With Christmas fast approaching, it's high time for a detailed hands-on head to head between the three smartphone platform flagships: Nokia N96, HTC Touch HD and Apple iPhone 3G. Can I pick a winner? Do I need to? Plenty of opinion, facts and device lowdown here, but your comments most welcome.

Read on in the full article (http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/8628_Nokia_N96_vs_HTC_Touch_HD_vs_A.php).

Actual phone performance would be a useful comparision but very difficult, as someone who purchased an iphone and was disappointed at its poor receiver performance compared to my existing Nokia phone its an important benchmark.

This years crop of Christmas phones is very disappointing. No reason the trade in my N82, until a N97-ish comes available.

Agreed. If offered any of these three, for free, or having to pay £50 extra to get an N82, I'd go with the N82. Sorry if you guys are getting bored with me going on about the N95/N82-era phones, but the lens protection, the graphics acceleration, the much clearer close-up video capture and, in the N82's case, the Xenon flash - it all adds up.

It is a pity you didn't add the N95 (Original) to that comparison. It beats the iPhone and the HTC with features and beats the N96 on the lense protection.

I can't wait for the same comparison with the N97, iPhone and HTC Touch HD.

Although these three are all 'flagships', surely it's the 5800 that's aimed at this market sector, rather than the N96? That would be a more relevant head-to-head, surely?

Probably worth mentioning how poor the 3G implimentation is on the iPhone. If you are heavily dependant on 3G, iPhone will most likely disappoint. Don't know if Apple have secretly fixed it on newer handsets but kept quiet so existing users don't get stressed ?

Been playing with wife's iPhone and love the interface and the simplicity of AppStore. But so many limitations on the basic features. Bluetooth, file transfer to other devices etc. is a joke. I'll just BT you this picture, no you can't. I'll MMS it no you can't. Have to revert to email or PC. Wife's not a techie, that's why she loved the iPhone. What it does is easy to use. She would probably never have tried half of it on an S60 or WinMob unless I set it all up for her (though I did set up the iTunes account for her). But she was able to send MMS and BT pics etc. Asking her to email or use PC instead in not an option.

Also, apart from games, the apps seam a bit basic to me. Not real power apps like you can get on WinMob or even S60. I might be wrong about this, but that's my initial impression. Still no sign of a actually released/available 'Proper' SatNav offerings. Lots of demos on YouTube (assuming they are genuine), so I guess it's just a matter of time/supplier negotiations with Apple (I really hate that Apple control bit).

I've been thinking seriously about getting the HD. Other devices are also tempting me and so I keep swaying in various directions. Just wish HTC sort out drivers for Video etc.

I really love the xda-developers community that is available to HTC users.

If I get a Nokia, I'll get a couple of bug fix releases, but other than that I'm mostly stuck where I am. iPhone may be a bit better, not sure. But with the HD, there is a good chance (no promises) that I'll probably even be able to get some form of WM7 onto it when it eventually comes out. Particularly given the high base specs on the HD.

Just my (fairly unbiased, non fanboy) thoughts.

Zuber

Agreed. If offered any of these three, for free, or having to pay £50 extra to get an N82, I'd go with the N82. Sorry if you guys are getting bored with me going on about the N95/N82-era phones, but the lens protection, the graphics acceleration, the much clearer close-up video capture and, in the N82's case, the Xenon flash - it all adds up.

I'm right there w/ you ppl.

I'm happily stuck w/ the N82 heading into 2009. I guess, if I was in the market for one of the current Nokia models, it would surely be the N85(not the extremely overpriced N96 imo). Although, the absence of a xenon kills that option too, but if the N85 "refresh"(w/ xenon) was already upon us, I could easily ditch the N82.

@neil: Yes, if this head to head had been in late January. The 5800's not out yet, the firmware for it's not even finished yet etc. I wanted to compare three devices that were widely available to the masses.

In this day and age, a crappy built-in browser, or mediocre 3rd party browser, is just unacceptable. Mediocre Youtube experience sucks too. Negates much of the 3.5G and WiFi benefits. Especially for M$. If they can't bother getting this right after 6 years, then it pretty much indicates they are doing at most a mediocre job on the rest of the OS. Even poky S60 has a better browser.

Agree with a previous poster - this season's selection is poor, especially compared to what you can still find online for last year's models. an N95-3 is getting really cheap, and my friend got an N95-4 for free in the US.

Touch HD > iPhone 3G > N96

I've owned/used all three extensively. The n96 should go bottom of the pack no matter what phone you compare it with. BTW my favourite OS is Symbian... The n96 is the biggest waste of money - slow, bugger, poor battery life, limited potential because of slow cpu.

