Ye Giant Nokia N85 Review
After about a month of using the Nokia N85, I’ve grown to have a love/hate relationship with the device.
While there are some things that are definitely, very impressive about the Nokia N85, such as its gorgeous OLED screen and a feature like USB charging which is so very appreciated by me, there are some tiny niggling issues that annoyed me a bit.
What am I talking about ? Read on to know.
The Nokia N85 was announced together with the Nokia N79 and (with the re-announcement of) the Nokia N96. People were looking at the Nokia N96, it being the new flagship device and all, with the Nokia N85 slowly squeezing into the spotlight thanks to its new first-time-on-a-Nokia-Device OLED screen and USB charging features.
Slowly but surely though, the N85 did manage to completely steal the spotlight away from the Nokia N96 and many consider it to be the true successor to the Nokia N95. The N85 had everything the N95 had, and more. It has a dual LED flash compared to the single LED on the N95, with the same trusted 5 Megapixel Carl Zeiss lens. We’ve already talked about its OLED screen and USB charging. It also ships with an 8GB microSD card and has longer/better battery life than the N96 or N95.
Going on with the N85 specs. I’d list them all out, but the phone has so many darn awesome features, that it’d be one long list.
A couple of the main features are :
* 2.6″ 16M-color OLED display at QVGA resolution
* 5 megapixel autofocus camera with dual-LED flash
* Camera lens cover
* Symbian OS 9.3 with S60 3.2 UI
* 3G with HSDPA, Quad-band GSM support
* Wi-Fi with UPnP technology
* Built-in GPS with A-GPS functionality and 3 months of free voice-guided navigation
* FM transmitter
* Dual slide design with dedicated gaming/audio keys
* microSD card slot with microSDHC support and 8GB memory card included in the retail package
* Built-in accelerometer for UI auto-rotation
* 3.5 mm audio jack with TV out
* Stereo FM Radio with RDS
* Navi wheel navigation
* VGA video recording at 30fps
* USB connectivity and charging and Bluetooth v2.0
* One free N-gage game
* Keylock slider switch
Egads thats a handful isnt it ? For the full list of specs, do check out the Nokia N85 product page on Nokia.com.
The Nokia N85 measures about 103 x 50 x 16mm, which means its pretty compact by today’s smartphone standards and wont occupy all the room in your pocket, like the behemoth of a device that was the N96.
And now for a couple pictures.
Front view :-
You’ll notice that once again, the N81-esque looks of the N-Series slider line continues here, but it isnt a blatant ripoff of the N81 design like the N96 was. It looks more refined and simplistic, and overall improved. The glossy surface is still a fingerprint magnet though. I had to wipe the device numerous times while taking pictures of it for this review.
Slide closed :
Here you’ll notice the OLED screen (which we’ll go into more detail later in the review), and the simplistic look of just the green calling button, the red call-end button and the Navi-wheel-supported D-pad and multimedia key.
However when using the device, the whole cluster lights up to reveal the left and right selection key, along with the Menu and “C” delete key.
The problem I had with the N85 lies mainly in this area though. The keys which light up, are way too hard to press, unbelievably so. A friend of mine was checking out my device and arrived at the same opinion. The green call button, multimedia key and red call end buttons are fine though. This would be fine by me normally, but in areas such as texting, when you need to use the “C” delete key multiple times, it does get a little frustrating.
The D-pad though is pretty much fine, and supports the ipod-ish Nokia Navi-wheel feature. The Navi-wheel experience however, leaves alot of room for improvement. I personally, turned it off as soon as I got the device, because to be honest, I found it quite unnecessary since its supported in some places on the device, like the gallery and not in other places, which makes the “Navi-wheel” experience feel broken and not seamless at all.
Also, another problem I faced, is the plastic in the lower side of the top slider, seems to be coming off. Not great for a one month old device.
Also, the Top slider wobbles unusually much for a one month old device, esspecially when the slider is open.
