iPhone killer?

Here's what I like and dislike about this telephone. In the end, I compare it to the iPhone. Is it a better deal or not?


First impressions

I like the default S60 home screen. It gives you customizable shortcuts and it shows your next meetings (so that you don't need to set alarms), tasks, the WiFi presence and the ability to search for every content on your phone (the latter with 20.0.015 firmware). You can add third party applications. For those who don't know, Symbian is multi-tasking.

The Internet browser is similar to the new Opera mini 4 and allows you to connect through WiFi or your data plan and it shows websites as they are. Since web pages are bigger than the screen, there is a mini-map that allows you to know where you are in the page.

The radio is excellent. It allows you to store 50 FM stations.

The phone is rather thick. The earplug jack is the standard for headphones, so you can plug your own headset directly.

It has a light sensor, so the screen light adapts to your environment, so it saves some energy.
Some applications allow you to save different positions from the maps.


PC Transfer

On your PC (Linux isn't supported), you have to install 3 pieces of software: the PC suite (which contains different software that is rather intrusive), the Software Updater and the Map Loader (which requires Microsoft .NET framework). They allow you to use every possible function of the device.

I also like the fact that you can connect the phone as a storage device through USB to your computer. The transfer speed is rather low, at ~850 kB/s, like many USB devices.



The downsides

At least 4 phones in 5 have a loose slider, which moves in most cases on the right side. This is annoying when using the buttons or when you keep your phone to the ear while the slider is open.

There are buttons about everywhere, so it's rather difficult to take it in your hand without pressing a button or leaving a fingermark on the big screen.

I find the number keys tiring to use, since they are at the bottom and all the weight of the phone is in the upper part. The hand position is not comfortable.

The photos taken with the camera, even with 5 Mpixel, are worse than those taken with my 5 year old 2 Mpixel camera: there is so much noise in there. There is no optical zoom.
I think that the problem may come from a high compression of the Jpeg file. My 2 Mpixel pics (1600*1200) have a bigger file size than those taken with the Nokia N95 at 2592*1944. There is no setting for the compression rate. What a shame: putting Carl Zeiss optics, but downgrading the digital quality.
Videos, however, are rather fluid, but as noisy. DVD quality is not for this phone, though, in spite of what Nokia claims.

Numerous people said the GPS takes long minutes to find your position. In my experience, it's rather quick (about 30 seconds) if and only if the following criteria are met: using it in an area without any buildings and having already positioned yourself earlier in the vicinity. That means that you can't use it in the street (or, you need very large avenues in your city). If you deactivate the automatic data connection of the Maps application, it will bother you with a patronizing comment every time you start it. Starting with firmware 12.0.013, it can download the satellite position from the Nokia's website, which makes it as easy to find satellites as with any GPS device (assuming you have a data plan or WiFi nearby) and it works better in the streets with big buildings.

Considering the relative poor performance of the GPS, I wouldn't put extra money to pay Nokia for the navigation software (what a shame to charge that much for an overpriced phone).

The barcode app is rather useless, since it focuses and de-focuses on the barcode, but it's seldom able to read it. I tried MobileTag, but it doesn't work better.

I don't know why they included a Zip application, since it's so cumbersome to manipulate files. I would rather zip files on the computer. The PDF app is rather useless, since a PDF file generated on a PC becomes illegible on such a small screen.

Many apps allow you to zoom files, but the repeated zoom is not easy to manipulate at all. The iPhone has a huge advantage on this point.

Having a video player like RealPlayer is a good idea, but why doesn't it support RealPlayer files (.rm or .rv)? Also, why isn't the Flash Player able to play .swf of .flv files ?

Battery life is the biggest complaint: I have to recharge it every other night, or maybe every night if I frequently use it during the day (and believe me, there are many functions to use). If you don't use 3G connections (like, you don't use mobile TV or video calls), it's a good idea to switch your phone to the GSM network only, since it prolongs battery life.

A consumer magazine recently tested several smartphones and found that N95 is very sensible to water drops, like if you're using it in light rain. All phones were rather good but this one. And they broke several phones, just to convince. So beware!

The music player does what it says: play music. However, if you, like me, want to play seminars or conferences or long speeches, there is no way you can bookmark your audio file, so it doesn't restart next time from track one. How stupid. This is changing however from firmware 20.0.15

The fast forward and fast reverse keys are so fast that you can't rewind a small part of the audio or video track you were playing.

There is a lot of bugs in every firmware, so this is becoming annoying.

I wasn't able to use voice commands, but I didn't give it a long try.

I find the WiFi antenna too capricious. It's frequent that the phone detects a WiFi spot in the street, but can't connect to it.

The infrared port is rather useless for sending large amounts of data. The Content Copier app would take hours to save your data.

The user manual doesn't present the remote control, so there are 2 buttons from the 8 that I have yet to figure out how to use. It's so useful that you don't need to use the multimedia buttons of the phone (it's handier and it doesn't light the buttons, which saves some energy), but the cable is ugly and cumbersome. However, my remote control become defective after 3 months of use.

Absolutely, under any circumstance, do not buy a pack phone from Orange or Vodafone. They entered the phone and changed menus, removed functions (like the softphone, see here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yB0OmHtp3uk). That happened in every country they operate. If, however, you have one limited phone already, here's how to recover the functions: ask your company to give you the unblock code, then go to a Nokia care centre so they install the original version. There is also a way to flash the phone's memory by yourself, but use it at your own risk.
If you use Nokia Software Updater, it will just reinstall the operator's software. This usually is released a month after the original Nokia firmware. It's such a shame Nokia allows phone companies to downgrade your phone.


In conclusion, I needed a new mobile telephone for:
- calling (of course)
- WiFi
- 3G (UMTS) Internet access
- PDA functions, like the agenda
- in addition, I wouldn't reject a good camera.
It's all here and the idea is, I can put that in one pocket!


Now, let's compare it to the iPhone

What's better on the iPhone:
- the touch screen which is bigger and has bigger resolution
- the UI turns when you turn the screen
- proximity sensor, which deactivates involuntary touching, like when wearing it in your pocket or in your bag
- better battery life

Here's what the Nokia N95 provide more than the iPhone:
- it's lighter
- UMTS and HSDPA (3G and 3.5G)
- third party applications (not only limited to safari), not only widgets
- java
- radio
- 5 Mpixel camera
- video capture
- infrared port
- replaceable battery
- not so much arrogance, like Apple Computer
- last, but not least, Nokia is rated as the most ecological company, whereas Apple and Sony are the worst
Let Wikipedia add this: "The iPhone lacks a number of other handheld features that have not already been mentioned, including voice dialing, voice recording, instant messaging, memory card slot, MMS, A2DP (allowing for stereo sound to be sent to an audio device by Bluetooth), common Bluetooth file transfer, GPS capability, text copy and paste, native games, and support for MP3 files as ringtones."