Topic Review (Newest First)
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| 05-07-2009 08:28 PM |
| v1rtu4l |
i agree to the core opinion here, that new devices are not "new" enough in terms of functionality to give your brain a hard time to decide whether or not to buy a new phone.
i am pretty new to the symbian stuff but it had a great influence on me since my first symbian phone that now is 6 month old. end of last year i decided to put my good old SE K800i to rest to buy something new. the advertisements totally got me and i wanted to get the next best cam phone (back in the days the SE K800i was the best cam phone, so i was just reestablishing my phone status). i bought the SE C905 because of it's nice 8 MPixel cam and the xenon flash. i compared it to the sony compact digicam (6mp) and my phone was superior in some lightning enviroments. the excitement of having a new phone and playing with it day in day out probably lasted 2 or 3 days. what can you do with a phone with proprietary operating system ... but back then i did not know symbian.
fate wanted the c905 to fade away after just 3 month of usage so i decided to bring it back to the shop i bought it and get another phone. a bit smarter now i did search the internet about errors and production fault reports in the net. i found my new target, the samsung i8510 innov8. same camera but no flash but it was getting got reviews so i gave it a shot.
without actually knowing that it has symbian i got to know and love the vast possibilities you got with S60v3 and i really like this phone.
there was a huge difference regarding the period of time i did feel like having a new toy. with the sony-ericsson c905 i had that feeling for a few days, but with this really great symbian device the initial euphoria lasted at least 3 weeks and is still not totally gone, because you have so many things to tweak and customize.
no to come to the point (yeah, i do have difficulties to get to the point, often totally forgetting to write it) the new handsets with symbian S60v5 are just not even on the level the s60v3 is. not only because s60v3 is more stable (has to be after all those years), but also in terms of applications i would fall back from an open market of more than a thousand applications to choose from (for s60v3) to a market of perhaps 10 useful applications for the s60v5 plattform.
these are disadvantages that are only logical for a new plattform, but when it is not the plattform that will make me change my innov8 for a newer device, than it has to be the hardware specifications. sadly nokia go on a very conservative way so the n97 would be more of step back than an upgrade for me.
i now focussed on the samsung i8910 hd and since they got the audio sorted (changed to aac with higher bitrate) while recording in 1280x720 resolution i think i might give it a shot. the only thing that really is holding me back right now is the price tag (500€ for better video recording ?????) and the lack of applications for s60v5.
if these things do improve over the next few month i will change my phone after just half a year or so, if not, i will still be happy with this great symbian phone called innov8
don't see me as a samsung fanboy, because i am not. i was a sony-ericsson fanboy and just converted to someone who does not like one manufacturer better then another.
back then i even had the coolest phone on earth (for my thinking) with the nokia 7110 witht he cool track"ball" thingie to scroll in sms messages.
the operating system just has to be fluid and not hinder the user... new colours are always nice and gimmicks are nice to see once or twice but just like windows vista, s60v5 is not mature enough to challenge people to buy a new phone, when the hardware is not a huge improvement over the still owned mobile phone.
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| 02-07-2009 01:58 PM |
| yade |
I have gone through a few handsets in recent months while last year I also experimented.
Last year I was looking for an upgrade from my N82 (after previously having an N93, N95, N95 8GB, I sampled WM with the Touch Diamond and the Omnia i900 and it didn't take me long to realise just how poor WM is an OS. I also played with Samsungs G810 (a phone that had the potential to be better than the N95) and the Innov8 both of which were although with great hardware were a huge letdown. In the end I got a 5800 at the end of the year and held that side by side with the N82.
This year with my primary phone being the 5800 but the N82 still IMO the best non touch smartphone out there I tried out a few more. So far I have had an N86, i8910, N97 and none of them yet can convince me that they are worth me signing up to another 18 months. Although the N86 has made huge huge strides for me it is an upgrade to the N95 not the N82, I think the N82 aside from the MPIX difference isn't far behind the N86 and I couldn't justify paying an extra £10 a months on my tarrif to have it. The N97 for me aside from being physically appealing and mechanically very sound is a letdown on the camera front and for that to be free I would have to pay an extra £15 a months on my contract, I will stick with the 5800 thanks very much. The i8910 was unique, at the same price as the N97 I got it and loved A LOT of things about it, the screen is sublime, the camera while not as good as the Innov8 is pretty good, the video record resolution is its selling point but the audio lets that down (fix will be around in coming months), all in all this is the closest I got but for an active person who uses my phone for sports and fitness having this huge phone in my pocket was not good for me. For everyday use the 5800 is perfect even for a phone geek like me and the N82 gives me all I need as a backup or when I go out at night.
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| 02-07-2009 12:02 PM |
| Unregistered |
I'm posting this on every Symbian-related website I know (thanks, Nokia Discussions for erasing my post!!):
it seems that if you unbrand your N97 with the lastest Nemesis and then you upgrade it, it will hang!
No problem with other unbranding softwares...
