@candrea - what exactly was so much better about the N97 than the iPhone? It is an interesting position that you loved iPhone the interface, called it a toy, and kept the N97 over it. I am seriously asking because I went from the 1st gen iPhone to a N85 because my iPhone broke. I do realize all of the technical capabilities of the N85 (and other N series phones) however the experience using the phone is night and day for me. The iPhone did not have everything (1st gen did not have 3g, no A2DP, no video, etc, etc) - but even without these things, I felt that it was a much, much better experience.
I waited for the N97 (like I waited for the X1) and have not seen one good review on it. It's not just engadget that has bad things to say. And, funny enough, it seemed like engadget wanted to see it succeed also - but it just plain disappointed them.
All of that said, I am still really curious as to what makes it good enough to spend even $600 for. (I chose that as I paid this for the 1st gen iPhone). And, just to baseline the comparison - the iPhone (32GB) with similar plan as my unlimited N85 data plan w/200 texts on AT&T would cost $539 ($299 + extra $10/mo x 24 months). N97 on Amazon is $624.99.
I am just not seeing reviews that explain why anyone would choose to buy this phone. If you need a full qwerty - buy a BBerry, or an E series Nokia if that's your brand of gin. I know everyone talks about multitasking, but my experience is that I can drain my battery on the N85 in less than 4 hours with too many apps open - so I am not sold on this concept either.
How can you compare a touch device to a non-touch device? I agree N85 had it's own set of problems, but it far from being a bad phone. I had a N95 before iPhone and in my opinion it was a far better phone for me. It satisfied what I was looking for in terms of connectivity, basic functionality (Forwarding SMS, MMS and a whole slew of email connections right out of the box).
I had a 1st generation iPhone and I can related to what you and Candrea are talking about. The interface and the whole touch experience is nice to have...What makes apple good is the whole apps thing. Everything is around apps for apple and to me that's the best selling point for a lot of people out there than the whole phone thing. The other thing I don't like about apple iPhone on AT & T is the connectivity. (I don;t blame apple at all on this one....It's all AT & T). When you charge 30$/month for data service then at least provide a decent coverage nationwide. It was a joke rolling 3G last year, when only 10 big markets were on 3G band and the monthly price increased from 20 to 30$ for 3G service. That to me was a pure scam and crime from AT & T and apple. Now, one spends 12 * 30 = (360 *2) = 720 + 300 (phone) =1020$ not counting taxes and voice plan to top it over 2 years and the service I get is just not worth it. My wife has an 3G iPhone and I did a lot of test to see the speed of my 3G reception and during my 2-3 days of testing at different times resulted in a 12% increase in data speed compared to EDGE service. 12%. That's right and I live in one of the three best 3G metropolis city in east coast. Now, why should I spend so much money on a phone and be binded to the contract when I get an unlocked phone for 200$ more then iPhone 3GS and spend less than half the money on a 15$ data plan? I agree with someone on this forum, that most of the apps are waste of time and money. I am not gamer, so don't play much games on iPhone. About engadget. I heard the podcast and I couldn't agree that is was Nokia N97 bashing experiment. I believe someone laughed hysterically and maniacally during the podcast when they discussed installing nokia messaging after purchasing the N97 phone...I didn't hear the same laughs when there was no SMS, no bulk forwarding in the 1st generation phone...I almost believe, that engadget makes money for apple and vice-versa. I am not no S60 fan...but that's just an observation...that there isn't a single day without an article of iPhone in the past 2 years! About Nokia N97...BTW..Nokia N97 is a new phone. Give it a month and you might get the phone for 450$ for unlocked version and that makes it even more compelling to buy a stress and hassle-free contract for a decent hardware and software phone.I have an unlocked W995 and love it.
@Ineed911- Lets see...since I owed both the iPhone and the N97. I can tell you why I like the N97 a better than the iPhone. I can't compare with the N85 since I never owned that phone. I did have an brief overlap with the HTC mogul but I chose the iPhone. Althought the specs on the HTC was better, I got pulled in by the flashy UI of the iphone and the Apps.