Slide Open :
Here’s the Numeric keypad of the Nokia N85. The keypad actually was fine, and the rows are distinguishable. There are no column markings to distinguish between keys on a row however, but its still pretty okay. Its leagues better than the Numeric keypad on the N96, and after getting used to it, I was able to crank out as many Words per minute on the N85 as my trusty ol’Nokia N82.
Slider Open in Landscape mode :
Here we can see the Media keys on the other end of the dual slider. These function as fast forward, play/pause, stop and rewind in most cases such as Music/Video, and in N-gage games they function as Game button A and Game button B.
They’re also used to zoom in/out of pictures in gallery/photo view.
The media keys are smaller than the ones on the N96, but they’re distinguished from each other by a small marking, and have very good feedback. In most cases you would have no problem with them at all.
Back view :
Here we see the 5 Megapixel Carl Zeiss lens, with a lens cover (thank Jebus!), the dual LED flash and the Nokia N-Series branded back panel which holds the battery and sim card.
Top view :
Here we see the MicroUSB port which is used for connectivity as well as for charging the Nokia N85. The device has no standard Nokia charging port and charges by USB port only, and hence comes with a Nokia USB charger (Another first for Nokia I believe). While this is great for someone who tethers his phone to his pc as much as I do, this ultimately makes your Nokia charger attachments useless so if you have a standard Nokia car charger, you wont be able to use it with this.
We also see the standard 3.5mm Audio Jack, and the power button, with a space for lanyard cable to be attached at the very end.
Bottom view :
There’s nothing to see here. Very plain and minimalistic, in a good way.
Left and Right view :
The left side of the device is very simplistic, housing only the MicroSD slot with a cover for it to make it look more tidy. Well done Nokia.
The right side of the device has the 2 stereo loudspeakers on either side. There’s the dedicated camera key and the volume/zoom keys also. Standard N-Series affair nowadays.
The Battery :
The N85 has the standard Nokia phone method of removing the battery cover. Just push the button on the lower end and lift the panel upwards, and its off.
The N85 has the BL-5K battery with a capacity of 1200 mAh. In our real-world tests, The N85 easily got me through a day and a half on one charge, under moderate use of Wifi, GPS, Camera, GPRS and Calls/Texting.
When left alone the device easily goes about four days, but then again, its only if you leave it alone and not use any of its functions.
The Box :
Standard Nokia N-series box, but the smallest I’ve come across.
When you open it, unlike most Nokia phones, you get a blank cardboard which you open up to find the device.
And I know I’ll sound like a total Treehugger now, but I’m glad that Nokia Recycles and proudly says so in the box.
For more info on the box and contents, you can check out our N85 Unboxing video.
Included in the box :
Included in the retail package is the 8GB microSD card, and the handsfree headset.
You also get a TV-out cable along with the usb data cable, as well as the USB charger.You also get a couple brochures depending on your region, and finally a DVD with Nokia PC Suite and other software for your device.
Firmware :
The N85 in this review is version 11.047 which is the latest available for the N85 at the time this article was published.
The Camera :
The main camera is basically the same 5 Megapixel Auto-Focus Carl Zeiss lens as the N95 and N96. Its coupled with a Dual LED flash (which is unfortunate because it isnt anywhere as good as a xenon flash). I am, however, very glad that Nokia chose to let the N85 have a camera lens protector. Really, it should be standard by now, and is just another reason not to buy the N96.
The Auto-focus is light assisted and uses the Dual LED to focus the camera. To take a picture, you have to press the dedicated camera button. You have to half press it to focus and then fully depress the button to capture a picture.
One odd problem that I had with the N85 is that the camera knob is a little weird. Mind you, its nowhere as horrible as the one on the N96 but its hard to find the point in the shutter key, between when the phone focuses, and when it takes the picture. In many cases I ended up focusing and snapping a picture, when I was merely trying to focus on the object first. You get used to it though, but its just an odd thing, not a major problem at all.
Video recording is also present at a nice 30fps at VGA resolution. Nokia calls it “Dvd-like recording“.
