Couple of days back I got hands on beautiful N86. Yes, the 8 megapixel shooter which has the biggest camera module at the time of it’s launch. Nokia has a history of combining best in class hardware but what makes it stand apart is the Camera in it’s Camera-Phones. With first camera phone to N86, camera phones couldn’t have been better.
Introduction and Build
As I unpacked the camera… I mean the phone, I was staring at this beautiful pearl white model with steel bezel around it which gives it a premium look. The edges are smooth, curved and easy to hold add to its beauty. As natural tendency goes, I put in the battery and switched it on. As compared to previous iterations of S60, this has a pretty fast start up time. The front of the phone makes me say if it’s marriage of S40 and S60 keypad. In it’s closed position, the keypad is very familiar (even when open it doesn’t make a difference). 5-way navigation key takes the center stage. Call Receive and Call End key are color coded as Green and Red. The keys are actually transparent and coloured from inside, so we can be assured that we press the right key year after year. We’ve 2 soft keys which have functions as defined above the keys on screen. A Clear key under the call end button and a tilted silver key for the Menu.
We have earpiece at top center (generally every phone has it, nothing new here), VGA camera for video calls to it’s right and ambient light sensor to it’s left.
Those unaware of ambient light sensor, it is a mechanism that controls the back lighting of the screen and keypad. Like in bright areas the screen seems brighter while in dull areas screen looks dim to protect our eyes. Innovation that Nokia has been using for long.
Going for the overall design, it follows the Nokia principle of simplistic approach. Left hand side contains just the Unlock Key or rather I can call it the Lock Key. The reason being I can unlock the phone pressing Left soft key first and then the right soft key. So the key is only to lock the phone, but of course saves a exercise of the thumb. Right part of the phone is a little more exciting. 2 speakers at each end, giving the stereo output, volume keys and camera key. The top part of the phone has OnOff key, 3.5mm AV port, micro-USB and a indicator lamp to indicate charging. Bottom part has just the slot for attaching blings or strings, whichever fancies you.
If I am guessing it right, you did notice I did not mention the charging point. I did and did not. I did not mention charging point but I did mention from where you can charge – Micro-USB. This is the new idea of charging. Micro-USB acts as charging as well as data cable. You can charge your mobile from the computer, now that definitely raised some eyebrows. As you are aware this is a slider, lets take it for a ride.
The sliding mechanism is firmly in place, that doesn’t mean it is tight or tough. It’s sturdy and can handle some of the daily wear and tear and still giving you the pressure feedback while moving up. We are introduced to a familiar T9 keypad. The keys are separated and raised – Chiclets style. They return a slight pressure. Keys are neither soft nor too hard, just the perfect mix. On sliding to the other side, we witness 4 separate set of keys – The Music Keys (Next, PlayPause, Stop, Previous).
Did I mention the screen rotates? I can now see the screen landscape mode. It can be changed to follow your direction, thanks to built-in accelerometer. The back side of the phone contains the camera, which defines N86. It also has a kickstand, which fits firmly and looks like a design feature when closed. It has a camera cover to protect it from wear and tear. It appears to be smooth and not brushing up on the camera glass. To start the camera you need to pull this down or hard press the camera key (and wait) if cover is open or you can use the feature from the menu. I personally didn’t like this as sometimes I’ll take a shot and quit the camera using the soft key for some purpose, next time I’ll have to use the menu option or close the cover slide and re-open. The simple push to shutter key should have been more responsive as it requires a full press and a second wait which most of times confuses if the camera started or cover is still closed. If camera cover is closed it should atleast start the front camera so that I can manage my hair. But as I witnessed the camera features, this is a minor glitch can be solved by Nokia software upgrades. Due to the size of camera module it can take great pictures not only in daytime, but thanks to its 2 LED flash, which is really bright to take beautiful pictures in the dark.
Camera
Before seeing what this phone is all about, let’s see what this phone will sell for – Camera, 8 Megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics. Those using camera-phones or even general cameras must be aware where the cameras fail. Darkness is the archenemy of light and light is the principle which makes camera tick. In bright light even a VGA cam can make images look wow but come darkness and all choke to death. N86 just pushes the boundary.
