Resistive vs Capacitive: the invisible tech war in which both opponents can win?

I always tend to think of the phone's OS rather than a screen tech as the deciding choice.

Imho, multitouch is good to have, but ultimately just a gimmick.

How useful the OS is, and how the interface is adapted to touch input is what matters, and while the Iphone has done a good job at the fancy stuff, it has removed the basic functionalities most of us look for in a smartphone. So until Apple takes their times to patch in the required functions with their updates, that's what alternate OSs like Android/WM/S60 are good for.

Who really cares about the screen as long as it is sensitive and gives an adequate outlook? Does making it capacitive somehow causes the user to forget the limitations of the OS? I doubt so.

kenkiller wrote:I always tend to think of the phone's OS rather than a screen tech as the deciding choice.

Imho, multitouch is good to have, but ultimately just a gimmick.

How useful the OS is, and how the interface is adapted to touch input is what matters, and while the Iphone has done a good job at the fancy stuff, it has removed the basic functionalities most of us look for in a smartphone. So until Apple takes their times to patch in the required functions with their updates, that's what alternate OSs like Android/WM/S60 are good for.

Who really cares about the screen as long as it is sensitive and gives an adequate outlook? Does making it capacitive somehow causes the user to forget the limitations of the OS? I doubt so.

You make a good point. I don't buy a phone so I can play with it's user interface.

I'm minted and I don't like capacitive touchscreens. The iPhone 3G I had made too many errors and was prone to launching things by accident so back it went.

I also like the 5800 because it's not a brick that needs two hands to work effectively.

Of course that's just my opinion like Iain's opinion is merely his.

This was a great article discussing the differences between the top touch screen technologies. The bottom line is use what works best for you. I don't tend to have any problems with Resistive touch screens but some people do. I'm used to the N810 and love it. To each their own.

I just can't wait until the sequel - 'Bluetooth vs Infra Red - can both parties win?' 😊

I'm a mountain rescue volunteer and use mapping software on smartphones when out in the hills. I can promise you that resistive touch screens CAN be used with gloves on. I do it all the time. The idea of having to stop, take my gloves off (in minus whatever conditions) use the phone, put my gloves back on (assuming they haven't just disappeared off down the mountain in the wind) and carry on is not realistic.

An extreme example, definitely. But you haven't "debunked" any "Myths" Steve. Resistive touch-screens CAN be used with gloves on. Although it took me a good while to find the right gloves. A very warm-but-thin lycra/thinsulate blend from Tchibo - designed to be a winter running glove in case anyone actually cares. They also have a "Key flap" built in to the palm in which I can keep a retractable stylus just in case.

morpheus2702 wrote:I just can't wait until the sequel - 'Bluetooth vs Infra Red - can both parties win?' 😊

Everyone knows that Bluetooth is a new fangled thing that will never catch on. Bit like mobile phones in general. We'll all be using tin cans with string in 5 years I tell you!

Ok, I have just read through all these comments on a Symbian website and cannot help but wonder why an Apple Fanboy in the guise of Iain 117 even bothers reading this website? The word troll comes to mind... Or perhaps he is just desperate to read what he is missing out on? 😉

Anyway I enjoyed this article even though I personally am not convinced by either version of touch screen and personally still prefer the good old keypad! I think the article went a fair way in convincing me that my way of thinking is not bad considering the cons of both touch screen types.

On the plus side, a resistive layer over a plastic screen does make for a device that's generally robust and unlikely to be damaged by a fall.

Well, actually, most (if not all) real-world (that is, used in current - and past - touchscreen devices) resistive touchscreens use glass and not plastic. That is, they're vulnerable to drops too.

""But you are clearly a current device fanboy - whatever you have is the best out."

