With everyone waiting for the N96 why should you consider the newly announced N85? What does it have that the N96 does not, and, more importantly what is it missing?
Simple! It's thinner, lighter, better screen technology, charges through USB and includes an FM Transmitter, in short! Let's look at some of the differences in more detail:
Size:
The N96 is 103 x 55 x 18 mm whereas the N85 is 103 x 50 x 16mm , shaving a couple of mm of the thickness and 5mm off the width. Official figures show that, although smaller, the N85 actually weighs 3g more, but 128g versus 125g is not going to be a dealbreaker for most. Both phones are sliders, and benefit from the dual-slide technology of having music navigation buttons when the phone is slid down and the standard keypad when the phone is slid up.
Battery life:
The N96 includes a 950mAh battery, whereas the smaller N85 includes a 1200mAh battery. This gives the N85 a talk time of 410 minutes and standby of 360 hours over the N96's reported 220 minutes talk time and 220 hours standby. Interestingly Nokia are now quoting 'Music playback - 30 hours (offline)' and 'video playback - 7 hours', showing that they are pitching this firmly as an MP3 replacement.
Screen Technology:
The N85 is fitted with the latest 2.6" OLED technology screen. Not only is it brighter but it uses much less power (hence the above battery life times). It does this by using less power to display darker pixels, whereas traditional TFT panels are backlight - this means that a black screen uses the same power to be displayed as a full image. The N96 screen is marginally bigger at 2.8", which accounts for the extra 5mm in width.
FM Transmitter:
For many this will become the killer application for the phone, and you can expect to see this on many more devices in the future. The N85 can be configured to broadcast a short range FM signal at a specific frequency, playing the music on your phone. Whilst in your car you can tune the radio to this frequency and hey, you've got your own radio channel with all your favourite tracks. Although the N85 only has 8GBG in comparison to the 16GB (which is also expandable) on the N96, with the average mp3 file at 4MB that's still 2000 tracks.
The N96 does still have a couple of tricks up its sleeve. Aside from the bigger screen and memory it has the aforementioned DVB-H capability. But with many providers such as Orange and Vodaphone offering TV services that stream over data for a fixed fee per month, and with some countries not even broadcasting any programs on the new medium yet, in reality is it worth having? The cameras on both phones are to the same spec, and the are both running Symbian S60 with Feature Pack 2. Both can run Nokia Maps, allowing for satellite navigation and free download of maps anywhere in the world. (You do pay extra if you want voice navigation though). Both support HSPDA, providing high speed internet on the move.
At the time of writing the Nokia N85 has no release date on Orange, Vodaphone, T-Mobile or O2 but it is expected before Christmas 2008.
So, if you want a phone that is going to last more than a day or so with reasonable use, the best screen on the market today, a device that can stream music in the car, can be charged via USB and something that will not ruin the line of your suit in your pocket, then the N85 is the way to go. If you want sheer capacity and the 'rambo factor' of a phone with built in TV, but don't need the FM transmitter then dig a little deeper for the N96. At the time of writing pricing has yet to be announced on the N85 but is expected to be around £350 SIM free. The N96 is £579.99 inc VAT SIM free.