16 October 2008

10 Minutes with the Nokia N85 and N96!

Hy Guys! Well, today i decided to visit my favourite Electronics Store near me and like expected, they already had some Devices of the new Nokia "Flagships" N85 and Nokia N96 on Stock.

They was not allowed to give me one of each to took some better Pictures, so i just took them off the Shelves, grabbed out the Nokia E66 of my Pocket and just shot along...

The Nokia N96 was recently announced as the new Flagship Device. It was surprisingly light-weight when i took it in my Hands and wow, the first Touches gave my Face something like a "What were they thinking"-Look. I'm afraid to say, that the N96 felt even cheaper than the N81 8GB i recently trialed.

The Buttons on the D-Pad feel extremely cheap, does not give a good Feedback, sometimes they react on the slightest Touch, sometimes you have to push them twice in Order to make the Phone react.

The Navi-Key feels like you have to really aim your Finger and look twice until you get used to it. I don't know why Nokia made this Navi-Key a bit wider, it would be so much easier to use it. The Slider itself is wobbly like hell and that's out of the Box? It has too much Space in both, opened and closed Position, it actually feels like its breaking in a Second.

The Screen is a QVGA 2,8" Screen, which is a bit too much in my Opinion, you can see the Pixels on the Screen, which does not look good, compared to the 2,4" Screen on the E66. VGA is possible, so what's the Deal with those outdated Resolutions? The whole Device is in the glossy Black Finish, you can see on the Pictures, even with the E66's 3,2MP Cam, that it loves to collect Fingerprints like something. At least the Speakers sounded good, which are not on the straight Parts of the Device, but are located on the Corners, which looks and sounds good.

*click to enlarge

The Back covers the 5 MP Carl Zeiss Cam with the DUAL Led Flash, which does a good Job on Video Recording but still does poor Still Pictures, Xenon is very missed here. The Plastic Stand for the Camera feels also really cheap and i doubt this will live long, i think it's just a Matter of Time until it just breaks. I had only limited Time to play around with it, a lot of People wanted to play with it as well, but they just know it by the Name.

For me personally, the N96 is a clear No-Go, around 600 Euro for a Device that feels, looks and reacts cheap - i doubt this Phone will ever find the Way in my Hands again!

The Nokia N85, a recently announced "younger Brother" to the N95, a crossing between Nokia N81 and Nokia N95 has also found the Way in my Hands in the E-Store. It feels a bit slimmer than the other Phones, but unfortunately gives the same cheap Feel on first Look. The D-Pad is black in Standby Mode and when the Slider has just closed, only lights up when you hit a Button.

*click to enlarge

The Slider wobbles also, it seems Nokia has the Patent in presenting faulty Sliders out of the Box. The Navi-Key is a bit more raised, you can actually compare it to the N81's. The whole D-Pad feels better, much better than on N96. Isn't it strange? The more expensive the Phone, the crappier the Materials? (except of the 8800s) The Green and Red Call Keys are raised and feels like some Gum-like Material.

*click to enlarge

Does not feel bad, but they could be a bit wider though. The opposite Side of the Slider with the dedicated Music Keys - which do not light up completely when you slide the N85 up, just the Play and the Stop Key will show up - those Buttons will be used for Gaming as well, which is a great Idea. I was not able to actually play a Game, N-Gage was on it, but it seems no Game! Once you start the Music Player, the Next-/Previous Buttons also light up.

The Backside has also the "standard" 5 Megapixel Camera with Carl inside, DUAL Led, and in Contrast to the N96, the N85 has a Cam Cover as well! Sliding up the Cover fires up the Cam App, exactly how it should be. You know that i'm not a Friend of Dual LED Flashes, somehow Nokia just refuses to add a Xenon as Standard Feature on other Devices as well, not even on so called Flagship Devices.

The N85 - a glossy black N95 Copy for around 500 Euro, Fingerprints included!