We were always curious why a device that (at least
on paper) was superior in a lot of ways to Nokia's N96 wasn't trumpeted as the outfit's flagship device, but nevertheless, an Italian reviewer has made us feel a touch better about our previously ludicrous thoughts. After spending a solid fortnight with the phone, the critic felt comfortable deeming the N85 a "very, very beautiful" handset, also noting that it was "definitely the best Symbian [device]" out there. He even went out of his way to recommend the
N85 over the
N96 so long as you're cool without DVB-H or a super-snazzy camera. As if you really needed more, he also found the OLED display to be spectacular, the audio quality very satisfactory and the GPS / multimedia functions to be top-notch. Wait, is that the N96 we hear crying? There's no crying in Espoo!
[Via
All About Symbian]
posted Oct 16th 2008 5:00PM
Why can't the Tmobile G1 look like this.
because fisher price was busy with the g1.
on a different note, the n79, n96, and n85 all share the terrible keys. if i wanted a touchpad nokia, id get the 5800.
The N79 keypad is actually a lot better than the N85. I played with both at CTIA and I found the N85 to be surprisingly janky and plasticky and the keypad hard to use, and the N79 to actually be a joy to use (despite its ugly looks).
@ andy
you mean N78
Dunno if you mean this andy, but those buttons aren't touch sensitive. They make clicking sound and all :)
does the n85 have a qwerty keyboard?
No
oh ok.
You can hook it up to a bluetooth keyboard and video out to your TV though. =]
WOW that was such a clean question and answer on engadget. No profanities, no mentioning mothers, no questioning one another's sexual orientation. Good job +1 internets.
My sentiments exactly lowdef, my sentiments exactly...
lowdef, I'd encourage you then to stay away from the likes of sites such as ebaumsworld.
No, but it does have copy and paste
Believe it or not, it wasn't that long ago when sensible discussion was reasonably common on engadget. Perhaps they could have managed their success a little better.
If they trimmed off the media control buttons from the top and just made it shorter, I'd be sold. They just seem like more buttons for me to accidentally gnash.
It's a dual slider - so the media keys are only there when you want them!
I think those slide like a keyboard out of the way, not positive.
The only excuse i can think of for the rest is the n-gage support, but thats kinda pushing it.
Also, want, whats the average going rate?
@mvp
you chew on your phone? O_o
lol!!
If I can find it for $450 during the holidays I'm sold. But I would never pay $500+ for a device without a big screen and qwerty keyboard. I Heart N85.
Haha 50 dollar difference... a true breaking point in the handset market
Not quite it retails for like $600 after NYC taxes....
Man, I really really wanted this phone, but I went with an iPhone instead. My old phone was falling apart, and I wasn't sure if it would hold on long enough for this phone to be released. While the iPhone has been amazing, I actually kind of regret getting it and not waiting for this beast. Oh well...I can still look at it and imagine...
Trust me, you made the right choice... you cannot go wrong with iPhone!
-besides, the iPhone has an incredible resale value... you basically have cash in your hand, I cannot say the same thing for this 'Nokia' phone, If you try and sell it on E-bay you probably will only recoup 25% of what you paid...
basically all phones have low resale value except the iPhone...
iPhone.
Or..there's always Craigslist..sell the phone, port your # and get the phone you want. Promise you you'd sell your iphone in a day..I sold both of mine in 3 hrs.
@ iEye:
...
I'm beginning to develop a natural reflex now... It's clicking the red button everytime I see iEye's post...
God! I wish there was a 'Lowest Ranked' award ceremony by Engadget every year!
I'm pretty sure iEye would win! :-)
iEye your right! you clearly know more about tigertown than tigertown himself.
Hey iEye, I thought if one of us admits the iphone is the best phone ever, you would stop. I did it. I just crossed my fingers.
This is a no-brainer. The N96's DVB-H tuner is entirely redundant in the UK atleast, which renders its 'premium' pricepoint laughable for all of the other standardised NSeries features it touts.
I'll stick with my N82 and the spectacular new firmware they've recently outed for it I think. But the N85 is definately a looker.
