This post comes in a little later than it should have (ok a whole lot later!) but since I’ve been busy shifting my base it’s been a little hard to get some blogging done. I know I have the N97 and the E75 with me, but it’s more about finding time than anything else.
It was on the 7th of July, 2008 that I decided to start blogging about phones. A couple of days prior to this, my girlfriend had told me that she had begun blogging and that I should start too. it was her insistence which led me to start a blog. the question at that time was ‘What do I blog about?’ and as I said I thought about phones. I had been following them for a a couple of years and I thought that I had gathered enough knowledge about the industry to have my own view point.
So I began, with a humble post about my experience with mobile phones. I was a regular reader of Darla’s blog and Symbian-Guru amongst a whole lot many. Ricky Cadden a.k.a The Guru gave me a few tips (I’m sure he doesn’t even remember! lol!) about getting in touch with WOM World for trial devices. I contacted them and it wasn’t until a couple of months later that they mailed me asking if I would like to trial the E66. I was overjoyed!
It would be the first of many trial devices I would get from WOM World. My relationship with the warm people at WOM World(no pun intended here!) grew and they kept on sending me devices after devices against my requests (E66, E71, E63, N96, N85, E75). And today here I am, taking part in a global contest of ‘Teach the Technophobe’, You can read about it here.
Thank you so much WOM World and all the people I have interacted with, you guys are really great!
During this time I came across another person’s blog. He had used the N80 just like me and although he had upgraded faster than me, his story seemed similar to mine. This blogger was none other than Clinton Jeff of ZomgitsCj. Over the years I became a regular visitor to his blog and in time we became very good friends. In addition to the many blogs he wrote for, Cj would help me out by putting up blogposts on topics when I could not blog due to my rigorous MBA schedule. We would (we still do!) catch up online and have some of the most interesting and intellectually stimulating conversations about mobile phones and the internet. It was uncanny, how we would have almost identical view points.
Thank you Cj for all the help and support you have given to this blog and me. If it weren’t for your contributions (posts and chats), this blog would not be where it is today.
Another person I must thank is Ravindra Dissanayake. Ravindra till last year was writing for Symbian-Life Blog. I used to love his articles, always simple, lucid and packed with content. This prolific blogger (in my eyes at least) went on to create Symbian Stories, before he vanished to Australia for further studies (I hope you and your wife are doing alright mate!). Around then, Meraj of Phone Report V2.0 offered me a position at Phone Report V2.0 and I accepted. Ravi also requested me to take over the reins of Symbian-Life Blog, I would then start blogging on three different blogs. But I must admit, it is indeed difficult to fit into Ravi’s shoes.
Thank you Meraj and Ravi for giving me such wonderful opportunities and allowing me to become a bit wiser. Thank also for all the guidance and support you continue to give to me. I am indeed thankful to you guys for putting me on the path of growth.
Carlos, a regular visitor on both the blogs (this one and Symbian-Life Blog) also helped out in times of stress. He would write a few articles for me on this blog, when I was trying to set myself with all the blogs I was writing for. Thank you so much Carlos for helping me out in times of need. I hope you still visit this blog! 
Mike Macias, I would like to thank you too for being a great person to look up to. Your N82 blog in many ways is like the Bible for N82 users. I have always received support from you, no matter how big or small the issue. Also if it weren’t for you, I would have never bought this great netbook I have now.
All of these people and many more have played a very important role in developing this blog in their own ways.my readers and all the people who have commented. All the websites and blogs that have linked to this blog and those who I have linked to.
The S60 Ambassadors Program also provided me a lot of opportunities to meet some great bloggers and hear their story and give me a wider perspective of the S60 platform. Various forums like Symbian-Freak forums, Howardforums, and many more provided loads of knowledge about S60, and it’s quirks.
The high point of this first year came when I was invited to the N97 Blogger Meet, in Gurgaon where I met Axel Meyer and got to play with the N97 way before it was launched. Along with this WOM World invited me to be a part of a global campaign ‘Teach the Technophobe’.
I also want to thank D3x, Rita El Khoury, Varun Krishnan, Vaibhav Sharma for everything. Listening to your rants and passion for phones has always been inspirational, I hope I can reach the same place where you are today.
This blog has also been instrumental in me getting a job at Spice Retail Ltd.
So as I celebrate the completion of one year of this blog I want to thank all the people who have contributed to the success of this blog. I want to thank all the software manufacturers for trusting me and giving me an opportunity to review your applications, also Nokia for having me review your devices. I also want to place on record my gratitude to all the readers, fellow bloggers, friends and my family for all your support. Thank you everyone!
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This part of the review we shall delve into the Maps, Internet, N-Gage and the FM transmitter. You can read the previous parts of the review by clicking on these links:
Maps on the N85 is really a good feature to have. However there is a big downside to this application with respect to N85. if you plan to use this where it is sunny, then I’m afraid it’s useless. The AM-OLED screen is just not visible in the sun. You crank up the brightness, but it will be of no help. Only if you can protct the screen from the sunlight is it of use. This means that in a car (if kept properly) it will work great.
I gave it a shot, though I did not load the India map for N85, I tried to see how fast would it lock on to my position using purely the GPS chip. Well the result of which was shocking! The thing took less than 2 minutes to get a lock on my position. That means it was faster than the N96 and the N82 also. from a cold start it takes only about 2 minutes to get a lock on. This is fantastic, I’m sure when you use the Maps with the internet on and everything else, it will be even faster.
