All About Symbian - Symbian, Nokia and S60 unwrapped.
Pitching my smartphone recommendations
Published by Steve Litchfield at 8:40 UTC, December 28th 2009
No, not a blatant Phones Show plug (though Phones Show Chat 18 is out), but a serious attempt to provoke thought and discussion. Ahead of a video feature on smartphone recommendations, I've opened up my thought processes to you below, in some detail, breaking down the market into a whopping seven stereotypes(!) Maybe you'd like to chip in with comments, recommendations and disqualifications of your own?
A perennial question being fired at me (and Rafe, I suspect) is "Which smartphone should I buy?" And, of course, the answer depends hugely on exactly what the phone is needed for. We're all different and, short of recommending my own favourite device du jour, some kind of clarification is needed.
In a previous Phones Show (no. 67), around 14 months ago, I broke users down into three categories, recommending a device for each category - the idea seemed to go down well, though here at the end of 2009 it seems that quite a bit more granularity is needed. Thus, I've expanded my idea to include no less than seven categories - for seven user stereotypes, if you will.
And, yes, every real world user is going to be a mix of the various categories, but at least it'll give buyers a place to start. And, this being All About Symbian, I wonder how Symbian's licensees/members will be represented? I have ideas on which devices I plan to choose as 'winner' in each category, but I'm willing to be influenced by your comments below.
So, without further ado... and note that the nominations in each category are in (as they say on the best TV shows) no particular order:
Media Creator (e.g. photos, videos, audio recording)
- Apple iPhone 3GS
- Nokia N86
- Sony Ericsson Satio
- Nokia N82
Communications junkie (e.g. email, Twitter, IM, Facebook)
- Nokia E72
- Nokia E75
- Nokia N97 mini
- HTC Touch Pro 2
- T-Mobile G1
- Nokia N97
- Apple iPhone 3GS
- Blackberry Bold (added after comments below!)
Hardcore mobile gamer
- Apple iPhone 3GS
Media consumer (e.g. podcasts, music, video, iPlayer with downloads, YouTube)
- Nokia N96
- Apple iPhone 3G upwards
- HTC HD2
- Nokia 5800
- Samsung i8910 HD
- Nokia N97 mini
Work addict (e.g. working with Office docs, PDF storage and viewing, push email, making conference calls)
- HTC Touch Pro 2
- Nokia E90
- Nokia N97 classic (with Quickoffice Premier)
Tech enthusiast/hacker/fiddler (you know who you are!)
- HTC Hero
- Motorola Milestone/Droid
- Samsung i8910 HD
- Apple iPhone 3GS (jailbroken)
- Nokia N900
Web-a-holic (working on full Web, netbook-style - the Web browser is your computer, think Google Docs, GMail etc.)
- HTC HD2
- Nokia N900
Over to you, then. Which smartphones shouldn't be there at all? Which one should win each category and get The Phones Show recommendation?
Steve Litchfield, AAS and The Phones Show, 28th Dec 2009
(See also my updated Grid, now including the Nokia N97 mini, HTC HD2, Nokia E72 and Nokia N900, which should also help you choose. "Enough of the plugs!!!" - Rafe)
News Discussion
Unregistered
Wow gr8 work steve..
Also iphone 3GS stands out to be a winner in all dept.. Thats amazing!
Also iphone 3GS stands out to be a winner in all dept.. Thats amazing!
wiltjer
I have an Iphone 3GS and had many Nokia's before (E90, N95 8GB, N82, E85, all communicators).
But the media creation is not that great (only 3MP Camera, no flash). How can you put this on top of the the media creation devices.
I'm currently looking into buying an Samsung i8910. With the new firmware and availability of custom firmwares this looks very promising..
Steve, what's your idea here?
But the media creation is not that great (only 3MP Camera, no flash). How can you put this on top of the the media creation devices.
I'm currently looking into buying an Samsung i8910. With the new firmware and availability of custom firmwares this looks very promising..
Steve, what's your idea here?
Unregistered
The Nokia N79 Active, if you manage to find one :-)
slitchfield
@wiltjer: Can't believe I'm being the iPhone advocate here(!), but the 3GS's cam and (especially) video is actually very good. I've got video samples from James Burland from the 3GS which rival the Nokia N86. And its mike is also excellent.
Unregistered
Ah, um, slitch, that is only when it's in 100% optimal conditions. I have free access to the 3GS (or rather, I bully my friends into lending me use their phones quite often) and I NEVER ever bother using the camera for still or video when it's a sunny day and I'm outdoors. Otherwise the captured image becomes very noisy, to the extent that I will just delete the file on the spot.
