In a definitive look at the genre, Steve Litchfield explores the 'Communicator' form factor, looking at devices past and present, on all platforms. How does the Nokia E90 fare in such wide-ranging company?

It's fair to say that the Nokia E90 has had both brickbats and bouquets flung at it in its short year of life. But are these justified? Critics often compare it to its predecessors and competitors, unfavourably. But I think the comparisons are off-beam. Let's look at the competition:

	Nokia 9500	Nokia E90	LG KT610	Asus M930W	Toshiba G910
Availability	3 years ago, available for very little on eBay - ahead of its time?	£500+ SIM-free, free on serious contracts	Mid 2008? - noone knows! Ditto price.	Within 2 months? Price unknown	Within a month, price unknown
OS, interface	Symbian OS 7.0, Series 80	Symbian OS 9.2, S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 1	Symbian OS 9.2, S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 1	Windows Mobile 6	Windows Mobile 6
Screen size(s)	640 by 200 inner, 128 by 128 outer	800 by 352 inner, 240 by 320 outer	320 by 240 inner, 160 by 64 outer display	400 by 240 inner, 240 by 320 outer	800 by 480 inner, one line outer
Comms spec	Wi-Fi, tri-band GSM, Bluetooth	Wi-Fi, quad-band GSM, 3.5G, Bluetooth	Tri-band GSM, 3.5G, Bluetooth	Wi-Fi, tri-band GSM, 3.5G, Bluetooth	Wi-Fi, tri-band GSM, 3.5G, Bluetooth
Weight, length	230g, 148mm	210g, 132mm	Unknown weight, 109mm	Both unknown	183g, 117mm
Other major spec points	0.3mp camera	3.2mp camera with focus and flash, GPS, radio	2mp camera, with flash, GPS	Unknown, GPS probable	2mp camera, with flash, GPS
Multimedia	Base MP4, 3GP, MP3, AAC, AAC+	MP4, including H.264, 3GP, MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA	MP4, including H.264, 3GP, MP3, AAC, eAAC+, WMA	WMV, some MP4, 3GP, WMA, MP3	WMV, some MP4, 3GP, WMA, MP3, AAC, eAAC+
Memory	24MB free RAM, 80MB flash memory, expandable via MMC with extra 2GB	80MB free RAM, 120MB flash memory, expandable via microSD to 32GB	Unknown free RAM, 64MB flash memory, expandable via microSD to 32GB	Roughly 60MB free RAM, around 128MB flash storage, expandable via microSD to 32GB	Roughly 60MB free RAM, around 128MB flash storage, expandable via microSD to 32GB
Keyboard comments	Great for hunt and peck typing	Good for thumb typing or, on a desk, those with strong fingers	Also looks handy for fast thumb typing	Looks good, plus the screen hinge may act as a decent stand, in order to angle the keyboard	As with the Asus, looks good, plus the screen hinge may act as a decent stand, in order to angle the keyboard

Compared to the Nokia 9500, the natural perceived upgrade path for the Communicator series, the E90 comes off very well, with much larger screen(s), improved frequency support, far superior camera (and camcorder), much more RAM, more flash storage, greater possibility for expansion and better media handling all round. It's all quite a bit smaller and lighter, despite the near indestructible metal shell. Pretty compelling, although the pro-9500 exponents point to the lighter key touch (agreed) and the superior more keyboard-focussed UI (also agreed). A tough call, given the importance of the latter two items, but I'd still rate the E90 as the superior device by some margin.

Comparing the E90 to the KT610 is a bit unfair. The latter is smaller, cheaper and with much lower spec components. Both have their place in the market, although I for one do welcome the KT610, fitting into a possible gap in the market.

Comparing the E90 to the new announced-but-not-shipping Windows Mobile 6 clamshells is trickier. The hardware specs are surprisingly similar, from memory to camera to GPS to media support to data speeds to size and weight. So a lot comes down to build quality (at which the E90 excels, teething QA issues excepted), price and, of course, choice of UI. Nothing can get near the Nokia 9500 in terms of clamshell-optimised UI, but I'd say that Windows Mobile 6 was at least as clumsy on a qwerty clamshell as S60 is, maybe even more so.

I'm not going to pronounce a winner, but I do hope that the comparison above has helped you place each model in your own estimation. Which one will you buy, if any? Comments welcome!

Steve Litchfield, AllAboutSymbian, 11 March 2008