Nokia's N85 drops by the FCC, dips head, inquires about what's good

by Darren Murph, posted Oct 31st 2008 at 9:17AM

Not that we ever (okay, maybe there was a moment of weakness in there somewhere) doubted that Nokia's N85 was North America-bound, but the handset dubbed superior to the flagship N96 by one Italian reviewer is indeed coming to US soil. And we've found the FCC documentation to prove it. At this point though, there's little the User Guide, external / internal photos and SAR report can tell us that we don't already know, so again, the takeaway here is that we're one (huge) step closer to having an N85 to call our own. Now that's what's up.

Filed under: Handsets, Nokia, Symbian, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA

Tags: FCC, N85, NA, nokia, north america, NorthAmerica, smartphone, symbian, us, usa

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Joshua Susmarski @ Oct 31st 2008 5:44PM

I am (im)patiently waiting for this phone's commercial release. I recently unwillingly parted with my N95-1 (it fell out of my motorcycle tank bag at 90+ mph) and, after much consideration, I've chosen the N85 over the N96. I don't really understand the logic behind charging so much more for the N96 when it is essentially the same phone with a worse screen and an extra 16gb, but I'm glad they did because it made my decision much easier.

Highest Ranked

Tor Slettnes @ Oct 31st 2008 6:02PM

Not just "one Italian reviewer" says it's better. It's better than the N96 by any standards:

* OLED display (brighter, less power-hungry)
* Tri-Band UMTS (850/1900/2100MHz or 900/1900/2100MHz) for worldwide 3G
* FM Transmitter (play songs to a nearby radio)
* Larger battery, much longer life (The N96 disappoints w/a 950mAh battery)
* Slightly slimmer (16mm vs 18mm); smaller overall
* Maybe faster processor (ARM11 @ 369MHz, vs dual ARM9 @ 264 MHz in the N96)
* $200-300 cheaper.

On the downside, it "only" has a 2.6" display vs. the N96's 2.8", and also no mobile TV (the N96 supports DVB-H, used for mobile broadcasting in Europe).

Neutral

mingkee @ Oct 31st 2008 8:40PM

no WCDMA IV support=100% useless with T-Mobile
no thanks

Low Ranked

wuzy @ Oct 31st 2008 9:15PM

This phone (or any other smartphone) is not good enough for T-Mobile. Only the G1 is.

Neutral

efekt @ Nov 1st 2008 6:03PM

I already ordered myself one last week, supposed to arrive this thursday =)
Good thing here in Israel are considered as a "European" market, so we get most of Nokia's phone as quickly as possible... US market suffers so much delays when importing phones from the rest of the world - when you come to think of it, it should be the other way around...