Doesn't that apply to most people ? After all, if it wasn't the best choice, why would I buy it 😊"

Finally someone with common sense, thanks Zubar (Y)"

just because its the best phone out in someones opinion (some people might disagree so dont say it as if its fact) doesnt mean it has everything someone needs. no phone that i know has everything i want so i go for what has most and what is at a reasonable price. i have the money for an iphone (i have tried it and did like it 😊) but even though i have the money i still wont buy one because i wouldnt pay �400 or above for a phone unless it had every single thing i wanted (even take place of my laptop). so even if somethings the best out in someones opinion (maybe most people i dont know and dont care) doesnt mean its the best choice for example i have a nokia 5800 because it has good speakers. if the iphone had speakers as good as the nokia 5800 i might consider but still wouldnt definately buy it because i dont like that apple like to control everything. ps i am not a nokia fanboy before anyone says so because i have also had samsungs, sony ericssons, motorola (only one and that was the rzr v3i and kept crashing so im never going back to them) and htc.

There is rumor that Nokia 5800 May Soon Get New Capacitive Touchscreen... i know one website that says so...

so wait and watch....

[The example is often given of Nokia choosing to use resistive touch screens on the 7710, the 5800 XpressMusic and the N97 because they're Finnish, where it's very cold and people wear gloves, therefore they have to use a screen tech which works with gloved hands. This is all very cute but doesn't really beat scrutiny. Using even a resistive screen with outdoor-gloved hands is just about impossible.]

People wearing gloves may not be able to use their fingers, but they are perfectly capable of using a stylus, thus making a resistive touhscreen preferable.

Hi, I don't usually post on these things but it is starting to get a bit annoying all this capacitive/resistive stuff.

I will be honest I am looking at getting the N97 but this was not before I have looked and looked for something better.

My criteria is, Wi fi, GPS, compass, GOOD video recording and photos, physical QWERTY keyboard, Facebook, Picasa and good email access for several accounts, plenty of room for music and vids, Sat Nav, touch screen a bonus for moving around web and pictures etc.

I have been eagerly awaiting the the N97 but it is not a foregone conclusion. I have been waiting and hoping for something that would sway me away from it, but no, nothing has come along.

I have tried out the Iphone and while the glam appeal of a nice soft touch screen is nice it soon wears off when you realise how limited the iphone actually is. I was hoping I would be impressed by the Iphone but sadly found it lacking. I liked the touch screen for scrolling around lovely, but when you try and get more accurate I was not impressed. Using a screen keyboard is just not for me either. I found it was fairly difficult typing fast without the wrong keys being selected. (maybe this would improve with use?) However the fact remains it is a flat surface so you do not get that feel of a keypad which is so useful when typing on any style keyboard.

I currently use a N95 8gb and have found the camera and Video great. I know it is only 5mp but the pictures show on a full screen well and the video does not stutter or pixelate and holds up well on a full size screen. I am not a Nokia fanboy or any fanboy for that matter, I have used all sorts of phones in the past, SE, Samsung, Nokia, Iphone, Blackberry etc. All I am a fan of is a device which will do all (or as much as possible) of the things I need and would use it for.

After all this talk about the resistive screens being no good I went in search of the 5800 to try out. I was surprisingly pleased with the way it worked. Again it baffles me a bit as to why people are so worried about having to press slightly harder on a screen to make it register when we all use computer keyboards, phone pads, lift buttons etc etc. we all seem to be able to push these buttons a lot harder than needed for any touchscreen!

Anyway my whole point here is I am more interested in the phones features and what it can do. At present the N97 has the best feature list for me (this wont be the case for all I am sure) and I would be considering it if it was either capacitive or resistive. The other features are not matched elsewhere.

If a phone comes out or is announced before that can handle all the functions of the N97 then that will be in the running. not because I have to press slightly softer or harder on the screen!

Facts about the two touch technologies:

Resistive is less durable, it is a mechanical interface, i.e. pressing the top surface to make contact with bottom surface. It works with gloves. less light transmission than capacitive. I am on my second RT on SE960i - first one died completely, second is already fogging - less than one year.

The capacitive you are discussing here is actually "projected capacitive", this is a different technology than standard capacitive. It is very durable as the conductive coatings are all on the rear of the glass and are therefore not suject to wear and tear. I'm not sure what the substrate used is on this phone but I think it is glass and therefore as durable as normal glass - very hard to scratch. Some PC touchscreens work with gloves, but need to be calibrated with the glove on - this leads to touches being activated prior to an ungloved finger touching the screen.

