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Unboxed: Nokia N79 and N85

We might still be waiting for the N96 to finally make a public appearance, but at least Nokia’s two latest additions to the N–series stable, the N79 a

We might still be waiting for the N96 to finally make a public appearance, but at least Nokia’s two latest additions to the N–series stable, the N79 and N85, have given us something to fondle while we count down to 1 October.

The prototype models that arrived here at Stuff Towers last week certainly look and feel a lot slicker than older, weightier N–series phones. The N79 has a similar design and feel to the N82, but is significantly smaller and lighter.

The N85 also takes its cue from another N–series mobile, the N96. The likeness is striking, from the flush keys to the dual slider. The only difference here is that this is aimed at gamers rather than the media set, with dedicated keys for playing N–Gage titles (there are 10 pre–loaded).

As you can see from the comparison shots, Nokia has really worked on getting these phones into shape, although as ever the feature set takes precedence over the style. That’s great, but Nokia does seem stuck on some very obvious designs.

You can watch our hands–on video with the N79 and N85 now, as well as getting the full skinny in the news feed.

The Nokia N85 (left) and N79 (right)

The N79

The N85

Profile image of Dan Grabham Dan Grabham Editor-in-Chief

About

Dan is Editor-in-chief of Stuff, working across the magazine and the Stuff.tv website.  Our Editor-in-Chief is a regular at tech shows such as CES in Las Vegas, IFA in Berlin and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as well as at other launches and events. He has been a CES Innovation Awards judge. Dan is completely platform agnostic and very at home using and writing about Windows, macOS, Android and iOS/iPadOS plus lots and lots of gadgets including audio and smart home gear, laptops and smartphones. He's also been interviewed and quoted in a wide variety of places including The Sun, BBC World Service, BBC News Online, BBC Radio 5Live, BBC Radio 4, Sky News Radio and BBC Local Radio.

Areas of expertise

Computing, mobile, audio, smart home