Flashback: the Nokia N86 8MP was the last of the great Symbian sliders

05 November 2023
Nokia's first 8MP phone was adorned with a beautiful AMOLED display and it had free navigation. The one thing it didn't have was a touchscreen. 

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I had the N95 8Gb and then the N85, both great phones. Nokia persisted with trying to integrate Symbian into the touchscreen when really they should have bought the Palm Pre company; their software was as good as iOS at the time and marrying that with the Nokia N8 would have been great.

    Anonymous, 05 Nov 2023All of those cameras, even the 2MP, look so much more lifel... moreMy thoughts too. The 8MP one wasn't amazing like today's cameras, but it wasn't far off either with most things, including sensible dynamic range. Literally, an 8MP camera from 2009 produced pictures almost just as good as today, with only some detail in the background being lost and very slightly muted colours, but even then, the impact of the difference in colours was very little. It's a great camera that tells me today's phones haven't changed enough to make a difference, probably because there just isn't enough competition.

      Camera is impressive better then today's under 30k if not count resolution

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        • Carol
        • nUJ
        • 05 Nov 2023

        Swaraj, 05 Nov 2023It's astonishing that almost nobody today complain abo... moreWell do not use the autocorrection thingy, also do not use a keyboard that has internet access.

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          • Carol
          • nUJ
          • 05 Nov 2023

          you have to suffer, 05 Nov 2023nokia has revived, it is under HMD and ended up making garb... moreI use their phones and are way better then a lot of china garbage in the price range, but hey feel free to troll again, till this day it might have broght you a tone of money...

            • C
            • Carol
            • nUJ
            • 05 Nov 2023

            DemonSpeed, 05 Nov 2023Good thing Nokia died. Of not phones would have costed 300... moreActually the prices of smartphones got very high after nokia gave up their b2c business. They produced fully packed smartphones with 500 euros in europe, while apple came with their trash that was also 500 euros, but produced in china, see the difference.

              Hemedans, 05 Nov 2023There was cortex A5, A7, A9, A15, krait etc plenty of Andro... moreNot talking about those, but the symbian era.

              It wouldnt be surprising if odin recieved subsidy from qualcomm. They already got a lot of help from qualcomm for the software. They seem to be trying to enter the gaming handheld market.

                Mediatek sux, 05 Nov 2023Probably because there wasnt much price or performance diff... moreThere was cortex A5, A7, A9, A15, krait etc plenty of Android Oems opt for A5 or A7 very few put krait on low to mid like Xperia M1.

                I know sd 8 gen 2 and 3 cost a lot, but for years Soc cost were under $100, like until S10 and s20 the most Expensive soc was just $70. And even sd 8 gen 2 and 3 majority of cost is modem.

                https://m.gsmarena.com/galaxy_s10_bill_of_materials_estimated_at_420_new_soc_actually_9_cheaper_than_s9s-news-35806.php

                Thats why you see Companies like Ayn can make Handheld with sd 8 gen 2 for just $300.

                  Hemedans, 05 Nov 2023Some of them yes, but you get the point, Nokia did that wit... moreProbably because there wasnt much price or performance difference between cores back then.

                  That 20$ is impossible without whatever deal google pulled with samsung/arm.

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                    • Anonymous
                    • KS7
                    • 05 Nov 2023

                    I m feeling proud to be the owner of this device at that point of time.
                    It's like a milestone in the history

                      Anonymous, 05 Nov 2023You should check Xiaomi's China and Global naming sche... morePoint I try to make is price not name, its rare finding flagship grade cpu in sub $200 device than $400.

                        Mediatek sux, 05 Nov 2023Redmi note series has been doing it for a while, note 3, no... moreSome of them yes, but you get the point, Nokia did that with lowend, they didn't differentiate their phones by perfomance. Even if you go back before Lumia in symbian days you could See S60v3 device like Nokia C5 having same cpu as Flagship Nokia N8.

                        Recents reports Showed Google Bought Tensor G3 for Around $20, it's possible making budget phone with that soc but Oems decide to put lot of Gimmicks and raise price.

                          Anonymous, 05 Nov 2023You should check Xiaomi's China and Global naming sche... moreWhy don't you try against the Realme GT 5 Neo SE to see something shocking

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                            • Anonymous
                            • vaS
                            • 05 Nov 2023

                            Hemedans, 05 Nov 2023Nokia was Only company who put Flagship cores on budget pho... moreYou should check Xiaomi's China and Global naming schemes. You'll see that most are rebranded only and sometimes have a few specs/options toned down. Try comparing that turbo phone with Poco F5 using gsmarena's tool. xD

                              What a wonderful walk down memory lane🥹
                              I had the Nokia N81 and I was meant to upgrade to the N86 8MP, I delayed the upgrade for a few months and eventually settled on going with the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic as I could see the way forward was touchscreen.

                              I really wanted the N86 8MP as it seemed to be a true successor to the N95, and Nokia had used some very high quality finishes on the N86 with glass front and metal frame on the top slider, however this was 2009 and we could ALL see the writing on the wall for non-touchscreen phones, they were literally being phased out in every way:
                              - Devs jumped on creating higher res touch interface apps
                              - Websites tailored their mobi sites towards touch
                              - Nokia were in a scramble to improve Symbian S60v5 Touch and therefore S60v3.2 on N86 was being further left behind and being sidelined, it was a poor state of affairs.

                              Had the N86 arrived a year earlier (instead of N96) it would have enjoyed some great success for sure, 2008 was the last great year for non-touchscreen devices, but by 2009 we had seen the iPhone 3GS come in a blaze of glory with iOS improvements and SoC bump that shot it up further in performance and app quality from the rest, we also saw the likes of HTC bring in low end Android phones (HTC Tattoo comes to mind) and high end Androids (Motorola DROID/Milestone and HTC Hero comes to mind).

                              2009 was a tough year for Nokia and us Nokia fans at the time, lol, the Nokia N97 was inundated with issues and the industry was simply moving on from the Nokia love story.
                              We saw glimpses of hope with the Nokia N900 and Maemo (eventually updated to MeeGo), but those were just moments that never materialised to much, but there was so much potential.

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                                • Anonymous
                                • 3SI
                                • 05 Nov 2023

                                All of those cameras, even the 2MP, look so much more lifelike than the overprocessed, oversharpened, oversaturated and overbrightened mess today‘s smartphones produce. I actually really like the look of that 2MP one.

                                  Hemedans, 05 Nov 2023Nokia was Only company who put Flagship cores on budget pho... moreRedmi note series has been doing it for a while, note 3, note 5 pro, note 7 pro up until the x series became arm's flagship core anyway, even that is now in the note 12 turbo like you said.

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                                    • Anonymous
                                    • vaS
                                    • 05 Nov 2023

                                    rizki1, 05 Nov 2023what do you mean China only? Isn't the Poco F5 the glo... morePoco F5 doesn't have RN12 Turbo's storage and ram options 16gb+1Tb. Sorely needed since Xiaomi doesn't like putting an SD card on a phone that has a headphone jack.
                                    The F5 had the better screen or that's what others say.

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                                      • Anonymous
                                      • vaS
                                      • 05 Nov 2023

                                      justasmile, 05 Nov 2023RIP symbian sliders. You won't be missed.Days of hardware diversity.

                                        Elop ruined it!

                                        I don't believe what others say that Nokia was doomed even before. They would have hard time in the era for sure, but might definitely survived. But he did all the worst decisions. I am not gona forgive him this.

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