In total darkness, if the camera is so effective then imagine it’s prowess in daylight. Nokia N86 contains the biggest camera module ever built in a mobile phone and that makes it take marvelous pictures.
The above shot is taken in broad daylight and I was surprised to see the whooping size of about 2.5MB and unprecedented quality on a mobile phone. There are few more shots that can re-affirm the quality of the camera.
On the top we have the macro shot of a flower, don’t ask me the name but admire the quality. This flower was barely couple of inches away from the lens.
Here is just another flower, couple of feet away from me but the zoom makes it appear as close as the macro shot. I must agree that even on full zoom, the quality of the image is not degraded to a great extent.
N86 has Digital Zoom, so the tearing of images is expected but Nokia’s algorithm and biggest camera module makes up that and brings up near perfect quality images.
It supports a varied array of camera features. To start with the Scene Modes we have Automatic, Close-up Macro, Portrait, Landscape, Sport, Night, Night portrait and a User Defined. Even for flash we’ve the option for Automatic, Always, Red Eye Reduction and Always off. If that is not all then we have Self Timer for 2, 10 and 20 seconds and Sequence mode for shooting in Sequence (6 images one after another) or capture image after every 10 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minute 10 minute and 30 minute, don’t know why we need to capture with so much time difference. What I presume is this feature was definitely advised by someone who makes stop-motion animation. We can’t worry about space we have 8GB internal storage to take care of that. The one thing that grabbed my attention is Panorama. It has this out-of-the-box. It has a visual aid at the bottom which assists us if we need to move the camera to find the exact match for stitching the images.
The highly advanced camera module is not done yet. I wish I could take the picture of your facial expression now. N86 will help me with that. It has Face Detection too. That raised some eyebrows I guess. Thanks to N86 your face will get the focus.
Hardware
In a bid to describe the camera, I forgot to tell you this is a phone and it does have a lot of punch. The device is 103.4 x 51.4 x 16.5 mm i.e . about 1 cm longer than a visiting card and feels good to hold in the hand. As mentioned at official sources it weighs 149 g and 84 cc (for the fans of Archimedes). As always, Nokia makes good phone but resolution is something they shy on. 2.6 in AMOLED screen which offers superb visibility and colour saturation can just display 240 x 320 pixels, but 16.7 million colours is a breather and makes images stand out on the screen. It uses a 1200 mAh battery and as per my usage I can confirm that it won’t let you down. It offers a Quad-band EGSM 850/900/1800/1900 that means wherever you go, you can find a network (provided you got the SIM). Powered by ARM 11 with 434 Mhz operating frequency, it feels little under powered for this kind of device but still it hold very true and quick responsive.
Storage
8 MP camera and videos of 640 x 480 at 30 fps do take up lot of memory. No more embarrassments because you have 8 GB in-built storage and option for Hot Swap micro SD. It does have Hot Swap but to actually achieve it, you need to open the battery cover which I personally didn’t like and most people will agree with that too.
Other Camera features
With the hardware in place, let’s ding further into the capabilities of this device. As earlier mentioned this is a Camera-Phone with the 8 MP shooter. It has 20 x zoom so you can be sure you don’t get the pricks while shooting the Cactus. The wide angle optics provide auto-focus range from 10 cm to infinity, don’t know about infinity but Macro shot above does tell us the closest range. It allows to take shots at VGA, 1.3 MP, 3 MP, 5 MP and 8 MP. Other features for the camera are Auto Exposure, Auto Focus, Automatic Aperture Control, Automatic Motion Blur Reduction, Exposure Compensation, Flash, Full Screen Viewfinder, Image Stabilization, Mechanical Shutter, Panorama Mode, Red-Eye Reduction, Self Timer, Still Image Editor. It can record video upto 640 x 480 at 30 fps, which is TV quality and 8 x zoom. It can record two formats, 3GPP and MP4 with Image stabilization and audio recording. Even in Video mode we get the option for white balance correction and different colour tone (Normal, Sepia, Black and White, Vivid and Negative). Video light can be kept on as an indicator so that people don’t do something that’ll make us re-record the whole thing.
