The two-tiered approach to the ultimate qwerty smartphone
Published by Steve Litchfield at 8:22 BST, June 13th 2007
Steve Litchfield explores the smartphone world, its form factors and then suggests compares two of the leading devices from the Symbian OS world...
To say that I've always had a fascination with gadgets and form factors is something of an understatement, starting with the Psion Series 3 and working my way through Series 5/5mx, Palm III, IIIc, Treo 180 and 270, Sony Ericsson P800/P900, Nokia 9210i and 9500, culminating in the creation of my now reasonably well known Grid, letting everybody get help in choosing the right device for them.
Today, in 2007, we have more form factors than ever before, from touch-screen tablets through slide-keyboarded superphones to the buttoned extravaganza that is the Nokia E90 Communicator. One of THE chief decisions to be made when selecting your next device is whether to go touch-screen (a la iPhone or many Windows Mobile-powered designs) qwerty (e.g. the Nokia E61i or HTC Excalibur) or keypad (e.g. the Nokia N95 and N76). Summarising the choice of interfaces:
| | Touch-screen, with finger or stylus input | Qwerty keyboard | Traditional keypad and predictive text |
| Text input speed | Slow | Can be quite fast, depending on | Relatively slow |
| Handedness | Two hands needed | Two hands needed | One hand input practical |
| Strong points | Simpler GUI possible, easier to learn, device can be smaller | Fast text input on the road | Device can be very small, traditional phone form, etc. |
Despite the many, many attractions of the likes of the Nokia N93 and Nokia N95, I keep coming back, for my own use, at least, to the fact that I've "gotta have qwerty". And, judging by the sheer volume of keyboarded designs coming from the worlds of Windows Mobile, Palm OS and Linux, it seems that smartphone (for many) equals a proper keyboard, however miniscule.
So, with this premise set up, the two leading Symbian OS-based smartphones are arguably the Nokia E61i and the E90 Communicator. Maybe, just maybe, the Sony Ericsson P1i will compete when it finally comes out, but that's another comparison for another day. Now, it's patently obvious that the E90 outguns the E61i in every department. BUT, and it's a big 'but', the E90 is also double the price.
Note the side by side view. The E90's display is 50% wider than the E61i's but with 150% extra resolution, meaning that Web browsing (for one) is significantly more convenient
So, predictably, it all comes down to how much value you'll get from the differences between the two devices. To help make that choice, here's the definitive E61i/E90 breakdown:
| Nokia E61i | Nokia E90 |
| Price:£250 plus VAT | Price:£500 plus VAT |
| One piece sturdy (metal and plastic) design, single 2.8" by 320 by 240 landscape display | Clamshell hinged design, sturdy (metal and plastic), dual displays, larger 4", at 800 by 352 pixels |
| Weight: 150g | Weight: 210g |
20MB free RAM, 220MHz processor
(for the E61i's use, 20MB is usually enough, it's on the likes of the N95 with the huge camera that 20MB looks stingy for RAM) | 80MB free RAM(!), 330 MHz processor, with graphics acceleration
(yes, both these stats are as wonderful as they sound, the E90 flies through most tasks quickly - and it's great not ever having to close an app down for RAM reasons!) |
Pop port for USB connectivity and stereo audio out
(Pop port is starting to look like more and more of an anachronism these days, and you'll need a special adapter in order to plug in any kind of standard headphones) | miniUSB for connectivity and 2.5mm jack for stereo audio out |
| microSD expansion | microSD expansion |
Three hardware buttons for app launching, plus the usual function keys
(all of these feel somewhat 'squidgy' though....) | Seven, arguably more hardware buttons for app launching/switching
(the E90's build quality extends to all buttons) |
Qwerty keyboard, 2.25" 'Q' to 'P', always available
(as good as thumb keyboards get, but they always feel cramped and your fingers will fight for space when trying to type fast) | Qwerty keyboard, 3" 'Q' to 'P', qwerty available when clamshell is open
(as already stated on AAS, the E90 keyboard is compact, well built and functional, but won't allow for much more than two finger or two thumb typing. It's faster than the E61i's though, if only because there's more finger room...) |
2 megapixel camera, fixed focus, no flash
(fixed focus is a right pain when you're trying to get close-up to something to shoot it in detail, but a blessing when shooting family and friends ad-hoc. Picture quality is similar to that from other Nokia 2 mp cameras) | 3 megapixel camera, autofocus, flash
(generally excellent, see here for samples) |
CIF video recording, 15fps
(as on the Nokia N70, E70 and many previous devices, CIF isn't really up to serious use, although it's still miles better than video on many other phones) | VGA video recording, up to 30fps
(quality isn't quite as good as on the Nokia N93, but still more than acceptable for home movie use) |
Mono loudspeaker
(not really suitable for any kind of music use) | Stereo loudspeakers
(great quality, even for music, although no real stereo separation!) |
