I regret upgrading my Nokia N95 to a Samsung I8510/INNOV8

[King Mustard]

I had a Nokia N95 from October 2007 to October 2008 (12-month contract). I was due an upgrade and was keen on the Nokia N96 and Samsung I8510. I thought about the Apple iPhone 3G, but felt it was too expensive for what I would get for the money.

However, the Samsung I8510 is pretty much a Nokia N95 with a higher megapixel camera, better camera features, a more powerful LED and other small improvements. On it's own, it's fantastic but as an upgrade from a Nokia N95, it's hardly any different.

I currently pay £35 a month on an 18-month contract for: 600 minutes, unlim. texts, unlim. Web and a additional 8 GB memory card (= total of 16 GB memory).

For the same price and contract length, I could get an iPhone 3G with 600 minutes, 500 texts and unlim. Web. The 16 GB version would be an additional £159 on top of the contract.

I understand I wouldn't get as many texts, would have to pay a decent amount for the model with the same memory and the camera would be poorer, but I have a dedicated digital camera that I take everywhere with me and 8 GB is more than enough.

In conclusion, the Samsung I8510 is an excellent phone but it's hardly any different from my Nokia N95, and I have this sod for another 18 months. I'll try and get a company to buy out my contract after 12 months and upgrade to the new iPhone.

[stuclark]

The 8510 and the iPhone are SO different that it's unfair to try to compare them.

In essence, the 8510 is everything the iPhone would love to be, barring the touchscreen and interface.

To my mind (and to most people here) the 8510 is enough of an upgrade to the N95 to make it worthwhile. The camera, battery, S60 v3fp2 and built-in memory make it a worthwhile update. (the update from N95 to N96 offers much LESS)

If you're fed up with the 8510 already; the iPhone would last you about a week before you wanted to get rid of it!

[King Mustard]

Originally Posted by stuclark

The 8510 and the iPhone are SO different that it's unfair to try to compare them.

In essence, the 8510 is everything the iPhone would love to be, barring the touchscreen and interface.

To my mind (and to most people here) the 8510 is enough of an upgrade to the N95 to make it worthwhile. The camera, battery, S60 v3fp2 and built-in memory make it a worthwhile update. (the update from N95 to N96 offers much LESS)

If you're fed up with the 8510 already; the iPhone would last you about a week before you wanted to get rid of it!

I disagree. The larger screen is much better for Web browsing, and the applications are fantastic. The camera isn't much better than that of the N95, the battery is a little better, FP2 hardly offers anything new and you can get an iPhone in 8/16 GB variants too.

[miremare]

I had an n95 for a year and then a n95 8gb for a year.

I looked really hard at an n96, the tv tuner and camera with no lens cover made me look elsewhere.

ive had my i8510 for a month now.

things i like:-

camera, lots of cool features.
camera lens cover
panoman built in, face detection, blink detection.
camera image editor is really good, try to change a picture to oil painting.
sd card slot

things i dont like.:-

lack of software ( at the moment)
no dual slider
no WIDGETS
no nokia maps
no flash lite v 3.0
no firmware upgrades
no cross hairs on camera.

its like an n95 but its not at the same time.

i think only time will tell.

[riverboat]

Originally Posted by miremare

I had an n95 for a year and then a n95 8gb for a year.

I looked really hard at an n96, the tv tuner and camera with no lens cover made me look elsewhere.

ive had my i8510 for a month now.

things i like:-

camera, lots of cool features.
camera lens cover
panoman built in, face detection, blink detection.
camera image editor is really good, try to change a picture to oil painting.
sd card slot

things i dont like.:-

lack of software ( at the moment)
no dual slider
no WIDGETS
no nokia maps
no flash lite v 3.0
no firmware upgrades
no cross hairs on camera.

its like an n95 but its not at the same time.

i think only time will tell.

Forgive my ignorance
"flash lite v 3.0"

I know this has some relevance for you tube, but not quite sure what

[KevinM2k]

You cant watch youtube without Flash lite v3, its the only one that supports .flv files. I am looking for a replacement for my N95, ive just gone on o2's simplicity tarriff while i wait for the nokia touch! I can't think of another phone better than the n95 at the minute.

