Updated 14 Feb, 2012, 9:34 am IST

REVIEWS / SMARTPHONES / NOKIA

Nokia N86 Mobile Phone

10 Jul, 2009, 9:00 am IST | Shayne Rana | Smartphones

Media
Nokia’s mobile media prowess has not undergone any change with the N86. The handset still reads only the very specific mobile media formats for both audio and video with no additional codec included. Those include – WMV, RV, MP4 and 3GP for video and MP3, WMA, WAV, RA, AAC and M4A for audio. That’s quite a long list so no issues here though I know I wouldn’t be the only one to rejoice if Nokia were to support DivX and XviD playback as well. With 8 Gigs of internal memory and memory card support you’ll never run short of media.

The S60 music player is as good as any of their other devices i.e. it’s loud and clear with EQ presets and a fully customizable graphic EQ setting as well as a Bass Booster and Stereo Widening options. The bundled earphones are not my cup of tea so I used my own and so can you, either directly from the handset or via the microphone adapter that also has a 3.5mm earphone socket. TV out is also a feature (cables included – RCA to EP) so you can hook it up to your TV for a larger view of anything.

The good thing is that most if not all new S60 handsets, irrespective of them being E-Series for business or the N-Series for multimedia come fully loaded with plenty of media features. The N86 is the same with an FM transmitter in addition to Visual radio via the Stereo FM radio with RDS and an Internet radio function as well. It also has an option for Pod casts but still no access to Nokia’s online Music Store. At least I wasn’t able to get into it.

I also noticed that the handsets have genuinely become speedier as the Video Center seems to open up a lot faster than some of the older models even if it’s loaded with content. You can also add video feeds form various servers like YouTube etc. to handset application for quick access. It also supports Flash Lite 3.1.

The N-Gage application is also available for gaming. Of course there didn’t seem to be any free games included with the handset, even those not included in the N-Gage Arena, which is real pity.

Connectivity
The N86 is well equipped in this department. It has Wi-Fi with the appropriate apps like Home Media for streaming and sharing files in a Wi-Fi network also pre loaded. Other connectivity features include Bluetooth with A2DP, Nokia’s Switch application for data transfer between devices as well as PC connectivity for Syncing if necessary and USB 2.0 (micro).

For net connectivity, the N86 supports EDGE and GPRS of course and is also a 3G enabled handset with HSDPA capabilities. The browser supports flash content but doesn’t yet support opening multiple pages. If you’re used to a Nokia handset it’s not hard to use or get used to and it’s light enough to be fast.

Nokia’s email client is also on board and makes setting up your email accounts even via Microsoft Exchange rather easy. Gmail however is a lot faster to use via Gmail’s own free application. Nevertheless the app allows for quite a few email accounts to be stored and saved but only one can be set to display on the live desktop.

A Facebook application is absent although what you will find in its stead is simply a quick link icon to the mobile site. I would have preferred an application like the one provided with the N97. I’m hoping that with a box packed piece bought off the shelf, the handset will at least come with the Ovi Store app preloaded as this one didn’t, however the Download section is present to give you access to plenty of downloadable add-ons for the handset. Mostly try and buy though.

GPS
An internal GPS antenna allows you to locate satellite signals (when outdoors) without the use of a net connection. That takes about four times longer most of the time but it’s still usable. Geo Tagging is part of the set up with the camera’s obvious involvement. Ovi Maps 3.0 is the native application for navigation purposes with a full three months license tossed in. It does support A-GPS of course and it also comes with a digital compass.

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Tags: 8 Megapixel , Series 60

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