The n85 is a different story.

Looking forward to the n97.

I wish for more of an objective view instead of Nokia/Symbian always coming on top. I know Nokia do you guys lots of favours but please let's be fair.

If I get a Nokia, I'll get a couple of bug fix releases, but other than that I'm mostly stuck where I am. iPhone may be a bit better, not sure. But with the HD, there is a good chance (no promises) that I'll probably even be able to get some form of WM7 onto it when it eventually comes out. Particularly given the high base specs on the HD.


I have to take issue with that. Free releases from Nokia and regular firmware updates on the N95-1 mean that my device currently bears very little resemblance to the device I bought about 18 months ago. In addition to what I bought I now have:
- a proper streaming media player rather than just a uPNP remote control
- n-gage games
- hugely improved RAM handling
- a whizzy search tool (that I don't use, if the truth be told)
- one-button photo uploads to Flickr and Ovi
- geotagging of photos
- internet radio
- accelerometer-based functions and games
- a Python runtime
- a web runtime

I see this as a reward for being an early adopter, and it gets Nokia a lot of brownie-points in my book.

@phonegadgetz: a) if you read my text, the N96 doesn't come out 'on top', it's merely a better all-rounder. b) I disagree with your assessment of it, given the v12 firmware upgrade, which makes a big difference.

OK,

Just a couple of bug fix releases is a bit unfair.

But alot of it is fixing unfinished/buggy software. Though as you say, there as some nice additions as well.

My point is though, you are stuck at that particular OS level. i.e. S60 3rd addition FPx.

Once they stop making them, you will get a relatively short timeframe of support and then it's onto the next thing.

With the HTC stuff (because of the excellent xda-developers communitiy, not HTC or Microsoft) you continue to get people putting together tweaks and upgrades long after the device is forgotten by the press.

Not sure if I dare say this, but a bit like the linux community I think (or my limited exposure to it).

Zuber

And now, something completely different:

Nokia N96 vs. George W. Bush

1) Popularity:
N96: very unpopular, both in the US and in Europe
GWB: very unpopular, both in the US and in Europe

2) User experience:
N96: very frustrating
GWB: very frustrating

3) Cost:
N96: extremely costly to consumers
GWB: extremely costly to taxpayers

4) Future:
N96: already a lame-duck handset, to be retired (thank God!) in early 2009
GWB: already a lame-duck president, to be retired (thank God!) in early 2009

5) Power:
N96: has too little power
GWB: has too much power

N96? LOL... shouldn't even be on this list to be honest.

I had N96 myself, really poor battery life, video play back ok but crapy QVGA resolution.
Almost all of the latest videos are 16:9 aspect ratio where N96 still use old 4:3 aspect ratio result a black bar on top and bottom.

Robert dinero videos play fine though. ;)

DVB-H :con?, last time I’ve heard back in 2005 that the O2 trailing it with Nokia
7710 in Oxford.

Internet browsing again QVGA display, doesn’t matter how good web kit you can’t see much on screen is. Keep scrolling. No copy past in web browser.

Quick office 5 paid upgrade not something you get out of the box, Documents viewer and even that doesn’t support viewing office 2007 documents.

Steve I am sorry but you really are promoting old N96. Why not i8510? what’s wrong with that after all it’s based on Symbian S60 too. Unless it’s All About Nokia. ;)

I had to switch from Nokia after 10 years.

Am happy now with my HD and Storm.

Just to remind you HD plays excelent MP4 files @ 800X480 1.5Mbit/s encoded with H.264 video codes. N96 is no where near that.

I think Steve just hit rock bottom. N96? The most biggest flop in history

IMHO, the low screen resolution is the most limiting factor of most actual Symbian phones. The 5800 and N97 won't arrive a day too early.
But on the other hand, I had a HTC Touch Pro for some weeks. But I am back on my E71. Though the HTC Touch'es have some eye candy. But I got the things, which I do on a business smartphone, done in a fraction of time on a Symbian device (and only need one hand).
But a very fair comparision for a Symbian fan site!

"But I got the things, which I do on a business smartphone, done in a fraction of time on a Symbian device (and only need one hand)."

Don't suppose you would care to expand on that with specifics ?

Not disputing (or agreeing) but would be interested in specific examples. Might help me which way to go next.

i.e. Go with HD/similar, hang out for N97 or even wait for next gen iPhone/Android.

Thanks,

Zuber

"Steve I am sorry but you really are promoting old N96. Why not i8510? what’s wrong with that after all it’s based on Symbian S60 too. Unless it’s All About Nokia."