[Chivas]

I can watch youtube and standalone flv files, when I play them a Flash Player appears, so, there is Flash support. I feel sorry for people that doesn´t know how to use the phone and keep saying regretful and/or bad things about it... as it was its fault... go Tattoo "N95" in your forehead, and be happy. My bad...

[Jules_N93]

You can really watch youtube from your web browser?? I really can't.

However, when I play a standalone file, it's played by Adobe Flash Lite 3.0 player!

[Chivas]

Yes I can, the thing I´ve been reading is that people want to stream movies with poor connections... it makes no sense that someone can watch it with wi-fi and the flash is not supported when in 3G... you need a fast packet data transmission, as you would at your PC.

[Jules_N93]

Chivas, could you tell me your firmware version please?

I really can't stream anything from youtube within the webbrowser (I can using vTap), at least not over wifi.

[Chivas]

Sure. It´s HI1, chinese/malayn/english languages. I just tested and it streamed beautifully. Youtube is kind of moody even in the PC..., but make two tests, try to play a .flv file and see if a "Flash Player" opens it, the other thing is changing the door in your packet data configuration, u can try 8080 or 9210, or maybe ask your carrier what other door options u have.

[Jules_N93]

I have HH9, maybe they fixed streaming in H11. The player is present, but when streaming over wifi or 3G the video never plays. It just hangs at the loading screen.

Not that it's of much use to watch youtube via the website, but still.

[stefan063]

Originally Posted by miremare

I had an n95 for a year and then a n95 8gb for a year.

I looked really hard at an n96, the tv tuner and camera with no lens cover made me look elsewhere.

ive had my i8510 for a month now.

things i like:-

camera, lots of cool features.
camera lens cover
panoman built in, face detection, blink detection.
camera image editor is really good, try to change a picture to oil painting.
sd card slot

things i dont like.:-

lack of software ( at the moment)
no dual slider
no WIDGETS
no nokia maps
no flash lite v 3.0
no firmware upgrades
no cross hairs on camera.

its like an n95 but its not at the same time.

i think only time will tell.

Nokia Maps?????? For what?????? Samsung!? Don't be funny!!! Samsung has Route 66 V8 which is 100x better than Nokia MAPS,also I have Garmin Mobile XT 5.1 that now supports i8510,and have fully tested on i8510...It works better than on Nokia N95 8GB,I also had N95 for 10months,then N95 8GB for 13months,now this i8510...Best Phone Ever!!! With or without those NO you written,that are "problems" as I might say...and not!!!

[mowe]

Originally Posted by stuclark

The 8510 and the iPhone are SO different that it's unfair to try to compare them.

It seems perfectly fair to me to compare two smart phones with GPS, WiFi, full HTML browsing, 3.5 mm headphone jacks, 8+ GB hard drives, an OS with a large app library, etc etc...

The Innov8 does a lot but it doesn't do a lot well. The iPhone doesn't do quite as much, but everything it does, it does extremely well. I am NOT a fan of Apple products by any means but the growing number of nuances that coincide with the Innov8 are making the iPhone much more attractive.

Samsung has a potentially great product on their hands but their lack of support (firmware upgrades) is killing it. Not that it doesn't have some great features but truly the camera is the only thing keeping me from selling it.

[srw985]

Originally Posted by mowe

It seems perfectly fair to me to compare two smart phones with GPS, WiFi, full HTML browsing, 3.5 mm headphone jacks, 8+ GB hard drives, an OS with a large app library, etc etc...

The Innov8 does a lot but it doesn't do a lot well. The iPhone doesn't do quite as much, but everything it does, it does extremely well. I am NOT a fan of Apple products by any means but the growing number of nuances that coincide with the Innov8 are making the iPhone much more attractive.

Samsung has a potentially great product on their hands but their lack of support (firmware upgrades) is killing it. Not that it doesn't have some great features but truly the camera is the only thing keeping me from selling it.

Sums it up well. The only thing the iPhone does but poorly is its camera. Im considering selling my i8510 and going for the iPhone.