bounce.
When
it comes to the GPS software, it’s the well known Nokia Maps, which does a good
job, but we’d prefer Route66 (the INNOV8’s built-in GPS software). There are
four possible types of view – map, satellite images, 3D view and hybrid; the
last one combines the first two. In case of a cold start, and being inside,
we’d have to wait for about a minute and a half. Going outside reduced the time
needed for the satellites to be found to about a minute. When we restarted the
GPS software it took it only 8-10 seconds to reload, which is an outstanding
performance. Like any Nokia phone after N95, when the device succeeds in
“catching” the satellites, it manages quite well and rarely loses the signal.
Performance
It
may be an all-in-one multimedia device, but is the N85 still a good
phone? Fortunately, Nokia has not overlooked this all-important aspect.
The sound quality during a call is really high-level and we got the feeling
that we were communicating face to face. We were fascinated by the deepness of
the sound, and the side noises were almost unnoticeable. They could also hear
us loud and clear at the other end of the line, but without the same “Wow!”
effect. We all like smart phones, but sometimes they can be a real pain with
their constant lagging and crashing. The N85 did relatively well and in spite
of the active transitions, the phone had to spend some time “thinking” just a
few times, during the test. What left us with a bad taste in our mouth was that
the device didn’t respond adequately enough when we wanted to navigate through
the menus more quickly. You can experience this especially with the central
key.
The main reason for some to choose the N85 instead of its big rival N96 is the battery. With manufacturer ratings of 363 hours of stand-by time and 6.5 hours of talk the battery is almost twice as good as the N96. We’d imagine that for most people good battery life is it is more important than, let’s say a TV tuner.
The main reason for some to choose the N85 instead of its big rival N96 is the battery. With manufacturer ratings of 363 hours of stand-by time and 6.5 hours of talk the battery is almost twice as good as the N96. We’d imagine that for most people good battery life is it is more important than, let’s say a TV tuner.
The package includes
1) Nokia
N85
2) Hands
free extension with a remote control
3) Stereo
headphones
4) USB
cable
5) 8GB
micro SD card
6) Documentation
7) Codes
for ordering n-gage games
8) Software
CD
Merits
1) Magnificent image of the organic display
2) Loud and high-quality sound no matter whether you’re
talking or listening to music with the headphones
3) A good camera
Demerits
1) Its not offering anything new, besides the cool display
2) Its overall build quality doesn’t match its high price
3) The Navi wheel sensor is almost unusable
4) The camera shutter is not user-friendly
5) The captured videos freeze
Final Words
On the whole we are quite disappointed by the N85 due the total lack of new features. It’s not a bad phone, but there are no innovations compared to previous models. The OLED display is indeed good, unless it’s exposed to direct sunlight. The poor video support means you won’t be able to watch high-quality clips or even movies. In all other aspects the N85 isn’t innovative, but it’s just fine – a Smartphone with a nice browser, satisfying audio performance and camera. To us, current N95 owners have no reason to buy it. If you’re a loyal Nokia users, the N85 is a decent solution trading the N96’s DVB-H tuner for a better display and battery.
Specifications
General |
2G Network
|
GSM
850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
|
3G Network
|
HSDPA
900 / 1900 / 2100
|
|
HSDPA
850 / 1900 / 2100 - American version
|
||
Announced
|
2008,
August
|
|
Status
|
Available.
Released 2008, October
|
Body |
Dimensions
|
103
x 50 x 16 mm, 76 cc
|
Weight
|
128
g
|
Display |
Type
|
AMOLED,
16M colors
|
Size
|
240
x 320 pixels, 2.6 inches (~154 ppi pixel density)
|
|
-
Touch-sensitive Navi wheel
|
Sound |
Alert types
|
Vibration;
Downloadable polyphonic, monophonic, MP3 ringtones
|
Loudspeaker
|
Yes,
with stereo speakers
|
|
3.5mm jack
|
Yes,
check
quality
|
Memory |
Card slot
|
Micro
SD, up to 8GB, hot swap, 8GB card included, buy memory
|
Internal
|
74
MB
|
Data |
GPRS
|
Class
32
|
EDGE
|
Class
32
|
|
Speed
|
HSDPA,
3.6 Mbps
|
|
WLAN
|
Wi-Fi
802.11 b/g, UPnP & DLNA technology
|
|
Bluetooth
|
Yes,
v2.0 with A2DP
|
|
USB
|
Yes,
v2.0 micro USB
|
Camera |
Primary
|
5
MP, 2592x1944 pixels, Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, LED flash
|
Video
|
Yes,
VGA@30fps
|
|
Secondary
|
CIF
video call camera
|
Features |
OS
|
Symbian
OS 9.3, S60 rel. 3.2
|
CPU
|
369
MHz ARM 11
|
|
Sensors
|
Accelerometer
|
|
Messaging
|
SMS,
MMS, Email, Instant Messaging
|
|
Browser
|
WAP
2.0/xHTML, HTML, Adobe Flash Lite
|
|
Radio
|
Stereo
FM radio with RDS; FM transmitter; Visual radio
|
|
GPS
|
Yes,
with A-GPS support; Nokia Maps 2.0
|
|
Java
|
Yes,
MIDP 2.1
|
|
Colors
|
Copper,
Black
|
|
-
Dual slide design
- MP4/WMV/H.263/H.264 player - MP3/WAV/eAAC+/WMA player - Organizer - Document viewer (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF) - Voice dial/memo - Push to talk - TV-out - Predictive text input |
Battery |
Standard
battery, Li-Ion 1200 mAh (BL-5K)
|
|
Stand-by
|
Up
to 363 h (2G) / Up to 363 h (3G)
|
|
Talk time
|
Up
to 6 h 50 min (2G) / Up to 4 h 30 min (3G)
|
Misc |
SAR US
|
1.03
W/kg (head) 0.79 W/kg (body)
|
|
SAR EU
|
0.81
W/kg (head)
|
||
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