The Nokia N95 was a excessive level for Symbian, however as we famous in our earlier Flashback article, its success was by no means replicated. It was additionally the top for this type issue – the Swiss military knife slider cellphone.
The unique N95 got here in early 2007, adopted a couple of months later by the much-improved N95 8GB. Our vacation spot for at this time’s story is the N86 8MP, however we’ve to take a twisty path to get there.
2007 additionally introduced the extra inexpensive Nokia N81. It launched in two variations – one with principally no built-in storage however with an included 2GB microSD card and one with 8GB of built-in storage however no microSD card. They have been priced €360 and €430 earlier than taxes, respectively. For comparability, the Nokia N95 8GB was €560 earlier than taxes.
Nokia N81 8GB
8GB was fairly huge for the period, when the unique iPod launched in 2001 it had 5GB reminiscence and was marketed as having “1,000 songs in your pocket”. So, the N81 8GB might hold dozens of CDs of music and loads of photographs too.
8GB was loads of storage for music and movies
Not that the cellphone had a very good digital camera, a disappointing 2MP sensor (no AF) with LED flash and 320p @ 15fps video recording. That was nothing just like the 5MP digital camera with Carl Zeiss optics and 480p @ 30fps video that the flagship Nokia N95 needed to supply.
The much less mentioned in regards to the digital camera, the higher
That wasn’t all that the N81 needed to supply, the cellphone was a part of the N-gage household, which made it a form of gaming cellphone. An ungainly gaming cellphone as that D-pad actually didn’t reduce it. And the two.4” 240 x 320px show was first rate, however once more fell in need of what the N95 had on board (2.6” for the unique and a pair of.8” for the N95 8GB).
Nokia N81 and Nokia N85gsmarena_01
A yr later got here the Nokia N85 with a price ticket of €450 earlier than taxes. This was Nokia’s first smartphone with an AMOLED show – a 2.6” panel with the acquainted 240 x 320px decision. The Finns used AMOLED on a couple of different fashions, however these have been artsy function telephones just like the Nokia 8800 Arte and the Nokia 7900 Prism.
The inky blacks of Nokia N85’s AMOLED show have been a sight to behold
The N85 was total a large improve. The distinctive show was definitely the spotlight, however the cellphone was additionally upgraded to a 5MP with Carl Zeiss optics with autofocus this time and correct 480p @ 30fps video seize.
The brand new 5MP digital camera was so a lot better
This mannequin caught as much as the N95 in different methods too, e.g. it had a GPS receiver. The pre-installed Nokia Maps provided three months of voice-guided navigation free of charge (one thing that was nonetheless a paid function again then).
Navigation within the age earlier than Google Maps went cell
And even the cellphone itself had a dual-slider design just like the N95, that means that sliding it a technique revealed the keypad, sliding it the opposite confirmed multimedia controls.
The Nokia N85 adopts the twin slider design
Talking of multimedia, the N85 additionally featured stereo audio system like its larger brother. As an alternative of dividing the cellphone into two fashions (one with 8GB storage and one with a microSD slot), the Finns determined to simply package deal an 8GB microSD.
Earlier than we get to the N86, we’ve to cowl the successor to the N95 – the Nokia N96. This was supposed to come back out in early 2008, however delays pushed that again to September. It managed to get pricier, €550 earlier than taxes, and it felt underwhelming for Nokia’s conventional Symbian flagship (the corporate was attempting to graft a contact UI to the OS, however that didn’t work out properly). The mannequin for the US was a whopping $900, which is expensive for a cellphone even at this time, by no means thoughts again in 2008.
The Nokia N96 was method overpriced
Let’s simply say that the N96 didn’t accomplish that properly out there. In case the timing has eluded you, the iPhone 3G launched in 2008. It was accessible with heavy subsidies from AT&T so an 8GB mannequin was $200, a 16GB one was $300. A yr later the iPhone 3GS got here with no-contract costs of $500 for the 8GB mannequin and $550 for the 16GB one. $900 for a no touchscreen Symbian cellphone was delusional.