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| 02-07-2009 11:55 AM |
| alistairmack |
N95 8gb
I upgraded my phone to a Nokia N95 8GB Comes With Music in March this year. I did A LOT of research and as others have said about the previous N95, this phone does everything I want. I was even prepared to pay £400 for it halfway through a contract. I can see it lasting me five years minimum. This is the first phone I have ever wanted to keep long term. All upgrade phones are going to be sold on from now on. Even the new iPhone doesn't have as good a camera/video camera and cannot do any kind of file handling or document editing. I can also use my Nokia on my existing Orange contract. And I can download 60 million plus tracks to listen to on it. Just the job.
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| 02-07-2009 07:36 AM |
| Unregistered |
Totally agree
I spend hours researching the latest phones and have been excited at the prospect of getting my upgrade at the end of my contract. However on finally getting my hands on a N97 in store I was very disappointed by the flimsy feel, confusing touch interface, blank screens and freezes.
This made me think what does it do better than my existing device an E90 - well nothing really apart from GPS that works without having to wait an age and actually holds it's fix. I also currently run a wonderful HTC Tytn 2 which like the E90 does everything well (including GPS) and compared to its repacement device the HTC Touch Pro 2 again seems to not be significantly outclassed in any area.
So what do I do? Well I'll save a bit of money on my contract downgrade for a start and then keep up to date with the latest firmware and software. I'll continue to enjoy researching the latest devices and looking at alternative platform developments eg Palm, Android and iPhone and looking forward to Windows Mobile 7 (I'm very patient) plus a less half hearted attempt at a touch screen, qwerty keyboarded Symbian device than the N97..
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| 02-07-2009 06:48 AM |
| ashu |
It's pretty sad. Look at HTC Hero. You "feel" like buying that phone. none of the newer nokias have that sex appeal and mind you, HTC hero is not some dumb ass.
Give me something new. I am looking forward to new E72. That is a good jump atleast for me, an n series user, having 5MP on board with 3.5mm jack. Hope Ovi store is a little matured by then.
Nokia needs to understand that the way forward is not hardware goodies but software excellence
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| 02-07-2009 12:48 AM |
| n0k1a |
Very interesting article and discussion. I quite agree that the releases of 'must have' devices have been slowing markedly...and I am a serious gadget freak.
I made the largest jump 3 years ago, going from a 6800 to an E61 (the first Symbian device I was able to get my hands on here in the telecom-deprived USA). For 2.5 years, that was the ultimate device for me. The E90 (and various other models) looked nice in some ways, but none ever had enough going for them for me to make a transition until the beginning of this year.
The obvious successor as my primary device was the E71, as it offered a number of seriously upgraded features. Probably most notable are the internal GPS, SDHC, larger flash and RAM, A2DP, and a reasonable camera (useful now that I am no longer working where cameras were prohibited).
The N95 would have offered some of these features earlier, but QWERTY was an absolute must, and the battery life and build quality are not on the same level. The E71 retained nearly all of the good points of the E61, while providing additional real benefits.
However, half a year with the E71 later, there is nothing else which comes close to being a serious successor in my eyes. Supposedly more advanced (and in some cases much more expensive) devices, reviews of which show them to have such issues as inferior battery life and slower QWERTY typing speed, hardly justify an 'upgrade'.
The additional features which I would most like now are TV out, FM transmitter, maybe a higher resolution screen, maybe internal stereo speakers, maybe accelerometers and compass...but none of these are worth switching to any of the available options at this point. The E71 is the best single-device solution for me.
For the poster wanting a waterproof phone, I am totally with you there! The phone with the best specs as far as waterproofing and ruggedness I've found is the Sonim XP3. Too bad it isn't even quad band, let alone a smartphone. It sounds impressive, but just like the smartphones being discussed in this thread, it doesn't offer enough to make me want to part with that much money.
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| 01-07-2009 10:15 PM |
| Unregistered |
@Jhonny
"I've been tempted by the iphone a few times, but then I remember that Apple are using older technology in their phones"
Call me when Nokia has something even close to the Iphone GS with his Cortex A8 processor and PowerVR graphics.
You re free to not like the Iphone but saying it is old tech is ridiculous and misleading.
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| 01-07-2009 09:06 PM |
| Unregistered |
i agree
Ewan, i couldn't agree more about the whole, "nothing new" opinion. i wrote a post a few weeks back http://nokiapp.com/2698 which many people disagreed with and reflecting upon it i may have been a bit narrow minded (talking as though everyone needs a N-series device) but im glad to see that on the part of "nothing new" coming to these devices i completely agree. hence why i havent been to bothered about buying an N97.
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| 01-07-2009 06:03 PM |
| Unregistered |
What did the Romans do for us ? :)
What the iphone brought is a phone that even the very poorly served unsophisticated US market could use. I have an n85 myself which I side graded from the n95 8gb because of size and later software. I used to be a bit of a gadget freak until I realised that I was hacking my Win Mo to make it easier to make phone calls. Once I understood that I went back to Nokia. But I get what the iphone did and so do the others.
