25 November 2008

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

The controls – no surprises here

Under the screen are located the main control keys, and the main reason for certain controversy about this phone. You see, the N81 was the first one to bring us the flat plastic pad, which covered the keys on the upper slide. The N85 follows the same guidelines, mind that it’s direct successor to the above phone, with all the outgoing pros and cons.

And to set things clear here, except the d-pad, there’re no touch sensitive keys on the N85, all the keys, despite their look, are mechanical. However this time around, Nokia fortunately decided to scrap the idea of having dedicated music keys crammed around the central d-pad. That resulted in a more convenient key layout and significantly improved their usability by larger spacing. But there isn’t a good thing without a bad one, as the questionable Navi-wheel is back on the N85.

It's basically a touch sensitive scroll key, which Nokia smartly names '' Navi wheel" and it serves as the d-pad at the same time. It gives the ability to scroll through your photos or music library for example, but it doesn't work even close as good as on the iPod models. Its functionality is actually very limited to only a few apps at the moment, but I hope Nokia changes that in the feature firmware updates. It works too inaccurate in most cases, while at times it was just a nuisance, reacting at the wrong moment, like when browsing in the menus. In the end, I just turned that feature off and hardly doubt I will ever miss it. The idea of having a touch sensitive scroll key is a novel idea, but the realization just isn't up to the level I would use frequently.

The large central ‘OK’ key is solid enough while easy to press, and it extrudes from the flat surface for an easy reach. No objections from me here. But, speaking about the d-pad itself, that’s not all. The Navi wheel functionality dictates a rather awkward, hard to press outer rim that is located around the perimeter of the central ‘OK’ key. On top of that, the stiff d-pad is also too thin for comfortable use, and having had a few miss presses with the central key, I started wondering if trading a better working D-pad for the Navi wheel was a smart idea at all.

So this is the second negative point that stands out for me about this phone, and, while not being a total catastrophe, it’s a good idea to try out the D-pad before buying the phone. As for myself, I actually got used to it over the time, until I was reminded again of the superior D-pad of the N95-1, when I got my hands on it for the later comparison tests. There's also a blue light indicator around the perimeter of the central key, and it lights up when the Navi wheel can be used. The so called ‘breathing’ function enables the indicator to pulse at an interval when the phone is on stand by, but it doesn’t serve for anything else than to show the phone is active. That’s certainly a pity as it could’ve been exploited some more, like notifying of any missed calls for example.

Like mentioned before, most of the main keys are hidden behind a flat plastic. They can only be seen when the backlight is active. This includes the two selection keys, the ‘c’ and menu keys. Note the absence of the pencil key, and some advanced users already reacted negatively on Nokia’s decision to remove it in their newest phones. That doesn’t mean it lost that functionality completely, and, while it’s repurposed on the ‘#’ key, it’s still a lot nicer to have a separate key for that function.

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I experienced no problems while using these keys, mainly thanks to their huge spacing, especially for the soft keys. Some may object the clear and menu keys are located too close to the edges, but at least it’s almost impossible to miss press them with other keys. I also heard complaints about insufficient feedback from the keys, and by some extend it certainly is true.

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Those flat keys usability wholly depends on the users taste, as they are obviously not meant for everyone, but in the end, it’s a question of getting used to (like the keypad on the N82). What I actually praise Nokia is for their decision to make the two call keys seemingly extruded, on the contrary to their flat counterparts on the N81. Otherwise I’m afraid they would be a complete failure! Also, these keys are made from a rubber like material, further increasing their usability.

There isn't much to be said about the multimedia key, the sliver rectangle near the red End key. It's big enough and just above the flat surface to actually press it without any big effort and it doesn't get in the way when pressing other keys. I only wish it wouldn’t be so cheap looking, but at least it doesn’t spoil the minimalistic look of the phone.

The numeric keypad works great

Luckily enough, there’s enough free space below the D-pad to put your finger on, to easily push the slider upwards. By pushing the slider up, the numeric keypad is revealed. Those keys are entirely flat, and, while not being very big, are surprisingly easy to use. The press feedback is good, and there’s a distinctive line between each row to ease the typing with the flat keys.

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Also surprisingly for such a small keypad, there’s also plenty of space left for the upper and lower row. Given I haven’t experienced these kind of keys before, I'm sure most of you will recover your previous typing skills in no time.

On the other slide

One of the main things that distinguish the N85 from it’s predecessor, is the addition of the dual slide mechanism. Moving the slider down, the multi-functional keys come into view. The word ‘multi’ isn’t there by a chance, as these four keys can carry out different tasks depending on situation, and it greatly extends the usability of the dual slide keys. It’s possible with what Nokia calls the ‘Intelligent key illumination’.

For example, in photo gallery only the two outer keys are lit, showing their appropriate functions, like zooming in/out. But the same keys in the music player can have back and forward function, now accompanied with the usual play/pause keys.

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The two middle keys also serve as dedicated gaming keys meant only for NGage, but I found them hard to use in most of the games. The keys itself are rather small and, like the numeric keypad, totally flat. It certainly does get in a way of usability, but, unlike the N95 classic, the keys have lines in between that sets them apart, similarly like on the numeric keypad.

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I already discussed about the dual slide mechanism a little in my preview, stating that it feels solid enough and has a noticeable spring assisted movement upwards, but a much forced movement when sliding the slider down. I haven’t changed my thoughts about the slider. It still works great despite the noticeably larger gap on the left side. Even after nearly a month of testing I haven’t found any scratches from the sliding mechanism, while the slider itself is as good as it was from the day one. For a change I can really say Nokia tried to improve their third realization of a dual slider phone. It still isn’t perfect of course, but the leap form the previous models can be felt, and that altogether is a good thing, don’t you think?