And with this we attain our vacation spot – the Nokia N86 8MP arrived in 2009 at an inexpensive €375 earlier than taxes. This made it the most cost effective 8GB mannequin within the sequence and it was solely €15 (earlier than taxes) greater than the N81 with a 2GB microSD card was a few years prior. And the N86 was by far one of the best of the sequence, virtually pretty much as good because the N95 was. Maybe even higher.
The Nokia N86 8MP was very succesful and fairly inexpensive
This was Nokia’s first cellphone with an 8MP digital camera (therefore the title). Carl Zeiss was as soon as once more signed for the optics and the cellphone loved a extra highly effective dual-LED flash. Like earlier than, it might file 480p video at 30fps. This was additionally Nokia’s first cellphone to function a wider lens, 28mm, which allowed it to seize extra of the scene than modern telephones (and it had the decision to do it).
FoV comparability: Nokia N86 (28mm) and Samsung INNOV8 (35mm)
That wasn’t all, the digital camera had a variable aperture that would go to f/2.4 or f/4.8 relying on the lighting situations. And there was a mechanical shutter (along with the protecting slider that went over the lens), plus an precise shutter key, after all. As for video, the cellphone was outfitted with MEMS microphones and promised CD-quality audio.
Listed here are some digital camera samples from the N86:
Nokia N86 8MP digital camera samples
It had the now acquainted dual-slider design, but it surely additionally featured a built-in kickstand, when you wished to depart it on the desk and watch some video. The N86 8MP had one of the best of each worlds – 8GB inbuilt and there was a microSD slot accessible for much more storage.
Nokia N86 8MP subsequent to the N81
And you’d get to observe movies (and play video games) on the colourful 2.6” AMOLED show (nonetheless at 240 x 320px decision). This time Nokia splurged for a scratch-resistant glass to make sure that the show remained stunning.
Like its predecessor, the Nokia N86 8MP launched with a GPS receiver. Initially, you continue to needed to pay for voice-guided navigation, however in early 2010 (a number of months after N86’s launch), Nokia launched Ovi Maps free of charge. Moreover, the cellphone gained the flexibility to share your location over Fb. Just a few months after the preliminary rollout, Ovi Maps was up to date to make use of Wi-Fi to assist velocity up positioning, looking out, panning and zooming the map grew to become sooner too.
Ovi Maps – free navigation for the Nokia N86 (picture credit score)
Whereas touchscreen telephones have been starting to take over the world in 2009 (the iPhone led the cost, the primary Androids adopted), the old-school Nokia N86 8MP was nice worth for cash, particularly after that Ovi Maps replace.
It had an important digital camera, it was a multimedia wiz (with issues like an FM transmitter, a DVB-H TV receiver and analog video out), it could information you the world over free of charge and it even performed some video games.
This was the swan-song for the shape issue, although. There have been rumors of a Nokia N87 – really, somebody offered a prototype N87 on eBay, so it was a really actual gadget – but it surely was by no means launched formally. It seemed like a dream too with a 12MP Carl Zeiss digital camera with xenon flash (seemingly borrowed from the Nokia N8) and allegedly a contact UI.
A Nokia N87 prototype posted on eBay
Nokia was shifting gears – the time of Symbian Collection 60 third version was coming to an finish, new fashions have been designed for contact with the fifth version (later renamed Symbian^1). However as we’ve already talked about, the OS didn’t adapt to the brand new world. The later Symbian^3 Anna and Belle appeared promising, however that’s a narrative for an additional time (and it’s not a narrative with a contented ending).
Former Symbian companions like Sony and Motorola deserted the platform in droves to hitch their wagons to Android. Not Nokia, although. The Finns dropped Symbian (and MeeGo) in favor of Home windows Telephone. Both method, with bodily keys out of trend, there was no need for sliders, until you weren’t attempting to cover a full QWERTY keyboard like on the N97.
It was the top of the period, however no less than the multimedia sliders just like the Nokia N95 and N86 went out on a excessive observe. That’s greater than may be mentioned of their touch-focused successors.
