Steve's had both the N73 and the SPV C600 together on his desk. How well do the two 'mid range smartphones' comapre to each other , and are there any clear winners whichcould help people make their minds up? Or is it all going to come down to which one is available in black?
Read on in the full article.
HTC has announced 4 new models today. Two of them are due in shops THIS MONTH and two of them NEXT MONTH. Quite a refreshing change from the Nokia and SonyEricsson average nine months between slideware and (still buggy) products on shelves.
Or maybe this is not completely off-topic. Maybe it is that at this stage the Windows Mobile platform has become very stable and product introduction is much quicker when you can reuse the same platform without the need to test a new OS version and a new GUI version like Nokia and SonyEricsson have been doing with Symbian 9.0, S60v3 and UIQ 3.0?
Nice comparisson of Steve.
However, I would like to add a few considerations when you are about to make a choice.
- Voice dialling does not properly work on the N73. It is no longer possible to attach your own voice tags to contacts. This makes the use of voice dialling combined with a bluetooth carkit completely useless. I'd be curious to know if the MTeoR does properly support voice dialling.
- If I am informed correctly, Nokia does not provide a powered car holder for the N73. For car drivers this is bad news. Especially, if you intend to use GPS software. Am I supposed to hold the device in my hand . . . . ?
Obviously, the usability of the devices is very much determined by the OS.
- Symbian still does not support synchronisation of the Middle name which makes FULL synchronisation between Outlook and the Symbian device poor. While synchronising, the middle name in Outlook is simply ignored.
- Usability of a calendar application on a smartphone is determined by a good "week view". By far the best calendar application for Windows Mobile is Pocket Informant. This application, which has a superb 7-day-split-view, is unfortunately not available to Symbian. The default calendar application of the N73 is very poor. That's why I still use my iPaq pocket PC.
I believe Nokia has made some very strange decissions in its product policy. However, despite the flaws mentioned, I am very happy with the N73. After having had so many useless camera's in phones, this camera really adds value.
Tom
tspierings wrote:
- Usability of a calendar application on a smartphone is determined by a good "week view". By far the best calendar application for Windows Mobile is Pocket Informant. This application, which has a superb 7-day-split-view, is unfortunately not available to Symbian. The default calendar application of the N73 is very poor. That's why I still use my iPaq pocket PC.
You should have a look at Papyrus (http://www.sbsh.net). It was my favourite application on my Sendo X and its S60 3rd edition version is coming soon (in beta testing at the moment). I don't know how it's week view compares with Pocket Informant but it sure is a lot better than the built-in calendar anyway.
Steve, - is there any comparo on battery life to be had here? Is there a general batterylife comparo on S60 vs. Win phones?
I won't have used the devices enough to say exactly, but my gut feel is that battery life on both is pretty good. In normal use, there wouldn't be much difference, though I'd expect the N73 to win a competition for standby time.
Steve
I've used several WM phones and a couple of S60 phones (in fact I am typing this on an XDA Exec) and the main thing that consistently differentiates them is the quality of the phone as a <<phone>>.
The Nokias always have better signal strength and clearer sound quality. Bluetooth support on WM phones is also crap. File transfer, DUN, and contact transfers all fail frequently, and synching via Bluetooth is so extremely difficult to set up that most people just give up.
For some reason the cameras are usually about 6 months behind the equivalent S60 and Sony Ericsson's too.
On the positive side the PIM synch (via USB) is better and easier with Activesync, although its not too bad with PC Suite.
Although I agree that the built in PIM on S60 is poor, its actually better than the WM Smartphone equivalent (not better than WM Pocket PC). Its a bit unfair to compare the S60 calendar to Pocket Informant, which isn't built in and doesn't run on Smartphone anyway. Papyrus runs on both Symbian and Smartphone and having used it on Smartphone I'm now waiting eagerly for the 3rd edition version.
And by the way, voice dialling has worked perfectly on my N73.
Before anyone gets too excited about the MTeoR have a look at this thread on Modaco.
http://www.modaco.com/MToeR-and-SP5-Compared-t243671.html
Bear in mind that the guys who wrote this are mostly hardcore, long term Windows Mobile fans.
I think this is an interesting comparison.
Whats interesting is there a much greater similarity of device specifications that there has been in the past. So a lot of it comes down to the subjective and the software - I personally think the Meteor looks a bit ugly. The N73 isn't too brilliant either, though it has a more coherent style. The N73's other main advantage is a superior multimedia offering.
I've also been told that the 3G implementation of the Nokia phones is far more stable than that of the Meteor - anyone shed any opinion on this?
Software begins to play a more important role (this has been coming for a while). My take has been and remains that S60 is better in the ease of user / usability stakes by some way, especially for novice users.
Purely from a technical standpoint Symbian and S60 are superior - one of the more obvious examples of this is the differing cpu etc. Symbian phones are less processor, memory and power intensive. Of course this doesn't necessairly lead to a better phone. In the N73 / Meteor case I think this shows in the N73's superior battery life.
Utenteanonimo64 mentioned Symbian 3 and version 3 of the UIs - yes this has taken a while to settle in. However Symbian 9 security stuff, hardware integration support, and modularisation is now a long way ahead of any other platform. This will really tell in year or so time, when all the other platforms go through the same thing... The thing here is Symbian 9 / UIs and future versions are at the beginning of a product iteration (following on from Symbian 6-8). By comparison WM 5 is at the end - as I understand there's one major revision left in WM5 after which it will be a reset (whether to the same extent is debateable, but there will have to be some fundamental changes).
I think the phone experience is better on S60 Nokia phones (quality and other factors). Given this remains a primary function I think this is important.
Of course everyone has their own needs / considerations so I think its dangerous to come to any absolute conclusion.
