Nokia N85 review

Nokia N85 Review

Reviewed by: Andrew Lim

Reviewed on: 18 November 2008

On the back of the N85 lies a 5-megapixel camera with auto-focus and dual LEDs. It's very easy to use, with a simple interface, and we found the picture quality to be very good, even in low light -- the LEDs providing more illumination than expected.

The N85's camera features a sliding cover and LED photo lights

Equally unexpected is the built-in FM transmitter, which allows you to play music wirelessly through a car radio. It's something that's been made available in the past using third-party technology, but having it built-in is really useful.

As we mentioned before, there's a 3.5mm headphone jack and the Nokia N85's dedicated media keys mean using it as a music player is really easy. The music player interface is straightforward and gives you the option to shuffle tracks, adjust the equaliser and create playlists.

Performance
Audio quality during calls was loud and clear, as was the loudspeaker, but we recommend using a Bluetooth headset (the N85 supports A2DP stereo) for hands-free calls. Battery life is quoted at 6.9 hours talk time using GSM and 4.5 hours using 3G. Standby time is 363 hours using GSM or 3G. In real life, we found that with moderate use it lasted over a day before needing to be recharged.

Conclusion
After spending some quality time with the Nokia N85, we're not sure why Nokia didn't just launch this as the N95's successor instead of the N96. The N85 is a refined phone that packs in a whole bunch of features into an attractive casing. Our only disappointment is that the keypad is a little flatter than we would like, but the rest of it left us very happy.

Wi-Fi, HSDPA and a music player you can listen to by simply plugging a pair of standard headphones straight in -- great stuff. Okay, it's not a revolutionary product, but it is a very good one nevertheless, and if you're an N95 fan looking for something a little smaller and better-looking, you could a lot worse than this.

Edited by Nick Hide