| Review of the Nokia N86 |
 |
The Nokia N86 is new slider model from Nokia that essentially offers a more modern alternative to the old N95. It offers pretty much the same features, but it includes a faster processor and an 8 megapixel camera. Last Updated: 07-Jan-2010 The N86 is available on Rogers |
Before reading this review, please read Some Thoughts on Phone Reviewing.
RF Performance
Click on this link for a full description of
RF Performance, and how to interpret it.
RF Sensitivity: During all of the tests I made to
compare the N86 with the N95 I was able to no detectable difference in RF
performance at 850 MHz. However, at 1900 MHz (even on 3G) the performance of the
N86 was slightly less than my N95. This might just be a glitch in the exact
model I tested, because overall the performance of the N86 seems virtually
identical to the old N95.
Over-the-road Performance: During over-the-road
tests I found the N86 to be just as capable as the N95. All of the Nokia 3G
phones I’ve tested have exhibited excellent performance in this regard.
Audio Performance
Click on this link for a full description of
Audio Performance, and how to interpret it.
Tonal Balance: When it comes to strictly tonal
balance, the N86 has a slightly deeper and richer sound than the N95, but as
you’ll see in the next sub-section, this comes at a price. At the highest
volumes the phone exhibits very little peakiness or tininess that is common in
many other phones. As usual, Nokia does an excellent job of providing
good-sounding audio.
Sound Reproduction: Now for that price I mentioned.
Like with many other phones I’d tested just recently (including the iPhone 3GS)
I found that the N86 is less distinct when it comes to the finer nuances of
speech. Components such as “s” sounds were rather muted and words were harder to
distinguish from those sounding similar. In this respect the old N95 comes out
way ahead.
Earpiece Volume: After comparing the N86 with the
N95 in both quiet and noisy conditions I found that the earpiece volumes were
virtually identical. The N86 seemed to have a slightly less picky sweet spot
(the exact position you need to hold the phone to your ear to get maximum
volume), but it wasn’t big enough for me to declare a winner. Either way the N86
ranks as one of the louder phones on the market, especially in noisy conditions
when the Nokia volume-booth feature comes into effect.
Outgoing Audio: I compared the N86 and the N95 for
outgoing audio quality and ability to handle loud background noise. I found the
N86 to be a slight improvement over the N95 for sound quality, but a slightly
worse when it came to picking up background noise. Both phones don’t do
particularly well at this task, and when compared to the new Motorola Tundra
(which raises the bar for noise reduction) they are both fairly poor at it.
However, they do maintain fairly good audio quality even in the face of loud
background noise; they just don’t try very hard to get rid of it.
Speakerphone: Like the N95, the N86 has dual
speakers, but it differs in where they are placed. The N95 has the speakers on
either side of the phone so that you get proper stereo effect if the phone was
held in portrait orientation. The N86 puts the speakers on the same side so that
they are both at the top when the phone is held in landscape orientation. I
didn’t find either arrangement to be better than the other, but the performance
of the speakers “spoke” for itself.
When using the two phones in speakerphone mode I found the volume of both to be
almost identical, but the N86 speakers had a tinnier more artificial sound when
the volume was turned up full. Clearly the N95 speakers were of higher quality
and could handle higher outputs without distorting.
Oddly, when I played media files (like MP3s or watched videos with sound) the
maximum volume of the N86 was NOTICEABLY LESS than that of the N95. Even at
those lower volumes, the overall quality of the sound coming from the N95 was
clearly superior.
Support Features
Ringer Volume: Because all ringtones these days are
just MP3 files played through the phone’s speakers, it came as no surprise that
the N86 has lower ringer volume than the N95. I used my infamous Loud Ringer MP3
file on both phones and the difference in volume (and clarity) was rather
shocking. Now this isn’t to say that the N86 has a poor ringer, but it has been
beaten soundly by its forbearer.
Keypad Design: The numeric keypad is similar to the
one on the N95, but the keys are slightly smaller and you can better feel the
differences between them. Sadly the keypad is otherwise horrible. The keys have
very little “throw” (the distance they can be pressed) and provide extremely
poor tactile feedback. They still seemed to work reliably, but that doesn’t seem
to make up for their feel.
The other keys (which are always accessible, even when the phone is slid closed)
have been made much smaller and placed further apart. This does make them much
easier to find and press accurately than the silly style-over-substance
arrangement on the N95. However, the phone is missing the PENCIL key found on
many other non-QWERTY Nokia models. This key was essentially used to activate
cut-and-paste, which is now handled by the # key. Unfortunately there are
numerous 3rd-party applications that rely on a “shift” key, which the N86
doesn’t have. The # key does work with the cursor keys and the OK pad,
but it doesn’t work with numeric keys.
Display: The N86 sports a 320 x 240 pixel OLED
display. This type of display produces brilliant colors and sharp images.
Because each pixel is it own light source the angle of view makes no difference.
The screen looks great at any angle.
I was surprised to find that it was actually bright enough (if you kept it at
the brightest setting) to be seen outdoors on a sunny day. The only drawback to
this screen is that once it shuts off, you can’t see anything. Users who
maintain a clock on their LCD displays will be disappointed.
Icing on the
Cake
Camera: The 8 megapixel camera on the N86 is clearly one of the big
draws. Aside from having more resolution than the 5 megapixel camera on the N95,
it also sports a wider-angle lens (the equivalent to 24 mm on a 35 mm camera).
However, the wider angle means you get more in each shot from the same distance
away. In terms of pixel density for a given shot, there isn’t much difference
between the N95 and the N86.
However, the overall quality of the shots seems better on the N86 than those I
took with my N95. Quality is consistent throughout the image and there seem to
be fewer artifacts.
The camera lens has a sliding cover that protects it from finger smudges when
you aren’t using it. This is a major improvement over the N95, which had no
protection for its lens. The N95 suffered from smudges almost all of the time,
which of course degrades the quality of your shots unless you clean the lens
before each use.
The N86 still uses only LEDs for its flash, but it has 2 LEDs compared to the 1
LED on the N95. A xenon flash would have been a great feature, but Nokia didn’t
take that route.
Overall however, the N86 camera is clearly the best camera ever put on a Nokia
model. I’ve read that there are other 8 megapixel phones out there that have
better picture quality, but without being able to compare them side-by-side I
couldn’t really say.
Weight: This is an odd category that I’ve never
included before, but that’s because the weight (and hence the density) of the
N86 was rather surprising. The N86 is a smaller phone than the N95, which would
lead you to believe that it would weigh less. As it turns out the N95 (with the
standard 1100 mAh battery) weighs 130 grams, while the N86 tips the scale at 148
grams (a hefty 14% increase, despite being smaller).
Conclusions
The N86 is a nice replacement for the N95, but if you already have an N95 there isn’t a whole lot in the N86 to warrant the upgrade. If you are considering an N86 to replace a much less powerful phone and you don’t feel a need for touch display, the N86 is hard to fault. It has just about every hardware feature there is and a great camera too. It’s also a bit of a heavyweight, and so if you plan to carry it around in your shirt pocket you might find it a bit too much for many shirt fabrics.