I work with touch screens - my opinion for what it's worth - go for capacitive - resistive is the poor boy!

i heard that the nokia 5800 is going to put a capacitive screen on it instead of the resistive one it already has to compete with the iphone

I have long nails as a female, and would find the capacitive touchscreen practically impossible to use. I will buy an iphone, when and if, they offer a resistive touchscreen. Until then, I will stick with Nokia and will probably get the N97 with its resistive touchscreen!

The bottom line is "CHOICE", if it (whatever device you chose) works for you (Cost, features, function or some combination thereof, etc), then that's all that matters...

you have all forgotten that women use mobile phones and the resistive screen is better as we have nails, I boughtgt a samsung toco and never used it i now have a nokia 5800 and its great I also like the HTC pro 2 but it cost too much, Nicola

Yeah its resistive and it works fine with me, the main problem I have with is the constant need to wipe with touch screens so that's why I have made the most of the hard buttoned keypad... Means I can pause the movie I'm watching send a text and then continue watching withought having to get my microfibre cloth out and remove fingermarks from the screen!

Also when I'm taking notes (in short hand) with the handwriting (stylus)

I guess it just feels more comfortable (like a pen and pad) rather than thumb wrestling myself.

Hi,

I don't remember reading a entire post about something before, but I just went thru all 4 pages of this Resistive vs Capacitive Touchscreen post.

The reason for that is that I was thinking if I should give up my N95 and buy the 5800 instead?
Touch screen has always fascinated me, but I think I would lookout more for the features a device offers... I understand today's devices offer very fancy ways of scrolling, zooming in/out, flipping etc. with ur hands/stylus and everyone gets impressed cus its a new tech not seen in the past.

So while I was comparing my N95's features with that of the 5800, I didn't find the 5800 lacking too much, except the camera being 3MP as compared to 5MP on the N95. But I think I read that both devices record video @ 30fps, so maybe its not much different in that sense. I'm not sure about the image quality though. But you cannot expect a mobile phone's integrated camera to be as good as the cameras available today.. right? It's just that they are handy; u don't have to carry a separate device in everyday life.

I need a little advice on this:
Well we know that touch-screen phones sound like delicate devices; very fragile as compared to the ones with physical keypads. So maybe they are more prone to damage and may render a device useless.
If a phone with a physical keypad falls, it's body might get damaged, screen might get scratched etc, but atleast u can still use/access it's features (unless the camera lens gets damaged) thru the physical keypad.
But what if a touch-screen phone slips out of ur hand or pocket.. ?? won't it be more likely to suffer greater as compared to the one with a physical keypad?
As there are no physical keys, a damage to the screen means that not only would the display suffer (as would be the case with phones with physical keypad) but your only interface with the phone might be disfunctional to.

So that's why I think I'd prefer I device not has a touchscreen but also offers a keypad for interacting with the phone so atleast its not completely 'interface-less'. I might not have think too much if the 5800 had some physical keypad too (maybe sliding, etc.)
And also I think it might be easier to write with a single-hand on a phone with a physical keypad as compared to a touchscreen one.

But in the price range of 5800, I think it's a very feature rich phone? Others just cost too much.
A couple of other devices inline with 5800 and within the same price range, I think are the 5530 XpressMusic which is also a touch-screen only and 5730 XpressMusic; but it's not touch-screen and has 2 Keyboards instead - but I just quoted it here inline with 5800 cus of its features, I think they are very similar.

Last but not the least, not everyone I think would be willing to spend too much on a gadget just because its so fancy and trendy. It's expected to be replaced with something better are fancier in the future anyways. So thats what makes 5800 even more attractive as its not that expensive as compared to other touchscreen phones out there in the market today.