A sort of proof (but the files aren't with me, however) : My friend and I took a picture from the same spot (well, side by side, actually) and I used my old 5700XM, and him his 3GS (we were taking pictures for a project, then I thought about comparison WHILE doing the project, hence this 'showdown'.) It was indoors and the lighting was average, and oddly, even though the 3GS has more detail due to the 3.2MP camera, the amount of noise was worse. :S
A sort of proof (but the files aren't with me, however) : My friend and I took a picture from the same spot (well, side by side, actually) and I used my old 5700XM, and him his 3GS (we were taking pictures for a project, then I thought about comparison WHILE doing the project, hence this 'showdown'.) It was indoors and the lighting was average, and oddly, even though the 3GS has more detail due to the 3.2MP camera, the amount of noise was worse. :S
xXxJackxXx
Very good job! EVERY SINGLE TIME I use your grid I either get my current smartphone or the one I want(if I'm in the market for one).
Sometimes I wonder why the operators don't have something like this in their shops.
As for the web-a-holic section.... I didn't know the HD2 had support for flash(I would immediately disqualify any device from this category if it didn't support flash)
Cheers and happy holidays from Romania!
Sometimes I wonder why the operators don't have something like this in their shops.
As for the web-a-holic section.... I didn't know the HD2 had support for flash(I would immediately disqualify any device from this category if it didn't support flash)
Cheers and happy holidays from Romania!
wiltjer
hi Steve:
Just tried your Grid... result: winner Samsung i8910 HD, runner up: Nokia N97 mini
Again your grid gives me an almost perfect answer
Thanks for being the smartphone hero
Just tried your Grid... result: winner Samsung i8910 HD, runner up: Nokia N97 mini
Again your grid gives me an almost perfect answer
Thanks for being the smartphone hero
JGlazener
I am afraid, very afraid that the category road warrior is headed for demise. Sadly, since I have lived, breathed and slept with these things since my first Series 3A. The E90 has stopped without a successor, the HTC doesn't have a real OS, the N97 hardly qualifies. I am dreading the day my E90 will die on me.
I just cannot imagine there is no market for a properly keyboarded, large screened communicator anymore. People happily tote a whole laptop all over the world, but would not want to be seen with a slightly larger phone? If someone shovelled a decent phone and some netbook-like capability into the form factor of a Psion 5MX or Revo I think you would have a killer. At least for a more than attractive niche market. I would go for it like a rocket.
Maybe the N97 shows the way- why not go the other direction and make a larger version, optimised for office use? The marginal development costs I am sure must be very small. This market would not consist of design freaks so any successor could use the same outer hardware with just a few adjustments to keep it updated.
I could even imagine a third party doing this- buying or licensing the innards of a phone and fitting it to a custom exterior. If you can separately buy coloured exteriors for phones, why not the keyboard and screen?
I just cannot imagine there is no market for a properly keyboarded, large screened communicator anymore. People happily tote a whole laptop all over the world, but would not want to be seen with a slightly larger phone? If someone shovelled a decent phone and some netbook-like capability into the form factor of a Psion 5MX or Revo I think you would have a killer. At least for a more than attractive niche market. I would go for it like a rocket.
Maybe the N97 shows the way- why not go the other direction and make a larger version, optimised for office use? The marginal development costs I am sure must be very small. This market would not consist of design freaks so any successor could use the same outer hardware with just a few adjustments to keep it updated.
I could even imagine a third party doing this- buying or licensing the innards of a phone and fitting it to a custom exterior. If you can separately buy coloured exteriors for phones, why not the keyboard and screen?
joness9
Troll alert:
"Also iphone 3GS stands out to be a winner in all dept.. Thats amazing!"
Always amazes me how many Apple sycophants turn up on this site.
"Also iphone 3GS stands out to be a winner in all dept.. Thats amazing!"
Always amazes me how many Apple sycophants turn up on this site.
Williamoni
Steve - granted Apple have made great strides with the iPhone's camera/video capabilities but with no flash for the camera surely this makes its inclusion as one of the top media creating smartphones questionable. I would find the absence of a flash to be annoying since it restricts the occasions when the camera is available.
sapporobaby
While I may not have always agreed with Steve in the past, I have to say that he is spot on in recommendations.
To clarify a few points first. Yes, in low light situations, the iPhone's camera and vid functions are not up to par with a camera with either a single or dual LED, however, in equally lit situations, i.e. sunny day, normal day with backlighting by the sun, the camera responds very well, and vid quality is not bad. The point being, the iPhone is sold as a media, jack of all trades device. It does some things much better than others. Second, point and most crucial in my opinion is that any time an Apple or iPhone enthusiast drops by, the typical myopic troll baiters show up to throw an insult here or there. The fact is, currently the iPhone is smoking just about anything Nokia can throw at the wall in many of the most important user categories. Steve's article simply drives home the point. The iPhone offers a better user experience to the average user out of the box that no phone maker can "currently" come close to. You can hate iPhone users, call them posers, say the phone is a fashion statement, etc... but the fact remains that it is the best and easiest phone to use for MOST people and this is where the money is. As an N86/iPhone user, I find that I reach for the iPhone 8 out of 10 times when I want to do something, be it call, watch a video, listen to music, whatever as the iPhone provides a better experience.Third point. The integration between iTunes, The App Store, and Mobile Me is completely seamless and something that NO ONE has to offer. Ovi services are simply lacking when compared to the Eco-system that Apple has put together in support of their device. They did this in the space of 2 and a half years while Nokia has been floundering with Ovi for what seems like forever.
