If you still haven’t figured out the trend of NSeries phones, where a N9x is followed by a N8x of the same category, this one should be obvious. When the N91 8GB was released, the N81 8GB followed after a while, and the same applies to the N95 8GB - N82 relationship, and it’s once again happening between the N96 and N85.

I don’t understand really why Nokia does it. The N85 is sort  of a flagship phone, just like the N96, but it targets the mid-high-end consumer, unlike the N96 which targets the high-high end consumer only. This pattern might be actually an economical reasoning, and then the phones are followed by a N7x?

Whatever are Nokia’s patterns, we’ll just speak about the phone itself now: The N85 doesn’t bring anything new, but as other NSeries, it’s a convergence focused device, and puts everything together. From the 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens, to the 10 included NGage games with dedicated music buttons. You can also find the 3.5mm jack, HSDPA, built-in A-GPS, and WiFi. The only thing that is NEW is the 2.6″ OLED display, and the inclusion of a 8GB microSD memory card. Nokia has decided to go for these displays not only because they waste less power, but because they have better quality as well.

You can include our opinion on the Nokia N79 here as well, for the strategy behind this phone, which will affect the Nokia N96’s sales.

Press release and pictures after the jump. Do check out the promotion video, as well as the demo video. Jason Goh from Symbian Smashpop has been at the launch event, and had a hands-on moment with the device, check the video out.

Read more »