Any thoughts/comments on what I just wrote?
Thanks.

besides being more sensitive to touch, the other advantage is that it allow more light to pass through.

but the iphone is such a good touchscreen not solely due to its capacitive screen.

the scratch proof glass coating and the touch optimized os also contribute to the great user experience.
and capacitive screen allows multitouch which allows faster and more intuitive text entry (you don't have to lift your finger before typing the next letter)

like some have commented, i feel nokia didn't use capacitive simply because they are cheapskates trying to save a buck.
and even though they started using it on the x6, its still a long way to go to optimize s60 for touch. it only took them how long to realise people want kinetic scrolling?

What about my astronomy star chart software? Where I need to click on one star, of ten that lay inside of a square centimeter? How exactly do you propose to implement that UI on a capacitive screen? Will you come up with some kind of mind reading interface where the phone will read my mind to know which of the ten stars I meant?

Unregistered wrote:Low prices. Have you been following the news?

Wrong. Gloves are bad on capacitive and resistive. Forget touch, buttons are the way. One handed simple operation that doesn't require you to hold the thing in front of your face.

You are wrong!!! Gloves are friendly only with RESISTIVE touch screens, not with capacitive. Because capacitive touch screens work by sensing the electrical properties of the human body, alt/ly resistive are using electrical layers so when you press the screen those layers are coming into contact which creates an electrical connection.

I have a G1 (with a capacitive touchscreen) and my brother has a LG KP500 (with a resistive touchscreen). I have used his phone a few times and it has a few scratches on the screen, broken pressure points, is way less accurate than my phone (except when using a stylus, which I actually quite like) and is harder to use. I think that unless you live somewhere where you need to wear gloves all the time, a capactive touch screen is better

Hey All,

Surely, with the release of the Pogo Stylus for the iPhone, resistive touch screens are now dead? Capacitive touch, on all interfaces, is far more user friendly, and in the 21st Century, who still wants to be using a stylus? The iPhone allows for the option of both, as most phones do, but is completely finger friendly. Capacitive touch IS the future, resistive touch is dead.

Just google Pogo Stylus if you're interested. It's awesome 😊

Oh dear, oh dear.
Iain 117, Hav u even laid your hands on the 5800?
It is an amazing device! My parents both have iPhones, and I have a 5800. We also hav a spare HTC Touch diamond (1). The 5800 XM has an amazing screen. I am not saying the iPhone doesn't, but the 5800's is as good. What with the firmware for 5800 v40.0.005, it is darn good. It has kinetic scrolling like the iPhone, and you can actually use your fingerpad to some extent. And whoever says resistive doesn't support multi touch, u're wrong! A hobbyist has lauched the game space dancer (type it in gooogle) for 5800, and its got no bugs, and its been approved by Nokia.

I totally support blartman in the sense that you're pretty snobish. The 5800 is cheaper, and i chose that. my parets could have bought me an iphone, but i chose not. And some other button phones like the 5130 XM are amazing, way better than many phones, but they cost hardly anything. I had a 3500 classic which cost bout 300 US dollars. It had an XM music player and a 2 mp camera with evrything. I could have bought a blackberry with the same features, but I chose not. dOES that make me poor?
Think bout it, ya prick

Unregistered wrote:I'm not sure the actual difference between the two technologies is all that great,.

you could not be more inaccurate from the truth. the technologies are completly different other than they require user input.

Mods wrote:Hi,

I need a little advice on this:
Well we know that touch-screen phones sound like delicate devices; very fragile as compared to the ones with physical keypads.

if a particular key contact becomes defective it will be just as inoperatble in many aspects as a touch cscreen..

http://www.interlinkelectronics.com/force_sensors/technologies/resistive-versus-capacitive.html

I'm trying to be neutral.Don't judge me.
It's about choice , everybody (this is for the biased). Don't show of your comment like someone emotionally fool.
Everything invented is cool but of course it's impossible to suits everybody taste.
But be nicer, put on something that is more motivating and positive. Bring new ideas to turn dislikes to likes.
For exp. how to get resistive makes multi touch; or how to make capacitive more accurate.

One more.Get more reading before posting anything. Don't be an ignorant - even if the net community don't know who u are. Respect yourself.

No offense. Peace!

i have wet hands sometimes...
cant use capacitive when my hand is wet... 😃

and its hard to make precision input with capacitive...

so for me the resistive win 😊