Again: Kudos on the article Steve.
To clarify a few points first. Yes, in low light situations, the iPhone's camera and vid functions are not up to par with a camera with either a single or dual LED, however, in equally lit situations, i.e. sunny day, normal day with backlighting by the sun, the camera responds very well, and vid quality is not bad. The point being, the iPhone is sold as a media, jack of all trades device. It does some things much better than others. Second, point and most crucial in my opinion is that any time an Apple or iPhone enthusiast drops by, the typical myopic troll baiters show up to throw an insult here or there. The fact is, currently the iPhone is smoking just about anything Nokia can throw at the wall in many of the most important user categories. Steve's article simply drives home the point. The iPhone offers a better user experience to the average user out of the box that no phone maker can "currently" come close to. You can hate iPhone users, call them posers, say the phone is a fashion statement, etc... but the fact remains that it is the best and easiest phone to use for MOST people and this is where the money is. As an N86/iPhone user, I find that I reach for the iPhone 8 out of 10 times when I want to do something, be it call, watch a video, listen to music, whatever as the iPhone provides a better experience.Third point. The integration between iTunes, The App Store, and Mobile Me is completely seamless and something that NO ONE has to offer. Ovi services are simply lacking when compared to the Eco-system that Apple has put together in support of their device. They did this in the space of 2 and a half years while Nokia has been floundering with Ovi for what seems like forever.
Again: Kudos on the article Steve.
Williamoni
Nice categorisation Steve, but, overall I preferred your earlier broad categories since they nicely tied things up in a way which is easier to remember.
Having recently purchased an iPod Touch I can appreciate why you chose the iPhone as the media consumer king for example. This probably still wins in this category. In fact it's almost a walkover of Kauto Star proportions.
In your messaging broad category I don't see how the iPhone will ever win. It's too much of a pain entering information using the touch screen. I'd take a keyboard/keypad any day of the week. I'd choose a Nokia here and the specific model is tricky to nominate.
The media creating category would also be a Nokia, and your previous choice of the N82 is probably right up there still, amazingly. The lack of camera flash causes me to rule out the iPhone here.
Having recently purchased an iPod Touch I can appreciate why you chose the iPhone as the media consumer king for example. This probably still wins in this category. In fact it's almost a walkover of Kauto Star proportions.
In your messaging broad category I don't see how the iPhone will ever win. It's too much of a pain entering information using the touch screen. I'd take a keyboard/keypad any day of the week. I'd choose a Nokia here and the specific model is tricky to nominate.
The media creating category would also be a Nokia, and your previous choice of the N82 is probably right up there still, amazingly. The lack of camera flash causes me to rule out the iPhone here.
Huschke2go
How can anyone even think of putting an iPhone in the media creation category. Sure it's video/picture capabilities are not bad in sunny condition, but who on this planet that doesn't live in miami or the sahara has sunny condition every day? And even in those places the sun sets at some point. And I haven't even mentioned indoors...
So is the iPhone an excellent phone? Hell yeah! But is the iPhone my first choice when it comes to media creation? Absolutely not, not even my 5th choice...
So is the iPhone an excellent phone? Hell yeah! But is the iPhone my first choice when it comes to media creation? Absolutely not, not even my 5th choice...
Unregistered
Media Creator:
N82
Comms Junkie:
N97, E75
Media Consumer:
iphone
Work addict:
E90
Tech Enthusiast:
N900
Web-a-holic
N900
N82
Comms Junkie:
N97, E75
Media Consumer:
iphone
Work addict:
E90
Tech Enthusiast:
N900
Web-a-holic
N900
Unregistered
Honestly, with RIM offering well-integrated clients for all the major social networks and still unparalleled Email Performance - should'nt there be at last one listed?
Granted, their current OS is far from beautiful, but BBs just... do the job well.
Granted, their current OS is far from beautiful, but BBs just... do the job well.
Raven
Overall, the Milestone (Droid) is the best of the crop right now in my opinion. Although it isn't the best in every category, it excels as the best all-rounder. Putting it only under the 'Tech enthusiast' category is flawed. It's the most complete smartphone (not completely perfect of course) I've owned up till now. It certainly beats the iPhone (which I also own) in every category except 'Hardcore mobile gamer'.