I've noticed that Nokia seem to have been coming up with good firmware updates for many of their series 60 phones. my E65 was disappointing when I first had it, but with two significant updates in the last 14 months it's become very much better (the wifi sensitivity still sucks). I've de-branded lots of colleagues' N95 and upgraded them and most say it's like having a new phone!
When I started with my E65 I decided to not buy another Nokia, now I've changed my mind, and am actively considering the n85 or n96; although I do like the E71 too as more of a business tool.
I'm actually surprised with how cheap the N96 is. Lots of carriers in the UK are giving it away free on a £30 per month contract.
If the N85 is even cheaper then that's good news. :)
"There's no crying in Espoo!" Nice. Real nice.
get back to work and be stoic about it dammit
I'd still rather have the i8510. This would be my second choice though.
The price is so much different!!!
"DVB-H or super-snazzy camera"
Would anyone explain to me how the N96 is superior in terms of camera?? Aren't they the same?
I was wondering exactly the same thing. 5 Megapixel, auto focus, Carl-Zeiss and VGA @ 30 FPS . Oh, and a LED flash too. n96 copycat as far as the camera goes.And..why is the n96 better ?
I think in the original article, the camera was compared with Innov8's 8 Mpix one.
Actually they aren't totally the same even in the lens department as N85 example got better focal length and soft side won't ever be totally same even if both are 3th edition FP2 devices.
But anyways no big difference exept the camera lens in the camera department.
Super-snazzy camera? Dude, the camera on the N96 is the EXACT SAME ONE as on the N85 - except the N85 also has a lens cover.
Did you mean the flip-out stand? If so, say it. Aren't you supposed to be journalists?
Why does the review site say this phone has an 8MP camera towards the bottom of the article?
No I believe it is comparing to the Samsung Inov8.. that has 8 mpx.
nokia, why must you make such great phones with no qwerty......
Because this phone is for people who...
1. listen to music
2. text a lot
3. do not care about spelling
aka ME! Too bad I'm not rich
Check out the E71, you wont be disappointed.
btw, wtf is Espoo?
Nokia's hq in Finland and home to THE Jere Lehtinen
Let me guess, their shtick is that it's an iphone killer too? Like it or not, the iphone is years ahead of everyone else, even if it is missing a few features nobody really uses. I'll ask my boss tomorrow if he ever cuts and pastes on his phone and let you know what he says. The world is run by Alphas, not nerds.
You're years behind us ;)
N series really dosen't have anything in common with iphone. It's the customers or more like these people in blogs and forums who come up with this "iphone killer" not Nokia. Phones are personal and there isn't or will not come one phone that would please all so i guess that why we have these pointless wars going on here so often even more when Nokia is taken here a bit differently than in European discussion boards so we get this Nokia vs iphone thing going on here in Engadget every time(and no i'm not helping it here ;)).
You need to remember while it might hard for American to understand, but SE, Nokia, Samsung and others have made people used to 5mpx cameras and what not so downgrading there isn't always that easy. Plus i can assure you that by far most of Europeans and Asian who have used more than 2 smartphons have had Nokia's S60 phone at some point so the UI is familiar already.
"The world is run by Alphas, not nerds."
You'd better tell that to Gates and Jobs. I don't think they got the memo.
Dude since you are so 2015 with your iPhone can you tell me :
Is Wimax gonna be introduced in France any soon ?
Oh sorry I meant was it introduced in france anywhere near the past in which I lived oh poor non-Apple-worshipper ?
(I kinda get messed up with this past/futur talk ...)
This is an announcement about the bigger online shop with smartphones.
Come visit... http://www.forsalehere.co.uk/smart-phones/
Come on Nokia, show some innovation. How about a Touch Screen on this Beast. I have the N82 and the only thing that would move me from that would be the N85 plus touch screen and the xenon flash.
Who can help me? I'm in doubt. Are any of these phones the same thing for any country except the firmware and support for some bands? I'm just waiting to see it in spanish to have predictive text and "ñ". But if everything that would be needed to have that is a new firmware, maybe It's time to set a back order.
If a phone works with AT&T's 3G then means it would work with Telcel's 3G?