Don't be fooled by the 'Overview' subtitle, we proudly present All About Symbian's detailed review of the Nokia N86 8MP being launched today. We cover all aspects of the device and explain where it fits into the world of top-end phones. Future review parts will cover specific areas, such as multimedia functions, in greater detail, plus we'll have specific photo comparison articles. Can the N86 8MP succeed amidst the barrage of summer touch-screen 'heroes'?
Read on in the full article.
Dual LED flash is the sensible choice for a number of reasons; I, for one, am pleased that Nokia have chosen not to over-complicate this device with an expensive and delicate xenon that would give small benefit in only a few situations. 0.1% of anal uber-geeks will be annoyed but the majority will approve.
Hi, I had raised a question in one of the other articles for the n86, but never got a reply from anyone. Can someone please throw their opinion on this:
"how sensible is it to buy a S60 3rd edition (9.3) device now that the 5th edition (9.4) is already out? What advantages do you see to stick to 9.3 for the time been?"
QVGA fixed in 3.2?
is this a step back from 3.0 when the N80 had a higher res screen? Even in its tiny form factor the extra resolution made reading 'full size' web pages much easier than on the N95 I had next. Now an e90 user I'm ready for my next step and as the camera is a much used part of my phone user profile in both still and video mode but I also demand a high res screen as I use it for lots of web browsing and office work its almost impossible to find a phone to meet my needs.
looking forward to the camera comparison with the n82.
Thanks for that excellent overview guys. This phone looks to be a winner and I am sorely tempted to upgrade from my N95 8Gb. In these touch-obsessed times it will have its work cut out but I hope it does well. Would have been nice to see it launched at around three hundred quid (I try to buy unlocked these days).
n82 has sip integrated into the system >>>> great thing
what about n86?
Very nice and fine review
However the quality of low light photos ans videos will decide the real worth of this phone
Looks like a solid evolution of the dual slider. I sincerely hope nokia has fixed the build quality issues of the N95.
I also hope they can fix the price quickly too. Too expensive now. Especially compared to the touchy-feely competition.
Is this v10 firmware going to be in the retail release? And I remembered that Ovi Chat was in the homescreen of the N86 back in MWC. Will that be included in the final release?
Thanks for the review
I would like to ask about the camera key
I found that my n85 camera key is hard to push
Today I tried n97 camery key; it is a lot easier to push and I really like it
Will the camera key of n86 be like n97 ?
Thanks
In these reviews I never find comments about the camera beiing fast or slow. N95 is so slow in autofocus that it is almost impossible to take pictures fast. Has this issue been solved ? For some it could be more important than UBER quality since phones are many times used to take quick pictures not to make photo books ...
The pictures, while sharp, seem to suffer from too much smoothing, giving them a watercolor effect.
The oversharpening seems to be a bit less of a problem than with the N82, but at least that can be overcome by setting the sharpness to 'soft', and applying your own unsharp mask.
the article was worth the wait Rafe! c", I'm looking forward to the next review particularly on the camera department, the most crucial area of this phone.
as of the moment, I routing for this phone against N97 and the touchscreen madness.:icon14:
I really, really wanted to see something that took my breath away like the N95 8GB did when it was released.
For my money, nothing beats the form factor and build quality of the E71 and for that reason I'm holding out for the E72.
MarcoZ wrote:In these reviews I never find comments about the camera beiing fast or slow. N95 is so slow in autofocus that it is almost impossible to take pictures fast. Has this issue been solved ? For some it could be more important than UBER quality since phones are many times used to take quick pictures not to make photo books ...
Slightly offtopic, but hopefully helpful: If you quickly press the camera key fully, it will skip the focus and make the picture directly (works on N82 at least). I guess it will focus on infinity, but this is often usable.
Alternatively, set the preset to landscape (but override the sharpness setting)
Unregistered wrote:Very nice and fine review
However the quality of low light photos ans videos will decide the real worth of this phone
LOL! A smartphone judged on a single feature? Don't think so.
Has it got anything like the N95's video editor?
nice overview rafe i made my decision eagerly awaiting the n86 as the real succesor of my old n95 i had a 5800 xm but camera sucks big time hope the n86 can give us an overall beter camera experience than n82
Heh, I love the first panorama shot where you appear 5 times in it! Clever 😊
MarcoZ wrote:In these reviews I never find comments about the camera beiing fast or slow. N95 is so slow in autofocus that it is almost impossible to take pictures fast. Has this issue been solved ? For some it could be more important than UBER quality since phones are many times used to take quick pictures not to make photo books ...
Slow? Maybe compared to a "real" camera. Comparing it to the HTC auto-focus devices, it's like lightning!
If firmware updates and software development are weighty concerns to you than you may want to choose either the N97 or E72 as these phones will far outsell the N86.
If your main concern is media creation in a mobile phone you will want to choose the N86 which will have one of the best cameras ever seen in a mobile phone. If you are a current N95 owner as I am this will be a difficult choice. Part of me wants to get the N86 and part of me really wants to go to a qwerty keyboard.
khalidraffali wrote:looking forward to the camera comparison with the n82.
So do I... at night and interior!
@neilhoskins:
Has it got anything like the N95's video editor?
Nice to see there's someone else who values that - I'm hanging onto my N95 "classic" for a number of reasons, and believe it or not, the video editor is one of them. Why on earth did Nokia drop this from the N95's descendants, and couldn't they at least make the editor available as a separate installer for those who want it?
Stil, the N86 looks like the best attempt yet at a true N95 replacement, and maybe some time in the next 1-2 years, Nokia might put out a handset which ticks all the same boxes as the N95 and then some. I mean, how hard can it be after all this time?
(BTW: is it my imagination, or at some stage in the N95's firmware development, did they change the video editor so it can render output at 640x480 without running out of memory?)
From the conclusion:
At one level, it all comes down to whether you want another QVGA device or not... However, that's a very easy question to answer.
Got the N86 from Carphone Warehouse,an the phone looks Brilliant,people are saying its heavy but i don"t think its to heavy at all,The Indigo/blue colour looks very good indeed instead of Black all the time,the one thing i found on the N86 is the Speakers as on my N95 8gb they were position an either sde of the mobile but the N86 Speakers are on the same side,an the speakers do not seem as loud as my N95 8gb,i like the slide lock button idea from Nokia as you get feed up pressing the buttons on mobiles to unlock it but the N86 slide unlock button is a Very idea from Nokia,but i wonder if Nokia could have made N86 display been turned off until you unlock the slide like they did with the 5800 ,will be getting the camera tested out tomorrow night seeing what the N86 images are good an bad,but uptil now the N86 is a very good mobile to purchase
"Technical limitations means that S60 3.2 is stuck on QVGA"
I don't think so. E90 also ran on S60 3.1 and it had a WVGA screen.
Just wanted to let you know that I'll get to answering some of these comments tomorrow. Sorry for the delay but been a busy day elsewhere and too tired to do everything justice.
Please do keep asking questions.
And let me know if there's specific camera comparisons you would like to see and I'll see what I can do.
Attahched is something to keep you going - question is - which one is the N86!
Err...the one with tongue sticking out? 😉
Have to admit I've given up hope for any camera on any phone for real shooting (had an N95, now given it away to my better half). Now I'm with the 5800 and E71...both with 3.2 megapixel...good enough for casual snapshots though.
Will wait until the camera review bits come 😊
Cheers.
hi rafe i wanted to see how the n86 would stand against the phones with xenon flash like samsung g810, se c905, nokia n82 and innov8