Nuges
I agree with E90 is a great work addict companion. Would be less anxious of a new communicator if a new firmware update would bring it to par with the E75 or E72.
Unregistered
The N900 should be a winner in more categories IMHO. But then again, this is coming from Litchfield who continues to live in his Symbian fantasy world.
slitchfield
Good point about Blackberrys. I keep forgetting about them - RIM have rubbish PR, I hardly know anyone who uses one, and the few I've borrowed were very primitive in terms of OS.
But the Bold should be in there somewhere, I suspect...
But the Bold should be in there somewhere, I suspect...
slitchfield
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Unregistered
The N900 should be a winner in more categories IMHO. But then again, this is coming from Litchfield who continues to live in his Symbian fantasy world.
|
PS. And yes, before anyone says it out loud, many of Nokia's other phones have arrived 'unfinished' in 2009...
mrochester
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by joness9
Troll alert:
"Also iphone 3GS stands out to be a winner in all dept.. Thats amazing!" Always amazes me how many Apple sycophants turn up on this site. |
Unregistered
had I bought an iPhone three years ago, it would now be updated with the latest and greatest features from Apple. Not just bug fixes, but new features would've been added.
I didn't.
I bought the extremely expensive E90 from Nokia instead, and I've been stuck with the exact same functionality, a handful of bugs that probably never gets fixed, while I can see new S60 phones with fancier functions. My E90 browser has not been updated the past year, and it's still not displaying the majority of web pages. WiFi with WPA-2 still makes the connection hang, BlueTooth still makes hickups or freezes the phone now and then etc. etc.
I wonder why Apple and Google are in luck, and why so many are switching from Nokia to producers that actually doesn't turn their backs on their customers...
I didn't.
I bought the extremely expensive E90 from Nokia instead, and I've been stuck with the exact same functionality, a handful of bugs that probably never gets fixed, while I can see new S60 phones with fancier functions. My E90 browser has not been updated the past year, and it's still not displaying the majority of web pages. WiFi with WPA-2 still makes the connection hang, BlueTooth still makes hickups or freezes the phone now and then etc. etc.
I wonder why Apple and Google are in luck, and why so many are switching from Nokia to producers that actually doesn't turn their backs on their customers...
rvirga
I second Raven's opinion.
Why isn't the Droid/Milestone, for example, in the multimedia consumer category? It has:
- a truly gorgeous 3.7" WVGA transflective screen
- one of the loudest speaker I've ever encountered
- better MP4 support than any Nokia phone (e.g. it plays the VGA version of the Phones Show)
- a xvid/divx player that even supports the elusive matroska video (mkv) video format (yxflash)
- several excellent podcasting apps (doggcatcher and beyondpod, to name two), which are capable of resuming an interrupted download without ending up with a corrupt file
- official Pandora, Last.fm, and Spotify clients
- for UK residents only, a iPlayer app (beebplayer)
What more could one ask for?
Why isn't the Droid/Milestone, for example, in the multimedia consumer category? It has:
- a truly gorgeous 3.7" WVGA transflective screen
- one of the loudest speaker I've ever encountered
- better MP4 support than any Nokia phone (e.g. it plays the VGA version of the Phones Show)
- a xvid/divx player that even supports the elusive matroska video (mkv) video format (yxflash)
- several excellent podcasting apps (doggcatcher and beyondpod, to name two), which are capable of resuming an interrupted download without ending up with a corrupt file
- official Pandora, Last.fm, and Spotify clients
- for UK residents only, a iPlayer app (beebplayer)
What more could one ask for?
rvirga
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Unregistered
Nokia lacks updates!
|
Unregistered
The Droid/Milestone, N900, iPhone etc are all dead ducks for me, because for my needs they are all all just too large. For me, pocketability is fundamentally important, and if a phone does most jobs brilliantly, it's still no good if it's a pain in the ass to carry constantly. The beauty of Nokia is that they still make pocketable devices. That's the reason I carry one, no manufacturer makes a phone that small that is as well featured.
As for the 3GS camera, a lot of bollocks is being talked about its low light performance. In flash range it loses, but in low light for subjects that are *beyond the range of the flash* it's brilliant. My friends have them and at theatre lighting levels, shows and gigs and they can achieve reasonable pictures, but no Nokia or flash phone can compete. So where it matters (i.e. in situations other than a load of silly party face close-ups) it wins out.
As for the 3GS camera, a lot of bollocks is being talked about its low light performance. In flash range it loses, but in low light for subjects that are *beyond the range of the flash* it's brilliant. My friends have them and at theatre lighting levels, shows and gigs and they can achieve reasonable pictures, but no Nokia or flash phone can compete. So where it matters (i.e. in situations other than a load of silly party face close-ups) it wins out.
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