Mobile / Cell Phone Thoughts & Reviews

Okay, so I’ve had the Nokia N85 NAM for about 2 months now and I have thoroughly enjoyed using it for the most part.  The UI speed is amazing.  It connects to the 3G/EDGE and wifi super quick.  I’m using it on AT&T.  The browser is fast.  The build quality is absolutely amazing (though I’m not a big fan of sliders).  Let’s not forget how utterly fantastic the picture and video quality is, it’s so good Channel 10 news in Israel used some pics I took with it.  I mean it’s far and away the best 5mp camera I have ever used.  It’s even better as a point and shoot then my old Canon Elph.  It is slow in processing the images but I have heard from sources at Nokia that this issue will be fixed in the upcoming firmware upgrade and I’ve seen it fixed in upcoming handsets like the N86 and N97.

Now I’m a big fan of Nokia and love to get these devices to review, but if I didn’t tell you what I didn’t like about the phone it wouldn’t be fair to you.  So here we go, 2 big gripes.

The screen sucks.  Let me be blunt, it’s hard to see the N85 screen when outdoors in direct sunlight.  That is to say I can see the screen but not what’s on it. This might have to do with the new amazing technology utilized by the screen called OLED.  Well it sucks.  Didn’t anybody take the phone outside to test before it went into mass production?  Now they can easily fix this issue on the next model by just putting in the older technology or turning up the brightness on the phone.  Don’t get me wrong, it is bad but the phone is definitely usable outdoors, it will just take a little extra work to see the screen.

My other gripe about the handset which I think is even more of a detraction is the stiff buttons around the D pad.  The menu, clear, and 2 soft keys are all to difficult to press.   You will notice this from the first moment you start using the phone.  Again this is an easy fix and I don’t think I need to explain it Nokia, they have already taken notice and the N86 is a whole lot better.

If you need a new handset today from Nokia I would say you won’t be disappointed with the N85, but if you can wait a few more months then I suggest you do and get the N86.  I like this handset and will continue to use it on and off but it’s not my daily phone.  That honor this week goes to the Nokia N79 and I have a review coming soon.