The Nokia N86 in detail, from every angle

[slitchfield]

Rafe excels at these annotated photo galleries, and his Nokia N86 Gallery is his biggest ever. Pore over the N86 8MP with him and see why both he and I think it almost perfectly realised and a spiritiual successor to the N95 Classic. Yes, the screen's only QVGA, but it's perhaps the ultimate in the keypadded dual-slider form factor. And the camera's not bad, too. 8-) Note that a full N86 review is coming very soon, don't go away.

Read on in the full article.

I for one have been anxiously awaiting the N86's arrival. The improvements of the N85 over the N95 were substantial, but I still wanted the quality to follow through as well. How's the N86 compare to the N85? I like how you mention weight... I like a certain amount of heft to my phone. What's your take on the glass screen? The molded buttons?


Chris
maptor@ovi.com

[Rafe]

I really like the materials and design of the device - I don't think you'll be disappointed. More shortly - frankly tyrying to do about nine things today,

[malerocks]

Love the phone. Especially the beautiful colours representation on that screen.

A quick question - in your opinion, how safe is it to buy a S60 3rd edition (9.3) device now that the 5th edition (9.4) is already out? What advantages do you see to stick to 9.3 for the time been?

On a side note - Rafe, you have a lovely collection of phones. Enough to make anyone jealous.

Note that a full N86 review is coming very soon

You tease! Thanks for the pics though, that'll tide me over until the review . Didn't think I'd be this excited about the N86, but after seeing some sample photos on the harwarezone.com.sg forums, I'm drooling.

I don't get it with Nokia. There's three thousand different models, with differences so tiny as to be almost undistinguishable. Except for the price! Although the strategy has worked, fo far, as market share figures indicate...

Compare this 400 pound N86 with the N78. Same OS, same screen res, comparable processor. Does the jump from 3.5 Mpix to 8 justify 200 pounds price increase? With the same (tiny) lens, I'd say pictures would look about the same. Yeah, the N86 has a larger screen, but at the same resolution and at the cost of being a 150g behemoth.

The 6220 goes up to 5 Mpix and throws in a xenon flash, which likely makes much better camera, but it has no wifi. But it is 200 pounds less! 200 pounds for a wifi connection and a larger screen seems too much.

You can buy a very good camera for 200 pounds, far better than any that is built-in in any phone available (or planned). You can also get a 20" LCD monitor for that price! 400 pounds for this phone is ridiculous, in the face of the competence it has in its own house.

[nj7]

If it had a Xenon Flash...

[malerocks]

At Unregistered,

the 400 pound price of n86 is a launch price. Check the launches of the other devices you mentioned. I am sure they were higher that what you are mentioning now.

So Rafe if you had to choose between N86 and N97 wich would you take? Wich one do you think gives you the most for your money?

Could you also include a basic pocket camera to the test? I would like to see how these top phone cameras compare to regular consumer shooters .

Ive seen different specs on this phone in regards to 3g bands. What 3g bands does this phone support?

I had a look at this phone. It looked blue, not black to me in person. Can you confirm if this is a dark blue or black in colour? Is there a blue and a black model or does the black have a bluish tinge?

[malerocks]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Ive seen different specs on this phone in regards to 3g bands. What 3g bands does this phone support?

It supports GSM 1800, GSM 1900, GSM 850, GSM 900, WCDMA 1900, WCDMA 2100, WCDMA 850, WCDMA 900. Check out this link: http://www.forum.nokia.com/devices/N86_8MP

[gregg003]

Thanks for the images Rafe, I had a change of heart. All month long I was thinking of buying N97, now I have N86 8MP in mind. Its your fault Rafe!!!

[Rafe]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

So Rafe if you had to choose between N86 and N97 wich would you take? Wich one do you think gives you the most for your money?

Tricky, very tricky. Comes down to the touch screen really. If you want a big screen go for the N97. It also has a newness about it, and I really like the homescreen. I think the N86 is better as a 'phone', but it is the evolution of existing. N86 has much better camera.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Could you also include a basic pocket camera to the test? I would like to see how these top phone cameras compare to regular consumer shooters .

I've actually taken the photos now, but I imagine we'll do some more comparisons so I'll remember that for next time. Have to see if my old bog standard digital camera still works!

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Ive seen different specs on this phone in regards to 3g bands. What 3g bands does this phone support?

The Euro version is tri-band 900/1900/2100 as I recall.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I had a look at this phone. It looked blue, not black to me in person. Can you confirm if this is a dark blue or black in colour? Is there a blue and a black model or does the black have a bluish tinge?

Looks more black than anything else to my eyes, but its not pure black if you see what I mean.

Originally Posted by gregg003

Thanks for the images Rafe, I had a change of heart. All month long I was thinking of buying N97, now I have N86 8MP in mind. Its your fault Rafe!!!

If you wait a few more hours you can read my first impressions review. Sorry to cause such confusion

Ad happy to answer any other questions!