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| 01-07-2009 04:50 PM |
| JohnnyN |
If my replacement N86 comes back with any faults I think I'll be settling with my N95 classic for another year  It really is a remarkable device that was ahead of it's time. I've been tempted by the iphone a few times, but then I remember that Apple are using older technology in their phones which, apart from the excellent touchscreen interface, doesn't really bring anything new to the smartphone market.
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| 01-07-2009 04:07 PM |
| Unregistered |
Quote:
Originally Posted by JCB_Digger
My wishlist is now for longer battery life in a device that doesn't resemble (or have the weight of) a brick - I love my current phone, but less than 12 hours battery life is ridiculous, CPU speed (the faster the app gets run, the quicker the machine can go back to sleep), oh, and I'd really love a waterproof phone. I've seen videos of Iphones with exotic coatings working in fish-tanks, why can't Nokia/HTC/Apple do it as standard?
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Unfortunately the cpacitive touchscreens on iPhones are vulnerable to shock, and a colleague of mine had his break in his pocket, just from his bending action at the hip.
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| 01-07-2009 03:57 PM |
| JCB_Digger |
Fully agree, I had an N95 which I swapped for a TMobile G1 (I really missed the full keyboard of a "Communicator" and couldn't wait for the N97, seeing how the keyboard's worked out for that I'm actually glad I didn't wait).
Everything we ever wanted in a smartphone is here, we're now just waiting for Moore's Law to improve things (twice the storage, twice the speed, half the price etc.etc.).
My wishlist is now for longer battery life in a device that doesn't resemble (or have the weight of) a brick - I love my current phone, but less than 12 hours battery life is ridiculous, CPU speed (the faster the app gets run, the quicker the machine can go back to sleep), oh, and I'd really love a waterproof phone. I've seen videos of Iphones with exotic coatings working in fish-tanks, why can't Nokia/HTC/Apple do it as standard?
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| 01-07-2009 03:03 PM |
| clonmult |
Quote:
Originally Posted by tawalker
I'm relieved to find that it's not just me who is quite happy with a not-entirely-new smartphone (in my case, the N95 'classic'). It's not some kind of 'Luddite' reaction - IMO, none of the subsequent handsets have been a significant improvement on the N95, or at least significant enough to coerce me to upgrade.
It's partly because the N95 does pretty well everything I could want in a smartphone (photos/videos, video editing, mobile blogging, GPS, e-mail, etc. etc.), but also because I've had it over two years and probably paid for the phone by now, I've been able to downgrade my mobile contract to just what I need and no more, with a significant cost saving.
At this rate, I think I'll stick with my N95 until either it falls terminally to bits (!), or someone comes up with a handset which does everything the N95 can do (but better), and adds some really awesome features to boot. Maybe the rumoured N900 will do it, or perhaps 2010 will bring the 'new N95' of its time?
Until then, I'm sticking with my old (refurbished) N95 :-)
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I'm in exactly the same position. The N95 does almost everything I could practically want - calling/texting are as good as it gets, battery life is reasonable, takes reasonable still images, video recording is quite good, it can take up to 16gb of storage, geotagging, reasonable browser, good GPS functionality.
The only phone that seems to offer anything above the N95 is the N82, and that only adds the Xenon flash.
For me (and I suspect in reality a lot of other people), the N97 and N86 don't actually bring anything useful with them. Nicer screens, a little more storage, but the core functionality that probably the majority of people use - barely any change at all.
The N95 was possibly the biggest mistake Nokia have made in years - its successors just haven't moved the game along.
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| 01-07-2009 02:37 PM |
| vnangia |
A few days ago, I got to fixing my Nokia N80, which had suffered the infamous white screen of death that they are so well known for, and got to wondering what innovation had come out of Espoo in the last two years. My answer, unhappily, was basically: faster startup/shutdown times.
Compared to the N80's 90-120 second boot time and 30-40 second shutdown time, the 5800XM's 30 second startup and 15 second shutdown are near miraculous. But, to put it in perspective: my poky netbook with a spinning platter can start Ubuntu (including waiting for me to choose the OS and type my password) faster than the 5800XM can startup and it shuts down quicker still. If I exclude the time it takes me to type my password, my desktop Mac with a spinning platter drive boots to the desktop faster than the 5800XM starts up.
Other than that, there is virtually no difference between the capabilities of my 3 year old N80 and a modern 5800XM. Sure, there's the touchscreen (with badly optimized software) and the ability to run a richer set of applications because of the added memory, but this is essentially a function of Nokia profit taking a meager $4 per unit extra instead of putting more RAM into their phones. And Nokia's refusal to support their existing phones means that all that investment Nokia is putting into buying QT and releasing Widsets and all that new Web 2.0 stuff is worthless, because the huge installed base that does not have this built into the software cannot take advantage of Nokia's latest and greatest software.
Used to be that when I wanted to buy something innovative and new, I'd go buy Nokia. Today, if I want to go buy something innovative and new, I deliberately exclude Nokia. That's why I still like my old phone and don't want to upgrade. There's nothing compelling that makes me want to upgrade. Sad.
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