Since the first time I laid my hands on the N86, I noticed that it was definitely built by a different company than the one that made the N85, N96 or N78. The N86 takes a page from the N97′s book, with a clean streamlined design and nice materials.
The front of the device shows a big 2.6″ screen covered with un-scratchable glass. There’s a light sensor and a front camera above that, as well as very well defined and raised d-pad, selection, call handling, menu and delete keys. This makes a total of a d-pad and 6 keys, as opposed to the total cluster that was the N81, N95, N96 or N85 after which the N86 8MP takes its design. The sides of the glass panel feature a nice dark metallic silver rim, which adds to the heft and the classy design of the N86.
The top side of the handset features the microUSB plug, the power button and the 3.5mm headset plug. The left side only has the keylock, and the right side carries the usual volume up/down and camera buttons as well as the two stereo loudspeakers. The lower part of the N86 is clean and only has a microphone hole. The back is formed by a battery cover which provides enough grip and doesn’t show fingerprints, and this is where the 8MP wide-angle lens camera is nested, covered by a sliding shutter and surrounded by a sturdy kickstand.
When you slide the N86 open, you’re greeted by a clean T9 keypad with white lighting for the letters and yellow lighting for numbers. Each key is well individualized, raised, and wide enough to provide a very comfortable writing. Slide it the other way, and you’re facing the multimedia keys, which are used for music playing, video viewing, web browsing and gaming.
The N86 gives the impression that its built like a tank, and it is. The materials are more noble than the ones used on previous Nseries, and the quality of the keys and slider speak for themselves. However, after 3 weeks of abuse (and a couple of drops here and there), the keypad is starting to creak a bit and the top part of the slider is moving, almost un-noticeably, sideways when it’s closed. I have a feeling that this is as far as it gets, meaning that no matter how much you might overuse the N86 (in the acceptable limits), it won’t get any worse than this small creaking and moving. I admit that I felt a bit letdown when I started noticing these as I was about to give the N86 a perfect score in terms of solidity, but come to think of it, this is very acceptable for a dual-slider and it would go unnoticed if I wasn’t obsessed about the slightest things regarding build quality. Still, I’m pretty convinced that this is by far the best built Nseries slider to date, and it’s miles ahead of the old members of the line.
What do you think of the N86′s design and build quality? Do you reckon that these small issues are deal-breakers or are you willing to forgive them if the handset still feels extremely solid and conveys this air of class with streamlined design and expensive look?