The interface is the same as the N95 Variants and most N-Series today, and camera startup is pretty fast.
The interface has actually been improved here, where you can add your own shortcuts to the camera UI bar.
I’m also happy to see a “Go to Photos” option.
There are several mode selections and other options to tinker with such as iso settings, self timer, red eye reduction, sharpness, macro, etc.
Also present is GPS location tagging. With this feature, your photos are automatically geo-tagged with your location co-ordinates. Later you can upload it to a compatible service such as Flickr or Share on Ovi and you can see, on a map, where the picture was taken.
The front facing camera is a lowly VGA camera, but serves to make 3G Video Calls only, so it does its job pretty well.
You definitely wont be using it a lot otherwise.
The Screen :
Yes, the screen on the Nokia N85 is so good it deserves its own section in this review.
The N85 uses OLED or Organic-LED technology to power its screen. Basically in lames terms, instead of the whole screen cluster being lit up, only each individual led unit is lit, and once its lit, doesnt require any power to stay lit. What this means is, better power efficiency on a screen that has better contrast and colors than regular LED screens on mobile devices.
Here’s a couple pictures, from a previous post, to show you the N85’s screen compared to other N-Series Devices :
As you can see the N85’s screen has way better contrast and colors.
The drawback though, is that the screen is a little washed out under direct sunlight than regular phone screens, but its features more than make up for that.
The Symbian UI :
The N85 uses the Symbian OS 9.2 Feature Pack 2. In lamens terms its the same UI of the N95 but the next installment of it, with more features and more improvements.
The screen though, is still at QVGA resolution.
Feature pack 2 features screen menu transitions and a couple special effects here and there. Here’s a short video of the menu transitions on the N85 :
Photos and video are now handled separately.
Access Points can be assigned priorities, its way easier to find out what applications are running, etc.
We’ve covered this in detail before in our N96 review, so we wont go into detail again here.
The Active Standby Screen :
At first glance, the N85’s standby screen is pretty much the same as the N95. You have your six standby shortcut icons on the top, search plugin, the calender plugin ,the Wifi scanning plugin and a Share Online plugin :
But new in Feature pack 2 is the fact that you can also tile your standby icons vertically.
While I used to hate this mode on the N96, I’ve grown to really love it. It looks leagues better, and makes the screen look less cluttered than the horizontal standby icons look.
As is usual in S60, you can also assign 2 applications to the left and right selection keys respectively.
Sadly, the N85 doesnt allow you to choose which standby plugins to show. Its either you have them all displayed or none at all.
There is also no “switch” feature. Both of these can be found on the Nokia E71 I reviewed earlier, which is an older OS version.
The Menu :
The menu of the N85 is pretty much the basic N-series icons and menu style. You can also install themes to change the look of it. Its feature pack 2 so like I said above, there are some “pretty” transitions when you go from folder to folder. You can also change the menu arrangement style. One particular default theme in the device called “Haze” seemed to have a lot more menu effects than other themes though.
The N96 also has an accelerometer and supports screen-rotation.
Portrait mode :
Landscape mode :
Internet browsing :
The N85 is pretty good at browsing. You can load most websites with no problem at all. There’s also Flash Lite 3 onboard which means you can view youtube and other videos online with no hassle.
The N85 supports 3G, Edge, GPRS and WiFi so you’ll rarely have a moment where you dont have to way to connect to the world wide web. Connected through Wifi is very simple and just requires a couple of keypresses thanks to the WiFi scanning plugin on the homescreen.
Like most N-series phones these days, the N85 does support Internet Telephony (but not out of the box like my N95-1 did). You’ll have to install Fring or Gizmo to “unlock” that feature. It works fine once that happens though.
Messaging :
Messaging on the N85 is pretty much your average experience.
The numeric keypad has good feedback and has distinctions between the rows of keys. There are no column distinctions though, but you’ll get used to it pretty fast.
As I mentioned earlier, I did have a problem with the “C” key being way too hard to press though.