| AAC, eAAC+ and MP3 music formats supported | AAC, eAAC+, MP3 and WMA music formats supported
(WMA support is particularly nice to have, as it means that Windows Media Player can be used for ripping for both desktop and smartphone) |
| No radio | FM radio |
| No GPS | Built-in low power TI-made GPS
(although lock-on times are much slower than if a standalone Bluetooth GPS were used) |
| S60 3rd Edition | S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1
(with the extra 'running' indicators on icons and with the integrated - but slower - WAP/Web browser) |
| Full HP-centric printer support in all applications | Same, full HP-centric printer support in all applications |
| No 'Active notes' | 'Active notes' application, saving object-based notes straight to HTML
(a new application, the usefulness of this has yet to be proven...) |
| Battery life generally excellent | Battery life generally good, considering the extra RAM involved, the larger display, GPS and camera. |
Key travel is about the same, but the E90's keys are significantly larger and thus more widely spaced
At first sight, the E61i and the E90 seem to be fairly close in terms of capabilities, especially in terms of software and core functions, but the gradual one-upmanship of the new Communicator's hardware over its flatter relative really starts to add up. Traditional PDA 'power' users and anyone interested in doubling up work use with multimedia will be sure to grab the E90; for everyone else, the E61i will do many of the same messaging-centric jobs at half the price - work through the table above in order to get a feel for which camp you're in.
Closed, despite the thickness and weight differences, the E90 somehow feels smaller...
Steve Litchfield, 13 June 2007
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Categories: Comment, Hardware
Platforms: General, S60 3rd Edition
Feature Discussion
natanlevine
While on the subject on form factors. Isn't it correct to say that another huge advantage of the e90 is that it has all the advantages of qwerty as well as keypad smartphones.
What would really be interesting is if the Nseries would come out with a qwerty phone. This would seem to go against their multimedia focus but the e90 totally encroaches on all the Nseries territory.
Chrissybear
Indeed, the article many of us have been waiting for, but maybe the E61i is a little underrated?
As a long time Psion 3, 3mx, 5, 5mx, 7, and communciator user, I took the plunge about 6 weeks ago to the E61i and, after about a 3 week adjustment, I can't believe how good this phone is!
One adjusts to the keyboard size relatively quickly and it's easily good enough for mobile use. And Steve, you have gone on record in sayng the keyboard is hardly better on the E90.
The screen may be smaller, but it's plenty large enough for what most people will need on the road, even with my failing eyesight!
But the killer for me is the practicality - one handed operation is not just possible but absolutely pleasurable! And the thickness!! (or should that be thin-ness) - it is so comfortable to hold and to have in one's trouser/shirt pocket. And it's a lot lighter on the wallet too!
It's hard to say this, but the longer I look at the E90, and the more I hear of it, the more I'm appreciating my E61i, and thinking the days of "clamshelling" are at last over for me!
I'll use a laptop if I want real Office apps and take my E61i for doing everything else, thanks! Anyone want to buy a 4 month old 9300i? :)
krisse
The E61 is great, and it's really good value too as it launched for half the price of the E90. The one thing I'd want to improve on the E61 though is the resolution, the screen is physically so large I wish they'd gone for the full VGA rather than QVGA, and hopefully they'll do that on whatever model succeeds it (presumably they'll call it the E63?).
"What would really be interesting is if the Nseries would come out with a qwerty phone."
The problem is that the QWERTY phone market is mostly made up of business users at the moment, and Nokia's concentrated all its business phones in its Enterprise division, who do Eseries.
Most companies try to avoid different divisions making exactly the same kind of product as it duplicates lots of costs to very little advantage. It's like a hospital not wanting two doctors to treat the same patient at the same time.
If Nokia Multimedia (who do Nseries) wanted to do a QWERTY phone, they would have to find a different market for it, perhaps try to make it a leisure accessory of some kind. No one knows if there is such a market though.
"This would seem to go against their multimedia focus but the e90 totally encroaches on all the Nseries territory."
Many phone enthusiasts will no doubt buy an E90 instead of an Nseries model, but most mainstream customers still prefer smartphones that look like phones rather than computers. You and I might think the E90 is cool in terms of features, but the real sales come from phones that are smaller and have a normal keypad.
ratza
"WMA support in E90 means you can rip CDs with Media Player"
Media Player allows ripping CDs also in mp3 format, so there is no problem. I'm using as default CD ripper.
slitchfield
I meant using it for ripping to the much more space-efficient WMA format...
