A confused buyer - N8 or iphone 4??

I have to confess I haven't used an iPhone but have handled one - very nice hardware.

However, if iPhone is anything like Bada and you're a fiddler, you could be barking up the wrong tree with the iPhone. I know its not really fair to compare iPhone and Bada, but to me they appear to offer a similar user experience. People swear by the iPhone (a tribal thing - same for Symbianista!) but it 'appears' to be too easy to use to me.

My experience with the Bada Samsung 8500 ended very quickly. Again, lovely hardware, but it was too simple to use! None of the nested, satisfying-to-navigate N8 menus with almost bullet-proof logic - on the Samsung you just scroll to icon, press and you get the function you're looking for. I was bored of the Samsung in three days and took it back to exchange for an N8. which has grown on me to become the most satisfying (and truly productive and efficient) Nokia I've ever had.

Everything just seems so right with the N8 - from the long-press in the menu to bring up drop-down menus with the functions you're most looking for to the superlative camera and build quality. Plus you have the excitement (and sometimes frustratedly long wait) of firmware updates on the N8 which bring extra functionality - and belief in the product for the user.

If you're a fiddler and enjoy downloading maps for offline viewing and surfing Ovi for games and software then you're sure to find anything other than the N8 unsatisfying. If you want a seamless to use, wonderfully well-made (and expensive) style icon, get the iPhone.

Well, that's my take on it.

Mud-slinging from iPhone afficionados invited! 😃

if you are seduced by the notion of apps, it's a no brainer: iPhone.

if you're going to use it for photos, multimedia, organisation and communication, it's a no brainer: symbian.

if it's somewhere in the middle of the two, god help you ;o)

I use the N8 as my personal phone - camera etc.

for me the N8 is far superior in these functions.

I use and recommend SPB mobile shell.

BUT for web-browsing, facebook and email I use the iPhone 4

for me the iPhone is far superior for those functions.

My iPhone is jail-broken and I have added several useful JB apps to it to make it a little more informative at a glance. eg. "Inteliscreen" which displays various items directly on the "lock" screen eg. SMS, weather, mail.

I would recommend waiting for the N8 firmware(PR2.0) upgrade. See what it brings in the form of web-browsing, email at least.

seki wrote:I use the N8 as my personal phone - camera etc.

for me the N8 is far superior in these functions.

I use and recommend SPB mobile shell.

BUT for web-browsing, facebook and email I use the iPhone 4

for me the iPhone is far superior for those functions.

My iPhone is jail-broken and I have added several useful JB apps to it to make it a little more informative at a glance. eg. "Inteliscreen" which displays various items directly on the "lock" screen eg. SMS, weather, mail.

I would recommend waiting for the N8 firmware(PR2.0) upgrade. See what it brings in the form of web-browsing, email at least.

Tend to agree.

Navigation is free on N8, a big plus for me; iPhone has google map, which rely heavily on data, which turns into liability for my local area.

Normally do a bit photo editing before uploading them online, iPhone's Facebook is undoubtedly easier, and faster than Nokia Social, still I prefer desktop version - N8's camera ensures you almost always capture usable pictures.

N8 is full of surprises, just realised could send text from my laptop via ovi suite - I'm sure iPhone is well equipped package - personally N8 is more suitable.

yeah, pretty sound comments above... maybe you should just get both 😉

If you want to carry a shiny new phone without casing, go N8. Because for iPhone4, you need a rubber casing around its edge to prevent the antenna problem (it's real). iPhone4 looks cool but those casings make it look cheap and funny.

If you are into Games, there are more on iPhone. However, most of the major games are also on N8. Check the OVI store if they are there.

If you are used to the E72 home screen notifications, N8 has it and surpass that by allowing more such as chat, email, SMS notifications. iPhone has notifications but no widgets to show info on the home screens.
For the browser, the most important decision will be flash sites. Do you access daily?
For browsing without flash, Opera is still the best, better than Safari in the sense that Opera is much easier to operate on the move.

Finally, if you want the freedom to load non-Apple contents easily onto your phone, N8 from memory card, USB+OTG, Bluetooth 3.0 is simply unbeatable by any phones out there.

** Also once you realise how good is the N8 photos and videos, you will cannot live without the HDMI. I mean how can one not share such good contents anytime anywhere **

Final note, since E72 has a nice vertical QWERTY which both the N8 and iPhone don't have, you might need to try both touch QWERTY to test. Note that N8 has no vertical QWERTY as of PR1.1.

@Samson432

The iPhone does have "vertical" or portrait qwerty keyboard. We will probably see this in the N8's PR2.0

You are right about the iPhone needing a case but there are a lot of cases and some look very attractive.
If I spend my own money on a smart-phone I always buy a good case for it, its the cheapest insurance you can get.

I vote for the iPhone 4 every time ... easy to use and very simple.

seki wrote:The iPhone does have "vertical" or portrait qwerty keyboard. We will probably see this in the N8's PR2.0

You are right about the iPhone needing a case but there are a lot of cases and some look very attractive.
If I spend my own money on a smart-phone I always buy a good case for it, its the cheapest insurance you can get.

iPhone 4 all the way. I owned both devices and it was N8 that was driving me crazy more, and this is coming from a long time Symbian user.