Nokia N79 and N85: Worthy successors or Pointless updates?

Nokia has updated its ever expanding portfolio of N-series handhelds with two new phones – the N79 and the N85. The N79 is touted to be a compliment to the N78 while the N85 is said to be a replacement for the aging Nokia N95. Interestingly, we have been calling the soon to be available N96 as the replacement for the N95 series all the while.

So what does the N85 bring to the table? To start with, the Nokia N85 is the first mobile from the Finnish giant to feature an AMOLED display. According to Wikipedia, AMOLEDs displays do not require a back light as in case of LCD displays. Each pixel in the AMOLED display can emit light on its own, which helps to reduce the power consumption. The display also tends to be more thinner, though it may not make much of a difference in a mobile phone device. The screen size is only 2.6″ though. The N85 also features the 5MP auto-focus camera which we first saw on the N95 and later on the N82. Though there is no xenon, the N85 features a dual LED flash. It also supports Triband HSDPA and comes with a bundled 8GB MicroSD card in a dual slider form factor. To sum it up, the N85 is a thinner and a slightly improved version of the original Nokia N95.

The N79 shares many of the features with N85. Notable are:

* 5MP auto focus camera with dual LED flash
* FM Transmitter
* A-GPS
* Accelerometer
* TV-out
* Dual Cameras (one on the front for 3G video calling and self portraits)

The screen is slightly smaller at 2.4″ and the phone sports a candy bar form factor. One unique feature of N79 is the changeable strap-on back cover which comes in 3 colors already. But the long list of common features between these two handsets indicate the feature convergence that is taking place on the N-Series of devices from Nokia.

On the one hand, it is very confusing for an end user to make a decision on which handset to buy. On the other hand, it gives them a lot of choices. Overall, these two handsets add to the chaos already prevailing in the N series line up. Just visit the N series official website and take a look at the handset list on the home page. You will understand what I am talking about.

In the current lineup, there are only few features that differentiate a handset from another. What Nokia needs to do is to decide on the three major form factors which the market is interested in (for example – slider, dual slider and candy bar). Then release three handsets in these form factors every year with incremental upgrades to the feature set. That should be more or less sufficient if the features are carefully planned among these three. People will instantly know which one to buy. Nokia needs to decide on this before they run out of numbers for the N-Series handsets. With the introduction of N85, the difference in features between the flagship N96 is already blurring.

Update: Dotsisx from Symbian-Guru echoes similar sentiments.

PS: This post participates in the latest group writing project from Problogger on killer titles.