Nokia N79, N85 and N96 hands-on

Well, they're here. Nokia's latest and greatest N-series devices just hit the market like a trio of well-aimed bricks -- or at least that's what Nokia's hoping. We got to spend a little bit of hands-on time with prototypes of the new devices, and while we came away slightly impressed, we were nowhere near E-series impressed. Here's our biggest problem with the lineup: the only one worth talking about is the N85. Other than minor screen size disparities, the 16GB built-in memory of the N96 and the fresh candybar form of the N79, these three phones are pretty much exactly identical on specs, and yet the N96 manages to be inexcusably bulky, while the N79 sports an inexcusably terrible screen -- we're hoping that was just the prototype being funky, but we saw two versions with the same problem. The N85 isn't exactly the pinnacle of thinphoneness, but its amazing OLED screen and more refined design make the N96 look like more of a rough draft than a sibling. On the interface side, the phones are much more responsive to S60's new motion and transitions, but Nokia has oddly chosen to disable the Navi Wheel scrolling in all three phones -- a weird move, but we can't say we blame them, we haven't had a single good experience with Navi Wheel since Nokia introduced it. In all, we're not exactly thrilled about Nokia's prospects for winning over the masses with this new series of devices. Sure, Nokia will protest that it's going after the high-end users, but 5 megapixel cameras, GPS and WiFi are no longer the differentiators they once were, and users have begun to expect thinner, sexier devices at prices far below the N96's gargantuan $895 pricetag.

Gallery: Nokia N79, N85 and N96 hands-on

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[Rich @ Aug 26th 2008 3:43PM]

"In all, we're not exactly thrilled about Nokia's prospects for winning over the masses with this new series of devices."

The N95 has outsold every other high end phone on the planet. The N96 will sell simply by association.

[Mark Anderson @ Aug 26th 2008 4:29PM]

Rich, six months ago I would have agreed with you because the N95 was easily the best smartphone on the market. Unfortunately in the intervening period Nokia have failed to take any major steps forward with the possible exception of totally acquiring an OS writer that they owned the majority of anyway, announced the N96 in February yet inexcusably delayed release until August to October (mainly so they could pimp the N95 8GB) and as a result been overtaken by Samsung as king of the multimedia phone. The very fact that they're releasing the N85 kind of shows the N96 to be the Edsel of the N-Series.

Nokia need to stop making identikit smartphones with only minor variances and concentrate on producing, say, three high end devices - a QWERTY based business phone (and they've done that with the E71), an excellent multimedia phone (the N85 comes close to this) and a touchscreen smartphone. They can do one or two minor variants but not half a dozen near identical units.

The other thing they need to do is to stop fannying about with different media distribution channels. We don't need, N-Gage, Download!, Nokia Music Store and Ovi, we just need a one stop shop like the iPhone has because otherwise it's too much of a pain in the arse to deal with. Sure, allow users to download from other sites - because Apple's lock in really sucks considering their quality control is so fundamentally flawed - but give them the option of an easy to use walled garden if they want it.

Nokia have grown too big too quickly and they need a butcher to come in and do some serious rationalisation or we may have another Motorola on our hands.

[My Ipod beats your computer @ Aug 26th 2008 4:41PM]

sold out all but iPhone, don't forget about that.
Sell by association? How? Whenever I see someone with nokia I laugh and they usually say "yeah I can't wai till my contract us up"

Side note, did anyone else hear that "winmo magazine" just suspended themselves and became "iPhone life"

[Mark Anderson @ Aug 26th 2008 5:08PM]

@iPod

No, sold out as in 'everything'.

Now please pour petrol over yourself and have a cigarette.

[My Ipod beats your computer @ Aug 26th 2008 7:38PM]

i was refering to rich's comment, do you know how to read?
now go learn to read

[Macca @ Aug 27th 2008 3:35AM]

@iPod

"Sell by association? How? Whenever I see someone with nokia I laugh and they usually say "yeah I can't wai till my contract us up""

This coming from the person obviously in love with his iProducts.

[Uker @ Aug 26th 2008 11:30PM]

heyyy this is cool. hopefully competition so the iphone has to work for its market share

[Mark Anderson @ Aug 27th 2008 3:13AM]

@ipod

And I was referring to you. Now go die in a fire.

[BFish @ Aug 26th 2008 3:47PM]

So all of these are missing VoiP:
http://gigaom.com/2008/08/23/no-voip-in-new-nokia-n-series-devices-is-nokia-turning-its-back-on-voip/

Maybe it justifies the higher price tag ;) N96 is just a rip-off of N95.

