Celebrating the Dozen Best Built Symbian-powered smartphones - ever

Published by Steve Litchfield at 19:43 GMT, November 21st 2009

Following on from the E52 thread, and in a clarion call for higher build quality among Symbian OS-powered smartphones, I've pooled my own and other people's comments, to produce a Top Dozen Best Built devices. With the current E52, E55 and N97 perhaps near the top of a 'Worst built' list, I think it's fair to say that terrific build quality is something to be cherished in models of all vintages. Read on.

Now, to clarify, I'm not necessarily ranking devices by good design, although quite often good design and good build quality are linked at the hip. Some of the phones listed below aren't beautiful (though, again, some are) - but all of them are built like tanks and pretty much guaranteed to survive numerous drops, scrapes and even drenchings, without missing a beat.

So, with a hefty dose of first hand experience, a dollop of anecdotal evidence and a tinge of humour, here are the Dozen Best Built Symbian OS-powered smartphones EVER. And, yes, I did do something similar a year ago - guess this chart is becoming an annual event!

[Honorary mention to the Nokia 7650, which is just about built to mil-spec. It would have been no. 1 but it was disqualified by me by being so early and so primitive that it couldn't really do anything!]

1. Nokia E51. My wife has one of these. It's sleek, it's metal-backed and it's indestructible. We've tried. It has been submersed in water at least twice now. It has been dropped, stepped on, abused in the bottom of more shopping bags that you've had hot dinners, and it just refuses to die. Apart from the smallish screen it's in many ways the perfect smartphone.

2. Nokia E61. This is what you get if you basically build a candy bar phone out of aluminium. The E61 is incredibly robust and my early example has survived being played with by 4 years of my daughter's friends. And has come out still looking like new (after a dust down with some detergent!) and working perfectly. Amazing. And the battery goes on for a week.

3. Nokia E61i. Essentially the E61 but thinner and with a camera, the E61i is almost as robust and mine was sold as-new after a year of use. Still a great find on eBay if you're looking for something that will just keep on going.

4. Nokia N73. No metal here, this early Nseries camera-centric candybar was all plastic - but the number of people who've abused it and seen it shrug everything off is impressive. A worthy inclusion here.

5. Nokia N82. Again Nseries, again candybar and again all plastic. And, famously, the subject of one of my own real world robustness tests - what a trouper. Again, will go and go and go....

6. Samsung G810. One of the forgotten S60 devices, this is chunky but built like a Terminator. It's what the Nokia N95 would have looked like if it had been designed by 1960s USSR in their fight against the capitalist Americans. It's a mean camera phone too, with 5mp camera with Xenon flash and optical zoom. I'm proud of mine and no, I'm not going to sell it to you on eBay!

7. Samsung i8910 HD. Ah yes, the current smartphone of choice for the real Symbian zealot. But there's no denying the solid hardware. And the one piece design is beautiful too, in a way - and not just when you turn that big OLED screen on!

8. Nokia E71. The slimmed down, smaller-screened version of the E61, and with GPS on board this time. And build quality's almost up to the same standard, every second hand E71 I see looks almost as good as it did new out of the box. The one piece design makes this another great bet for buying second-hand.

9-. Nokia N86. A device rather out of its time, this is the dual-slider par excellence that doesn't really fit in the 2009 smartphone world. Yet there's no denying that it's both beautiful and solid, with a metal chassis and sliding mechanism - and the tempered glass front and discrete buttons make it a joy to hold.

10. Nokia N97 mini. The metal backed redesign of the infamous N97. Of course, it's still a bit early to decree that it's a robust champion, but let's just say it's looking good so far!

11. Sony Ericsson P900. The original P800 was an outstanding physical design, I reckon - but was let down by everything being so plasticky. The P900 was a step backwards in terms of design elegance, but was three steps forward in terms of materials used, style and build quality, and so the P900 gets the nod here.

12. Nokia E90. A device set apart in terms of form factor, the use of lashings of metal and industrial strength hinges make the E90 also a long-live competitor.

With only a handful of current devices in the top 12, it's tempting to bemoan the lack of industrial design flair in 2009. Are more fashionable materials winning out over long-term-better-choices? But, as the N86, N97 mini and i8910 HD prove, it is possible to produce something both stylish and well-built, so the current generation of designers aren't totally without flair.

Steve Litchfield, All About Symbian, 22 Nov 2009

Categories: Hardware, Miscellaneous, Editorial Thoughts
Platforms: S60 3rd Edition, S60 5th Edition

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unregistered Why is the E90 there. Didn't it have problems with the keyboard touching the screen?

Early models did (including mine), but to me it's hardly a problem. I just clean the screen every now and again with the same wipes I use to clean my glasses, and it's as good as new. This design flaw aside, the "build quality" is superb, very robust; my phone is 2 years old, but you certainly couldn't tell that by looking at it.

@ moonshot

Quote:

If you are paying £400/£500 for a mobile device then you are mad as well as being ripped off. No device is worth that money, most of the cost is pure profit to the seller. You can buy a laptop, a blue ray recorder/player DVD or a 32" HD ready flat screen TV or the latest games consol for less.

As I want a mobile phone which can do what I want, when I want, it is worth the money to me, rather than the alternatives you suggest. And I don't consider myself mad...

Quote:

Originally Posted by buster As I want a mobile phone which can do what I want, when I want, it is worth the money to me, rather than the alternatives you suggest. And I don't consider myself mad...

You have missed the point.................. you should be able to get the phone that can do what you want, when you want without it costing what it does cost. But while you are willing to pay inflated prices for what is after all only a phone with a cut down pc, games machine, iplayer and camera built in, then Nokia and others will be happy to take your money.

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