Steve (posted from E90)
Pythonian
The most important audio codec is flac (Free, Lossless, Audio Codec) flac.sourceforge.net). (For compressed audio, try Ogg Vorbis (vorbis.com)).
If users do not insist on using the best codecs, we will get all the D.R.M. hassles that companies want to stick up our headphone jacks.
krisse
"If users do not insist on using the best codecs, we will get all the D.R.M. hassles that companies want to stick up our headphone jacks."
I don't think 95% of users even know what the word codec means. :-)
Unregistered
My point being this, I have heard a lot of people talk about Clamshelling versus owning the E61i. I have the E61 and have never owned a communicator.
The question is this, can you really rate one hand use of old communicators against the E90, if you have never used a S60 based communicator. I thought the older ones were severely limited in functionality (while closed). Am I right or wrong?
Further more, the amount of one hand use I used to get out of my 6620 and other S60 phones is nothing like the E61. ITs almost like an apple to orange comparison with any of these phones.
I expect the S60 portion of the E90 to really give me the best of both worlds where the older communicators I am thinking would have failed poorly. I do a lot of SMS, MMS, in addition to IM chatting , etc etc. I almost always have a computer terminal handy for big jobs, but there are times when I am in an airport and want to check flights that it would be good to have that screen and keyboard.
Chrissybear
(quote) "can you really rate one hand use of old communicators against the E90, if you have never used a S60 based communicator"
Well, yes! The communicator is a form factor - s60 or s80 is the platform.
What has surprised me is the ease of use of the E61i coupled with its thin/wide form factor which is really easy to use one handed with that large screen.
The Communicator form factor (E90 or 9300/9500) will always give you a bigger screen and keyboard when open (2 handed) and a smaller screen and keypad when closed.
But for my money the E61i gets the balance between the two just right and at half the price! Maybe I should buy a pair!!!
nj7
Like Krisse said, if E63 or what be the name can have a VGA screen, it go be a great little QWERTY device.
Unregistered
Key feature not obvious from the comparison is that fantastic 128MB on RAM on the E90. At least I don't think the E61i has that much.
Zuber
Unregistered
You don't say anything about speed - surely part of the premium paid for the E90 (and N95 come to that) is the 300MHz CPU?
JoshMony
I have had the E61i for 2 months coming from a windows smartphone. Great phone, super batterylife, nice set of apps BUT for that size screen the resolution could have been improved and text for email is small and times tiring to read - no way to increase the text size. And predictive text is missing -this surely cuts down on typing speed. Was Nokia saving a few pennies here> or they just plain forgot. I am looking forward to trying the E90 primarily for the screen resolution, larger text, predictive text but will have to live with the bulk
iantaylor27
Hi Steve
Thanks for that, i have decided on the nokia E61i for now and will wait until around December/Jan to upgrade to E90 or another device that might catch my attention.
slitchfield
Oops, thanks all, I've now added a line about RAM and processor speed.
Steve
Bassey
Just a minor point on the WMA thing. As a result of it's increased efficiency in terms of storage space, it is horribly power-hungry. Playing a track encoded in WMA will use around 60% more power than playing the equivalant track encoded as an MP3 (assuming equal bit-rates etc. etc.).
Given that storage space is very cheap at the moment but battery technology is lagging behind, I would personally go with the most power-efficient over the most storage-efficient every time when it comes to mobile phones. Particularly on the E90 which is, shall we say, "challenged" in that area.
TNW
I think the comparison is rather meaningless. These are two different animals when comparing the hardware. The really sad thing is how everyone one is eulogising about this new Communicator when in reality it is a pumped smart phone and nothing more. Why on earth are Nokia abandoning the Series 80 software? The Communicator is a niche device addressing a particular need so how on earth can they load it up with smartphone software? It is nonsensical. You now have a Communicator that addresses many of the hardware shortcomings of the previous models but then abandons the very software that makes it so functional and attractive to the professional user. It cannot be beyond the skills of Nokia to enhance the Series 80 software so it accomodates recent developments but remains primarily a business solution. No year planner on a business phone?...Crazy! And what about all the brilliant 3rd party solutions that have been developed?
Think again Nokia. Lets have an enhanced Series 80 version or ,even better, a dedicated Series 80 Release 2 version only!.
SymFranco
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chrissybear
Indeed, the article many of us have been waiting for, but maybe the E61i is a little underrated?