The Calender :
Basic N-series calender. Nowhere as good as the one on the E71 I reviewed though.
Search :
The Search application is pretty much the same as other devices :
GPS :
The N85’s GPS works just as good as the N95’s. Even better because you dont have to open the slider to use it. However, lock-on time did take significantly longer than with the N96 or N82.
You can use the built-in Nokia Maps application to navigate(at a fee) or see where you are among other operations. You can also install a variety of other applications such as Google Maps, which uses the built-in GPS.
There’s also the “Landmarks” application which lists out the places you’ve saved in the Nokia Maps application.
Music :
There is nothing really “new” in the nokia music player experience here.
There is, however, the FM Transmitter feature which was first seen on the N79. This feature allows you to broadcast music from your phone, via fm radio, on a selected frequency. Hence, you can listen to your N85’s music via your car’s radio, or your house radio, etc.
Otherwise, its pretty much the same as other N-series phones. You’ll notice that unlike the N96, there are onscreen symbols to control music since the N85 doesnt have dedicated music/media keys on its top slider like the N96 does, while it does have 4 such keys in landscape slide open mode.
And with 8GB of microSD memory, you’ll have plenty of space to store those mp3s.
Audio formats supported include MP3, AAC, eAAC+ and WMA. M3U playlists are also detected.
I’d also like to add that the N85’s stereo loudspeakers are pretty darn loud. Just a tad quieter than the N96’s in my opinion.
N-gage :
The N85 supports Nokia’s N-gage Platform. The device ships with the N-gage application and a couple demo games, one of which you can activate (depending on your region and box contents).
The Media keys change from music to gaming keys on launching an N-Gage game.
I love that you can rotate the screen all the way around so you can use the N96 like a proper gaming device, with the Dpad in your left hand and the gaming keys in your right.
Office :
The N85 ships with Adobe PDF and an application called “QuickOffice” that lets you view word files or excel files etc. Its just the basic version though. If you wish to edit the aforementioned files, you’ll have to upgrade and buy the premium version of QuickOffice.
Apart from the above:
The N85 has basically all the same extras as the N95 when it comes to software. Its basically the same OS afterall. There’s the usual Voice-tag support and a bunch of basic stuff. There’s even “3-D Tones” which uses the N96’s stereo speakers to create a “3D effect” when your phone rings. It works pretty well because of the speaker placement.
There’s also RealPlayer, Flash 3 and IM support. Sadly, the N85 does not have Nokia LifeBlog, which has been discontinued.
As the N85 has Symbian as its OS, you literally have a whole bunch of applications and games out there, that you can install on your phone. There’s tons of freeware, and some commercial applications which you have to pay for. And even more coming up everyday. All this means, you can really make your phone “your own”. With applications that you want, to do things that help you.
There’s also Navi-wheel support on the N85. Like I said before, I did not really find this useful at all, but its more of a personal choice.
There’s also an for the breathing light (a pulsating light behind the Dpad).
Also new, is the slide handling option. This is ironically, pretty rare in N-Series sliders, although its a very useful option. So far I’ve only found it on the N81 and N85.
The Multimedia menu’s basically the same as on other N-Series phones these days.
The Conclusion :
The Nokia N85 takes almost everything that all the Nseries devices have delivered to date and puts it in a small compact package. While its new features arnt groundbreaking by any means, they are worthy enough to justify the device. You just have to see that gorgeous OLED screen up close in person. The N85’s also a lot cheaper than the N96, and does almost everything that the N96 does, sans the DVB-TV. The only problem seems to be with the build quality of the device. As we mentioned before, the Top casing seems to be coming off after just a month of use, and the slider wobbles quite a bit already. And I just cant get over how hard the buttons on the top slider are to press.
If you can get your hands on a good build quality N85, we’d definitely recommend it. It goes without saying that we’d totally recommend the N85 over the N96 or N95, and highlight it for anyone looking for an all-in-one S60 slider today.
Succeed the N95 ? The N85 does it well.
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