The Nokia N85, similar in looks to the Nokia N96, has the popular sliding design, but also comes with, instead of a QVGA screen, a 2.8-inch OLED display, which is ever so slightly smaller than the display screen on the N96. It is an ideal device with which to view videos and it was also created with the intention of heavy game play. The phone comes pre-loaded with 10 N-Gage games and users also receive an activation voucher for one free game.

The 128 g phone has a touch-sensitive Navi wheel and an accelerometer sensor for the auto-rotate feature. It has the capabilities for polyphonic (64 channels), monophonic, true tones, and MP3 ringtones. Insofar as memory goes, the phone's phonebook has almost unlimited entry and field capabilities and Photocall. The memory card slot holds micro SD (TransFlash) up to 8 GB (card included) and an internal memory of 85 MB. It also makes use of an ARM 11 369 MHz processor. Although it does not have an infrared port, it has Bluetooth capabilities, Wi-Fi technology, and a v2.0 microUSB port. Other features enjoyed by N85 users are the ability to geotag photos and videos, three months of free turn-by-turn guidance, and the Symbian Series 60 software. The controls and buttons on this device include the keypad lock slider, located on the right side of the phone, and four multimedia keys that change function according to which application is being used. Additionally, the N85 comes with a camera boasting 5 megapixels, Carl Zeiss optics, flash, a VGA 30 fps video ability and a secondary VGA video call camera.

Further, the phone has an office document viewer; push-to-talk setup options; a built-in hands-free set; an organizer; TV out capabilities; a dual slide design; built-in GPS receiver and A-GPS function; a 3.5 mm audio output jack; and stereo FM radio with RDS. The multimedia functions on this phone are aided by a 3.5 mm headphone jack and although there is not a "kickstand," on this model, the phone still has a very useful and clear video player. The phone's keyboard is more user-friendly than many other brands and inputting text is easy enough for those who use it for casual messaging. The phone's navigational buttons appear to be touch-sensitive, but in actuality, they are clickable keys. To the right of the phone's navigational block is the multimedia key, which automatically opens the Nokia XpressMedia menu. The phone also has a "breathing" function, similar to that seen on Apple computers, that illuminates the 5-way navigation button. Although the phone's display is difficult to see in direct sunlight and the build quality of the slider has come into question, the phone is a smaller, cheaper version of the N96 and also has better battery life, using a standard battery, Li-Ion 1200 mAh (BL-5K) (as compared to the 900 mAh battery used in the N96), which offers up to 363 hours of stand-by time and talk time of up to 6 hours and 50 minutes.