Hey folks! Here we come with another great review, now it’s the time for the camera king of the moment: the Nokia N86.

Often called the succesor of the N82, the king of camera phones. As a matter of fact, its camera is so cool that even Steve Litchfield uses one to make his Phone Show program, a cool videocast reviewing phones.

Well, lets start talking about the HardwareHardware reviews and the construction:

The Nokia N86 takes its design from the Nokia N85, a dual slider (á la N95) but with rounded corners. It feels solid in the hand, a little bit heavy due to the camera sensor and the added memory/processor speed. But nonetheless it feels well built. It shows a metal casing all around its fascia, a nice touch nowadays, seen on the N97, N97 mini and E72. In the back it’s all plastic, not a cheap chinese plastic but a solid plastic that also works as antenna for the GPS. It charges and syncs via the MicroUSB port. Some people think this is cool, but I prefer dual charging solutions like the E72 & E75 and the upcoming N8. But it’s a matter of tastes. Also the battery life is a mixed bag: with heavy use and 3G on all day it won’t last a full working day from 8am to 8pm… but with mild use, 20-30 min talking, occasional internet usage it can last for up to 2 days.

Screen:

The screen has some mixed feelings. On one side its 2,6″ OLED, which displays the colours better and more vivid, also the brightness is way higher than previous TFT screens Nokias such as Nokia N82 or N95. OLED screens are known for their low power consumption so that part is OK. In the other side, OLED screens are tremendously horrible in direct sunlight. You cannot see a thing!! Also the glass top in this phone doesnt help and acts like a mirror in direct sunlight so forget the idea of having a picnic with your family, sun shining, birds flying and a N86 ready for action… it wont help unless you cover the screen with your hand.

Camera:

The camera is top-notch. It has a Carl Zeiss ™ lens with 8 megapixels and variable angle (I need to research further on this). But lets explain it that even a family guy or average joe can understand me: this phone can easily replace your Digicam. The colours are very vivid, the compression levels were kept very low and it provides one of the most pleasant experiences. So with that in mind, you can take pictures with a Nokia N86, go to a Photo Kiosk and wont be disappointed. I dont know why Nokia forgot to put Xenon flashes on their phones, a very good experience in previous phones such as the N82 specially in dark/night pictures. Nonetheless, the N86 doesnt dissappoint. It has dual LED flash and its 3rd generation LED, which I dont understand well. I think Nokia just put some kind of magnifying glass instead of plastic and that’s why is brighter than the N85, N96 and other dual led Nokias. Oopsss! Almost forgot, it also has Face Detection.

The videopart is even better. The N86 is one of few phones that can use the variable angle in videos, making extremely pleasant videos in VGA resolution (or something like 480p)…

Having explained all about the outside, lets talk about the inside: The Memory and Software

It has the very well known Symbian S60V3 FP2 with a lots of upgrades. Its very quick moving between menus and all that, even with the theme effects on. The learning curve for symbian is a bit technical so some people will find it difficult or not user friendly at the beginning, but that changes after some days of use. I really love the way Nokia integrates a lots of VAS (Value Added Services) for free such as the Share Online, that lets user upload pictures to a website and store them there for free.

Symbian S60V3 has a very solid software library, so it wont be a problem getting software for a N86. Also the N86 comes with the Ovi Maps free GPS navigation, like other Nokias such as N97, N97 mini and E72. Its compass is a cool feature: it shows where the north is, very useful when using it as a Walking GPS. I also tested with the Free Compass App from ThinkChange that you can download it for Free HERE.

Music Playermusic player:

The music player hasnt changed that much since the N95. But I said “If is working, why break it?”. The Music player accomplishes its task: play music with quality. The menu is very easy to understand. Also it has an option for Podcast, which I listen a lot. A very nice feature included in the N86 is the FM Transmitter, which lets us transmit the music, the podcast and even the Internet Radio option through FM to our car stereo or home radio. I’ve even heard about people transmitting music using the Last.FM app “Mobbler”. Very nice!

Connectivity:

Nokia phones are known for their communication cappabilities. As a matter of fact, their motto is “connecting people”. Nonetheless, the N86 is a fully connected phone, having all range of connectivity options from 3G to WiFi. Model reviewed is the N86-3 or N86 NAM (NAM stands for North AMerica), which has american 850 and 1900mhz 3G bands as well as 2100mhz Euro/Asia band. It also has Wifi b/g, A-GPS with compass, all kind of VoIP options, USB 2.0, BluetoothBluetooth 2.0 with EDR just to mention a few (and not going crazy) so it covers all!

I use the N86 as a MiFi with the aid of JoikuSpot Lite, a software that turns most modern Nokia phones into a 3G to Wifi sharing gateway.

Conclusion:

I’m very satisfied with the experience provided by the N86. Its a multimedia oriented phone, covering all needs such as camera, videocam, music playing to mention a few.

Here are more pictures of the N86 and some photosamples:

And now the photosamples:

And finally, a videosample:

Happy Geeking!