Slightly smaller and lighter than the N96, the N85 measures 4 by 0.6 by 2 inches and weighs 4.5 ounces. Unfortunately, the unit's plastic chassis feels a bit cheap and flimsy, which is something I've noticed with other . The display size on the N85 is also slightly smaller, down to 2.6 inches (versus 2.8 inches on the N96).

The N85 nevertheless felt comfortable in my hand. Additionally, it had very good call quality when used over AT&T's 3G network. Voices sounded clear, with no static or hiss. The majority of people on the other end reported hearing sufficiently loud voices with very little background noise.

Like other N-Series phones, the N85 has a dual-slider design: Sliding the OLED screen up reveals a numeric keypad, while sliding it down switches the display and button orientation to horizontal and uncovers four multimedia-playback buttons (for Play/Pause, Forward, Back, and Stop).

First and foremost, N-Series phones are entertainment phones--and the N85 is no exception: It's chock-full of great multimedia features. The Video Center contains all of your video content, including your personal videos, Internet videos, and video podcasts. The N85 supports a respectable number of video formats: MPEG-4 Part 2 (H.263/SP), MPEG-4 Part 10 (H.264/AVC), WMV9, and RealVideo with playback at 30 frames per second. Video playback quality on the N85's display was excellent. My only complaint: The screen was sometimes difficult to see in bright environments.

The music player is equally impressive, supporting MP3, WMA9, AAC, AAC+ and eAAC+ formats. You can create playlists on-the-go, view album art on the now-playing screen, and browse songs by artist, album, genre, or composer. The N85 also has a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, which isn't exactly a bonus feature, but a lot of smart phones (HTC handsets, for example) lack one. Audio quality was very good; based on my experience, I could easily see myself using the N85 as my primary music device.