From the model number, you'd think the N85 is a lesser version of the famous N95, but it's actually an upgrade. Is this a case of Nokia running out of ideas, or is it merely honing a deservedly popular phone? We took a good look at the N85 to see whether Nokia has cracked it again.
The N85 will be available soon for free on a monthly contract. Pricing has yet to be announced.
Design
The N85 is a solid-feeling slider phone that's smooth around the edges, giving it a more up-to-date feel than the blocky N95. Considering how many features it packs in, it doesn't feel chunky or too heavy.
Aside from the keypad, we found all the keys on the N85 well-designed and easy to press. There's even a handy toggle switch for locking and unlocking the N85 quickly. As for the keypad, we found it too flat for our liking, but not unusable.
The double sliding mechanism -- which moves around too much on the N95 -- feels more solid in the N85, and doesn't slide when it's in your pocket. Equally secure is the N85's camera cover -- again, it won't open by mistake in your trousers and take photos of your keys.
We really appreciate that Nokia has placed a 3.5mm headphone jack at the top of the phone instead of on the side, making it much less fiddly to use. You'll also be glad to hear that charging and connecting to a PC can all be done via a micro-USB cable.
Worth noting is the N85's OLED display, which consumes less power than a standard LCD. The screen is bright and large enough to view text messages or watch YouTube videos on. We also found that the Opera Mini browser looked superb on it.
Features
The N85 offers up some truly useful features, starting with HSDPA and Wi-Fi -- you can access the Web almost everywhere you go. The on-board browser works well enough, but we prefer using Opera Mini, which you can download for free and offers a neat way of viewing full Web pages.
GPS means you can find your location and plan trips, using Nokia Maps, which comes pre-installed, or you can download Google Maps. We didn't have any problems picking up satellites, but as expected, the GPS doesn't work indoors.
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User reviews6
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Arish Ghaswala 5 August 2011
Good: Everything!!!!!!! :)
Bad: a plastic body which cud get losse or suffer wear n tear :(
Comment: Great phone omiting d bad points iv considered about it
Babz Choudhury 23 January 2011
Good: Fantastic user interfcae
Bad: fingerprint magnet, coz of the glossy finish to the design
Comment: I loved using this phone, it's like a updated version of the Nokia N95 but with more features & great for e-mail too. I recommend this phone.
dvfine 30 August 2009
Good: more features than the N95, it's like an utpto date version with extras
Bad: software issues like music player constantly losing music
Comment: I love the N95 but was let down by the battery life. This phone will last 2.5 days on average compared to the less than 8 hours I got from the N95. The extra features like the auto rotating screen and audio themes are a nice touch but the navi wheel I don't see the point. It's more a gimmick than a practical gadget, especailly if you have giant fingers like mine.
The camera is good quality but suffers if you are in poor light and I found that image quality suffered when ever I used any zoom. It's also very difficult to keep the lense free from dust, even with a sliding cover on it.
All is not perfect with the phone.. 2 issues have appeared with mine
1- a software issue with photo editing prevents me from adding effects
2- The music player keeps losing my music and won't find it unless I put it all back on with the pc
I find keeping the phone grease free is impossible.
Apart from the problems which I'm getting sorted through Orange, hopefully, it is a great phone.
See all 6 user reviews