Nokia N86

Released in the UK on the same day as the Nokia N97 and the Apple iPhone 3GS, you may have expected the N86 to get lost in the scrum, as these two heavyweights battled it out for consumer attention. Instead, the 3GS was met with relative indifference and although the N97 has performed admirably, the N86 has captured the imagination of anyone looking for this year's N95 equivalent, making the N86 the dark horse of June 2009's new mobile releases.

Why You Should Buy It!

•It has an 8 megapixel camera with a Carl Zeiss lens, dual-LED flash and autofocus.

•The OLED screen is 2.6" in size with a QVGA resolution.

•Assisted GPS comes built-in.

•It's 3G with HSDPA plus Wi-Fi and A2DP Bluetooth v2.0.

•The 8GB of supplied MicroSD storage can be expanded up to 16GB.

As its given name suggests, the N86 is the update of the N85 in Nokia's 'multimedia computer' Nseries range and just as its predecessor did, it emulates the design and kitchen-sink approach of the grandaddy of all modern Nokia smartphones, the N95. Shunning the fashionable touchscreen control system, the N86 uses a good old D-pad and surrounding softkeys to navigate through the Symbian S60 3rd Edition FP2 operating system, giving it something that many touchscreen phones do not; true one-handed operation.

The N86 is a dual sliding mobile phone and is beautifully constructed, with the materials feeling as high quality as the price tag suggests. The inclusion of a metal frame, a glass screen and the overall 149 gram weight makes the N86 a solid device which although unlikely to disappear in your pocket, it's equally unlikely to fall apart at the first sign of trouble either. The key pad could have been spaced a little better, but we're pleased with the style of the new multimedia keys under the top end slide, which have clearly been engineered to enhance any N-gage gaming you may partake in.

This is the first Nokia to feature an 8 megapixel camera, and they have certainly added plenty of features to it! The camera uses a 28mm wide angle Carl Zeiss lens complete with a mechanical shutter to improve your images (this is a feature which made the old Sony Ericsson K800i such a great camera phone) plus an automatic variable aperture setting for higher quality pictures in more varied lighting conditions, something the dual-LED flash will also do. On the software side the N86 has a panoramic shooting mode to take advantage of the landscape-friendly 28mm lens, but strangely no face or smile recognition.

Turning the phone over reveals a kickstand ready to be flicked out, providing the N86 with a handy desktop stand to make it easier to watch videos on the gorgeous OLED screen. OLED technology improves contrast and brightness while decreasing power drain. The video player doesn't support DivX/XviD out of the box unfortunately, but there is the usual Nseries MP3 player, an FM RDS radio, a 3.5mm jack plug socket and an FM transmitter to make up for it. The N86 lives up to the media abilities of the Nseries name very well.

Finally, the N86 provides all the Ovi services including Ovi Maps and N-gage, plus Assisted GPS, a digital compass, a TV-out socket, VGA video shooting, Wi-Fi, 3G with HSDPA and A2DP Bluetooth.

Summary of the Nokia N86 8MP

With the many Symbian S60 applications available online, any of the N86 software shortcomings (the lack of DivX decoding for example) can be cured with the addition of a simple program, plus almost any future needs are covered by the continued development too. With GPS, Wi-Fi, an 8 megapixel camera and the OLED screen, the N86 is not wanting in the hardware stakes, and its classically styled design will please all but the truly dedicated follower of fashion. Nokia may be making in-roads into the touchscreen world with the impressive 5800 XpressMusic and powerful N97, but the N86 8MP proves that when it comes to Symbian-powered non-touch devices, they're still far ahead of their rivals.

Features

8 Megapixel camera

8GB internal memory

2.6" QVGA display (scratch-resistant surface)

3G (HSDPA), EDGE, GPRS, HSCSD, Wi-Fi and UPnP technology

Built-in GPS receiver with A-GPS function

3.5mm headphone jack

Dedicated music keys

Digital compass

Symbian OS, S60 rel. 3.2

Stereo FM Radio with RDS, FM Transmitter, and MP3 Player

microSD Card Slot (TransFlash) (up to 16GB)

Dimensions: 103.4 x 51.4 x 16.5 mm

Weight: 149 grams

Standby Time: Up to 312hrs

Talk Time: Up to 6hrs 18mins