Communicator head to head: The Nokia 9500, E90, E75 and N97

As you know, I loved the E90 - and still do in many respects - but I can't use it anymore. My eyes have, I think, just got older and even when the inside screen is zoomed up (using Web) I struggle to read the fonts. The resolution is *so* good that it's *too* good. It's a matter of physics, I guess - if it needs to be zoomed up enough to read, I can't take advantage of being able to see the whole webpage 'as designed' but rather a portion. Now with a touch screen, that might make 'swooping' in and out (iPhone/Hero sytle) easier and quicker to achieve. But as we've said many times before, Nokia aren't going to develop the Communicators any more. Ho hum! Great comparison, BTW.

I think the bit you left out was PIM functionality � worthy of an article on its own. I have on my desk a Psion series 3a, a Nokia 9300 and Nokia E71. On the one hand the E71 excels from a technology point of view, but a comparison of PIM functionality would give a completely different perspective, with the 3a coming first by a mile, then the 9300 and the E71 a poor third. How about doing a comparison of the diary and contacts functionality (including synchronisation with Outlook and other diaries), Steve? Then following this up in each review of a new phone to see how it measures up, not only to the 3a, but also to the iPhone, Palm and others PIM offerings...?

Hello,

N97 is not communicator!!!!!!!!! terrible unit, not for business use.

I own the rest, and I think best of all was 9300 which was perfect size, good PIM, and really communicator. Today I use E71, and it's too small, and PIM is less good, but excellent connectivity.

It was wrong of Nokia to drop the communicator family due to the failure of E90 (their mistake), while the market buys more and more sophisticated phones, and market share shows how Nokia is diving down, and loosing the market. More and more business people drops Nokia and change to other manufacturers. RIM became very strong over Nokia due to that Nokia failed to understand business market and needs.

Isaac

Agree with Isaac... Nokia should do an 9300 upgrade... not N97... but the same form factor and the same OS, well balanced for communicator style.

Same here , agreed . S80 is not a old , non-working platform for "modern" times . I like the "Menu" interfaces . Next commi should be a 9500 with 9210 keyboard , with modern hardware and E90 hinges .

😊 Regards jApi NL

iscogd wrote:
N97 is not communicator!!!!!!!!! terrible unit, not for business use.

I think that in terms of the form factor, you could class the N97 as Communicator. It's not necessarily part of the Communicator family but it has some similar traits

At the start you pose the question which if any of these phones is a a true successor to the Psions. Though each iteration from the Series 3 to the E90 has been a two steps forward, one back exercise, I have had them all and strongly feel the E90 is the only one carrying the flag. For business use there is nothing like it as a replacement for everything, particularly a laptop. I never take anything else on business trips.
If the E90 is really the end of the Psion / Communicator line that is very bad news for people like me, and I assume I am not alone in this. Even if it is a niche product there must be enough market for it to make development worthwhile. There is a dedicated customer group out there and it would be senseless for Nokia to alienate it.

well, the best keyboard was from 9210, best (sizewise) 9500..
all-in-all, teh S80 was a superb system and i am still longing for it..
Blackberry, E71, E90, they are all behind..

and the calendars are getting dumber, the sms functionality as well..

alas..

Agree with JGlazener above - there is nothing current or coming which has the same set of features as the E90 - large hi-res screen, full keyboard, and monster battery. There are many devices which have only two of the three - the closest is the N97, but the all three are inferior, and on top of that the build quality and firmware stability are inferior too.
I was initially excited by the N900 but now I believe it will fail like the other tablets - sincerely hope I'm wrong. I suspect the commie line is dead - the E90 is over two years old and no replacement announced - I suspect they think E75 & E71 will cover the market sector. E90 is too big for most people.

timsalmon wrote:As you know, I loved the E90 - and still do in many respects - but I can't use it anymore. My eyes have, I think, just got older and even when the inside screen is zoomed up (using Web) I struggle to read the fonts. The resolution is *so* good that it's *too* good. It's a matter of physics, I guess - if it needs to be zoomed up enough to read, I can't take advantage of being able to see the whole webpage 'as designed' but rather a portion. Now with a touch screen, that might make 'swooping' in and out (iPhone/Hero sytle) easier and quicker to achieve. But as we've said many times before, Nokia aren't going to develop the Communicators any more. Ho hum! Great comparison, BTW.

So what replaced your E90 Tim?

