Nokia N85 Vs Nokia N79 : Neck to Neck Battle Or Is It?
October 8, 2008 – 8:00 am | by Ani
Hi friends, standalone every device is good but when it comes to comparison, then and then only the real story comes out. Although a part of me believes that every device is unique with its own place but in this world where every penny counts, you ought to make a right decision when it comes to selection. Thus, comparisons make the job easier and help in filtering out choices to the final one. This too is no ordinary comparison as the latest birds from the Nseries nest are ready to battle it out in the Pre-Release test. Okay so you think that both are different and incomparable, well think again as you would end up getting one, BUT which one! (Or unless you are super Rich to buy both, if this is the case then you can easily avoid the following.)
The Design & Build (Ergonomics)
Both the devices have different designs to offer. It would be hard to compare the two as different people have different opinion, but as I am reviewing them so I’ll put forth my review based on my experience with of N95 and N78. Nokia N85 features the very recent and popular Two-way slider (with spring assistance mechanism) as compared to the Classic Candybar design of Nokia N79. Having said that, I would put N85 to a little higher level as I feel having a dual slider actually makes more good use of space and enables extra features to be added. The classic design lacks the ability to provide more space and thus makes it rather difficult to put in all the features which I feel is more challenging.
Both these devices are the most compact Nseries devices ever built. The 110 x 49 x 15 mm of N79 puts it at the top of the chart when it comes to sleekness and compactness. The N85 with its 103×50x16.0mm is just 1mm thicker than N79 but 7mm smaller in length thus, giving it a heavy appeal on first look. This is rightly true as N85 is 31g more heavy than N79. But both of them are quiet equall when it comes to volume ~ 75 cc.
On my personal take I like the N85 design more than the N79, you will know why when you read further.
The Display
With the help of the slider the N85 features a larger screen of 2.6″ as compared to the 2.4″ display screen of N79. Both having a Resolution of 320 x 240 pixels (QVGA) with Up to 16 million colours with light sensor. Not only this but the N85 stands out tall with its Active Matrix OLED technology which is the first in its class. OLED or Organic Light Emission Diode is a new technology which basically helps to conserve battery power, making it live more longer. Some intelligent controls which are present in both are Ambient light, detectorBrightness control and Orientation sensor. a slight 0.2″ difference between the screen size would not be much as you may think but remember it is measured diagonally which makes it pretty much when actual in one’s hand.
Keypad
N85 has the regular Numeric keypad (slides to open) and a set of Cover keys (S60 keys, Multimedia key, Send/end keys). With the help of Short slide keys special features can be worked out like the media control/zoom/gaming. It also features the Navi™wheel. There are present dedicated media/zoom/game keys & dedicated camera and volume keys. Multimedia key, Voice commands & intelligent key illumination are some new features.
N79 on the other side has the regular classic Numeric keypad. Multimedia keys, Navi Wheel, Dedicated camera and volume keys along with Voice commands are also present. There are present dedicated zoom & dedicated camera and volume keys.
Exterior Color & Covers
A unique feature just to the N79 is the ability to have Changeable Xpress-on™ smart covers. These covers when applied to the device also change the color scheme of the theme too. Available in-box colors are 1.) Canvas white with light sea blue/espresso brown/olive green and 2.) Seal grey with espresso brown/coral red/white. There are in total seven different colors to choose from. Really like this feature, totally Rocks! 
The N85 is only available in Copper color at present.
Input/Output Connectors
Both the devices have a Micro-USB connector with mass storage class support, a High-Speed USB 2.0 and a 3.5 mm AV connector.
Power
This is a very important issue which now has a prime importance. The N85 clearly outstands all the Nseries devices with its BL-5K 1200 mAh Li-Ion battery providing a
- Talk time (maximum):
- GSM 6.9h
- WCDMA 4.5h
- VoIP 9 h
- Standby time (maximum):
- GSM 363 h
- WCDMA 363 h
- WLAN 172 h
- Browsing time with packet data (maximum): 5 h 42 min
- Video playback time (maximum): 7 h
- Video recording time (maximum): 2 h 54 min
- Video call time (maximum): 2 h 42 min
- Music playback time (maximum): 30 h
- Gaming time (maximum): 7 h
On the other hand the N79 with its BL-6F 1200 mAh Li-Ion battery provides a
- Talk time (maximum):
- GSM 5 h 30 min
- WCDMA 3 h 30 min
- VoiP 4 h
- Standby time (maximum):
- GSM 372 h
- WCDMA 406 h
- WLAN 172 h
- Browsing time with packet data (maximum): 5 h 54 min
- Video playback time (maximum): 4 h 24 min
- Video recording time (maximum): 3 h 30 min
- Video calling time (maximum): 2 h 20 min
- Music playback time (maximum): 29 h
- Gaming time (maximum): 4h
The good battery life adds a little to the weight of N85 but considering a high run time it is totally acceptable.
Memory
Both N85 and N79 are provided with microSD memory card slot, hot swappable, max. 8 G. Contrasting differences is seen in the internal memory of these devices which have been considerably reduced to 74 MB internal dynamic memory & 78 MB internal NAND flash memory in the N85 to 50 MB internal dynamic memory of the N79. I don’t know why Nokia did this but this sure is a step backwards.
Communication
Both devices feature the same profile of Operating frequencies and Data Network with a few minor but important differences. First let’s look at features common to them.
Operating frequency
- Quad-band GSM 850/900/1800/1900, EGSM 900
- Automatic switching between GSM bands
- Flight mode
Data network
- GPRS class A, multislot class
- EDGE class B, multislot class 32, maximum speed 296/177.6 kbps (DL/UL)
- WCDMA 900/2100, maximum speed PS 384/384 kbps (UL/DL)
- HSDPA, maximum speed 3.6 Mbps (DL)
- WLAN 802.11b, 802.11g
- WLAN Security: WPA2-Enterprise, WPA2-Personal, WPA-Enterprise, WPA-Personal, WEP
- WLAN Quality of Service: WMM, U-APSD
- WLAN wizard
- TCP/IP support
- Capability to serve as data modem
The contrasting features are the in speeds of GPRS class A, multislot which is class 11, with a maximum speed 85.6/64.2kbps (DL/UL) in N79 compares to GPRS class A, multislot class 32, maximum speed 107/64.2 kbps (DL/UL) in N85. Thus N85 having an edge not only in GPRS but also has a HSCSD with a maximum speed of 43.2 kbps which is altogether missing in N79.
Well Right here I’ll leave you to put forth your comments as I don’t want to be the one blabbring all alone. The next part will conclude the comparison and I will let you know on which device I would put my money on. So till then keep those comments flowing
Related Posts
Tags: N79, N85, n85 vs n79, nokia n79, nokia n85
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...
For me the battery time and the USB charging are already deciding factors. (I don’t know if you would put it in the 2nd part, but where is the difference in charging?
I’m actually uncertain about the screen. I’m very happy with 2.8″ now (N95 8GB), I’m not sure I want to go back to the 2.6″. And I need to see the OLED screen to believe it’s beauty
I would prefer the N79 because of it’s design..
I have read somewhere that N85 supports USB charging. Doen N79 has the same feature ?
Well Partha this stuff is coming up in my next post. but a quick note on this, the nokia N79 does not support microUSB charging
One thing that sucks is that the N85 now doesn’t have built-in VOIP/SIP capabilities, you have to use fring or other 3rd party app to use VOIP