[Ekauq @ Aug 26th 2008 4:17PM]

there is fring, which supports FP2 devices

http://www.fring.com/fring_is/what_is_fring/

http://www.symbian-freak.com/news/008/08/fring_for_s60_fp2_devices.htm

[Tejas @ Aug 26th 2008 4:32PM]

Also, Talkonaut... which I think is just terrific!

http://www.talkonaut.com/

[ttest @ Aug 26th 2008 6:35PM]

The tech. specs. on nseries.com say that they do have VoIP.

[Abhishek @ Aug 26th 2008 3:49PM]

I agree.

I'm a long time Nokia fan. I'm still rocking the original N95 which was released in Europe, and I love it. But compared to today's phones, it's outdated. I've already had a chance to play with the Samsung Omnia, and while the Touch screen wasn't something I particulary was fond of, the slim form factor (even the 16gb) coupled with a great 5 mpx camera kind of put things in prespective as to how Nokia have lagged behind in the top-level phone competition.

Samsung and Sony are already comin out with 8 mpx's by the end of the year, and Nokia is still delaying the release of it's outdated 16gb N96. C'mon!!!! give us the tube, or give us an 8mpx, or give us something!!
More and more companies are coming into the phone market now...the competition is getting tougher, and I think Nokia is going to go back to basing it's profit margin on low and mid end phones...not high end phones. And I honestly DO NOT see the reason to spend over $800 on the N96, when specs wise,..it has nothing substantial over the N95. If the N96 came in at $500, I would still think about it...but it's a HELL NO! at any phone above $650!

[Mark Anderson @ Aug 26th 2008 4:34PM]

As my comment above shows I completely agree. I actually have an Omnia now and it's brilliant. Sure, it's WinMo but they've tidied it up so well and the phone is so smooth it doesn't matter. Kind of an iPhone for people with brains.

[avester @ Aug 26th 2008 4:59PM]

N95 is 2 years old model, so of course it can't match most of the phones especialy in the camera quality (But it beats the iPhone camera 10-0)

And cramming megapixels in cameras is just plain stupid. It will result in blurry, and noisy images. 2 megapixels is 1600x1200, probably more than your display can handle, so why get even worse shots.

I'd much rather have a good shot at 640x480 than awful, blurry and ugly photo at 8000x6000

Get a real camera if you need 8000x6000, seriously.

And not big upgrades? I think that

Better Camera

16gb integrated memory

DVB-H (Mobile TV)

Upgraded ram and Symbian 9.3 (No more MEMORY OUT : CLOSE APPLICATIONS)

Bigger Display

Hardware acceleration for video codecs for H.264 and WMV

dual-band HSDPA

Is improved.


6220c is the poor mans N96.

[Abhishek @ Aug 26th 2008 6:15PM]

Yeah, but it seems Nokia found the one flagship device to sell worldwide, and are now beating it to death like a pinata.

The Nokia N95 sells at around $400-$450 now. Reasonably, what justifies the price tag jump to $850 hmmm?

1) It's no revolutionizer in terms of phone functionality. THAT credit belongs to the N95, and it got it's due.
2) the same gosh darn 5 mpx camera
3) 16 gb. Oooohhh!! A jump from the 8GB version that's been selling for over a year now. When, in fact, the iphone's been out with a 16gb phone for 2 years now. Who the hell stores that much data in a 2.6 inch display screen cell phone anyway? Rather than enjoying my movie/sitcom, i'd be pissed at the small screen. As for songs, my 2gb micro sd card is MORE than enough. (and it cost me $10 only)
4) Better camera? That verdict is still out.
5) I'll give you that it's got an up on "upgraded Ram", but that alone hasn't justified the need to spend excess of $850 on a cell phone. For a business phone like the Bold, or the iphone, which users are required, or would like to run multiple functions at a time, I can understand how a 624 Mhz processor would be suitable. For a multimedia phone, Why? What's the need? Either i'm using the camera or making a call. I can NOT see myself doing any of the below things simultaneously, or even have the want to do 'em simultaneously:
- Take a photo
- Listen to music
- Surt the net
- make a call
- Install a new app.
- Delete an old app
- Look up a pdf file.

Like...wtf?? As for the rest of the "upgrades", well..if they matter so much, I guess each his own. To be honest, I don't know WHO Nokia's target market is, but a slightly upgraded N95 for $850 is not my cup of tea.

