The slider buttons are also handy for gaming, but Nokia has seen fit to include no full games, just 15 items of trialware.
If you want to play full games, you'll have to buy them - this phones only comes with demos
The N86's Assisted GPS technology offers precise location finding and route planning using Nokia Maps software. In our tests, the GPS receiver was remarkably quick at fixing our exact position – it’s among the quickest we’ve seen on a phone. The software has UK and Ireland maps embedded, and you can upload more from Nokia. A motion-activated compass usefully ensures that the map orientation is always from a user-friendly viewpoint.
Route planning and searches for landmarks, businesses and services and so on are included as standard. Turn-by-turn voice directions are free for ten days only, after which you have to pay extra to use them.
All the customary S60 functionality is embedded in the N86 8MP, including easy-to-set-up email with support for attachments; instant messaging; online and in-phone searching; Office and PDF viewers; and a comprehensive suite of organiser functionality, including calendar, calculator, notes, text-to-speech reader software, a dictionary and voice recorder. Nokia includes its usual PC sync software.
The N86 8MP scores a top-class rating for voice-call quality. We had no network issues during testing. Battery life is reasonable too, if not exceptional. We managed a couple of days on average between charges, although Nokia rates the optimum performance of its 1200mAh battery at up to 4.5 hours' talktime - 6.9 hours in GSM only coverage - or up to 363 hours on standby.
Verdict
The Nokia N86 8MP isn’t the sort of smartphone that moves the genre on. Its size is going to be an issue for some, and its S60 3E user interface is beginning to feel old hat. But its 8Mp, mechanical-shutter camera will appeal to photographers - it's capable of taking excellent shots - and there's plenty of good extras too, including Wi-Fi, A-GPS and a fine music player. ®
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Nokia N86 8Mp cameraphone
COMMENTS
The point of having a camera phone
I have an N82 for the simple reason that the photo you took with the camera you had in your pocket will always be better than the photo you didn't take with the camera you didn't have in your pocket. And I've only got so much pocket space. And I carry my cellphone no matter what.
Yes, the resulting photos are poor compared to even a cheap dedicated digital camera. But I get photos, as opposed to nothing. So from that perspective, it seems sensible to try to get the best cellphone camera possible - because I'm always going to have it with me, so I'll always be capable of taking photos of some sort.
But yeah, looking at this as a real replacement for a real camera is, of course, silly...
Works for me
I got this for my wife on a T-Mobile upgrade. It's much better than the N95 she had before (which died after a drinks leakage in the vicinity) - the maps work really well with a very fast GPS lock, the pictures are perfectly good enough, and the music plays fine.
It was around £25 for the upgrade which to be honest I think made it a bit of a no brainer.
Er What?
Hopeless and pointless, its a bit sad really that with so much interesting stuff happening on iphone and android, nokia come up with this crap. Sure they'll sell a few to some of the die-hards above, but at this rate they'll easily halve their current market share within a couple of years. Good Job Nokia!
"S60 3E user interface is beginning to feel old hat"
Understatement of the year. Or even the past 5 years.
@MacroRodent
Thanks, but in all fairness, I should point out that I'm pretty sure I'm paraphrasing Dan of dansdata.com. If only I really was that clever.
