Nokia's N85 follows hot on the heels of the N96, itself a replacement for the 8 GB N95.  Amongst the family rivalry on display between the Nseries phones, it seems that Nokia is keen to give each new model a distinctive touch without straying too far from the original template.

So, the N85 runs Symbian S60, but is just a little smaller with a 2.6'' OLED screen, and has all the connectivity and multimedia options that you'd expect.

It even has a mobile digital TV tuner, although the service isn't supported everywhere yet.  What's more, it's a lot cheaper than its older brother, only released a few weeks ago.  

So far, so good: this little Nokia looks like it could be a winner.

No need to change a winning formula

Smaller and thinner than the N96, the N85 is even more refined and slides even more easily into your pocket.  The understated finish that the Finnish manufacturer is famous for is there, of course, with muted, neutral colors the order of the day.  

It's nice and simple, and so much the better for it.


The N85 has the same double slider form factor as the N96, with an accelerometer allowing you to tilt the screen.

If you push it up, you get a regular numeric keypad, but sliding it down gives access to a reduced set of multimedia keys that you can see in the main pic above.  

We complained that this system felt a little too flimsy on the N96, and that hasn't been corrected here.


When you have the screen in landscape mode, the media keys have a gentle backlighting allowing you to concentrate on the content.  These buttons change their function depending on what you're doing: if you're looking at photo, they allow you to zoom in and out for instance, but when you're listening to music or watching video, they allow you to skip backwards and forwards.

One difference between the two models is that the stand offered on the N96, which was designed to allow you to stand the phone up in landscape mode to enjoy a film handsfree, has now disappeared.

It was never much use anyway, and we're glad to see it replaced with a lens cap, and the ability to charge the phone via a mini USB port.  

One final excellent addition is a sliding button on the side of the phone allowing you to lock the keypad.  It's a very sensible system, and makes you wonder why we still have to press two or three keys at once.

Standard Features

Let's start with the bad points: the Symbian S60 system that the phone runs can be a little slow in places, leading to irritating pauses in between selecting a function and it starting up.  It only happened a few times, and it wasn't too frustrating, but it's not a good sign either.  

The interface offers nothing new, but we would have preferred a more up-to-date way of handling messages and contacts.  It works fine, but it's the same old system, and other manufacturers have shown that you can make improvements in these areas.

Nokia has included, however, a new application for updating all of the phone's software without having to first download the updates onto your computer.

N85: Good Multimedia

The photo and audio quality on the N95 is as good as--if not better than--other models.  Photos are sharp and neat, with attractive, colorful images, especially in good light conditions.  

When light levels are low, or under artificial light, photos are susceptible to a little more noise.


The drawback to these good quality photos is that they take quite a while to save.  

On the other hand, the autofocus is efficient, and allows you to take the photos themselves quickly without worrying that your subject has moved on.

If you want to share your photos on a site like Flickr, the built-in GPS chip can geotag your photos, but keeping this service switched on sucks up a lot of battery power.

Indeed, when it comes to battery life, the N85 isn't the most long-lasting phone we've ever seen, but it still does well compared to other multimedia mobiles.  You can get about thirteen hours of continuous music playback out of it, or two days of normal use.

The GPS system uses the standard Nokia Maps application, but if you want voice navigation, you'll need to subscribe to an extra service, although the first year's subscription is free.

Video is only just about acceptable, but you can forget about using the zoom.

Audio is as good as it was on the N78.  The speakers give a good quality sound, and listening via the built-in regular headphone jack gives a rich, well-rounded sound with plenty of bass.

Also like the N78, the N85 features a mini FM transmitter which allows you to broadcast the MP3s you're listening to so you can hear them on your car stereo, for instance.

N96 vs N85

With a more refined design than the N96, but with all of its good points for less money, we can only recommend this N85 over the earlier N96.