The i8510 isn't even finished yet, IMHO. The built-in apps have some issues and third party compatibility is still quite poor. So I refuse to review it yet because I *want* to say nice things about it and I can't *yet*. Give it a couple more months, maybe.

The N96 isn't that bad, you know. It's got less issues than the N95 when it came out and look how rosily we're all regarding THAT now. Give Nokia 2 months to tweak and fine tune the N96 firmware and it'll be a very different story. It'll be up to 60MB free RAM and far less glitches and better video recording etc etc.

Steve

Perhaps you haven't setup the HD with the tweaks at XDA-Developers?

Browsing experience:
One of the best because like the Nokia E90 you can view most sites without zooming in/out. And if you tweak with the opera:config in the url you'll be able to make links click-able without zooming. I find this even better than constantly zooming in/out with the iPhone.

Video:
Plays videos better than the other two devices. Install Coreplayer and chuck large 700MB files directly onto your HD and play. I play many flash videos and avi's. No more time wasting and hassles of re-encoding videos.

The resolution and size of the screen makes videos look amazing... Full screen 3.8" WVGA vs n96 2.8" QVGA (about 2.4" with the black borders because of the crappy standard 4:3 resolution). There is no contest.

YouTube client on the HD is the best I've experienced, even better than the iPhone.

Apps:
You'll find far more apps with WM than Symbian. TomTom support for a start. :)

Phone:
This is about the only category I would say the N96 wins because of the keypad. I like real physical buttons however the other two devices can is perfectly adequate handle phone/call functions.

Price:
HD is free from £30 per month contracts. N96 cost about the same if not more... Not everyone is on PAYG or sim free as you keep promoting.

Design/size/weight
Although the HD and iPhone is larger in height x width, it's very slender so can fit in any pocket without adding bulk unlike the n96.

Battery life:
HD >>> iPhone >>> N96

I could go on but I'm bored already. lol

For reference, on my business contract (with Orange), Touch HD was free, N96 was over £60.

One major difference and advantage of iPhone is that it is iconic. Apple has been doing a good job by providing constant update of software to make iPhone (including 1st generation iPhone) up-to-date all the time. Nokia and HTC do not have such "iconic" phones. They just keep introducing new phone models that leave the buyers of "old" phone models in the lurch.

"iPhone OS" is the official name for the OS on the iPhone.

One major difference and advantage of iPhone is that it is iconic. Apple has been doing a good job by providing constant update of software to make iPhone (including 1st generation iPhone) up-to-date all the time. Nokia and HTC do not have such "iconic" phones. They just keep introducing new phone models that leave the buyers of "old" phone models in the lurch.

Yes, that kind of what I'm saying. Except I was refering to the ability of the user community to provide updates for the HTC devices while the manufacturers move on to the next big thing...

This article got me playing with the Wife's iPhone again yesterday. So much potential, but just missing too many basics. Anyone know when they will be releasing v3. Might be tempted by that. Though Android may have come a long way by then (Apple are just too control freak).

Zuber

Really Steve, the 5800 xpress music ( a touch screen device) should be compared with the other two and not the N96.

Yes, I'll probably repeat the head to head once I get a 5800 with production firmware (soon-ish). Irrelevant for today though, as you can't buy a 5800 unless you live in Russia or a couple of other spots.....

Errr... Exactly *where* do you think you can get an iPhone 'SIM Free' for £350 plus Unlimited Data for a year?

I presume you mean PAYG on O2?

I consider myself a poweruser on the N95 and do not understand why people are complaining about the N96. Fortunately we have DVB-H in the Netherlands, but even if that would not be the case I would still have bought a N96 to replace my N95.

Better battery(-management), better media-playback (more and longer (WAV)) and lot of little very nice tweakings (RDS, "widescreen" videocalls)) etc.. etc..

Mark my words: when DVB-H actually will become the european broadcasting standard in one or two years a lot of people will get back to the N96..

For me the DVB-H alone is a reason not to already start thinking about the N97.

I cant read the article because the web browser said "Zero response"...whats that? am using Mozilla Firefox. Help me please.

about the article...HTC Touch HD's main disadvantage for me is the Windows Mobile OS. i will use it only when i have to choose between WM or SE dumpphones cauz i have phobia from T,K,S,C and other SE dumpphones "especially those considered high end phones by SE".

N96...dizaztaaaaar.....firmware will fix it..but when? soon 5800 will be available and we will use it with 16gb memory card.

iPhone?...not a dumpphone..but who agree with me if i say its not a real smartphone?

