Few queries from a prospective 808 buyer :) — Symbian^3 phones (N8, C7, C6-01, E7-00)

Hello,

I have been looking to buy this phone from some time, now that the prices have came down, Im thinking of actually buying it. This will be first smartphone that i'll own, yes you hard it right. Though Ive used android phones before, I never actually got to live with them. Now prices in my country is almost same as newly launched Nokia Lumia 720. So im in a fix between the two, and would like you all to answer few of queries.

1. While reading 808 review in The Verge, they said "You think Windows Phone's got problems? It's a Rolls Royce compared to this". Is the OS really that bad?

2. The verge say its "Better get used to that loading animation, you�ll be seeing a lot of it" and "Symbian Belle feels like a terrible imitation of Android", is the OS feels cheap and slow as they say?

3. The verge say "Incompatible with third-party headsets", is it true? One of the main reason for buying this phone is great audio quality as mentioned in gsmarena review, because I listen to music in my mp3 player and im thinking of ditching it for nokia 808, lack of 3rd party earphone support is a point of concern for me.

4. Now that symbian is officially dead, how long will we see updates coming through?

Im perplexed whether to buy Lumia 720 or Nokia 808. Lumia has smooth WP8, better CPU, Better GPU, newer.
Nokia 808 has been in a different segment few months back and was in likes of Lumia 920 nowadays, price wise. I feel is has better hardware compared to lumia 720, and im not talking about the speed of CPU/GPU, buy component's price, because a year ago it cost almost as lumia 920 nowadays, so i think it may have components comparable to lumia 920, i may be wrong.

Please help me out.

Thank you 😊

I use an 808 because I am an old school PDA user (going all the way back to the earliest Psion PDAs) and still prefer the Symbian OS, and I also love the camera in the 808. However, as you have previously never owned a smartphone I would suggest that the 808 is probably not the best choice for you unless you really must have the best possible picture/video/audio recording in a phone. You will have to get used to the OS and then start again with any future phone.

Having said that, it's not too difficult to switch. I have recently bought a cheap Android phone to use as an off-line stand alone lap timing device without even inserting a SIM in it, and also an Asus Transformer TF700T convertible table to use tethered to my 808.

But to answer your questions:
1) No.
2) It does feel a bit slow when loading and installing stuff.
3) Not true. Works just fine with a stereo headset with standard 3.5mm plug.
4) Updates are still coming thick and fast, but will probably dry up within the next 12 months or so.