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.

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