Review: Nokia N85

Nokia N85 Review

Phone rating:

In a nutshell: The Nokia N85 is almost the same as the N96. It's slimmer but still comes with GPS satellite navigation, a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus, 3G video calling, WiFi, fast 3G HSDPA and support for 8GB memory cards. The screen is slightly smaller than the N96, but is still an outstanding OLED display with 16 million colours. We see this as an excellent alternative to the N96, if you want to save a few pennies.
Best buy: *Free* with a choice of free gifts from Dialaphone.

What exactly is the Nokia N85? At a glance it looks just like the Nokia N96, but slimmer. It has almost every feature of the N96 too:

• Series 60 Symbian interface (version 3.2)
• 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss & Tessar optics
• aGPS and GPS navigation with Nokia Maps
• Wi-Fi wireless internet connection
• 3.5 mm stereo headphone plug
• Ultra-fast HSDPA data transfer
• Support for 8GB microSD memory cards

The only things missing are the support for DVB-H TV (which doesn't exist in the UK anyway) and the 16 GB of built-in memory. Instead, the N85 has 74 MB of internal dynamic memory and 78 MB of internal NAND flash memory. But you can add microSD memory cards up to 8GB, so this really isn't a problem.

The design is a little different from the N96, with a slightly reduced screen size (2.6 inches instead of 2.8 inches) and a different keypad. There's little else to distinguish the two phones, so read our Nokia N96 review for more information about what the phone can do, and read the detailed specification below.

The N85 is a cheaper phone, so on contract you can expect to get it for free with a shower of free gifts - expect to get a free 8GB memory card, plus cashback or a free iPod, XBOX 360 or similar. With such a small difference between the N85 and the N96 we think it should really be called the N95 and a half! It's definitely a very good value alternative to the N96.

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Features of the Nokia N85 include:

• Series 60 Symbian interface (version 3.2)
• 5 megapixel camera (2592 x 1944 pixels) with Carl Zeiss optics, Tessar lens, autofocus, dual led flash, 20x digital zoom
• Video camera: MPEG4/3GP VGA video capture at 640 x 480 pixels and 30 frames/second with digital stereo microphone (AAC format) and 10x digital zoom
• Front camera for video calling: 352 x 288 pixels, 15fps, 2x digital zoom
• Video and still image editors
• Display: OLED, 16 million colours, 240 x 320 pixels (2.6 inches)
• Digital music player (supports MP3/AAC/AAC+//WMA/AMR formats) with playlists and equalizer
• Stereo FM radio with Visual Radio support
• aGPS and GPS navigation with Nokia Maps
• Voice commands
• Voice recorder
• Talking ringtone
• Integrated hands-free speaker
• Speed dialing
• Messaging: SMS, MMS, Email (support for attachments)
• Push to talk (PoC)
• Java games
• Memory: 152 Mbytes plus microSD memory card slot (max 8 Gbytes)
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0, WLAN, TV-Out, 3.5 mm stereo headphone plug
• WAP, EGPRS class B, WCDMA/HSDPA (3.6Mb/s download)
• Quadband plus 3G
• Size: 103 x 50 x 16 mm
• Weight: 128g
• Talktime: 4.5 hours (3G) - 6.9 hours (2G)
• Battery standby: 360 hours

Nokia N85 Consumer Reviews

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Average rating from 13 reviews:

Reviewed by Tripping from UK on 2nd Jan 2009
Back to Nokia after a 4 year exodus with Samsung, and am so glad too. User friendly, almost everything is perfect for what I want, including software apps, WiFi so easy to connect, GPS maps, music, everything. Yes the slide can get wobbly, but thats a minor inconvenience. The keys below the OLED screen takes some getting used to, but since I got a skin cover case for the phones it adds a slight an ever slight degree of thickness which makes using the keys much easier. Been playing all the functions for 2 days straight, and still got 2 bars of battery left - amazing. Personal rating 4.5 stars - the half star missing is for no xenon flash, and wobbly slide.
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Reviewed by Ovie Albert from Sapele, Nigeria on 28th Dec 2008
I have used other phones before but this one comes to perfect. the display which sports an OLED type is vivid and crispy. The features are any phone lovers dream. It is very good. You may only want to consider the Nokia 5800 Express Music before getting this. I give it 5 stars. because it is very okay.
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Reviewed by Anna from England on 25th Dec 2008
I have had this phone for four weeks. To begin with it kept crashing every time I received a message, which was irritating to say the least and a common fault with these phones by all accounts. However, it now seems to have settled down and crashes once a week which I can deal with! It has some amazing features which is why I will happily put up with the crashing. The camera, music player and wifi are fantastic but my favourite feature is the fm transmitter which means no more annoying wires in my car wohoo! The phone now acts as my ipod as this broke recently! To Faruq you need to go into messages select options and go to mark all then when you select delete all the messages are deleted. Great phone definately worth the money!
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Reviewed by sam from india on 22nd Dec 2008
To all prospective buyers please do not put ur hard earned money on this piece of junk called nokia n85. This is my personal experience. I bought this mobile for around 500 US dollars but had to sell it after 3 days at 400. No return policy at my place. 1. Loose slider,loose numeric keypad (believe me u can take it out just by putting your nail under its lower end), it is made of very thin cheap plastic. Battery cover is also loose with play. 2. Camera is worse than my earlier n82,lack of xenon flash,poor camera butten,fails to lock focus even on repeated pressing. Poor feel of camera button. 3. OLED screen very poor performance in direct sunlight. 4. USB charger- more wear and tear at single point. The 2mm charger is most durable. 5. Fm transmitter poor signal only a gimmick. 6. Slow fp2 interface,poor graphics(no 3d accelerator)just compare the photo gallery with n82 (n82 has a graphic accelerator and dual processor) I had to revert back to my old faithful n82 which i think is still the best nokia smartphone.
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Reviewed by faruq from bangladesh on 16th Dec 2008
Amazing phone really but could someone please tell me how to delete all the texts in my inbox at one go instead of having to delete them one by one? i just can't seem to find the option!
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Reviewed by Hiyajeet from Karishmaland on 9th Dec 2008
This is an outstanding phone with exceptional features. I changed the Tocco for this and boy am I happy. I love this phone- beautifully made. The best Nokia phone ever
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Reviewed by Nikijijoi from Arabia on 6th Dec 2008
This is an outstanding phone with excellent features. I love it...the best slide phone
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Reviewed by neha from india on 21st Nov 2008
having this fone for about two weeks...this is lyk the best fone ever!!! everythin iz nyc in this fone!!! errrm the battery is not as good as they say but its quality is acceptable!!!!! Well there is no xenon flash lyk in my old n82...but nothin is perfect.
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Reviewed by rahi from india on 21st Nov 2008
its a nice phone
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Reviewed by Doris from UK on 13th Nov 2008
Wow, what a phone! I got my new shiny N85 this morning, I've not put it down all day. Apart from the great techy features there's some great simple features too, having the time and date on the power saver, the wireless transmitter and great ring tones. The copper colour isn't too bad either. The screen is amazing, really clear (strikingly so), makes Tetris look great!! The weight feels reassuring heavy, but well balanced. The rotating screen is good too. I can't yet see any regrets in getting this phone.
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Reviewed by Ahmed Jiddawi from Tanzania on 13th Nov 2008
Whoaaa!!! having this fone for about two weeks...this is lyk the best fone ever!!! everythin iz nyc in this fone!!! errrm the battery is not as good as they say but its quality is acceptable!!!!! Well there is no xenon flash lyk in my old n82...but nothin is perfect!!! other than that...this fone is wicked!!!
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Reviewed by Hon from UK on 13th Nov 2008
I've had this phone for 1 1/2 weeks now after returning the C905 which I found completely underwhelming and uncomfortable to use. From initial hands on experience the phone feels quite solid and has very nice rounded edges all round which makes it quite pleasant to hold both closed and when slid open (both ways). The keypad is nicely sized and the buttons feels quite nice to use. I found the feel of the C905 buttons to be a bit too clicky. The weight of the phone doesn't sit that far up when the phone is slid open as it does on the C905 either. When the weight is too high up the phone constantly feels like it's going to fall backwards out of your hand, which was my experience with the C905. The weight sits fairly central on this so it's not constantly trying to fall onto the floor! The screen is clear and bright and it's one of the first mainstream phones that uses an AM-OLED screen. The advantages of this tech are that it should have a very wide viewing angle as there is no backlight; the individual pixels emit their own light, longer battery life (lower power consumption) and a very good contrast ratio. I can't see any major improvements over the standard lcd/tft screens, but I have noticed the blacks really do look black! There are actually so many features on this phone that I'd better bullet point the rest so this doesn't run too long: + Music Player software is fairly standard - it works! + FM Transmitter is more than just a gimmick. If you find a nice bit of empty bandwidth the signal comes through very clearly without too much distortion + 5 MP Camera has a dual LED flash. The quality of shots has been very good. Low noise and although there's no Xenon flash I've been very happy with low-lighting pictures. Video isn't that smooth, but it's definitely adequate. +N-Gage software. Interesting idea, but it's definitely more of a gimmick. Need to get a new version of Snake... +Wifi - quite good actually. The browser implementation isn't uber slick like the iPhone, but it's adequate for Fbooking, checking mails, reading bbc news etc. +Battery Life - this phone really excels here, even with all the features and using gadgets like the FM Transmitter and Wifi, it turned in a very good battery life. I'm averaging about 3-4 days of moderate use between charges. I haven't tried the HSDPA or A-GPS properly yet, mostly because I don't have a data bundle so am very wary of the £3 per MB cost of mobile internet. Overall, a very nice phone to use and a great alternative to the chunkier N96 or N95 8GB and a welcome return to Nokia for me :) Hon
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Reviewed by Minah Ali from England on 6th Nov 2008
This is an outstanding phone with exception features
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