I cant read the article because the web browser said "Zero response"...whats that? am using Mozilla Firefox. Help me please.

about the article...HTC Touch HD's main disadvantage for me is the Windows Mobile OS. i will use it only when i have to choose between WM or SE dumpphones cauz i have phobia from T,K,S,C and other SE dumpphones "especially those considered high end phones by SE".

N96...dizaztaaaaar.....firmware will fix it..but when? soon 5800 will be available and we will use it with 16gb memory card.

iPhone?...not a dumpphone..but who agree with me if i say its not a real smartphone?

"Errr... Exactly *where* do you think you can get an iPhone 'SIM Free' for £350 plus Unlimited Data for a year?
I presume you mean PAYG on O2?"

Ahem. Yes, "SIM-free" was a bad choice of term. I meant 'free of monthly contract fees". Well, I know what I meant, anyway. 8-)

"But I got the things, which I do on a business smartphone, done in a fraction of time on a Symbian device (and only need one hand)."

Don't suppose you would care to expand on that with specifics ?
...
i.e. Go with HD/similar, hang out for N97 or even wait for next gen iPhone/Android.


Sure. I mostly use my Smarphone for (surprise, surprise) making phone calls. 2nd is SMS, Email and Calendar. Other things I do, but not so often are reading RSS-Feeds, taking photos and GPS navigation. And not to forget: carrying it around. Having a phone that is so slim and light, that I can carry it in the front pocket of my shirt is a big plus for me.

As a former Palm Treo user, I used an E51 since the beginning of the year (my first Symbian device) and upgraded to a E71 as soon at it has been available. For comparision, I used a HTC Touch Pro and the older TyTN II Kaiser for some weeks, just because I thought that Symbian is missing some bells and whistles. The iPhone is out of scope for me for several reasons. It comes at an absurd price or with a contract that I definitely don't want (or both). And I don't want to ask Steve Jobs, what Software he allows me to use on my phone, especially as some essential functionality is missing (eg. Internet connection sharing). So I thought, I try some of these HTC pimped Windows mobile devices.

After some weeks of working with both, I found out that for my all day usage they mostly require more fiddling around than I was used to. I tried to work around with additional software. Eg. I replaced TouchFlow with SPB Shell. Though TouchFlow 3D offers some real eye candy, I found it mostly useless. Eg. the picture dial tab requires much fidlling around, it is hard to get the contact you want. Don't try this in a car while driving. As much as I tried to get to like these flashy devices, at the end I realized that nearly everything I do is more effort that I was used to on any of my former devices.

So what am I doing faster on my E71?
Basically everything, because the wm devices are overall much slower, though the Touch Pro has a faster CPU and more memory. Pressing a key often gives you a second to wait, before something happens. The E71 is much more responsive.
2nd to that, some examples:

Dial a number: I have all my number keys assigned as short dials. Just from the standby screen I press and hold a number and got the number dialed. For any other contacts, I start typing on the standby screen and immediately got a list of matching contacts. Typically, after not more than 4 key presses, I see the contact I want in the result list. WM 6.1 has learned this trick also, but if you use TouchFlow or SPB Shell, it won't work. You first have to start the contacts or dialing application, then start typing, which costs you some seconds. The same is for SMS or write an email to a contact.

Check a calendar entry: I often need to check my agenda for a specific day. On the E71, I press the calendar button, then navigate to the day in the month view and see my dates right of the month view. Now if I want to see a different day, I just need to move the cursor to it and see the dates. Just for starting the calendar, I need to fiddle around in wm's Start menu or use the touch screen. I often felt, that for getting a decent speed I need to switch between keyboard and touch screen very often. Startup time for wm's calendar is also higher. Now for check the agenda of a special day requires to move between month view and day view. There are other calendar programs, which are capable to show the day's entries in a combined month/day view, but these start even slower.
I think, I could spend the whole night finding more examples, but it is time to go to bed ;-)
After all, switching back to my good old E71 gave me a good feeling.

Choosing a smartphone is like choosing a car. There is not the one that fits everyones needs best. For now, the E71 is the best choice for me (but I saw the pictures of the coming N97 ... nice ;-)

Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated...

Zuber

I would go with the HTC Touch HD. Camera and video quality is decent and blows away the iPhone. Opera mobile browser is also okay and full flash support is availble through the download of the skyfire browser on windows mobile. Touch Flo 3D makes tasks easy for finger use and it is a very attractive phone with a great screen and high resolution which is brilliant for watching videos, viewing photos and web browsing. The iPhone lacks in basic features such as copy and paste, Bluetooth, mms and more and the Nokia seems too fat and ugly for me.

