Yes, I have bought a Nokia N85, right after that post that complains loudly about Nokia. Why? There are three strong reasons and one rather weak reason:
1) In terms of raw features, N85 is equivalent to the newest iPhone 3GS. The 3GS will cost around R$ 3k in Brazil, and it is not even available yet. I can stand Symbian in exchange of portable photo and video capability.
2) It runs Python.
3) I believe firmly that we must eat our own dog's food. If I want Python (and potentially other interpreted languages) running on mobile devices, I must vote with my wallet in the ones that actually do it. There is no point in complaining about PyS60 non-commitment from Nokia if I don't use it at all.
4) Maybe Nokia listens to me and offers a Linux image to run in N85 in the future :)
N85 has a nice format and grip. It is thinner than N95, does away with all sharp edges, and the slide mechanics seem to be better and have lower tolerances. The keys are way better than N95, too. GPS works very well, resolving position in a few seconds if you are in the reach of a cell tower (A-GPS). The UI seems to be twice as fast as N95, except in effects where the 3D acceleration in N95 lends a hand. Signal reception is *way* better than N95.
The highest point of N85 is certainly the OLED display, something that is going to take over LCD along time. It does not seem to be better in color correction than LCD, the only visible gain is the "perfect" black, particularly beautiful in a dark environment. And choosing a darker theme means less battery consumption.
N85 camera seems to be not as good as N95's. I took some photos in low-light condition and they look noisy and blurred. I must test it in daylight conditions, but I don't have much hope. Photography quality is directly proportional to lens size; N85 lens is much smaller than N95's, so a drop in quality is unavoidable.
And there are those details that put Apple apart from the rest, besides UI and operating system concerns. N85 manual is thick and unreadable (too good it is unnecessary). The headphones that come with N85 have too short wires, and left/right wires are asymetrical. It felt strange for a device that wants to double as a music player. I understood the intention (coupling earphone+microphone) but but did not like it anyway :)
Now, about the Great Experience.
I have a 3G plan that does not allow voice calls, only SMS. I am using this plan on N85. It's running Fring, and I have a Skype account with online number ("SkypeIn").
Given that
1) I'd need to pay a fine to cancel my 3G data plan and upgrade it to voice+data. And I am too cheap to do that; I prefer to wait until next January to do the upgrade without paying any fine.
2) Almost 100% of "synchronous" communication is SMS these days, including with wife, parents etc.
3) I don't want to carry 2 cell phones around
4) I can always carry a prepaid SIM and a credit code in my wallet, just in case I absolutely need to make a regular voice call;
5) Most of the time, the cell phone can stay connected to WiFi instead of 3G;
6) I am an enthusiast of network technologies, and again I believe we must eat our own dog's food;
7) When I go to countryside and 3G data ceases to work, voice signal is unavailable as well, and SMS/IM will deliver as soon as connection is available again.
So, I decided to turn off my old number and keep only the 3G data plan. My contacts are going to receive a SMS about the new numbers anytime soon. And let's see what happens.
Right now I remembered that we have this Vono service, a SIP phone offered by GVT Telecom. Since N85 seems to be capable of handling SIP directly (without Fring), it is worth testing.
