Buy Nokia - Nokia N85 Unlocked Cell Phone with 5 MP Camera, 3G, GPS, MP3/Video Player, MicroSD Slot - U.S. Version with Warranty (Copper)
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9 new or used available from $429.99
Average customer review:
Product Description
Harness the power behind this sleek, compact design. Capture your memories with the 5-megapixel camera and bring them to life in vibrant, natural colors on the stunning OLED display. Try the preloaded games and choose one to activate for free. Discover more games on-line and try before you buy. Assisted GPS shows where you are, the Internet helps you choose your destination, and Nokia Maps guides you along the way. A voice-guided navigation trial is included with your device. With a long battery life and plenty of memory, you can stay entertained longer during your trip and keep your friends at your fingertips with instant messaging, Internet calls, widgets, and social networking. The Nokia N85 multimedia computer puts the power to share, explore, and entertain in your hands.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #467 in Cell Phone Accessories
- Color: Orange
- Brand: Nokia
- Model: N85
- Released on: 2008-10-31
- Dimensions: .71" h x 2.17" w x 4.06" l, .28 pounds
Features
- Unlocked quad-band GSM cell phone compatible with 850/900/1800/1900 | 900/1800/1900 frequencies and US/International 3G compatibility via 850/1900/2100 UMTS/HSDPA plus EDGE data capabilities
- 5-megapixel digital camera with Carl Zeiss Optics; DVD-quality video capture (640 x 480 pixels at 30 fps)
- Wi-Fi networking (802.11b/g); A-GPS for navigation with Nokia Maps app; Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity for both handsfree communication and stereo music streaming
- 2.6-inch OLED screen; 2-way slider design reveals keypad on one side and media controls on other
- Up to 6.9 hours of talk time, up to 360 hours (15 days) of standby time
Customer Reviews
Great features but bad build quality
This phone has a mighty length of features. Simple stated, it has all the features that you will ever need and more. The OLED screen will blow you away. But the build quality is unacceptable. The actual numeric keypad is nice and usable but the D-Pad and the keys around it are horrible. They are hard to press. The plastic is cheap. It creaks and looks like put together with some cheap glue... really bad quality. I tried my best to hang on to it but at the end returned the product for this reason.
Nokia N85 RM-334 Software version 11.047
So I currently have an N75. I had a 6230 before that. I went from a candybar 6230 to a flip N75 and then to this slider N85.
I did a TON of research on which phone to get. I've read practically every N85 review available thru google and then some. 3G was a must along with a good camera.
I looked at the N79, N78, N82, N95 and the N95 8GB.
I ruled out the N79 and N82 because they didn't have 3G (I have at&t).
The N78 was good because it brings me back to the candybar style (I'm not sure about the durability of sliders) but the camera didn't have a cover and it was only 3.2MP. Plus, most reviews said the software was buggy and for practically the same price you can get this N85 and get more features. The clear button being on the bottom was a deal breaker, also.
So I went to a Nokia store and was stunned by the N95 8GB screen. The thing just looked massive. I considered a regular black or red N95 but its screen was recessed and I didn't like that (hard to keep clean). And the thing just looked THICK. Plus, it didn't have a dual LED flash and no lens cover or FM transmitter.
I narrowed it down to either the N95 8GB or this phone.
I finally decided the OLED was better than LCD (for battery life and viewability). And the navigation key was larger and has the added bonus of having a navi wheel. The n85 also had a lens cover and dual LED. Plus Euro 3G compatibility on top of the US3G. Plus Symbian OS 3rd w/ feature pack 2.
So I was sold and I've been trying to play with the phone the past week...
Build Quality..
Somebody said it was made in China so it must suck. Well, my N75 was made in Finland and that thing was horrible. It fell apart after a few months (hinge problem). So for this phone I read both ways.. some said it was solid, some said it was flimsy. I've held all phones in my hand and this one feels pretty solid. The slide doesn't wobble when opened or closed. The plastic does not feel cheap at all. It doesn't attract thumb prints or grease like the N75 did. Or maybe you can't see it as much since it's all black.
MP3 player..
It came per loaded with an 8GB card with some music and accompanying album art:
Blind Sorrow - Pritchard, Banks, Coons, Dilk
Bring the House Down - Ben Wheeler
Hot Nights - Ian Clarke, Simon Painter
Love Forever - Vanessa Condev
See Me Alive - The Winyls
Waste - Robert J. Walsh, Rober Grad
Whenever You Say Love Me - Day Eleven
Won't Let Go - Negative
You Got the Message - Leigh Gracie
Navi wheel works great while browsing your songs (feels just like an ipod scroll:)
Software..
Everytime you get on a menu and you stop for a second.. you would have to tap the buttons twice. Once to wake it up then another to actually select it. Kinda annoying but I got used to it.
Games Included w/ Free trial:
Block Breaker - I've played it before and didn't like it. Deleted.
