Confronted with the distinctive styling of the Nokia 8850 Gold Edition, it's difficult to resist musing over the sort of scenarios it might belong to. Reminiscent of the pretentious, jewelled lighters and gold-plated pens favoured by business executives in the late 70s, it's hard keep red nail polish, mink stoles, brandy snifters and British sports-cars out of the picture.
There doesn't seem to be any evidence Nokia wants to discourage associations between its premium dual-band GSM phone and such gaudy images of wealth. In a press statement regarding the handset, Nigel Rundstrom of Nokia's strategic marketing division unearthed the House of Dunhill phrase book to come up with this: "In Asia Pacific Markets, the colour gold is a symbol of luxury, prestige and a reflection of fine taste and excellence". (The press commnique` itself was titled Specially crafted for those who appreciate the finer things in life)
Strangely, in all its travels with ZDNet's review team the only person upon which the Nokia 8850 made a strong and lasting impression was a Sydney cab driver called Eddie. Eddie had a special interest in the 8850. The standard edition 8850 was at the top of his shopping list the last time he upgraded his phone, but he opted for a Nokia 8250 at the last minute. After seeing the 8850 Gold Edition he expressed some regret over his choice. Asked whether it was the Gold finish that was at the heart of it he said, "Is it Gold? I hadn't noticed. I just need to make sure I can read the screen and this white [back-] light is the best I've ever seen. Can it Fax?"
Yep.
Eddie's praise did not end there. He also liked the way the 8850's sliding cover protects the keypad when the phone is idle and extends the length of the phone for optimal positioning of the speaker during calls. It was clear that Eddie was something of a mobile phone connoisseur, and we agreed with Eddie on most superficial points about the 8850, but we had a few other points regarding the phone that we felt compelled to include.
Just 5mm longer than the average business card and weighing just 91 grams the 8850 is one of the most compact phones on available. Despite this, it input pad retains its usability although the long-nailed among you will probably struggle with its tiny, rice-shaped, chrome buttons, and the toggle buttons above the cover's seam will be a bit of a challenge for anyone. They're so stiff that the tactile response that tells which direction you're scrolling --or whether your ending a call or placing one on hold-- is difficult to discern.
The Nokia 8850 has one the most complete communication feature sets available in a dedicated mobile phone (as opposed to a PDA-hybrid phone). It has powerful SMS text and picture messaging facilities, fax capability, a built-in modem and an infrared port. If you have a Psions or a CE-based PDA with an IrDA compliant infrared port, Nokia provides software that will you exploit the 8850's internal modem for online connectivity. The 8850 doesn't have a WAP browser but it is capable of accessing subscriber information services and its TTML browser simplifies the process of adding them to the phone as and when they're required.
If you're to believe Nokia's own battery specifications the 8850's talk-time is a generous 3 hours and 20 minutes and, theoretically, its standby time can let you roam free of a charger for almost a week.
Colour is the only feature that distinguished the Gold Edition of the 8850 from the standard version. Gold Edition customers are spared the indignity of haggling with mobile vendors for extra (how tacky). The package contains an extra battery, a hands-free headset and a belt pouch. These extras are nice little touches that might have tipped Eddie's decision in favour of the 8850, but at $1,499 we were left wandering whether his other car was an Aston Martin.
Company: Nokia
Price: AU$1,499
Distributor: Nokia
Contact: 1300 366 733
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