[LostProphet @ Aug 27th 2008 6:51AM]

avestar, not all of what you say is true:

Better Camera - Jury's still out, and the new Samsungs and Sony's are bounds ahead
16gb integrated memory - Double capacity, nice featue, I'll give you that
DVB-H (Mobile TV) - No one uses it, certainly not in the US or the UK, and as far as I know nowhere in Europe is out of trial stages
Upgraded ram and Symbian 9.3 (No more MEMORY OUT : CLOSE APPLICATIONS) - Again, an actual improvement]
Bigger Display - It has the same 2.8" display, no?
Hardware acceleration for video codecs for H.264 and WMV - To quote a greta man, I can watch HD video in teeny weeny eyestrain-o-vision? No thanks
dual-band HSDPA - Usful for some, not many

The N96 is no where near phones like the Omnia and HTC Touch Pro (both of which are already availible) in terms of functionality and useability, not to mention build quality and style. Hopefully this thing will flop and Nokia might actually step their game up

[Fox McRich @ Sep 4th 2008 12:18AM]

I filled up 30gb on my ipod's 2.5in screen. Imagine what I could do with .1 more inch of screen. It's a dream come true.

[Chad @ Aug 26th 2008 3:50PM]

Thank goodness Mr Blurry cam was there. Some of those picts are terrible.

[huh @ Aug 26th 2008 3:50PM]

The n95's main feature is its 5mp camera, which is still a standout when you compare it to other smartphones (iphone, winmobile, etc). Unfortunately, after they removed the n95-1's lens cover, the lens is very susceptible to scratches, even if you take care of it, which really degenerates image quality. Nokia needs to resolve this issue, in a responsible way similar to how Apple deals with defects, both with existing n95 owners, and these new devices.

[gabe @ Aug 26th 2008 3:54PM]

let me say it 1st - iphone > Nokia?

[King Mustard @ Aug 26th 2008 3:55PM]

"Sure, Nokia will protest that it's going after the high-end users, but 5 megapixel cameras, GPS and WiFi are no longer the differentiators they once were, and users have begun to expect thinner, sexier devices at prices far below the N96's gargantuan $895 pricetag."

Well said.

[Anthony H. @ Aug 26th 2008 4:01PM]

Needs moar QWERTY.

[aj @ Aug 26th 2008 4:03PM]

To Gabe....wow you had to say that.

To put that to rest, the iphone is no better then a whole Nokia company...

Honestly, I can see why people are so amazed by the iPhone is that you really haven't taken a look at other companies. What the iPhone does now is what most phones are done with doing 2 years ago...but whatever.... back to topic


Ill be grabbing the N96 anyways...I liked my experiance with the N95, so if the N96 is just a 'refresh'. its a welcome one. Ive had the N95 for 2 years, so by tech standards its real old. But w/e.


You all forget, Nokia has to make phones for every type of consumer and niche (hence these 3 new ones) wheras someone like Apple doesn't. They are good with one phone to cover all types of consumers. Hold that in mind, and youll then realize why Nokia pumps out these many N series phones. Pretty sure they could make a uber N phone...but that wouldn't satisfy all consumers would it??

[Fernando @ Aug 26th 2008 4:03PM]

They're going for covering all the bases. I know I'm waiting for the next 8mp flagship, but the average (european :P) consumer is not:

So here is a consumer at a phone shop: "Ok, great, fantastic, they all have these great specs with an extra tweak sprinkled on here and there (not that I really understand what all those specs mean)!!! And I have all these form factors and sizes and sometimes even colors to pick from, and to top it all off, they have them in various price points too!! WOAH! Isn't Nokia great?"

[spellprince @ Aug 26th 2008 4:07PM]

Anyone that pays even close to $800 for a phone is a dipshit.


/end

[aj @ Aug 26th 2008 4:09PM]

Dude...the reason these phones are so much is because they are not subsidized. If this was 3 year, then the N96 would be a more reasonable 200-300 on the term.

[Richard @ Aug 26th 2008 4:25PM]

Why? I see it as:
A digital camera: $150
A GPS: $100-200
A PMP: $100-150
An Alarm Clock: $5-30
A Watch: $1-howevermuchyouwanttopayforwatch
And a Phone.

Not a bad value. But, if it isn't much better than the N95, might as well get that one since it's price has fallen so much.

[bjay @ Aug 26th 2008 4:27PM]

$800 is the price of the phone unlocked. Throw in carrier subsidies/contract, you might walk away with the phone free after signing your soul the carrier for two or more yrs.

[Richard @ Aug 26th 2008 4:57PM]

The N95 wasn't subsidized in the US, last time I checked, you HAD to buy it unlocked still. Why do people say the N96 will be subsidized? Did I miss a carrier announcement??