Space Impact Kappa Base- kinda like Galaga shooter w/ excellent graphics
Tetris - no change from a typical tetris game
Snakes Subsonic - horrible. Confusing and graphics suck.
Asphalt 3 Street Rules - nice graphics but short run for trial
Fifa08 - once you picked a view (landscape or portrait) you can't change it. I picked landscape thinking it was the sideways option but it ended up being a portrait.. so i can't use the side buttons.
World series of Poker - nice game
Brain Challenge - pick the answer by moving the selector up,dwn,lft, right
Bounce - long install (5+mins) and long load times fire it up.
Sims2 Pets -
Creatures of the Deep -
Midnight Pool -
Reset Generation
I haven't played the last four games so I have no comment on those. The Ngage app is pretty useful for a few minutes or so to waste time but certainly not a psp or ds replacement. The side buttons are just too small. It will make your hand cramp.
Now here's why i love this phone:
Joikuspot Light -
This app turns your 3G phone connection into a wifi hotspot. I use an ipod touch w/ version 2 software to connect to the internet. If I use the open option it keeps dropping the connection while you're on idle. The WEP Shared did the same thing as well. The WEP Open works great and keeps the connection until you disconnect. The only limitation I found was that it didn't connect to any secured sites. IE the bank of america app on the ipod touch wouldn't connect. 3-4 hours of use with a fully charged battery.
Internet radio -
Inculdes FM radio broadcasts from your area. Some AM radio, too. Not as good as pandora (no album art or music background literature) but good enough. Plenty of ad free music and it can be broadcast thru your car radio with the FM transmitter! Full charge battery lasted about 3 hours with just using this app non-stop.
Google Maps -
I read somewhere that 3rd party apps couldn't access the GPS but that's not true. Google maps acquired your position within SECONDS. Or sometime a couple of minutes. It does drain the battery, though.
Nokia Maps -
Turn-by-turn voice navigation is free for three months. I tried it out and works fine. Had to restart that phone because it couldn't get a GPS signal for 30mins. There's no tone to let you know when to actually turn it just comes on and says.. 'NOW TURN RIGHT 200 YDS THEN LEFT IN 2.1 MILES' I think it's a great backup GPS but not a replacement. I say that because I can't keep it on the dash and I don't have car charger. It drained from a full charge to halfway within 45mins.
Download!
An app/link that shows you all the available software that can be downloaded over the phone. Most are free trials and most are useful. I have the Accuweather Bug (Forecaweather is nice but you have to pay for it!). Fring is an all in one IM (yahoo, gtalk, aim, etc) and it's free. It also lets you make VOIP calls thru wifi but I haven't tried it.
Overall, the feature pack 2 is definitely an improvement over the N75. It's hard to explain but some little things that irked me about the N75 have been substantially fixed or changed this time around.
The front panel green button (call) and red button (disconnect) are actually separate buttons which is good. I couldn't see that from the pictures.
FM transmitter -
I thought I could broadcast my phone call through the radio but that doesn't work. What works is having the Internet Radio/ Podcast/ MP3 player on + the AGPS voice guided Nokia maps. You have commercial free radio/Music that fades out when the voice nav comes on, and fades back in when it's done giving directions. Awesome.
Battery Life -
2.5hrs with Internet radio
3.5hrs with just Joikuspot Light
Internet on/off, light texting, a few calls - 6-8hrs
OLED -
Reminds of that time I took the cover off the 6230 and saw the LCD screen 'naked' and thought 'Wow, this is really clear.' Direct sunlight does make the screen unviewable. But indoors/ inside a car, it's an excellent screen.
Keypad -
Obviously smaller than the N75 but practically the same size as the 6230 so I have no complaints. It does get some getting used to txting/typing on a flat keypad but I got used to it after a couple of days.
What I didn't like about the phone:
-USB charging port ONLY. Although it did come w/ a USB wall charger, there will no more going to a friend's house and borrowing their Nokia charger.
-Front keys are little hard to press. Compared to the N82 navigation button it's definitely more difficult to press. The N82 felt like butter this one not so much.
-The naviwheel is not perfect. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
-FM transmitter was a little weak. Anything farther than an arms length and it fazed out.
-Music store is not avail yet for the US.
What a disappointment!
I just received N85 today, unpackaged it and it took me 10 minutes to realize that I'm dropping it off with UPS tomorrow :(
First and the foremost, the build quality is awful! The whole thing is so flimsy, when you press the front buttons it makes a scratching noise!
Secondly, the camera button doesn't work.
Overall, the phone looks like a Chinese made fake for 10 bucks would look. Nokia, you are losing a committed 10 year customer!
Buy Nokia - Nokia N85 Unlocked Cell Phone with 5 MP Camera, 3G, GPS, MP3/Video Player, MicroSD Slot - U.S. Version with Warranty (Copper)
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