As I mentioned above, the absence of light is enemy of beautiful photography. So I put N86 to the test at low light conditions (so low that I was not aware if I was shooting at right place). Please ignore the irritating tabs which I was pressing desperately to zoom in and zoom out. You can witness even in video mode the quality sticks to basics. Be noted that the distance from subject is 3-6 feet in a closed room. Results vary with distance and light source (same applies for other images and video as well).
There is more to camera like Brightness adjustment, Colour tone, Contrast, Exposure settings, Light Sensitivity, Sharpness, Viewfinder grid and White Balance. This is by far the most advanced camera phone I’ve seen (not considering N8 which has a different league). The picture viewer can open large amount of formats viz. BMP, EXIF, GIF87a, GIF89a, JPEG, JPEG 2000, OTA, PNG and WBMP. Depends if we use it, the formats I’ve known is BMP, EXIF meta, JPEG and PNG but more options is always good.
Connectivity
The best thing about N86 is the more you explore about the camera the more you get to know about and it can keep you talking about it for ages. As someone mentioned it has 2 cameras (a VGA in the front), it’s not for checking out our hairstyle. It does has 3 G. Apart from GPRS and EGPRS, it has HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) which is also known as 3.5 G and can support upto 14.4 megabits/s. It has Accelerometer which helps in Screen Orientation and Image Stabilization (a feature for the Camera again). Earlier mentioned Ambient Light Sensor. N86 comes equipped with Nokia Maps so explore the world without being lost. Hey, I’m not done yet, it has Compass too which points to magnetic north so you can be sure that you are going the right direction. What is the use of a map if it can’t tell where you are, it’ll be nothing different than a paper map. You ask it and you get it, N86 gives you A-GPS (Assisted GPS).
“Standalone” or “Autonomous” GPS operation use radio signals from satellites alone. A-GPS additionally uses network resources to locate and utilize the satellites faster as well as better in poor signal conditions. In very poor signal conditions, for example in a city, these signals may suffer multipath propagation where signals bounce off buildings, or be weakened by passing through atmospheric conditions, walls or tree cover.
Do I need to tell, how much time it’ll take to pin-point the location. To an average Joe it’s in an instant and believe me it was pretty fast. I know you’ll hate it if I say camera again but I’m bound to say, Camera also uses this feature to mark your location. So next time you see a old picture, you don’t need to strain yourself and remember where the place was, let N86 do the honour. I know I’m a show-off but N86 beats me to pulp. It got TV-Out from it’s standard 3.5 mm A/V port to show-off the wonderful shots onto the big screen and if you want a hard copy bring a HP printer connect it with the data cable and you are good to go. Thanks to the PictBridge, you don’t need a computer to print out the images.
For connectivity, we got wi-fi 802.11b/g so you get the fast and free Internet without worrying about the bills (wi-fi bill won’t be too high either). 3 G and wi-fi, so why not have VOIP calls, well we have it here that too VOIP video call support. High-speed USB 2.0 (micro-USB connector) to connect to your laptop or desktop. As it charges via micro-USB, you don’t need to think of carrying separate charger. The data-cable is sufficient for both data transfer and charging. Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) so doesn’t need a software to connect to the system. Bluetooth 2.0 for the fast data transfer and music streaming too.
Music
Coming to Music, I doubt if Nokia has hidden a Audio chip under the hood. It has stereo speakers which have both the quality and loudness to make heads turn. Stereo speakers also allow you to have 3D ringtones with effects Circular, Fly-By, Zigzag, Meander or even Random with every caller. If you prefer to be quite and enjoy personal music, the stock earphones have a decent bass and quality. I said this because if you use some other earphones thanks to standard 3.5 mm port, you might feel it to be more with treble. Stock earphones are in-ear so no need for a separate set but in case you are an audiophile then you can attach the earphones not only to the phone but provided adapter. Yes, an adapter is provided so that you can connect the earphones and not miss the call. The adapter has in-built mic, call key, volume key, lock key, and music keys. Now you can put the phone in you bag and free your hands yet getting all the necessary features on the go i.e. phone a friend with Voice Commands and music on the go. If you love to share, then you got the FM Transmitter with RDS support. Well, of course it can also receive FM signals, it’s just not all phones carry a transmitter. With Internet Radio and Podcasts, you have wide array of choices to be spoilt over music.
