Nokia N86 8MP

The Nokia N86 8MP is Nokia's first 8 megapixel camera phone, representing a step up from the Nokia N85 and sharing many features with the Nokia N96.Clearly, the camera is the main feature here. As well as having an 8 megapixel sensor, the N86 8MP has a Carl Zeiss Tessar lens, autofocus, and a dual LED flash. The lens features wide angle optics, and the N86 also has a very high shutter speed of 1/1000 sec. Video capture resolution is 640 x 480 pixels at 30 frames per second, which is good.. although some of the competition are now coming up with HD video recording.

Like the N85 and N96, this is a two-way slider and it shares the N96's "kick step" which allows it to be placed on a desk. The display is a fairly standard 2.6" 240 x 320 pixel OLED panel that we have seen on high-end Nokia phones before. Sadly, this is not a touchscreen device.

The N86 8MP is quite heavy, weighing
in at 149 grams, more than 20 grams heavier than the
N85 and N96. It's hard to see why this should be the
case, although the N86 8MP does come with scratch-resistant
glass. The battery is the same large 1200 mAh BL-5K unit
found in the N85, and this gives the N86 8MP up to 4
hours talktime and 11 days standby time on 3G.

Internal memory is an impressive 8GB
and this can be expanded by a further 16GB using a hot-swappable
microSD card.

All
the usual N-Series features are here, including a multimedia
player capable of supporting MPEG4, 3PG, H.263, H.264,
MP3, WMA and AAC file types. There is also an FM radio
plus an FM transmitter, allowing you to play back over
a car or home stereo wirelessly. There is a standard
3.5mm audio socket, or alternatively you can use a stereo
Bluetooth connection or the built-in stereo speakers.

This is a 3.5G phone with dual-band
HSDPA support, quad-band GSM and WiFi. GPS is a pretty
standard feature on Nokia's high-end phones, and it
is included in the N86 8MP along with Nokia Maps, it
also has a built-in digital compass in case you need
to do some "old school" navigation. Photographs
can be automatically geotagged with the location that
they were taken.

This is a Symbian S60 smartphone, and it comes with a wide array of built-in applications including a web browser, document viewer, ZIP manager and email client. New applications can be added through the upcoming Ovi Store. There are also a wide range of personal information management tools, and the N86 8MP supports N-Gage gaming.

This is quite a nice device, though more of an evolution of previous designs than a revolution. Apart from a few minor enhancements, the main improvement here is the camera rather than anything else.

Nokia say that the N86 should be available during Q2 2009 at an unsubsidized pre-tax price of around €375.