Nokia N85 smartphone

The N85 is the sleeker younger brother of the N96; it’s similar in size to an N95 without the slider, and its own slider feels positive and well built.

The case is largely black, with menu, application, cancel and media keys lighting up when they’re active, and fading away the rest of the time, giving a very polished look.

Push the slider down and the buttons will either light up in media player mode, or N-Gage mode for gaming. The phone’s a little heftier than the N95 and feels more solid, despite being smaller.

It has an OLED screen, rather than LCD, which helps with battery life and gives great, vivid colours – though as it’s OLED, you’ll find the screensaver glows. It’s also great for movie playback.

At first the keypad looked similar to the N96, which felt flat, but in use it’s actually much closer to the N95, with good tactile feedback, so you can text quickly and accurately. The navigation pad can also double as a scroll wheel, though it takes a little getting used to.

The software – S60 Third Edition Feature Pack 2 – is much the same as on the N96, with support for Web Dav, you can connect to services such as your iDisk and browse them in the file manager. There’s internet radio support (as long as it’s MP3), as well as the standard FM, and you can even share your music in the car, thanks to a built-in FM transmitter.

We do have a few gripes – the usual Series 60 browser isn’t up to par. USB charging is a welcome addition, but the micro USB port means another cable, and there’s no socket for an ordinary Nokia charger. The camera is OK, but needs pretty good lighting for best results. And there’s no edit button – if you want to copy and paste, you need to call up the menu.

But those are mostly minor issues; this is a nice phone – it’s compact, has good battery life, good build, and a great screen. The N96 may have DVB-H, which is probably pointless in the UK, but it’s the N85 that’s really the flagship in our book – and arguably what the N95 should have been.

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