The N86 feels like a natural N95/N82 successor. All things considered, it would have made a perfect N96. If this device had been launched in the Summer of 2008, I'm convinced that it would have sold as well as the N95. Launched, as it is, in late Summer 2009, I think the N86 8MP has rather missed the boat. Without getting into the whole physical vs. virtual keypad debate, I personally believe that it's very nearly all over for alphanumeric keypads on smartphones, the N86 could be the last Nseries device of its kind. [editor's note: this is a personal opinion piece from James, I suspect that the main AAS team might be able to debate the previous sentence!]
Moving on to the camera...
There's is no doubt in my mind that the N86 is the best all round photo and video capture smartphone currently available. Yes, the i8910 takes better photos in well lit conditions and, yes, the iPhone 3GS has more pleasing video compression and frame rate, but both these devices have problems of their own that often undermine their apparent advantages in photography and video capture.
The standout features, the capabilities that truly make this device unique for me are as follows:
- Proper digital zoom. This in my mind is the killer feature. I still cannot understand why this isn't featured heavily in Nokia's advertising. I found this feature to be every bit as useful as I'd hoped.
- Wide angle lens. Combined with the extra millions of pixels, the N86 provides a kind of Swiss Army Knife approach to smartphone photography and video capture. I cannot count the number of times when I wished for a wider angle lens on my camera or smartphone. This feature is not something that will be readily appreciated, it may take months of usage until the user realises the difference it really makes and going back to a lens with a more narrow frame will feel claustrophobic.
- Low light performance. There are enough advances here to suggest that the N86 trumps the N82 in low light situations. I can't wait to see what David Bailey achieved recently (a reference to an upcoming N86 promo event), but I can imagine it's going to be quite spectacular. Personally, I really dislike flash photography, it's unnatural and only useful in the occasional party photograph. I really believe Nokia are correct to push ahead with LED. When I look through my entire digital photo collection dating back to 1996, far less than 5% have been taken with flash assistance and, of those 5%, only a handful are what I would call classic photos.
- Video light. I was quite astonished at just how bright those two LED's can be in video capture mode. I didn't get the chance to test their impact on battery life, but providing it's not too great then I should think that a lot of people will find this feature surprisingly useful. [editor's note: agreed, I did a five minute video in the pitch dark yesterday, of my daughter releasing a helium balloon(!) and the results were quite watchable. More to do with the sensor and aperture than the actual brightness of the LEDs though, in my opinion...]
Now, on to the things I'm not too happy about...
I wasn't as impressed by the OLED screen as I thought I would be. Both the Samsung i8910 and the N86 suffer in direct sunlight. I know we don't get an awful lot of that in this country, but using the N86 in lands where the sun is out a lot is going to be a distressing experience.
For some reason I was expected just a little better performance from the camera. After coming from the iPhone 3GS with its unprocessed look, going back to the Nseries with its 'remove noise, then re-sharpen' look was frustrating . Of course, the N86 captures more detail than the iPhone 3GS, but in no way does it amount to almost three times as much. I'd like to see Nokia offer a RAW or unprocessed JPEG option on the N86 in a future firmware update.
I found the camera controls tricky. The shutter button is odd, not as precise as the i8910, for example. I often found that I had ruined what could have been a perfectly decent photo because my index finger was literally shaking from the strain of trying to smoothly press the shutter button. I can't understand why I was not able to start, stop and pause video capture with the dual-slider buttons.
Well, that's about it for now. In conclusion (and by way of a summary), the N86 seems like the ultimate (and perhaps last) expression of the N95 design style and as such it's probably the best Nseries device thus far.
Thanks again for the loan!
James Burland, All About Symbian, 18th August 2009