Nice article, Steve. 😊 Made me really miss my 9300...

I really don't get Nokia (and other players) approach to UI design..! Series 80 was, in my opinion, without a doubt The Best UI for a pocket-sized computer-phone. Why do I think it was the best? -Simply because it had a UI most resemblant that of a real computer - with the top drop-down menus (and the sidebar) with all the necessary functions laid out in a logical, easy-to-use manner.

So, why is it then when smartphones become more and more computer-like (with phones also promoted as such), Nokia (and others) move away from a clean computer-like menu layout, to a messy, clunky, illogical icon-based UI? Practically everyone has used a real computer way before smartphones started appearing, so why not make the UI more similar to a real computer menu layout, especially now that phones are meant to do almost everything your desktop/laptop computer does?

I was initially very excited with the release of the N900, only to find out that the UI has been dumbed-down (more s60-like) compared to the earlier Maemo internet tablets...

Perhaps I am being old fashioned, and that this is the way forward... I for one, just can't stand this trend... I'd like a powerful Communicator that works in many ways the same as OS X Tiger on my old Mac... I know, the iPhone (which I own) has made this whole icon based UI work really well. The only problem there is that the iPhone really can't act as a computer replacement, being too locked-down and simplistic, missing some essential features like easy file transfer, proper multitasking, customization options etc.

So, have I lost the plot completely here, am I missing something? Anyone? :dontknow:

EDIT: Oh yeah, about the phones in the article, I'd choose the E90. Even though I think S60 sucks donkey balls and I love the Series 80 interface much more, the 9300 is unfortunately a bit too outdated now; technology-wise...

Till now i cant find a proper device to replace my trusty E90...Communicator in my humble opinion mean large screen (E75 fail horribly) with decent QWERTY keyboard (N97 fail...even with the touch screen) and at least one day charging interval (N97 fail again).

While N97 has its own advantages over the Communicators in the multimedia species i cant see any advantages in the E75 beside the small things i dont care about.

May be am still young enough...i didnt use the 9300 neither S80.

Again in PIM comments...S60 is very poor in this field...even with 3rd party solutions.

Haven't you guys heard of the N900? I think its about to beat all of those models on just about every front. Its not perfect but it will be a direct contender to the iPhone for touchscreens.

'Unregistered' above - the iPhone has succeeded primarily because its software is very refined. I will have a tenner with you now that Maemo 5 is a basket case when the N900 launches, and that prediction is based on experience both of previous Maemos and every recent symbian Nokia.

N900 has a very short battery life and is almost twice as think as the iPhone, whilst weighing 30% more. Considerable disappointment will accompany the N900 into the market place beacause people are expecting a modern light, portable phone. It's too chunky and not meant to be a carry-everywhere device.

Still very happy with the E90 as a business tool. Purpose was mostly when I purchased E90 to not have to take a laptop on business travels. What I would like changed is:
faster processor
faster WI-Fi and bluetooth connection
bigger touchscreen/buttons on front (not all the "real estate" is used
better Browser with page down/up shortcuts
better camera button
email program a la ProfiMail
KCF

I've gone from the 9300i to now, a 5800, and also an N97, as well as an HTC Advantage. Of all the devices, the 9300i for me was the most complete device , the one that was closest to perfection, in terms of OS, form factor and UI. Nothing beats S80 for me, the menus were simple to navigate, there were hotkeys galore, Desk was customisable, it was just complete. S60 is a lightweight in comparison. And I loved the keyboard! 5 rows, all the small keys with a little hump in the middle, makes for a great keyboard! The N97s, though useable, pales in comparison.

I really think Nokia should give the E90 a last big update, perhaps in saying goodbye to it... and work on a replacement with the 9300i as a basis!

Two corrections in the list sir...

1) 9300i has T9 on cover..
2) E75 has only 1000mAh battery and not 1050mAh battery...

Thanks...

Though I have use almost all in the list, I consider only 9300i as communicator in this list... Because of Excellent PIM, hundreds of shortcut keys as in DESKTOP, PullDown Menus, Superb multitasking even with small amount of RAM, Escape key + Menu keys, FULL usage of Screen estate, FAX, FULL 5-row keyboard, and list is very big....

I always love the "such and such isn't a Communicator because..." arguments. "Communicator" is a word coined by Nokia for their own use, to describe a certain type of phone. I don't think they ever said it had to have 2 screens or a hinged screen or run a certain OS/UI, so it is whatever Nokia choose to call it.

