Nokia N86 8MP Review

Announced early 2009 and released in mid-2009, the Nokia N86 8MP is Nokia's first 8 Megapixel camera phone and ideal for consumers who want to leave their cameras at home. The photos captured look amazingly vibrant on the 2.6 inch OLED screen. As with all Nokia highend Nseries smartphones, the N86 packs an integrated GPS, 802.11g/b WiFi, TV out, and FM transmitter all in a dual slider format.

Thanks to WOM World for supplying me the N86-1 8MP for this review.

Comparing dual LED to Xenon Flash - N82, N86 8MP, and N79 Low Light Showdown!

The Nokia N86 8MP (right) is positioned as Nokia's premiere imaging range of camera phones for 2009 and set to replace the venerable N82 (left). It is Nokia's first device to feature a wide-angle 8MP Carl Zeiss len camera with variable aperature and second generation dual-LED. Unfortunately, many N82 users bemoaned the absence of Xenon flash. Nokia responded with a slide show comparing the N86 8MP to N82 in low light which mainly focussed on when flash would be triggered when taking the photo of close stationary objects. Interestingly, they didn't address flash distance or moving objects in low light. Which I think are more important in real life situations such as taking photos of your friends at a bar or your children going trick or treating during Halloween.

Full review after the jump.

Phone	N82	N79	N86
Firmware	v31.0.016	v11.049	v20.115
Megapixels	5	5	8
Photo dimensions (pixels)	2592x1944	2592x1944	3264x2448
F number/Aperture	2.8/5.6	2.8/5.4	2.4-2.8/4.6
Flash type	Xenon	Dual-LED	Dual-LED

Flash Distance

All camera phones were set to auto mode with automatic flash in a room with no light. I placed 3 objects on the ground a meter apart from each other in front of the camera. The big boxes were 4 meters away and the wall was about 5 meters away.

N82	N86
ISO-800	ISO-460

N79	E71
ISO-1664

Canon SD850i
ISO-200

The N79 had to increase its ISO setting very high to brighten up the image which led to a lot of noise and a generally useless photo. The E71 was totally useless. Obviously the dedicated camera produced the brightest flash and clearest photo.

The N86 is a significant improvement over the N79 even though both use a dual-LED flash. I'm sure the larger sensor and improved LEDs helped the N86.

The N82 produced a much noiser photo compared to the N86 and the N82 needed a higher ISO setting to get a similar brightness to the N86. So just to see what would happen if I set the N82 to medium ISO to force it to use ISO-400.

ISO-400

N82	N86
ISO-400	ISO-460

With similar ISO settings, the N82 produces a definitely darker image, similar noise, and very similar details.

WINNER: N86 8GB

Photo capture of a moving object with flash

I used a metronome since it has a generally consistent speed, easily recognized by readers all around the world, and has various speed settings. I threw out all photos of the metromone arm at the very far right and very far left since the arm moves much slower at that point. I took 3 photos with each phone at each speed setting.

I found that each phone produced consistent image quality between the 3 photos taken. All camera phones captured photos between 100-200 ISO regardless of metronome speed. Now let's look at the detailed results.

Low speed (40 GRAVE)

Mid speed (72 ANDANTE)

 
High speed (120 ANIMATO)

The N79 and N86 produced similarly blurry photos of the metronome arm. Although the N86 sensor can take clearer photos of stationary objects, the sensor still can't get enough light in a short time to capture a still photo of the moving object.

It's no question that Xenon pays dividends with a clear photo of the metronome arm. As reported in many studies, Xenon produces more light at a specific object in a shorter amount of time than LED can. Which is why photos tend to be blurry in dimly lit environments when taken with current camera phones. Let's hope that either LED technology makes some significant improvements soon or Nokia switches back to Xenon for their next premiere imaging device.

WINNER: N82

Conclusion

Overall, the N86 surprised me by it's impressive flash distance that produced images of very little noise, even when compared to the N82's Xenon flash. But as predicted the N82 captured motion photos significantly better than the dual-LED equipped N86. Comparing the N86 to the N79, we saw an impressive improvement to the dual-LED and sensor technology that allowed the N86 to produce far superior distance photos. So it's a give and take with the N82 better at freezing motion while the N86 is better for distant stationary objects. I personally would prefer freezing motion for clearer photos while the flash distance is comparable. Until Nokia releases another Nseries with Xenon, the N86 is definitely a worthy device that gives the N82 quite a run.

Nokia N86 8MP Preview

I'm currently at London's Heathrow Airport (LHR) in Terminal 5 International waiting for a flight back to Canada. Interestingly there is a Nokia store right inside the airport with prices usually 15% off the UK market price and no tax! Not only that - they carry the latest Nokia phones. One of them being the N97 and the other is the N86 8MP!!


It looks similar to the N85 but with a more subdued color scheme.

More photos after the jump.


The OLED screen is almost the same as the N85 but the slight tint makes it easier to see under direct light. I still have to try it under direct sunlight.


Sliding the screen up exposes the number pad.


The side profile is similar to the N85.


Sliding the screen down exposes the multimedia keys that look better than those on the N85.


The number pad looks very retro like those found on phones 5 years ago like the T610but it was very comfortable to use with great tactile feedback.


The 8MP camera exposed.

First impressions: The build quality is a big improvement over the wobbly N85. Nokia has got it right this time and it's almost as tight as the E65. The phone doesn't creak and has a good weight to it. The UI is snappy and uses a theme similar to the 5800. The camera is fast to start up and I will be updating this blog entry with sample photos I took with the N86 compared to my trusty N82. As I mentioned before the keypad looks ugly but it is very functional and nicely spaced. the buttons are a tad small if you have big fingers.

There really isn't anything bad to say about this phone in terms of build and usage but it's a phone that the N85 should've been. With the N97 stealing the spot light, the N86 is actally more exciting for me. After a little price drop, I'm definitely going to pick up this phone. I highly recommend you drop by your local Nokia store to try out the phone. You won't be disappointed!

N86 Announced

After Samsung had released a 8MP S60 camera phone called the INNOV8 and Sony Ericsson announced their Idou 12MP Symbian phone, Nokia announces their 8MP phone the N86:

For those holding a N82 or N79 and hoping for an upgrade, the N86 only features dual LED and no Xenon flash.

In case you're still interested, here are more quick details:


N86 DatasheetName: Nokia N86
CPU: Freescale MXC300, 434 MHz ARM1136JF-S RISC + StarCore SC140 DSP
RAM: 128 MB (user accessible: 71 MB)
Network: EGSM 850/900/1800/1900 WCDMA 900/1900/2100 or WCDMA 850,1900,2100
Weight: 149 g
Dimensions: 103.4 x 51.4 x 16.5 mm
Battery life (stand by): up to 11.5 hours (WCDMA), 13h (GSM) (these values seem too low so the datasheet might have a typo)
Battery life (talk): up to 234 minutes (WCDMA), 378 minutes (GSM)

As in all Nseries, the N86 will include 802.11b/g WiFi connectivity, support video capture at 640x480 up to 30fps, feature a Carl Zeiss Tessar lens, and support Nokia's ngage gaming service. Luckily the N86 features the amazing 2.6 inch OLED display that got high praises on the N85 and it also integrates a FM transmitter that was a strong selling point of the N79. The N86 includes 8GB of internal memory and supports microSDHC up to 16GB.

Spec-wise it's a strong phone but something I would've liked to have seen last year. For all those Nokia users that have been asking for better materials on the Nseries, you'll be happy to know that Nokia's added a chrome trim on the sides of the top half. The design looks a bit like the N97 but the number pad reminds me of the older Motorola T720 from almost a decade ago.