25 November 2008

"Doing what’s right!"
Nokia N85 - The Review

So, after a month of heavy testing, I can finally share some deeper thoughts with our readers about Nokia N85, the latest addition to the Nseries multimedia computers.

What is the Nokia N85? The Nokia N85 is the official successor to the Nokia N81, a gaming and music centric smartphone that was released a year ago.

It was somewhat average smartphone with questionable design and hardware choices, but nevertheless was the first smartphone to bring the updated Ngage 2.0 platform.

The N85 seems to be the logical continuation of the N81, which means it's also positioned as a mass-market gaming and music device. Hoverer, after a full year behind, the expectation bar has been raised drastically, so will this phone still deliver?

The N85 cunningly manages to hide any evident shortcomings of its predecessor, and, moving ahead a little, does the job surprisingly well. But is it the next step in the Nseries evolution, or just another copycat device? Let's try finding answers to this and more in the next couple of paragraphs of my in depth review of the N85.

Design is a question of taste

At first glance, the obvious and much discussed about N81 design pattern is also clearly seen on this newest Nokia model. Nokia N85, similar to its predecessor, the N81, features a black plastic that covers not only the front panel, but also the keypad and music keys, while the rest of the phone’s plastic is covered in copper, which is at least an interesting approach after the usual black/sliver colour combinations.

While it may give the phone a certain futuristic touch, the glossy black plastic means the phone will be prone to a lot of fingerprint smudges, and that definitely makes a negative impact on the phone looks in good light conditions. It’s actually one of the very few negative points that stand out about the N85, and it may give the phone a much cheaper look and sour the user experience.

The backside is also completely made from the similarly glossy plastic, although fingerprints are less noticeable thanks to its colour and the stylish wave of patterns that ornament it.

In contrariety to the N81’s silver, the N85 sides are encompassed in copper colour, and I haven't experienced any tiny scratches like on the front panel. Luckily enough, the perimeter isn’t made from the same glossy material; instead it’s made from a mat plastic that increases the grip around the phone. The materials seem to be of decent quality, and like I mentioned, my only objections go to the glossy plastic, which is exploited by Nokia in too many phones lately.

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Overall, the design really can’t be described as classic, Nokia lately tries to push a certain style into their Nseries phones that might be too much for everyone’s taste. It’s not as bad as with the N81 of course, but I can already see quite a few people lured over to the Eseries by its more classic approach.

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Nseries slimed down

It's easy to spot Nokia tried to aim for a much slimmer and lighter looking phone. And they actually succeeded in doing that, as the N85 is only 16 mm thick in a closed position and 50 mm wide. While with 128 g it isn’t the lightest smartphone around, it is still less than it’s predecessor, but strangely enough, same as N95 8GB (considering the much bigger dimensions).

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The respectable weight however makes it up for a good balance in hand when holding it in an open position and banishes any thoughts about phone’s cheapness. At first glance, the rounded edges of the design give you the impression that the phone is a lot smaller that it really is. In a closed position it measures around 103 mm, being only 1 mm longer than the N81. It’s actually quite astonishing how Nokia managed to squeeze the same 2.6 inch display that of the N95 classic, it’s a fact one might easily overlook given the N85 compact size.

Making our way around

The front cover is totally flat, and the design seems to be coherent and solid at first glance. That impression is, however, a bit spoiled by the line under the ‘Nokia’ logo, that divides the screen protector from the menu key mate, and I can already see some dust assembling there.

The opening for the loudspeaker is located directly above the screen, while the ambient light sensor and 0.3 MP camera for video calls resides on the right side. Traditionally, the model number can also be found at the upper right corner. There’s nothing much to be said about these elements, except they doesn’t attract much attention and perfectly blend with the overall design of the phone.

Display to brag about

No questions asked here - the display is the definitive eye widening highlight of the N85. Thanks to the OLED technology, the picture the screen delivers is vivid and colourful (16 million colours as stated by Nokia), while the contrast of the black colour specifically is absolutely stunning. It may require some getting used to, but after the first seconds you wouldn’t want to look elsewhere.

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The brightness level it manages to deliver is also great. The QVGA resolution of 240x320 remains sadly the same, but really, having a higher pixel density wouldn’t hurt for a change. The display has grown to 2.6 inches compared to N81 2.4 inches, without compromising the phones rather small dimensions. The current resolution is still enough for the 2.6” screen, as the pixelation is less apparent than on the 2.8” screen of the N96.

It’s great to see videos in such saturated colours, that you could almost wish the screen was a bit bigger to ease the watching. The fonts used in the N85 are particularly easy to read, without giving away precious space on the screen. The readability in the sun is a different thing: at certain angles the display fades out completely, but otherwise the protective window, combined with automatically adjustable brightness levels, does a great job at preventing this.