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Nokia @ CTIA: N86 8MP

Updated Dec 19th, 2018 6:17PM EST
BGR

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Last but not least in our coverage of Nokia handsets at CTIA is the handset that Nseries mobile photogs around the globe have been waiting for — the N86 8MP. This past February, the N86 8MP was the subject of one of Nokia’s most bizzare announcements to date. As MWC kicked off, Nokia was busy showing the N86 off in Singapore. Then as MWC was wrapping up, Nokia finally decided to re-unveil it at the show. Yes, odd. Nokia has a few N86s on hand at CTIA but despite the amount of time that has passed since its announcement, the handsets on display are still very obviously early hardware builds. Why do we say that? They’re actually labeled “N00”, as all early internal Nseries builds are, but the early placeholder has been covered up with black marker. We’re not kidding; just look at the image above. The firmware on the handsets is plenty stable however, more stable than the N97 firmware at least, and we spent a good amount of time with the device.

Our initial impression: it feels rushed. By that we mean it seems as though Nokia was so eager to push out an 8 megapixel handset that it opted to forgo the TLC that has been a main ingredient in the making of other, more refined Nokia devices. It feels cheap. Not N95-1 cheap, but still pretty cheap. Beyond that, the stunning 8 megapixel camera sits on the back of an otherwise uninteresting device that could easily be mistaken for one of several other Nseries models — because it’s basically the same old same old. Hit the jump for some more shots but our advice is not to get too excited about this one just yet. Let’s see what happens when Nokia starts slapping its upgraded 8 megapixel Zeiss shooter into some flagship handsets.

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.