Anyway I hope people enjoy the comparison. I think its great to see some comments. I thik we should try and do more of these.
xerxes wrote:Before anyone gets too excited about the MTeoR have a look at this thread on Modaco.http://www.modaco.com/MToeR-and-SP5-Compared-t243671.html
Bear in mind that the guys who wrote this are mostly hardcore, long term Windows Mobile fans.
But also that this is first version firwmare. Many symbian phones have had many problems with the original firmware as well and it usually takes 1 or 2 firmware updates before all the major bugs are ironed out.
That said, the stories in this thread do sound really awfull. Their battery problems sound like this mtoer is even worse than the N80 (which is quite an achievement) in this matter. And this heat problem is a bit scary.
But the sad thing is to see that windows mobile phones finally followed symbian phones and seem to be locked down as well. And it seems to be an even a lot worse on their side than what we've got with symbian 9. Although it is not clear from the posts in this thread whether this locked down issue is really by design or "just" a bug. An end of an era anyway.
Interesting linked thread. I think they've pretty much nailed the fact that there are battery-draining problems due to being in marginal 3G areas - I suspect most Symbian OS phones would also struggle for the same reason - personally, I tend to turn 3G off on my devices and just use the far less hungry GPRS 8-)
Not sure what they mean by locked down - it's not the same as Signing in Symbian OS - I tried installing several Windows Mobile 3rd party apps and they worked fine. Don't forget that these are real power users who are just disappinted that their favourite hacks don't work on the new OS version...
Also interesting that 95% of the discussion was about battery and comms (with battery almost certainly being directly related to comms!) - I tend to approach smartphones from the application standpoint - there's a lot more you can do with these devices than make phone calls and browse the web, as we all know. From taking photos to Office document viewing to PIM apps to music to sat-nav to IM, etc. All of which worked quite well in my experience.
Steve
"Locked Down" on a WM5 device doesn't mean the same thing as it does on a Symbian device. It is nothing to do with the installation of software.
Each new WM5 device comes with (potentially) two types of lock. the SIM lock (although O2 and, increasingly, several others are not bothering with this now) and a firmware lock. The SIM lock can usually be removed fairly quickly (usually thanks to the guys at XDA Devs). However, some of the power users like to be able to "cook" their own firmwares and install the formware from other suppliers.
So, say you buy an XDA MiniS from O2 who don't release a firmware update for 6 months. You just go to XDA Devs, download a little tool et voila, you can now tick on the very latest firmware from iMate/QTek/Whoever which should be faster, have better battery life, better phone reception and a few bugs ironed out.
I've never bothered myself, but some people change the firmware on their phones every few weeks and will even take bits from one firmware and cook them up with bits from another to make a personalised device. All very clever but, really, there aren't enough hours in the day as it is 😊
Anywa, it's nothing to do with installing software which, ignoring the confusion between software written for WM5 PPC edition and WM5 SP edition, is never a problem on WM5.
Oh, and nice comparison Steve. It still amazes me that HTC have not started to orientate the hardware more towards certain markets. Their devices always look very much of a muchness. I think Nokia have been very clever in the last two years, and the last eight months in particular, with producing devices which look more like a camera, or look just like an MP3 player etc. Bearing in mind WM5 is all set up with Windows Media Player and Active synch, which work brilliantly (as long as your music is all WMA or MP3!), I think HTC are missing a trick and being beaten by Nokia in an area I see them having an advantage in.
A bit of a side note - whats with this recent fashion with naming phones phonetically unpronounceable names? I mean "RAZR", "SCLPL", "SLIVR", "ROKR" and now "Mteor". Soon we have to speak klingon in order to even talk about them.
Sorry about the rant.. I'll go put my Cmunic8tor in the chargr and make my self a ch33z sandwtz...
slitchfield wrote:
... Also interesting that 95% of the discussion was about battery and comms (with battery almost certainly being directly related to comms!) - I tend to approach smartphones from the application standpoint - there's a lot more you can do with these devices than make phone calls and browse the web, as we all know. From taking photos to Office document viewing to PIM apps to music to sat-nav to IM, etc. All of which worked quite well in my experience.Steve
Of course you are right when you say these things can do much more than make phone calls, but for most people that's still the primary reason to carry a mobile phone - smart or otherwise. I admit to being a mobile tech geek, I've carried a PDA or smartphone of one sort or another for over 15 years, but I'm also a business person who makes and receives upward of 30 calls per day. My experience of WM phones (imate SP3i, Orange C500, imate Jam, imate SP5, XDA Exec) is that the voice call quality and Bluetooth connectivity just aren't up to snuff. For example I would get constant complaints that people couldn't hear me when I used my C500 in my lounge. The same SIM would work perfectly in my cheap old Siemens S55.
I am a strong believer that convergence is a fine thing so long as the device can still carry out its primary function(s) without compromise. For me that means a phone needs to do voice calls and text messages first, take photos, listen to music and make occassional video clips second, everything else third. On that ranking I cannot use a WM device as my main phone.
By the way don't think I am a WM hater. I use an HTC Universal as my main business PDA and actually use it more often than my laptop! In fact I'm typing this post on it.
This is really a great post! Exactly the 2 phones I am chosing between. After reading this post and all these comment I think I would pick the Nokia N73 over the MteoR.
And to reply to an earlier post: there ARE powered car-mounts avaiable for the Nokia N73 ("Brodit Holder Nokia N73 For Nokia Carkit". aftermarket, not from Nokia). The holder fits into the Nokia CK7W carkit. That way you can use the carkit as a bluetooth carkit and as a regular "powered/fixed" carkit. In Holland this holder would cost 40 euro.
Sorry, but Mteor is not only 3G, its HSDPA