War between N85 and N96

So what does N85 have over N96?
[points with a * means it is very important to me]

1. * a more affordable price tag -- difference of roughly 200 bucks.
2. * better screen: richer contrast
3. * better battery life
4. * better number pad
5. charges by usb
6. lens cover
7. better curves (fits in hand better and * slips in and out of trousers pocket better)
8. not as bad a fingerprint magnet
9. better call/end buttons
10. better volume buttons
11. * fewer bugs
12. sexier colour combination

And what does N96 have over N85?
1. better speakers
2. better video playback
3. has kickstand for watching video
4. * bigger screen
5. better multimedia buttons
6. has tv tuner
7. has microSD card slot and 16 gb drive (N85 has only microSD slot)

For me at least, N96 was never a choice i considered. However, i might think (a lot) about Innov8 though.

N85 review on Mobilearsenal

Bogdan of Mobilearsenal fame has done a masterful review of N85 at

http://mobilearsenal.com/review/nokia_n85_the_hidden_top_model/introduction.html .

As per his other reviews, this one is right on the money and amazingly up-to-date (much faster than GSMarena and Phonearena these days). Do check out his reviews on Nokia N79 , Samsung Innov8 and Omnia too!

N85 -- which are the N*% things about it?

Now that the dust has settle on the hoohah about N85 and its AMOLED screen etc (justifiably so, i should add), what are its area for improvement?

Do email me your thoughts. Meanwhile, here are my suggestions:

1. A cover for the microusb slot.

2. A less stiff D-pad ala E90's.

3. Segmented numberpad instead of one flat piece.

4. A bigger screen and better sunlight legibility.
Clearly there is lots of unused screen area, namely, where the logo N85 sits (top) and where the Nokia logo is (bottom). Also, it's been a while since i had a Nokia phone that has such poor (but not bad) legibility under sunlight. Wonder how the new oled Samsung i770 will turn out.

5. A softer * and # key. i find them particularly hard to depress compared to the other keys.

6. A more responsive Power key.

7. The Menu key (bottom left) ought to be slightly higher.

8. The eyelet for the lanyard ought to be on the right side since most users are right handed. (all right, this is highly debatable)

9. The keys on the top slide ought to have better tactile feedback and more defined delineation. I must submit that it is pretty tough to do this as the N85 is pretty narrow breadth.

10. Aesthetics aside, maybe the bottom speaker ought to be located at the base of the phone and not the right side to prevent the sound from being blocked when the phone is held.

N85 -- programs i can't live without on it

If only i could work in Nokia and dictate the programs that they must install on their phones. Till then, allow me to list the programs which are absolutely essential:

1. Tracker. This is my ultimate 'homescreen' utility. The customisation possibilities are tremendous and all the things that i need (applications, bookmarks, documents) are at my finger tips.

2. MoneyManager2. With all due respect to Handy Expense and its suite of programs, i really do not need something that complicated. I just need a finance program that allows me to key in the amount of money that i have spent, categorise as necessary, show how much i have spent for the month (and when the next month starts, just move on to a new month).

*** plus, it does not insist on being used on only ONE IMEI; as i move from N95 to N95 8gb to E90 to N82 to N85, i stay faithful to this program *** This program is large unheralded but Highly Recommended. 

3. Opera Mini. No introduction needed, it's simply the best mobile browser.

4. Font Magnifier. With S60 FP2, there are more options than before to adjust font sizes in messages and menu. But it's just not enough -- i like all the font sizes to be customisable; i want to be able to change font sizes by even 1% and not just 'small, medium, large'. Font magnifier allows me to do it. 

Caveat: it is not compatible with Opera Mini which crashes...so it's kinda catch-22 for me now. And according to their response to my query, they do not intend to do anything about this problem at this point in time.

5. Dr Jukka's Y-browser. Excellent file manager with lots of options. Unfortunately it cannot access Nokia's private directory which means i cannot alter the Notes.

6. MSN. no explanation needed.

7. Wldsets. Nuggest size piece of info, quick to load too.

8. Screenshot.

9. Dedit. Free editor

10. MobiOffice. Cheaper than Quickoffice and somehow seems better to me.

11. Calculator. This is the more advanced version from Nokialabs...similar to the S40 version i think. How i wish S60 could implement the good features of S40 e.g. the 'copy to calendar' function when one reads an sms.

12. DivX player. Nokia's native player is still too limiting. Coming from Omnia and resisting the urge to buy Innov8, the DivX player is my stopgap measure. One more thing, it is MUCH louder than Nokia's native video player too.

