Nokia N96 vs Nokia N85 Video Recording Battle
We were at the park today and I had my hands on both the Nokia N96 and Nokia N85 to take some the basketball action on video. While both phones are capable of recording VGA at 30 fps, I’m a little surprised there are differences between the two videos.
The videos below are direct uploads to my Flickr with no editing done. Note: if videos are not visible in your RSS reader, head straight to the blog.
Nokia N96 Video
Nokia N85 Video
Spot The Difference
The Nokia N85 video is clearer and smoother. I also like the audio better on the Nokia N85. Another note is that the camera button on the Nokia N96 is harder to press than the Nokia N85.
Now that you’ve seen both videos, what differences do you see? Does the Nokia N85 perform better than the Nokia N96?
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PJ on 26 October 2008:
The N85 does look smoother but what’s up with the sky and the white balance? I think that looks better on the N96. Oh and is that at the basketball courts behind prep? I haven’t been there in a long time. How long ago did they get fixed up?
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Mark Guim on 27 October 2008
PJ, yup this video was taken at St. Francis Prep. I’m not sure when they got gixed… I’m sure Guian know.
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Joe on 26 October 2008:
I personally think the N96 is taking better video. The audio sounds way better it sounds a bit tinny on the n85. And yeah what’s up with the sky and white balance?
There’s a really big difference with the colors too I notice. Was the n85 more accurate?
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Mark Guim on 26 October 2008:
Video was taken at sunset and the N85 was more accurate showing the yellow tint.
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brian on 27 October 2008
hei mark pls make a video at night with the dual led on and night mode off with the n85.
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Cosmo on 27 October 2008:
The video looks smoother on N85, and the colors seems more real also, but the “yellow sky” ruins all the pluses N85 might have against N96 in this particular sample. More samples please?
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feifei on 27 October 2008:
for video, credit goes to n85, but audio i prefered n96, more clearer and louder, n85 is more likely the fm quality……
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MD on 24 November 2008
The best answer man
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brian on 27 October 2008:
i prefere the n96 video quality
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James Burland on 27 October 2008:
My vote goes with the 96.
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THETRUTH on 27 October 2008:
I like the n96 better also.
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epvq30 on 27 October 2008:
i’m sorry to say, but i didn’t find either of the videos to be impressive at all.
i bet a cannon lens will out perform that carl zeiss
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jack on 27 October 2008:
hey mark i guess some are going with the n96 because of the colors in the video however i think you’re the only one who knows which one is more accurate depending on the time the video was taken. the n85 seems to be smoother and slightly better quality that’s why i’m going with n85
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mr_faidhi on 28 October 2008:
if we full screen the video, n96 looks clearer. damn, i want n85 to be the perfect phone.
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davechico23 on 30 October 2008:
n85 dude,, the best^_^
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Centrino on 30 October 2008:
The N96 video is better, also the audio .
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Zylam Marex on 1 November 2008:
if you play both together in sync daam man the N85 is so smooth….i wanted N96 to be better but in like every way Nokia has messed up the N96…but i’m still gonna get it, the colors and audio on N96 are way better though but the N85 smoothness kinda over powers it all…..for some reason it feels like N85 has more frames?? both are ment to be 30….but i read in like a million places the current fw for N96 is 15 fms….
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CarlosCR on 5 November 2008:
Hello,
I also think that it seems like N85 has a higher frame rate than N96. But sensor on N96 seems superior because it has no blooming, unlike N85 which has a lot (look at the sky and how whiter pixels spread around to make the basket and the top of the trees overexposed). N96 audio also is better. It seems that N96 sensor has more potential if they fix the frame rate issue.
But none of them are very impressive
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Edward on 16 November 2008:
The n96 has video stabilisation. If you put it on it would be alot smoother.
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precious on 23 November 2008:
N85 is the BEST…
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francisco on 28 November 2008:
oh come on, i am all for the n85 but video quality of the n96 is just better, and the sound is just excellent.
N85 looks like lower resolution, blurry, worse colors, the only thing is that the n85 is a little more fluid
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Kiss on 29 November 2008:
I like the nokia N96 better, the colours and the audio are better
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Vauket on 29 November 2008:
You idiot, its not smooth because video stabilisation isnt on. you need to turn it on because its off for default. N96 way better.
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Alex on 3 December 2008:
Try to sync play the video guys, you can clearly see the n85 is more fluid. The white balance and stuff might need to be adjusted though.
As for the sound quality difference that just depends on how he was holding the cameras at that time. If anything he might’ve been closer to the n96, I’m not too sure…or it could just be that the n85 has crappier sound.
So I just guess it comes down to quality sound with reduced frames (n96) or higher frames and lowered sound quality (n85).
But the white balance and stuff is an issue too but that’s just personal preference to prefer more yellow at sunset or white.
But form factor and sexiness goes to the n85 IMO its just something that’ll easily slip into and out of your pocket.
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jp on 10 December 2008:
The N96 has much more detail and the picture seems more stable. N85 looks lower fidelity. I still prefer the N85s battery, fm transmiter and form factor :-S Seems they skimped on the N85s av components a bit though
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sunny on 12 December 2008:
hello friend,
ofcourse n96 is better. i m using n96 and feel its great. n85 has btter screen but smaller. when u see video on n96 and n85 you ll feel how crucial are those 0.2 inches of screen.
nokia has done partiality by not introducing usb charging in n96… fault is nokia’s…
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sunny on 12 December 2008:
n96 has frame skipping which ensure that the bitrate doesnt go beyond a specified value. it is crucial in videocalls. i can bet n96’s superior video quality in videocall. can any one on blog compare that. and let us know..
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Mr.Z@kK on 20 December 2008:
hi Mark!!
well N96 is much,much better than N85 I accept,,But N85 is lghter in weight,battery standby time is more than N96.I m using N85 i thnk thts Y i m lovin iT!!
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Q on 21 December 2008:
Nokia N96 and N85 are a big toss up, N96 isn’t that great and N85 is the HOTNESS!!!!! 85 is sleeker with the 5mpg cam, so N96 isn’t hitting on a whole lot. Who cares about 0.2 inches of screen size. I use 96 and I HATE IT!!!!
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