Phones: Nokia N86 Camera Phone – Review – 79

It’s getting harder to categorise mobile phones these days – my Nokia E75 is a ‘smartphone’ because Nokia pitches it that way. The N86, however, has exactly the same smart functionality but it’s got an 8 megapixel camera on the back, so that theoretically makes it a ‘camera phone’.

As camera phones go, the N86 takes a pretty mean photo. The lens is a 28mm wide angle (with optical zoom and autofocus), which gets more of a scene into the shot than any camera phone I’ve tried before. Once I got the hang of the firm shutter release, results were impressive across the board. Landscape and macro shots were especially good and the panoramic mode is quite effective, managing to stitch together a series of shots without too much trouble.

The N86 has 8GB of internal storage and a microSD card slot that allows memory to be expanded, so there’s heaps of space for photos, music or video files. A 3.5mm stereo jack means it’s possible to use your earphones of choice, but, typically for mobiles, the built-in stereo speakers aren’t great.

The N86 uses Nokia’s Symbian operating system, which makes the many features of the phone easy enough to use; and it’s got built-in GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, so connectivity is good. The black chrome finish on the upper half looks great but the plastic back and the number pad look and feel cheap at this price point.

That scary price is the real deal breaker; the N86′s camera is good for a phone but you can buy a serious compact such as Canon’s superb G10/G11 or Panasonic’s jewel-like LX3 plus a decent phone for this kind of money – or you could buy an entry-level dSLR and just keep your old phone. You have to ask yourself how much the N86′s camera functionality is worth to you. I loved having a useful little camera like this with me absolutely all the time; I just couldn’t justify the cost of putting it in my pocket.

BRETT GIDEON

NETWORK: Vodafone
CONTACT: www.nokia.co.nz

This review is from Tone issue 79.