13. Google Maps.

Sony Ericsson G700 quick review

Good Points

- touchscreen + numberpad : potent combination

- pretty good battery life

- comes equipped with QuickOffice

Bad Points

- screen is too small

- ridiculous  battery cover

- slow internet speed

N85 review

[Will be doing this review in parts...and will be adding pictures soon...busy at work...paiseh

btw can someone pls teach me how to take good pictures of mobile phone screens?]

n85 IN BRIEF
*******bad points**********

• finger print magnet,
• average visibility under sunlight,
• may not be compatible with some existing software (eg nokia labs' Conversation),
• slider feels a bit wobbly at times (in the closed position) but nothing too bothersome,
• Quickoffice is read-only (missing my E90 and G700 already),

• flash can be stronger -- but definitely brighter than N95.
  
  **********very good points**********
• outstanding battery life (i left the internet connection on for almost 12 hours but when i tried to charge it the next day,
  the hp says battery full),
• beautiful screen,
• pretty fast camera,
• fast interface,
• good volume as music player and phone,wonderful clarity and volume as a phone,good camera lens cover,
• charges by USB,
• audio jet is at the top of phone,
• pretty good stereo speakers (not as good as N95 though),
• separate keypad lock button,
• nicely designed side buttons,
• good battery cover latch,
• fast file transfer speed (unlike the stupid N95 8gb's -- which was the reason why i decided microSD makes more sense).
  
  **********other comments**********
• number and navigation pads surprisingly did not bother me,
• nice heft (ultralight phones feel really cheap),
• buttons do feel a little stiff (can't E90/N95),
• for the D-pad, the bottom side seems stiffer than the other 3 sides -- perhaps bcos that's the side that gets depressed most often.
  
  

Read on for a more detailed review.

Box contents

usb charger, usb cable, TV out cable, Music store voucher for 8 songs, 1 free Ngage game, 2-piece earphones, the usual CDs and manual, 8gb microSD card in the phone.

Construction

N85 does not feel light; in fact it feels a heavy. But the truth is the weight is only 120 g which is really very fine. Somehow the construction of the phone is such that the heft is mostly located in the centre of the phone which makes the phone feel heavy in hand when it is not so. The good side of this is it lends a reassuringly feel of quality to the phone as well as makes the user really secure in the fact that the phone will not slip out of the hand easily.

The curved lines of the phone makes it a joy to hold and behold. It also makes for convenience slipping into and removing from a pair of tight pants.

Sliding mechanism. One of my gripes about the N95 is the loose slide. This meant that when i remove the phone from my pants, it slides one way or the other. The N85 does not have this problem. The N85's slide is firm but not overly so. It must however be said that the slide of the multimedia side is a lot stiff than the number pad side. If any side should slide inadvertently or otherwise, i would prefer it be the number pad side since it is more often used. There is hardly any space between the top and bottom panels of the slider.

Horrific front plastic that leads to finger print galore - why can't Nokia use more of the matt plastic that they used for N95? Having said that, i have to say the plastic is of a better quality than that used for N96.

Back plastic is good.

Facing the phone, on your left side is the microSD slot with a cover. It is pretty secure but easily removed but falls short of the high standards of those by Sony Ericsson or Nokia's E90. That notwithstanding, the cover flushes perfectly with the side of the phone but with a subtle notch to allow the nail to easily pry it open.

On the right side are the volume keys, the keypad lock and the camera button. The volume keys are extremely comfortable to depress and they light up when required e.g. when the music player is switched on.

The keypad lock is very springy but it only locks the screen when push all the way to the extreme end. I think this is a smart move: easy to move key makes it easy to use but to prevent accidentally locking, it can only deliver its function when pushed to the extreme end.

The camera key is stiffer (but not overly so) than the previous 2 sets of keys. A judicious decision given potentially how easily the camera key can be activated by mistake when sliding the phone up or down.

The D-pad is a lot stiff than i would like ( i crave for the N95 or E90 ones) but definitely better to use than the mushy N82's. The lower part of the D-pad is a lot stiffer than the other 3 sides. This makes a lot of sense since of the time we tend to use the lower part of the D pad.

Regarding the number pad, it is acceptable. I am in no way crazy about it especially the # and * keys. The keypad is stiff; these two keys are too stiff for my liking but i am adjusting to them.