I played with a friend's 9300 (before he moved to the Dark Side and bought an HTC Touch Pro), and was never particularly impressed with the overall feel, and it certainly didn't seem as pleasant to use as my E90, whatever the (claimed) advantages of the S80 interface.

I would have thought that there is plenty of place in the market for an E91, but I suspect that we will never see one, which I think is a great shame. I love my E90 and, after 2 years of intense use and one immersion in water, it is as good as new; there's certainly nothing wrong with the E90's build quality.

The main problem I have is being unable to update the FW to the latest v. 400.xx, as Nokia's updating mechanism is so cr*p that mine always fails; now that is something that Nokia REALLY need to look at...

The situation is SO bad that I keep thinking to revert back to my old Psion Revo+ in addition to some modern connectivity-reach smartphone with big screen and w/o keyboard (for GPS and WWW).

http://i003.radikal.ru/0910/03/651ee54497d9.jpg

Unregistered wrote:Two corrections in the list sir...
Because of Excellent PIM, hundreds of shortcut keys as in DESKTOP, PullDown Menus, Superb multitasking even with small amount of RAM, Escape key + Menu keys, FULL usage of Screen estate, FAX, FULL 5-row keyboard, and list is very big....

You will wonder, but: 9300 is worst communictor I even saw due to bad keyboard, weak PIM apps, fake desktop (no file-shortcuts there), SLOW.

buster wrote:The main problem I have is being unable to update the FW to the latest v. 400.xx, as Nokia's updating mechanism is so cr*p that mine always fails; now that is something that Nokia REALLY need to look at...

You missed nothing. After change of Product Code for my E90 I did successfull update. Nothing noticeable changed.

Steve, why not review Nokia Communicator 9500? instead of 9300i?
well i guess the 9300i was a way newer version of 9500 and the old 9300, but at least 9500 has a vga camera =)

yea, i reckon N97 isn't a communicator, just because it has a qwerty keyboard, i don't think that makes it one

It was good back in the old days when 9300i and 9500 were the communicators with Symbian S80, coz it differentiates them from the S60 ones like 6600,7610,6630 and so on..

When E90 came out, it disappointed many S80 users, yet bring joyful to some S80 users as well..

I personally think Nokia should have improved the Symbian S80, and make it different to S60, which will make it totally unique in it's own way =)

Great review by the way

buster wrote:The main problem I have is being unable to update the FW to the latest v. 400.xx, as Nokia's updating mechanism is so cr*p that mine always fails; now that is something that Nokia REALLY need to look at...

"Why not take it to a Nokia Care to get it updated like we used to do in the good old days - before NSU and FOTA came out. I am sure they will be able to do it properly."

That's a good point. I've never needed to do it before, so hadn't really considered it as a possibility....

Is here Linux-gury familiar to Psion? Please let us know: are there PIM applications somehow as good as Psion was? I mean: Contacts (with custom labels, flexible display modes), Data, Calendar, Jotter, Sheet (with REAL password protection), etc. If so, seems good idea to wait and buy smartbook (one recently released by Sharp) with GSM/GPRS plugin and no more dance with Nokia.

It is clear from many people's comments, including on this excellent site, that out of the devices highlighted for comparison on the subject, the Nokia E75 appears to be a very compelling offering as a good solid all rounder. I presume given the fast moving nature of the market, and the fact that Nokia is going to be more engaged in widening Maemo within its high end smartphone range, that S60 (most effectively shown in its non touch screen guise) will remain the robust practical and efficient OS for those wanting a productive working tool right out of the box. Certainly, it is therefore best suited to the E75. It would appear that it is the excellent combination of software and hardware in the E75 S60 arrangement that will appeal to many.

However, taking the theme of this discussion to a wider level, attention to this form factor will significantly increase in 2010 with the arrival of the "smartbooks" such as Qualcomm's offerings, which will aim to bridge the gap between smartphones and netbooks. Price and ease of use (ie keyboard comfort) will determine their success. Although I don't believe these devices will seriously affect sales of smartphones or netbooks which are continually going up, smartbooks could be here to stay.

For many of us, the main issue of ease of typing. If you want a device to be productive with and give you the opportunity to do document related work clearly for long and complex activities a netbook and not a smartphone is the only way to achieve this comfortably and efficiently. However, there will be those times when the ability to input text to a useful extent in a more rapid way that the T9 keypad arrangement is welcome and designing devices that can offer this functionality remains a challenge. The communicator line, etc should be applauded for trying to address this.