The touch HD has a very poor camera given its high megapixel rating. It performs dismally in low light conditions and offers awful quality video. The iPhone on the other hand performs much better in low light and does far better quality video.

For all those who wish to record video on the iPhone - Cycorder

For those that want true picture messaging - SwirlyMMS

For those who want full cut and paste - safari plugin and copierCIN

And contact forwarding and other messaging features - IrealSMS

Wifi connection sharing - PDAnet

Bluetooth would be nice, but is completely nonessential to most people. The Touch HD is not a contender and would be laughed at by most consumers as such: its only Market is those who can't move away from winmo but crave some iPhone style features.

I just want to clarify my previous post.

It is as a media-centric USABLE phone that the iPhone shines - anyone can use it. The same cannot be said of the Touch HD (and windows mobile devices generally) since under the hood they have a very clunky and out-of-date UI.

The iPhone has a dedicated Myspace and Facebook app with chat support, Dedicated BBC Iplayer support, podcast downloading over the air, quick and intuitive web browsing, an iPod built in, A slick and thoroughly friendly Google Maps application and just thousands of slick and lovely apps that can easily be downloaded straight to the phone, EASILY and with no real experience needed. windows mobile just doesn't have this.

Sure there are some apps with similar features to those on the Iphone available for windows Mobile but they just arent as good. Even Google Maps is not as nice to use on my Diamond as it is on my iPhone.

There is definitely a market for windows mobile, but I don't think that there is a real Market for the Touch HD - it just doesn't perform when it comes to video acceleration, nor does it offer anything that the iPhone doesn't have other than Bluetooth. The very fact that companies try to make phones that mimic the feel of the iPhone is testament to the quality of the device.

I love the iPhone, and I laugh at the idea that a phone such as the HD (or even my own Touch Diamond) can compete in the same Market. That is not to say that i'm any kind of Apple fanboy though - I'm always on the lookout for new phones and as soon as a better one comes along I'll get it. The Touch HD isn't it though, and the N96 is just too similar to my N95 to be worth the money.

This website just gets more silly by the day. Ok, I'd expect you to be biased towards Symbian devices but this is just ridiculous. The N96 doesn't come close to the iPhone, and the Touch HD totally blows both out of the water.

It's time to admit that Nokia have seriously lost the plot over the last year. The N97 really should have been released by the time the iPhone 3G came out, they are now way behind both HTC and Apple.

And just out of curiosity, why does everyone hate Windows Mobile? I upgraded from an N95 to an HTC Touch Diamond.....I really cant see myself ever owning a Nokia/Symbian device again.

Hd has way better quality showing youtube videos
its warm to hold not like iphone, so cold and slippery

i have rigt now experia ,iphone and htc hd and im selling x1 and iphone
the best is hd

I'm on Orange and am due an upgrade. I've currently got an N95 8gb, however the N96 doesn't interest me. I'm an apple user and love the functionality and aesthetics of their products, so I'm thinking I want an Iphone. However short of buying one Sim free it doesn't look like I'm going to get one with Orange! (They suck! Vodaphone's Storm looks pretty good too!)

I've read the reviews and although there's mixed responses I'm beginning to think I'm not going to be satisfied by the Touch... Am I right in thinking this? I've been with Orange a good while, am happy with my tariff and think their Orange Care is second to none so don't want to leave. Should I just get the HD, Sell it and invest in a PAYG Iphone 3G?

The touch HD has a very poor camera given its high megapixel rating. It performs dismally in low light conditions and offers awful quality video. The iPhone on the other hand performs much better in low light and does far better quality video.

For all those who wish to record video on the iPhone - Cycorder

For those that want true picture messaging - SwirlyMMS

For those who want full cut and paste - safari plugin and copierCIN

And contact forwarding and other messaging features - IrealSMS

Wifi connection sharing - PDAnet

Bluetooth would be nice, but is completely nonessential to most people. The Touch HD is not a contender and would be laughed at by most consumers as such: its only Market is those who can't move away from winmo but crave some iPhone style features.

You have to give the Touch HD more credit. I am trying it out and its fantastic so far. The Iphone is nice but there are too many apps required for some basic stuff like SMS. Why should i use three SMS apps?

Also the screen on the Touch HD is very nice. The high res realy is nice for browsing, email and attachments. I think WinMo needs more work but TouchFlo is pretty much what makes me really like the device!

having worked with both ,i can say ,hd is more proffesional than iphone ,.
symbian is a good platfoorm ,but for nobbies !