The rows are separated by plastic rows of a wholly different texture so it was quite easy to figure out the rows by touch. I have surprisingly few mistypes even though i usually type sms without looking at the keypad. I suppose the other reason is that there is a separate dome under each number of the keypad so really we are not moving the entire 'flat keypad' but just activating one dome each time.

The 'headroom' above the top row '1 2 3' is more than sufficient.

On the left and right of the navigation panel are the Call and End buttons. They are definitely better to use than they appear, as are the left and right selection keys. I had a problem with the menu key being located at the bottom of the top slider (since i have been used to the Menu key closer to the middle of the phone) but that was just a matter of getting used to. No biggie.

It's a really nice touch that the relevant keys only light up when they are in use. For example, the left, right, menu and cancel selection keys are only lit when the phone is active.

On the top are the microusb charging slot, the 3.5 mm audio jet and the power button. There is also an eyelet for the lanyard. I completely appreciate the location of these sockets and their location at the top of the phone. The power socket is conspicuously missing -- N95 charges via usb!

On the back is the battery cover and the camera. The battery cover latch is very very well constructed: a simple push at the end of the cover and the cover is easily lifted. Very easy to put it back too. This is much appreciated following my experience with Sony Ericsson's G700 where i had to use my NAILS to pry the cover open!

The camera has a slide to unveil the lens. The tightness of this sliding lens cover is of the right tightness. Beside the camera lens cover is a dual LED flash.

Boot-up Time

From the moment i pressed the power button (roughly just before the vibration) to the appearance of the home screen, it took 25 seconds. For it to detect my phone service provider, another 15 seconds. This to me is pretty fast -- anyone recall the eons that E90 takes to boot up?

Comparison with N95

1. The N95 uses much better material - matte plastic that is extremely comfortable in the hands. By contrast the fingerprint magnet plastic of N85 is quite a nightmare (though much better than N96's or even N81).

2. The side buttons of the N85 is superior in design to those of the N95. In the N85, every button looks like they belong to the entire phone -- similar colour, style, curves, tactility -- unlike on the N95 where certain parts look like some odd ball: silver speakers jutting out against the plum back cover?

3. Battery cover/Lens cover: easily N85 is better designed and asthetically more pleasant. I used to worry about the N95 battery cover's latch and 4 hooks breaking if i did not insert the cover properly or with too much force.

4. Design: N85 has a more cohesive and coherent design but it is a lot more feminine-looking than N95, with all those curves. :) On the other hand, this shade of black on N85 is not the most flattering; the colours of N95 are a lot more attractive.

5. Buttons: In terms of being functional, N95 buttons are better by a million miles in every way one can think of from backlight colours to feedback to ease of feeling without looking. The trade off? N95 navigation buttons are pretty ugly -- i have always thought they look like some confused ribbons with undulating slopes (don't ask me what that means).

6. Speakers: people are going to disagree with me all over the place but much prefer N95's speaker positions. I really dont buy the whole video-in-landscape hence speakers be moved to the right side tale. i like my speakers for music and i listen to my music holding the phone length-wise.

Screen

Outstanding screen quality. Colours are rich and saturated. The last time a screen impressed me this much was the iPhone. However, the iphone felt cold while the N85 feels warm.

Unlike previous screensavers from Nokia which dimmed over time (while showing time), the screen saver on N85 remained lit and was pristinely bright and clear.

User Interface

Phone/Voice Quality

Ringer volume is good as is voice volume and clarity, as expected of Nokia handsets. The N85 is probably second to N95 and 9300. The vibration can be stronger but nonetheless still fine.

One of the features that i enjoy is how the contact's picture is full screen when the call comes in but then decreases to 1/3 the screen size when the answer is being answered.

On my set, there seems to be a bug, when i allowed the phone to read contacts from both the SIM card and the phone memory, the phone periodically rebooted on its own. In fact, there was one night when it rebooted 20 times!

Music Quality

Video Quality

Camera

Not too sure if i see significant difference in quality of pictures between N85 and N95 but for sure the speed of focusing, saving and shot-to-shot is much better in N85. In fact, i think it is much better than N82. Impressively done, Nokia! The camera button is good -- neither too soft (SE G700) nor too firm (e.g. N82) nor too wobbly (E90). The lens cover is excellent too. The position of the camera module is also good, in that your hand is not likely to touch the lens while on the phone (assuming we had accidentally left the cover open). I had this problem while using the Samsung Omnia as the lens was situation too high up and too close to the volume rocker.

