Smart in the Real World - the Nokia N95 takes on allcomers

I agree with fbloise
[INDENT]even my granma can use it[/INDENT]

Nokia is clearly the more featured phone but Nokia has forgotten that one of the reasons they are so successful is that their phones have always been easy to use. Not any more

slitchfield wrote:>>I cant believe you put the N95 above the iPod touch/iPhone for music transfer. c'mon itunes/iTMS is 1000xmore seemless than WMP/nokia music store/pc suite.

Nope, I disagree. Windows Media Player integration with modern S60 handsets is superb and seamless. And faster than iTunes. iTunes only starts winning once you factor in people wanting to BUY DRM-ed music online.

This is simply incorrect and misleading. I use both Amazon and iTunes for my music purchasing needs and they are both flawless. If I want to rip a CD and import it to iTunes, I simply point to the CD, rip and the files are automatically placed where I want them to go (if I created a smart playlist). The same with any songs that I buy from Amazon.

>>also bluetooth headphones, who ACTUALLY uses them to be an issue. as they are mostly terrible at the moment.

I used them yesterday to listen to Pink Floyd while out fast-walking. Sounded pretty good to me.

This is half right and wrong. I have had a few pairs of BT Stereo headsets and they have been fair to partly cloudy. Right now I am using a pair of Shure SE 530's and well nothing can compare to them that I have tried. All of the BT headset I have used invariably suffered from droppouts due to not enough music buffer or simply my body getting in the way. However, the iPhone does lose out in this respect.

>>- the video test was unfair and skews the results. it's like adding in touch screen sensitivity as a test.

I agree it skews them slightly, but taking at least basic video clips is a FUNDAMENTAL for a phone these days. Which is why the task was included. If the iPhone can't do it then I'm afraid it deserves the 'zero' here etc.

Yes, the iPhone loses here for sure. It simply does not have the native application needed. However once again, you make a general assumption and then use this to justify your conclusion. I have an N82 and hardly ever, and I mean hardly ever use the video cam function. If you can post some results from some research showing where you are correct, this would give a bit more credibility to your results. As it stands, the iPhone simply loses because it does not have the vid cam.

>>- contacts app on the N95 is a pile of smelly pants. how about adding the following test - look up the address of a contact. As on N95 you have to edit the address field to view it. nice nokia!

Agreed that this is sub-optimal. But only an occasional annoyance, at least in my life. Still, would be nice if Nokia fixed their screen-wrapping!

At least you quantified your answer here rather than leaving it as a general response.

>>- you are a power s60 user - most 'normal' users would struggle to match your times. The calendar test took me over a minute on my n95.

Nah, I'm average. I get lots of emails actually, saying how slow I am at texting. Trust me, my speeds are average.

Steve

To be honest and this is my opinion, I have a hard time really trusting the fairness of your comparisons. This test was rigged for the N95 from the start so the outcome is not surprising at all. In retrospect, I do tend to take the opinion of Rafe more seriously as he seems to be more neutral in his discussions. In most your reviews I have never seen a product or application that you didn't like or say something along these lines: " This is not a great product, however it is worth giving a try, yada, yada, yada." This is having your cake and eating it too. If you do not like something then say so, but when you speak out of two sides of your mouth, the first thing out is credibility.

I really do like this site but I have long given up on gaining anything substantive from your reviews or articles. For the most part I simply look at the topic, scan a few lines and then decide read further or to just pass by. Lately I have been doing the latter.

While I do not agree with fbloise that this site is completely biased and rigged to let S60, and Nokia win, I would go as far as saying that most of your articles, comparison, opinions do.

Personally I find both Windows Media (with S60) and iTunes (when used with iPod Touch) to be a bit annoying. The Nokia tools haven't been good either - the new beta Music PC Client shows promise (especially given integration with store). However I tend to dump a bunch of music on the phone and change it only infrequently. As such I often use mass transfer. I am non typical in this regard I suspect, though I guess it shows how people do things in different ways.

I think there's another factor to consider - with music there's significant switching cost for a music (i.e. it is annoying for a user switch to another music management system). If you're an iTunes user you want to stick with it and the same for other systems. I wonder if this gives Apple an advantage given the dominance of the iPod in the MP3 player market.

A2DP is another interesting one. I do use a headset quite frequently (often in the car or when out walking - situations where I dont want wires in the way). I will also use a wired headset. However I also use A2DP with an audio gateway (connecting to a HiFi stereo). Some in-car systems use it in a similar way.

Anyway this comment thread has shown a great variety of different opinions - great stuff - and thanks to all who have contributed.

Hey guys; thanks for the answer, I forgot that I had posted my response to this. Maybe 1-2-3 isn't granular enough, but knowing a bit more about the weight that a 10 has versus a 15 would help is what I'm just suggesting (few variants makes the case that something could be more or less biased, but that line is clearer).

Looking forward to the next installment of this test, though I'd think the Samsung InnoV8 would probably be a better one to pit as the S60 representative given its better featureset?

As the Iphone 3G and N95 8GB are both the highest end flagship devices from their respective companies shouldnt the HTC be a flagship phone and preferably the Touch Pro not the Diamond? Before you call foul that the full keyboard gives it an advantage think about the fact that the Diamond lost points in almost every catagory due to text entry and the iphone has a built in *touchscreen* QWERTY as well. The Pro which has a decently sized QWERTY would most likely be able to vanquish both of the other two phones. (before you call me a WM fanboy im actually a s60 fan and my current phone is the Nokia E90 which has been a blessing since my last Windows device). Both the Iphone, and the n95 have an advantage area: youtube for the iphone, as it was half their marketing campaign in the early days of the iphone, and camera which is an obvious instant win for the n95 seeing as how it was also alot of the phones marketing, so pitching the Pro against them and adding, say a text entry category would even out the results a bit more.

Thanks for this site very helpful.