What it means is that in case you are lost, you will know where you are in a couple of minutes only. I’m impressed, this is perhaps the tightest integration of Maps I have seen.
It does not have tabbed browsing, which according to me is a very bad thing. I don’t know if other browsers and platforms have such a feature, but the need of the hour is tabbed browsing.
For everyday browsing and other things the browser is more than adept. I would give it a 8.9/10.
The N-Gage is a pleasure to play on this phone. With dedicated keys for gaming, which by the way I found to be small and a bit hard for gaming; and the beautiful AM-OLED screen you can enjoy gaming for many hours.
Since the N96 and the N85 are similar in terms of their form factor, I found little difference (apart from the screens) in terms of the gaming. But I must repeat myself by saying that the gaaming keys are a bit too hard for my tastes and I would have liked the N96 keys on this device.
I would give the N85 a good 8.9/10. The screen orientation taking the score down by half a point. If gaming is your poison, then the N85 is what you absolutely must have. You can click 
The quality of the streaming music is okay and nothing great. One would really need to turn up the volume to hear the song ‘loudly’. For everyday listening it’s good. A convenient feature. This feature is available in countries that allow such a thing. In India, to the best of my knowledge it is not allowed. So chances are that you will not be having this feature on your phone.
This is the fourth part of the N85 review, where we look at the camera and the accessories that come along with the phone. The previous parts we have looked at the 
The camera performed adequately. The pictures in daytime were really good. The camera clicked some really nice looking photos and when you look at it on the AM-OLED screen, they look even more ‘dynamic’. The portraits mode in daytime was great! The N85 focused very quickly on objects in daytime, but under artificial lights, it seemed to take longer.In portrait mode (daytime) too, it took a little time but the results were great.
Now another one of my own tests is to click a TV screen when it is switched on. This will show you how good the camera is at capturing detail. Now The N96 really failed miserably at that, but overall was pretty ‘good’. The N85 clicked the TV screen really nicely and you could can clearly see the program being broadcast.
The dual LED in the night time or in dark areas is strictly ‘ok’. It’s seems to be better than the N96 in results, but this is more an estimation. The processing of the pictures is definitely a bit better on the N85. The processing done is of much better quality on the N85 than on the N96. While the N96 suffered with a horrible blue hue with the flash being used, the N85 suffers with a similar fate only the colour is yellow this time. I don’t know but, whenever I used the LED flash, I got a lot of ‘yellow’ colour in the pictures. But I can live with a yellow hue. It’s way better than the blue hue. The settings on the camera are the same that you will find on any standard S60 solution by Nokia. here is a quick list:
Well first of all, the standard headset that comes with the N85 is pathetic. I tried it on the N85 and its absolutely not worth keeping. I suggest you lose the earphones part of the headset and buy a better pair of earphones/headphones.
The AC-10E charger is huge, reminiscent of the chargers that shipped with Nokia devices in early 2000-01. But it’s different from the regular chargers since it has a Micro USB slot and not a 2mm pin. This means that the chargers connects to the Micro USB slot in the N85 for charging. Now you must be wondering whether the data cable can also do the same or no? well the answer is yes. You can charge the N85 through the data cable when you connect it to a PC.
For this post I shall concentrate on the factors that can make or break a device in an instant. First, it’s the Software.
The transitions on it are reminiscent of the N78’s transition effects. I thought that this version of the S60 to be really good. It’s more fluid than the N96’s transition effects.
If you have read my post on the N96’s software (click 
Now music is one place where the N85 really disappointed me. With the memory of the N96 fresh in my mind (and ears too 
The N85’s speakers aren’t made for listening to songs, and I thought that it could have been much better. It lacked any depth and every song sounded pretty much flat to me on the speakers. But when you connect the headphones, you realise a marked difference in the sound, though it’s still lacking that punch. I was left waiting for something like that to hit me.
What this means is that, if you are looking at using this as your MP3 player, you could probably use it, but it just can’t replace that 2GB sansa clip or iPod shuffle. Also since my N82 performed even better on both counts I was left wondering what went wrong with the N85 then?
Battery is the one place where the N85 reclaimed itself. with a huge battery, I was expecting it to perform really well and it did not disappoint, I got close to 2.5 days on regular usage and even with heavy usage I was able to get 2 days worth of battery life (the screen brightness cranked to max.). The N85 has superior energy management systems in place. The addition of a ‘Power saving’ option allowed me to stretch the phone’s battery life to about 3 days.
I think this makes the N85 a worth buy. My N82 lasts me about 2 days with light usage and about a day if I used it heavily. I don’t one needs to even ask where the N96 falls. The N85 gets a very high 9.2/10 from me on this parameter. A good battery life means that it allows you to do more.
I won’t give you a list of what I did to get battery life like this, just go to the 
The screen is another area which needs an extensive post, but I won’t do that, I’m sure you know how good AM-OLED is compared to the traditional TFT screens. in case you don’t a quick ‘Google’ will throw a lot of information towards you. the AM-OLED screen allows you to see more clearly with better contrast. In the sun however, you just cannot read anything on the screen. Tilt the phone and the screen’s orientation also changes quickly. The phone’s screen is definitely a must have for all phones. I love it, it makes my N82 look like an ancient baby. the N96’s 2.8″ screen in AM-OLED would have been very ‘revolutionary’ for the company. the N85’s screen is a comfortable 2.6″ screen and is capable of reproducing 16.7 million colours like all the other smartphones’ screen. I think the N85 deserves a 9.5/10. Simply marvelous.
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