With regards to the gallery, it is disappointing that we cannot choose to zoom in/out from the menu anymore; instead we can only do it from the volume rocker keys and the # key (to reset to original viewing size).

If i am not mistaken, the gallery seems to have changed (sorry, i dont have any N series phones with me anymore -- gave my N95 away). I like this new gallery which gives the following categories: captured, months, albums, tag, downloads, all, share online. What is particularly attractive is the slow slideshow as your selection is over that category. After you have made your selection, the usual carousel gallery appears. No major changes there.

Applications

Samsung refuses to return my Omnia?

The following which happened to me does not seem to be an isolated incident; when i checked online regarding customer service of Samsung, it seems there have been other customers who were treated this way by Samsung.

I took my Samsung Omnia mobile phone to its Plaza Singapure Service Center last Saturday (9 Jul 08) for an upgrade and was told on that day that it would be ready for collection on Monday (11 Jul 08). The service personnnel said that Samsung would notify me via an sms.

By Wednesday, i still did not receive the sms hence i gave the service center a call. I was assured that they would give me a status report by Wednesday or Thursday. This did not happen. As a result I sent an email. There was no response still.

On Saturday, i contacted the service center. They acknowledged receipt of my mobile phone (but unfortunately did not have the courtesy to at least reply me of their receipt of it) and said a status update would be given to me on the same day. Again, it did not happen. Today is Monday, and Samsung has held my thousand-dollar mobile phone for more than a week without a status update. And this is in spite of several phone calls and an email from me.

Can the relevant department from Samsung please explain how it could be this irresponsible to customers and what does it take for me to retrieve my mobile phone from Samsung and what Samsung intends to do to prevent such an irresponsible customer service from recurring?

omnia died while upgrading and the resurgence of n95

my omnia died while it was downloading the third file for an upgrade. it was lifeless -- no amount of prodding, battery reinsertion or pressing of the power button worked. resigned, i brought it to the samsung service center. after  a substantial amount of waiting, even though i was third in line, i was told it needed to be brought to resolve the problem + the upgrade. i agreed.

what i thought was really surprising was that the service staff actually did not know that software upgrades can be done online. but i digress. anyway , i was told that it would be ready for collection after three working days (and they work on weekends), but 5 days later, i still have not heard from samsung. disappointing. i sure wish their service standards were one of 'underpromise, overdeliver' like the way omnia did.

the 'loss' of omnia prompted me to look around of a replacement. a bit of backdrop: in the last year i go thru the following phones (at least the most prominent ones, in this order): 6120, N95, N95 8 gb, E90, 5310, N81, N82 then Omnia. N95 was a joy to use but i m not too crazy about sliders. crucially its battery life sucked.

after much research and evaluation, i realise that the Nokia N95 still has a huge following (unlike many other phones which just come and go). so i decided to sell my N82 and topped up $180 to get a brandnew N95. at first i was somewhat disappointed. i tot i had read that n95 now had auto screen rotation. turned out i was wrong -- only the 8gb version does. but to my delight, the battery life of n95 now is terrific. i could go thru a day of mild usage with still FULL BARS of power left -- reminiscent of E90. the buttons are terrific, voice clarity excellent and the speakers are outstanding too! 

now i m somewhat worried about getting a call from Samsung. i am ambivalent about using omnia; N95 is turning out to be really shiok to use.

Samsung Omnia i900 review

Just some of my random thoughts on my new Omnia. Will give more details later! Hope this helps those who have been thinking night and day about the Omnia (like i did before buying it!).

Omnia – Pros

1. Sms – threaded sms (conversation). no longer to filter thru a  long list of earlier sms to get a clear picture of the sms conversation! there are problems though...see cons.
   
2. Expandable memory and large hard drive - there is a choice of 8gb or 16 gb hard drive and the sd slot is able to read up to 16 or perhaps even 32 gb cards. currently mine is a 8gb card with a 16 gb hard drive.
   
3. Charging by usb port   -- anytime better than the stubborn Nokia which refuses to implement this feature. It is not like mobile phone batteries last several days in this day and age, so any and every opportunity to replenish battery juice is much appreciated.
   
4. Touchpad for confirmation - this is the square pad between the phone keys. it can be used as a mouse when you move your fingers over or as a confirmation button when depressed. nice touch from samsung!
   
5. Touch screen is locked when calls are connected - to activate any options on the phone, u will need to press the touchpad. ingenious! 
   
