25 November 2008

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

The speakers are not so great

Let's move onto the right side. Both of the speakers can be found here, each at the opposite side, closely to the edges. This isn't actually a good thing, since Nokia’s promoted 3D sound is pretty much useless with this speaker configuration. And while this speaker configuration is handy in landscape mode, right handed persons will obscure the lower speaker grill when holdings the phone in the portrait mode.

Compared to the N95-1 speakers, the sound quality is a bit lower due to N85 speaker size and their bad placing. At highest volume, the N95 still manages to produce good enough sound, while the N85 starts to feel forced and static is more noticeable.

The volume keys on the same side is a welcome change after the joke we've seen in the N95 models, they are now bigger and easier to press, despite them being totally flat. I’m more than happy that Nokia finally addressed this problem, as this is a music centered device after all. These keys also serve as zoom in/zoom out for your picture gallery or built-in web browser, and can control the volume in the NGage games and the loudspeaker during conversations.

Right next to the volume keys on the right is located the handy key lock switch. It's a feature I got to appreciate fairly quickly, considering I always relied on the traditional key lock methods. It's nested exactly the place where the thumb should be, given your holding it in the right hand. This is an important difference, as on the N81 the switch was located on top of the phone, making the unlocking of the phone with only one hand an impossible task.

It’s actually so much easier to quickly lock the keys, without the need to slide open the phone or the help of any 3rd party soft. The switch basically works as a slide that jumps back in a fixed position after every use, no surprises here, although sliding the switch all the way to the end isn’t really required for it to work.

It’s big enough just to be easy to use, while accidental unlocking is rather unlikely to happen. Also, the switch seems to be sturdy enough for prolonged use, so hopefully users won’t encounter any problems here.

The camera key works well, despite it’s rather small dimensions. Focusing the camera happens effortlessly, and taking the shot doesn’t require pressing as deep as on the N95 8Gb for example.

*click to enlarge

Memory card inside

On the contrary, the left side is relatively poor, as only the memory card slot dominates the view. It’s quite simple and robust enough not to break easily but I encountered certain problems when trying to remove or insert the micro SD card, as the slot was just too deep. I had to use a micro SD card adapter to release the card out of the slot, and putting the card back wasn’t as easy as it should’ve been.

It's certainty a worse solution than I've seen in the N95, and without the help of a long fingernail it will prove to be difficult switching the cards on the fly. Moving ahead a little, the speed of copying to and from the card seems to be drastically improved, at least over the N95 8Gb. The sales package comes with a surprise in form of a 8 GB microSD card, quite handy indeed.

*click to enlarge

Also, in the very top corner, a hole for wrist strap can be found. It’s a nice thing to have, but in my opinion, mostly only female users will appreciate its existence (not that the phone is very light, but I’ve heard about female N90 users, so who knows really).

Micro USB is the new trend

While the lower part is strangely empty, the top of the phone is literally bursting with different things. The centre view is dominated by now a standard 3.5 mm headset connector. While the top placement is a much better solution than what we’ve seen on the N95 models, the cable still does get sort of in the way, when holding the phone in a landscape position.

Next to the audio jack is the usual power button. What isn’t so usual about it is its relatively small size, which makes the task of turning on or off the phone (or maybe switching between different profiles) a much difficult process, especially when trying to do that with the same hand.

Click Here To Have Your Say On This Story

And the final piece of interest upside is the infamous micro USB cable slot. To be honest, I have mixed feelings about it.

From one side I enjoy the possibility to be able to charge the phone when connected to the computer, but from the other I dislike the thought of not having additional cables compatible with micro USB slot.

This certain dependency makes data transferring a much sophisticated process, instead of having the mini USB slot, that is used in a wide range of digital cameras and portable hard disks. Another thing to mention is that Nokia still thinks this slot doesn’t have to be covered with something to protect them from the dust. The smaller size of the slot compared to the mini USB still dictates the necessity of having some sort of protection, like on the memory card slot.