It has a large array of playback formats AAC, AAC+, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, eAAC+, MIDI Tones, MP3, MP4, RealAudio (7, 8, 10), SP-MIDI, True tones, WAV and WMA. Not only audio but also video playback is supported for 3GPP, Flash Video, H.264/AVC, MPEG-4, RealVideo (7, 8, 9, 10) and WMV.
Software features
With all the hardware in place what is the use if it can not be used. N86 churns out a lot from it’s hardware in every respect. Camera has been told over and over again, so I’ll restrain myself from that. But how can I do that if Nokia gives me the opportunity to share the images as I click them. As we click the pictures we’ve another set of options, send via message, mail, bluetooth and even upload. The images can be shared online too. Just in case you forgot to create an album, you can create an album after taking the picture. Now that is an intelligent thinking as most of us don’t create an album and then later keep on hunting where the picture is. Not only that, N86 gives the opportunity to edit the details like Adding Tags, Description and even Title, power packed indeed.
I didn’t mentioned Mail above just for fun. Nokia has given the option Nokia Messaging with Push feature that can keep us connected wherever we go (of course working network and Internet is needed). Mails means attachments. To see the attachments QuickOffice (Word, Excel and Powerpoint) and Adobe Reader are preloaded along with Zip Manager. The mails supports IMAP4, POP3 and SMTP along with Mail for Exchange. If mail is not fast enough, Ovi Chat is in there too. Nokia’s tag Connecting People is proving too true here. Just in case mail and chat doesn’t work, SMS is always there and if you are more animated MMS too as standard feature for almost all smartphones.
Option for Voice Mail, Speed Dial, Voice Commands, Recorder, Call Log, Photos, Gallery, Calendar, Clock, Contact is there as a standard feature of all S60v3. Ovi Store to get new softwares is worth it. Web Browser is decent enough but an extra effort was needed to improve it as with the quality of phone N86 is, browser is a let down. We have 3rd party software Opera to the rescue. Over-The-Air firmware upgrade may improve the browser.
Ovi Maps is a boon which offers a wide variety of options like My Position, find route (Drive or Walk), Share Location and even find places. We have separate options for GPS Data and Landmarks, which makes me think if Ovi Maps is raw but the usability has things to tell otherwise. It’s very much functional.
Conclusion
With wide array of personalization like themes, stand-by options, tones, notification lights, I can say N86 is very much capable of showing who you are. Slide handling is smooth and Sensors are very responsive. Ease of use has been Nokia’s forte and this is no different. Well laid keys (apart from the tilted Menu key giving me a wierd look but it’s big so no issues – learning curve is very fast). The Lock Key has only one purpose i.e. Lock what it should do but then a option to unlock from Keypad by pressing Left followed by Right softkey, it’s confusing. Camera not opening by slight pressure on Camera key even when the cover slide is open, it takes a full press and minor wait of half a second – confusing and irritating at sometimes. These are all minor glitches which can be resolved by software upgrade. N86 is a multimedia powerhouse and the best & biggest camera module ever. Beautifully crafted, smooth sliding mechanism and curves at right place it grabs attention at very instant. Music playback is top notch.
Package includes Micro-USB Charger, Data cable (which doubles as charger if used with Laptop or Desktop), In-Ear earphones with 3 set of different size soft pads, Wired Headset (Adapter with Mic), User guide, Ovi Suite and of course very beautiful and power packed N86 and BL-5K 1200 mAh battery for the powerhouse. In my honest opinion, if you roam a lot or want a phone with best of both the worlds (audio and imaging), N86 is just the phone for you.
I’d like to thank @WOMWorldNokia for providing me with the N86 8MP. Forum.Nokia for the device hardware details. Wikipedia for details regarding RDS.
