I've been in the search for a perfect cellphone to replace my aging Blackberry 8310. I researched different phone review sites and asked friends around for their opinions. My fiance Ces found a way to communicate through Skype on her Nokia E71. So she suggested I should also consider that functionality. None of the Blackberries can function with Skype without additional charges so I started looking for something else.
The Nokia N86 was my first choice because of its 8mp camera built in. I swear I will love the phone and this is the only phone I need. I had a hard time adapting to the numerical keys on the N86. I always opted for the qwerty keyboard phones like the Blackberries, the Palm Treos and the HTC Tytn. My typing speed did slow down slightly according to my fiance that I always chat with but I still love the phone. The phone is well built and feels amazing on the hands just like the built quality of my Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte minus the looks and price tag but adding all these neat functionality.
The Nokia N86 has a tiny screen specially comparing it to my Iphone 3GS. I browse the web a lot and in most cases I access my blog and websites right on my phone and I love my Iphone, N97 and Nokia N900 for that because of their larger screen . The Nokia N86 is just a bit more fun to carry around on a day off and that I don't even have to carry a camera with me. I carry 2 phones at any given time, why you might ask, simple I love my N-series for their multimedia capability particularly their cameras and the video calling capability. I am always on Skype and Yahoo Messenger with my phone to communicate with my workshop participants and of course with Ces. It is probably the most demanding way to use your mobile phone, it drains the battery quite quickly. Specially using the video calling functions the phones last for maybe half a day with a good half day of browsing the web, video calling and voice chat. I carry two phones for me to get through this issue and to switch around phones is cool. The N86 and my N95 are my secondary phone to my N97 and N900. I use them in rotation to have fun with all of them. I nearly gave up my Iphone because it lacks video calling. I kept the Iphone to store my portfolio of 5-6,000 photos and my music when I travel overseas but it serves as a second phone to one of my N-series Nokias to use with a second sim card on a different country.
Now back to the subject of the review, the Nokia N86 .I can't say much negative things about its camera. The 8mp with a fixed 28mm wide angle lens is such a joy to use. It reminded me of my Sigma DP1 for the usability yet the DP1 can produce way better images but it should for $1000 price tag when I had it 2yrs ago(I sold it a year ago). It might seem fair to compare a cameraphone to a dedicated high end digital camera. The Sigma DP1 is a 14mp Foveon X3 chip camera that produces stunning photographs. I am comparing the two because of the similarity of composition techniques because both have a single focal lenght 28mm lens. The N86 can blow your mind as a cameraphone. It is not a replacement to state of the art digital cameras and nowhere near a dslr. The files are sharp and the colors are very vibrant, they look really well processed without over doing it. I barely need to adjust anything in post processing... just like my Olympus dslrs. The files do have that quality of a point and shoot camera and it is such an achievement for the Fins in incorporating such an impressive camera in a mobile phone. I've tried the Sony Ericsson Experia X10 which was also an 8mp cameraphone but the files were nowhere as good as the Nokia N86. The N86 and the N95 can easily blow away my Konica Z3, a 4mp dedicated higher end prosumer camera and some other compacts I have that only have 5-6mp. I wasn't expecting to see that good of a camera, after all it is a "freebie" in a phone. Phone cameras are not usually stunning but the 8mp imager on the N86 is certainly an exception and I am confident to print 8x10" from its files. The files are very detailed and don't have much of the "mushy" characteristic of cameraphone images. The sunny condition images is literally as good as dedicated point and shoots with up to 5mp imagers. At low light it is HORRIBLE but again even most point and shoots looses grace at these conditions. On bright sunny days this is as much camera as you would need, specially for landscapes where the 28mm Carl Zeiss branded lens is very well adapted to. This cameraphone is a lot of camera for a lot of people but one has to understand the limitations and the strenght. Would I go out fof an outing with just the N86, sure I would but I wouldn't sell fine art prints from it. However it is a really capable camera for the casual shooter on vacation. I rather have this cameraphone than a really inexpensive point and shoot.
Here are some of my images from this amazing cameraphone.
