Nokia's newest 8-megapixel multimedia phone learns some new tricks. Find out more in our hands-on look.
Review summary of the Nokia N86:
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 The Nokia N86 offers some subtle but meaningful improvements over the Nokia N85, and it's quickly become our favorite of Nokia's Nseries devices and the one we'd recommend first, even over the mighty Nokia N97. The Nokia N86 packs all our favorite features, including one of the best cell phone cameras on the market, even better than the Sony Ericsson C905 on AT&T that we recently crowned our favorite. The N86 8MP also has solid music and multimedia playback features and even app downloads in Nokia's upstart Ovi Store. Still, for all its impressive stats, and they are impressive, in the end the improvements over the Nokia N85 weren't features we were clamoring for, and the most egregious problems with Nokia's Symbian interface and half-hearted U.S. market support haven't improved, while the competition is lapping Nokia in terms of interface design and social networking integration. We're still impressed with the dazzling OLED screen, though it isn't quite as unique as it once was, and we like the design improvements that make this a more sleek, yet usable phone. Plus, it has the smartest kickstand we've ever seen. But the aging menus and the lagging OS performance means we're less impressed with the same old stuff we've already seen. Release: September 2009. Price: $500.
Pros: Great OLED display. Takes great pictures. Packed with features, including surprises like FM transmitter and intelligent kickstand. Design, especially keypad, improved over Nokia N85.
Cons: Symbian OS isn't getting any younger. Camera interface was unimpressive. Lacks some features out of the box that U.S. buyers expect, like IM support.
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Full Nokia N86 Review:
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In New York this week, Nokia showed us their latest dual-sliding multimedia smartphone, the Nokia N86. The N86 is a clear update to the Nokia N85, and we liked that phone enough that we weren't too disappointed to find that little has been changed on this newer device. The key upgrade over the N85 is the 8-megapixel camera on the Nokia N86, up from a respectable 5-megapixel sensor on the Nokia N85. We got some fantastic images from the Nokia N85, so hopefully the higher pixel count on the sensor won't do anything to adversely affect image quality. We wish Nokia had sprung for a Xenon flash for this phone, as the dual LED flash didn't cut it for us on the older phone.
A bright and shining face
The Nokia N86 keeps the signature feature of the N85, the AMOLED screen. This colorful, bright display also uses a bit less power than comparable TFT LCD screens, so it's a win all around, and a technology that's getting more popular all the time. We wish the screen had seen an upgrade, as it retains its 2.6-inch diagonal size, as well as its QVGA, 240 by 320 pixel resolution. Though the aging Symbian S60 interface still looks as good as it possibly can on the Nokia N86's screen, we'd still like to pack in more pixels and even expand the display as much as possible.
Improved design, outside and inside?
The Nokia N86 ships with the Symbian S60 3rd Edition, feature pack 2 release of the user software, and it's still the same old Symbian S60 interface we saw on the last version of this phone. There are a few new features tied to the hardware. The Nokia N86 uses a kickstand, for instance, and opening the kickstand can trigger an application launch on the device. So, open the stand, and the photo browser or media player will jump to life.
We definitely liked the improved buttons on the Nokia N86. Unlike the continuous rows of keys on the older Nokia N85 that ran together to closely, the Nokia N86 uses discrete keys on both sides of the slider. Open up the keypad side and you get an improved, more rounded keypad with buttons that were easy to press in our hands-on time. Slide the phone open the other way and you get a mix of multimedia keys to control music playback and even help out in gaming. Again, we liked these raised, rounded keys on the Nokia N86 much more than the flat, slick keys on the Nokia N85.
Saving the best
The Nokia N86 may not see a huge feature boost over its predecessor, but it keep some of the best features from that loaded device. The Nokia N86 will come with a full 8GB of internal memory, a nice storage capacity, but also a missed opportunity for an obvious upgrade to 16GB or more. The Nokia N86 will also feature an FM transmitter, like the Nokia N85, so you can listen to tunes wireless in your car, or wherever your radio is the best option. There's also a 3.5mm headphone jack, and this doubles as an AV connector, so you can use the included video output cable to connect the Nokia N86 to your television and display the VGA-quality videos you took with the phone on a larger screen.
The Nokia N86 will also be up to date with Nokia's latest Internet offerings. The phone will come ready to use the Ovi Store as well as Nokia's N-Gage gaming platform. The phone will use the Nokia Web Browser with Mini Map, a competent if aging Web browser capable of rendering full HTML pages. Like other recent Nseries devices, the Nokia N86 will also use Adobe's Flash Lite 3.1 within the Web browser to view videos and rich, multimedia content.
Price and release date
The Nokia N86 is already available in the UK, and will be available soon in the U.S. with support for AT&T's 3G HSDPA network. Pricing and specific availability have yet to be announced.
Price and availability
The Nokia N86 is available now from Nokia and other online retailers for around $500.
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