6. Display of pictures surprisingly sharp - this feature often confuses my friends. they think it is the camera which is fantastic (which is not completely untrue) but actually it is the screen that is sharp.
   
7. Lots of ram -- much appreciated given the windows os. but how i wish the os is symbian, which is so much more efficient with memory assignment.
   
8. Legible under sunlight -- by no means great (ie it is nowhere close to nokia e90 or n95 8gb) but hey at least i can work on sms and email while walking on the sunny streets. ever so often i am reminded of why i had to ditch htc touch dual even it is my fave phone ever (i love touch screen+phonepad).
   
9. Today Screen -- samsung gives us a two of its customised options: Today Screen 2 and the Widget screen. but to be honest, i decided to use the good old windows home screen with spb pocket plus 4 installed on it as this combination makes for good ease of use.
10.     
11. Widget screen
12. 
    
13. Torch -- too bad the phone does not have double LED flash!
    
14. Relatively fast, responsive screen and thumb friendly-- after all the processor is 624 mHz.  but not all screens are thumbable; everytime windows rears its ugly head, it is time to resort to finger nails to select accurately.
    
15. Haptic feedback which can be deactivated and strength can be adjusted
    
16. Does not hang (much; usually because of my indiscriminate installation of programs)
    
17. Numerous programs -- digital frame, google launcher, messenger, podcasts, rss reader, search, shozu, smart converter, streaming player, tv out viewer, task switcher, touch player, video editor, windows media player ( i do have problems using some of them)
    
18. Good 5mpix camera (but not as good as N82) with lots of options
    
19. QWERTY keyboard good with landscape format
    
20. Accelerometer is sensitive and level of sensitivity can be adjusted
    
21. Very fast internet speeds -- a combination of the 7.2 mbps transfer speed + opera mobile; much faster than i ever connected using nokia phones
    
22. Trackpad mouse -- user friendly and we have a choice of using the mouse or as a trackpad
    
23. Slim and sleek, minimalist styling
    
24. No limit to number of alarms
    
25. Opera mobile is ok -- although i prefer opera mini
    
26. Program list highly thumbable and scrollable and can be edited with shortcuts
    
27. Samsung virtual keypad is good
    
28. Phone and videophone fast; predictive number 
    
29. Self adjusting backlighting
    
30. Has tv out
    
31. Widgets -- fun and responsive
    
32. Thumbable slide show -- but nothing as fanciful as htc touch phones. good response to movements of the fingers though
    
33. Relatively good battery life -- strangely it was better when i first bought the phone. these days it seems to drain much faster than before, especially when i am surfing the net
    
34. Large 3.2 inch screen -- the screen is a joy. reading webpages has never been this comfortable!
    
35. Flat back -- you only appreciate the stability of a flat back when u try to key in information with the phone flat on a table. With the touch diamond and the new iphone, they are wobbly.
    
36. Has wifi, gps, volume rocker
    
37. Camera has autofocus and lots of settings; shot to shot speed is good!
    
38. Good earphones; with adaptor to 3.5mm
    
39. Divx playback excellent
    
40. Music Player -- sound is good but the player can be much better. Playlist creation not very intuitive
41. Speed is good; memory never seems to run out
    
42. Microsoft office and pdf - office documents can be edited. even OneNote is included.
    
43. Good volume and sound on phone -- as good as my previous nokia phones...except 9300.
    
44. Fast to use google maps
    
45. Quality materials used -- i love the metallic curves and the (?) carbon back cover
46. single press of camera button launches slideshow; longer press launches the camera (configurable)

Omnia – Cons

1. Windows interface (which results in the rest of the complaints) is sucky and not suitable for thumb use.
   
2. Sms – threaded but cant delete individual sms; lines can be obscured when keypad in use
   
3. No profiles
   
4. Some programs do not work – msn, rss reader
   
5. Same port for charging, earphones
   
6. No 3.5mm earphonejet
   
7. Does not detect phone/network settings quickly
   
8. Phone book scrolling is slow
   
9. Power button is level with phone – hard to depress
   
10. Bluetooth settings can be confusing
    
11. Widgets cant be personalized
    
12. No slot for stylus
    
13. Sd card not hotswappable
    
14. Poor video recorder
    
15. Earphones are not comfortable (or maybe i just do not know how to wear them)
    
16. Some sites don’t load properly – slate, gsm hangs, M1.
    
17. lacks flash 3.0 support (i think)
18. camera shutter sound cannot be deactivated
19. volume rocker ought to be higher.