As a long time Psion 3, 3mx, 5, 5mx, 7, and communciator user, I took the plunge about 6 weeks ago to the E61i and, after about a 3 week adjustment, I can't believe how good this phone is!
One adjusts to the keyboard size relatively quickly and it's easily good enough for mobile use. And Steve, you have gone on record in sayng the keyboard is hardly better on the E90.
The screen may be smaller, but it's plenty large enough for what most people will need on the road, even with my failing eyesight!
But the killer for me is the practicality - one handed operation is not just possible but absolutely pleasurable! And the thickness!! (or should that be thin-ness) - it is so comfortable to hold and to have in one's trouser/shirt pocket. And it's a lot lighter on the wallet too!
It's hard to say this, but the longer I look at the E90, and the more I hear of it, the more I'm appreciating my E61i, and thinking the days of "clamshelling" are at last over for me!
I'll use a laptop if I want real Office apps and take my E61i for doing everything else, thanks! Anyone want to buy a 4 month old 9300i? :)
|
Quite agree.
I just got myself a E61i last week and I am quite delighted.
In addition and for the ones who care, the Nokia plugin to iSync with Macs works beautifully.
SymFranco
Quote:
Originally Posted by TNW
I think the comparison is rather meaningless. These are two different animals when comparing the hardware. The really sad thing is how everyone one is eulogising about this new Communicator when in reality it is a pumped smart phone and nothing more. Why on earth are Nokia abandoning the Series 80 software? The Communicator is a niche device addressing a particular need so how on earth can they load it up with smartphone software? It is nonsensical. You now have a Communicator that addresses many of the hardware shortcomings of the previous models but then abandons the very software that makes it so functional and attractive to the professional user. It cannot be beyond the skills of Nokia to enhance the Series 80 software so it accomodates recent developments but remains primarily a business solution. No year planner on a business phone?...Crazy! And what about all the brilliant 3rd party solutions that have been developed?
Think again Nokia. Lets have an enhanced Series 80 version or ,even better, a dedicated Series 80 Release 2 version only!.
|
Could not agree more!
The E90 raises too much the expectations of old/ex-Psion users and of Nokia Series 80 fans, only to sorely disappoint on the OS + appl side.
Despite its glittering hardware - no complain on that, on the contrary! - series 60 on this form factor is a major let-down.
This is not to say that Series 60 is inherently dumb. I find it actually pretty amazing, for a quick, one-hand device: I do fully enjoy my brand new, and incredibly cheap for what it offers, E61i.
Nokia: good job on the E61i, but please give us a new series 80 device as well!
Unregistered
I really think the important issue here is the free memory (80mb according to Steve) and the 330 mhz processor. I have E61, E60 and E70 with slower processors and am temporarily using N95, basically due to speed. It's nearly as fast as Series 40 phones, whilst the oldr Eseries phones' speed frustrates power users. Am really looking forward to E90's processor and more free memory.
greenteeth
Steve,
In your latest smartphones show your tests reveal that the E90's web browser is slower than fp0 S60's. When you conducted your tests, which connection were you using? 3g, wifi, edge?!? I notice in your side by side comparison of the E61i and E90, the E61i is using a 3g connection while the E90 is using wifi. I'm curious to know if the E90 loads pages faster on wifi than the E61i on 3g?
Regards
FLGFLG
Very interesing comments and most like spot on!
I have an E70, E61, E65 and E61i but frequently go back to use my 9300i or 9500. I have the found the 9300i and 9500 to out perform the E series for messaging when using either Microsoft Exchange RoadSync and/or BlackBerry for serious non-labtop email usage while traveling.
Also, the 9300i and 9500 both support full FAXING and full CITRIX host access. It is amazing how both the 9300i and 9500 perform with CITRIX.
Thanks for your excellent information and post. FLG>>>
slitchfield
All my web speed tests were over Wi-Fi. Note the comment in the show though, that the E90 still had debug code in its ROM and that the final production firmware should be faster.
Steve
Unregistered
I've the E90. Crazy phone. Does everything.
As with regard to the WMA feature... it means it support PlayForSure, just like the N95 does, so you can download all your favorites from the likes of Napster, Rhapsody, etc in subscription form and enjoy.
Novice-2z
what is the trade off here? is there a problem with nokia communicator no longer being a s80 device? I have been using the 9300i quite happly and have assumed that moving to s60 will improve the features etc. At the very least I have been hoping that we do not loose anything much. Could you comment on this because I am seriosly thinking of buying one in the UK? Thanks
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