[Sarig @ Aug 26th 2008 6:10PM]

Don't worry Richard, not everyone lives in the US ;)

[Richard @ Aug 26th 2008 8:09PM]

Haha, it's phones like this that make me wish I lived in Europe :(

You guys get the cool stuff first.

[russ_schroeder @ Aug 26th 2008 10:49PM]

@ bjay

Unfortunately, an unlocked phone here in the States has little value (unless you travel overseas often) as you can only take advantage of 3G data on AT&T. Since I'd be paying the same monthly rates regardless of device, subsidized pricing is actually a benefit that allows us to save a few hundred $.

[mugupo @ Aug 26th 2008 4:27PM]

What is difference between this and N82? how much are N79 and N85?

[HHH @ Aug 26th 2008 4:41PM]

N79 is N78's upgrade, which is just a bump from 3 to 5 MP camera. I believe N82 is still the only one with xenon flash.

[King Mustard @ Aug 26th 2008 4:51PM]

@HHH: The Nokia 6220 classic has a Xenon flash, too.

[jptech @ Aug 26th 2008 4:42PM]

I'm quite excited about the n85 as I'm in the market for a new n series phone.

Problem is, I'm on T-mobile and there are no nokia 3g phones yet that work with T-mobile.

T-mobile sucks so hardcore.

[Ineed911 @ Aug 26th 2008 4:42PM]

These phones are pretty lame in comparison to what HTC and Sony have coming out soon. $895 for a N96 or $300 for an iPhone - really...

[avester @ Aug 26th 2008 4:44PM]

Could you tell me where I can get iPhone for 300$?

Like, just the working, unlocked phone?

[Ricky G @ Aug 27th 2008 3:57AM]

iPwned. ^

[avester @ Aug 26th 2008 4:43PM]

N96's gargantuan $895 pricetag; isn't that 95$ more expensive than the iPod?

[Imran @ Aug 26th 2008 4:46PM]

iPhone doesn't have a kickstand. End of.

[digitallysick @ Aug 26th 2008 4:47PM]

As a former iphone owner, i now have a nokia N95, why? i loved a lot of the features the iphone had to offer, excellent ui, on screen keyboard those things were great. But the short comings of a poor camera, and at the time, no 3g or gps which the N95 has had for a while now. I enjoy not having to "sync" everything with the phone, i have MMS, a 5megapixel cam, i have un restricted bluetooth (which is a must for me) , i can tether it as a modem to. The functionality out weighs the form. I just wish it had more apps, on screen keyboard like the iphone

[hugoliva @ Aug 26th 2008 5:13PM]

You want more apps like the Iphone? dude, you seriously have no idea how massive is the amount of symbian apps that are out there, even for free, my N95 is what I use for torrents for God's sake!!
Winmo apps> Symbian apps > Iphone apps, get your facts straight.

[Mongoos150 @ Aug 26th 2008 5:42PM]

iPhone has several shortcomings compared with the N series (lack of MMS being the biggest in my opinion), everyone knows this, but though Symbian has a large app library, iPhone's screen size and interface trumps the Nokia N-series in my opinion. Two examples of this are Facebook functionality on the iPhone and Twinkle functionality (the Twitter app that natively supports geo-tagging and photo tagging/uploading). Agree or disagree, but people who claim iPhone is a not a smartphone (or is not a legitimate N series competitor) are simply ignorant of iPhone's capabilities or are Apple haters.

[Karn Eggie @ Aug 26th 2008 6:24PM]

is it just me, or is a shame that the N96 doesnt have an AMOLED screen, the N85 wins as far as clarity and that hideous glow that comes with LCD's ... i would consider the N96 (touch pro is just too smooth right now) had it the best screen in the line up but for damn near 1000 u$ its disheartening to know you dont even have the nicest most battery efficient screen that nokia provides for the their top tier phones.

[Jon Doe. @ Aug 26th 2008 7:02PM]

Android FTW. Hey if the iHypeHoles can do it......

[giodelgado @ Aug 31st 2008 2:06AM]

Android? It's in development, S60 has been out for years dude.

[dracoon @ Aug 26th 2008 9:14PM]

Nokia only good when there is no data on its memory
it run fast as long you dont have any data

so smart phone become dumb phone when it has to remember something eh....

[Nieker @ Aug 26th 2008 10:05PM]

"but 5 megapixel cameras, GPS and WiFi are no longer the differentiators they once were, and users have begun to expect thinner, sexier devices at prices far below the N96's gargantuan $895 pricetag."

And could anybody name me a few other phones that have all these features for a better price? And no, this is not ironic... I did a little research the last few weeks because I need a new phone but so far this N85 really looks fantastic! Also, is it confirmed that the N85 has a xenon flash?