Nokia N85 skips thru the FCC with US 3G
It’s only been a few hours since we told you about the N96 hitting Best Buy and we’ve already forgotten about it. Why? The US-ized Nokia N85 is finally showing signs of life! We have seen two versions of the N85 pass through the FCC already, one with no 3G support and one with just a hint of US 3G (WCDMA 900/1900/2100). A few days ago a third version of the N85, clearly destined for use on AT&T’s 3G networks, was approved by the FCC. The documents clarify that the previously approved RM-333 had WCDMA VIII (900MHz) band, which is replaced with WCDMA V (850MHz) band in new RM-334. This N85 version was tested at 850/1900 GSM and 850/1900 WCDMA and is a full 7 band capable phone with 850/900/1800/1900 GSM and 850/1900/2100 WCDMA. With the N96 hitting Best Buy, maybe we will see the N85 make its debut there, too! It might not be billed as the flagship Nseries but the OLED screen, 5 megapixel camera and more reasonable price point make it a heck of a lot more attractive. Hit the jump for the full FCC description of the phone.
This thing looks more like a N96 than like a N85..
Permalink | Reply
could this be a push by Nokia to get more devices into the US market? I would love to see the competition.
looks like a very good device.
Permalink | Reply
Thanks Nokia! how about more QWERTY devices instead of the same slider/candybar form factors over and over?? QWERTY N-series plz-k-thnx….oh and 5800 NAM too.
Permalink | Reply
It is not “full US 3G” if it does not have the T-mobile 3G bands.
Thanks for getting my hopes up!
Permalink | Reply
@ BG’s meant a carrier that mattered
Permalink | Reply
P.S. I meant the site (not him).
This news is no news until it passes TA for AT&T. Otherwise, my pockets are empty with all the phone purchases I did this past month.
Permalink | Reply
AT&T won’t be carrying the phone. it will be sold unlocked just like all previous n-series phones in the US. I picked up the N85-1 which is the Euro version and it is a very, very solid phone. Battery life is better than about any phone i’ve ever seen mostly due to the OLED’s low power consumption.
Also, if you are in a major city chances are you are using 1900 for 3g so the Euro version will get you 3g. I get 3g everywhere I did with my N95-4 and everywhere my Bold has 3g.
Also, anyone thinking about the N96, this is the phone to have, not the N96.
Permalink | Reply
Just to clarify, I said it is destined for AT&T because is has AT&T GSM/3G bands, not because it will be branded by AT&T. As Jason said, it will be sold unlocked.
Permalink | Reply
Please refrain from saying “full US 3G” on phones such as this now that T-Mo has an actual 3G network. After loving my N95 (with nothing but EDGE), i was about to flip my lid for Nokia supporting AWS so fast. Unfortunately, your headline was incorrect.
Permalink | Reply
Someone already mentioned it and I think it’s worth mentioning it again. FULL US 3G support now has to include the 1700mHz band that T-Mobile is now using.
I hope manufacturers start remembering this when they start developing US versions of unlocked phones!
Permalink | Reply
@Jr and Buzz
You’re right, my bad. I actually thought I had edited that out and had it as “US 3g support” but somehow the “full” made its way back in there….
Permalink | Reply
f’ nokia, and GO TO HELL!!!
they officially dump T-Mobile!
well once they realize SE, HTC, moto starts to bring out WCDMA IV unlocked handset, it’s way too late
Permalink | Reply
not to be of offense to the new tmobile 3G bands, you have to see it from their (Nokia) point of view. ATT has a larger network with more customers and area of 3G coverage over t-mobile at the moment. The network would have to grow in customers and size in order for them to see an phone with AWS support as profitable
Permalink | Reply
looks like att is going to get the nokia N-95 according to wirefly.
Permalink | Reply
currently T-Mobile has nearly 30 markets (not cities) have 3G active (just added Washington DC)
nokia has lost the opportunity big time
Permalink | Reply
Nokia would be shipping their next-gen phone after the N85 by the time T-Mobile USA 3G gets up to prime-time numbers that justifies the AWS 1700 radio hardware.
Sony with their Xperia really went out an expensive limb, something Nokia is too smart to do.
Permalink | Reply
Why are all the T-Mobile customers complaining about the title of this blog? In fact, I say it should be titled “Nokie N85 skips thru the FCC with North American 3G” since Rogers, Telcel, and AT&T would be able to use this phone.
Permalink | Reply
@mas: Where are you seeing this news?
Permalink | Reply
You guys whining about it not having AWS make it sound like the phone will explode in your lap if you put your T-Mobile SIM in it. It’s still going to work in the US, you just won’t get any high-speed data with it.
Nokia has yet to make an S60 device with UMTS 1700. Believe me, when they do, BGR is going to have a more captivating title than just saying a new phone has “US 3G”. You should have known better.
Permalink | Reply
Gee, guys lighten up. US 3G is perfectly acceptable. T-Mo isn’t on US 3G - they’re on a POS frequency because they were too lame ass cheap, and heck, they have bare minimum 3G coverage in the 30 markets. Do you really expect Nokia to make a T-Mo version of the niche N85? Do you really think they would sell even a 100 of these things for T-Mo?
It’s US 3G. Give Kelly a break on a well-written article.
Permalink | Reply
STOP SAYING SOMETHING ILLOGICAL!
DON’T YOU SAY WCDMA IV IS RUNNING IN USA?!
T-Mobile runs WCDMA IV in USA, then US 3G MUST include WCDMA II/IV/V
without WCDMA IV, it doesn’t qualify as US 3G
Permalink | Reply
FYI - I took the AT&T 3G frequency gamble and lost a bit. I have an Nokia E51 with WCDMA 1900/2100mhz (IE No 850mhz) and I get no 3G in Los Angeles, Atlanta, and I’m pretty sure I didn’t get any coverage in NYC but can’t be positive.
Permalink | Reply
Nokia has never released an E51 with 1900 UMTS. They released a dual band 850/2100 version for Australian markets that works in certain places in the US, but never with 1900 like the N85 Euro be NAM.
Permalink | Reply
This phone is the worthy HTC killer since none of the recent stuff (Diamond, Touch Pro, Xperia, TouchHD) actually fix the inferior Qualcomm cpu problems (no fpu so below-bar multimedia), nor improve the video driver (all recent HTC scrape the bottom in GLBenchmarks), nor improve the usability of the phone (MS letting OEMS create a DOS-like wasteland of crappy drivers and random GUI implementations).
It’s almost as if Nokia is the TiVo in the land of Media PCs and jury-rigged home-built HTCs.
Permalink | Reply
No, that would be AWS 3G.
Permalink | Reply