I've given up my 9300i for an I Phone 3Gs with Docs to Go,
which still has nowhere near the functionality of my Psion Revo.
It's frustrating but it's Symbian'd fault. Ther's a Market for handheld computers out there and they blew it

I have a UMID mBook which I thether to a phone over BT. There is a 3G version of the mBook as well but its too expensive. The mBook is slightly smaller than the Psion 5 and runs XP Pro and and very quick. See it here: http://digital-lifestyles.info/2009/02/23/umid-mbook-smallest-netbook-yet-with-48-inch-screen/

I have a black version with a 1.33 Ghz CPU from www.dynamism.com

I love, love, love the E90, and I'm going to keep using it until there's something better on the market. I've never used an S80 phone so perhaps I don't know what I'm "missing", but I think the E90's ability to work on the outer screen, flip the phone open and have everything instantly appear on the inner screen FAR outweighs any sort of PIM or "easy to use" advantages that the S80 phones might've had. S60 is more than easy enough to use, going from my E62 to the E90 took all of half a second to acclimate.

The E90 is a bit thick and a bit heavy, but it's also much narrower when closed than any WinMo slider, and it makes it surprisingly comfortable to hold while talking. Squarish phones like the E61 or Blackberrys are much less comfortable, I don't care how thin they are.

I think the dual screen clam shell form factor is perfect. The E75 with its shitty little screen and the N97 with its crap keyboard are PALE imitations of the E90's perfection. ALL sliders are flawed because the sliding mechanism takes up far too much space, and you're stuck with a tiny little 3 or 4 row keyboard.

Who would make a sliding laptop with a screen that couldn't adjust and the number row crammed into the Q-P row? Nobody. If a smartphone is trying to be a mini laptop, why should it be any different?

Last but not least, the E90 is hands down THE BEST gaming cell phone I have ever used. The E90 is a better GBA than the GBA. The big screen and the comfortable amount of space between the D-pad on the right and the left edge of the keyboard make playing Sword of Mana for hours fun instead of excruciating, as it would be on any other E series including the E75. You can have your iPhone, you can even have your nGage support. I don't miss it. Give me Quake 2, which the E90 runs beautifully.

Nokia, if you're listening, make an E95 with S60 FP2. Touch is not needed or wanted. Keep the form factor exactly the same, just give me N900 processing power, and keep the D-pad, no useless N900 arrow keys. Make the bezel around the inner screen smaller, and make the screen as big as absolutely possible. I don't care if its a bit thick or a bit heavy for the focus groups, I want a portable computer not a fashion accessory. And support for AT&T 3G would be nice. Charge whatever you want, I'll pay it.

Or, keep making phones like the E72 and N97 Mini, and my next phone will be from the first company smart enough to make an Android clam shell.

The great beauty of the 9500 was the dual capability between the phone face and the keyboard/large display - one could easily be in the midst of a letter - spreadsheet what have you and get a call - send a text - do what ever while still keeping the other work going.

The E90 which I do love - still has it drawbacks - not the least of which as any Blackberry user will tell you is the lack of the inbox/sent box threading - This is its worst failure especially when texting .. The other stuff listed above especially the "picture button" is all true and extremely annoying.
One should be able to fire off a picture fast.

It is the only really good business phone that allows one to actually do work.
I'd love it to be wider (effectively giving more height to the internal display) - this would really allow for a larger keyboard and more screen - It would still slide in to the pocket with ease - It could then probably be a bit thinner - Not that I care about the thickness- Yes, I get comments about the clunkiness from my family - but the fact is I really can do work they can't on their crackberry's.

Wifi could be faster etc,
It really is too bad the folks (minds) around the S80 9500 efforts could not be allowed to really design a great piece of gear. They were close - I am sure the code was just way too 'worked around' to be a foundation for the future - and so the S60 (logically) was built upon - Never the less - the basis - the thinking for great dual feature sets - combining truly
multiple activities with sufficient size and scale was coming - then one gets the sense that marketing rather than business users and engineers got control of the product.

Nokia can look at the amazing piece of work that Apple did choking on the market share it is giving up daily - then can go to Blackberry seeing its lunch being eaten so thoroughly and wonder how they let it happen- they have ceded the high ground and the 'smart' customers to lower margin business.