Why I like N97 Better:
Sound Quality during calls Real 3g bars (not fake ones after updates) I live in a "dark orange" 3g area where it should be the highest. However when I was on the iPhone in certain parts of the house, my calls would drop or I would sound jarbled to the other person.
Tether for $15 a month (AT&T will probably charge $30) Multitasking Apps outside of the branded store w/o "jail breaking" Send pictures,videos,and music via messaging Send contacts, pics, music, videos, music via blue tooth Live video feeds to internet 5mp camera (with flash!) 2nd camera (one to check my make up) Physical keyboard Adobe flash Handwriting Have my Emails and texts read to me (Don't know if "There's an App for that" but N97 does that out of the box) Built in FM radio Built in FM transmitter Comes with Compass Comes with GPS (with speech) Home screen that updates TV output Video recording 32 gigs(don't need to mention that it's expandable because I currently don't need it) On screen and physical camera button. I love the physical one because it works like a real camera. When you press it lightly it focuses and gives you an indicator of when to take the picture for the best results. Different camera modes and scenes. You can automatically upload your pics/videos online right from the camera options. Having different storage/drive options
Things that I would love to improve on the N97 User Interface Music section, can't complain really. I didn't use my to the ipod section on my iPhone much. Still waiting for real integration with Skype that they promised. Not the fake/lite version that only uses wi-fi or phone minutes. To be able to use video calling features built in. (I know that has to do more with being in US and data restrictions) Ovi store is sad
Those are the features I use daily. I haven't gotten into the other stuff as much yet. Browser is at least 3x faster. I think that may be because I use Opera Mini on N97. I did not get a chance to use Opera on my iPhone.
Also, I can't use any personal comparison to the iPhone 3Gs, but in my opinion the N97 functionality still blows it away. Like I said, the UI on the iPhones are the best but I need to do more than look at my phone. I expect it to do a lot more.
I have to also mention that when I had my iPhone, I purchased an Nokia n810 internet tablet and a Netbook. I found myself wanting to do more without lugging a laptop around. I have since sold the Nokia n810 and my iPhone. I don't carry my Netbook as much anymore but it's nice to know that I can have internet where ever I have phone service without paying $60 a month for the data plan that is capped at 5g.
The phone has 256MB of RAM and a 1GHz processor, which do the job reasonably well, though the Anna interface will likely leave something to be desired for many smartphone users.
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@candrea - what exactly was so much better about the N97 than the iPhone? It is an interesting position that you loved iPhone the interface, called it a toy, and kept the N97 over it. I am seriously asking because I went from the 1st gen iPhone to a N85 because my iPhone broke. I do realize all of the technical capabilities of the N85 (and other N series phones) however the experience using the phone is night and day for me. The iPhone did not have everything (1st gen did not have 3g, no A2DP, no video, etc, etc) - but even without these things, I felt that it was a much, much better experience.
I waited for the N97 (like I waited for the X1) and have not seen one good review on it. It's not just engadget that has bad things to say. And, funny enough, it seemed like engadget wanted to see it succeed also - but it just plain disappointed them.
All of that said, I am still really curious as to what makes it good enough to spend even $600 for. (I chose that as I paid this for the 1st gen iPhone). And, just to baseline the comparison - the iPhone (32GB) with similar plan as my unlimited N85 data plan w/200 texts on AT&T would cost $539 ($299 + extra $10/mo x 24 months). N97 on Amazon is $624.99.
I am just not seeing reviews that explain why anyone would choose to buy this phone. If you need a full qwerty - buy a BBerry, or an E series Nokia if that's your brand of gin. I know everyone talks about multitasking, but my experience is that I can drain my battery on the N85 in less than 4 hours with too many apps open - so I am not sold on this concept either.
Interested in your thoughts.
Ineed911
How can you compare a touch device to a non-touch device? I agree N85 had it's own set of problems, but it far from being a bad phone. I had a N95 before iPhone and in my opinion it was a far better phone for me. It satisfied what I was looking for in terms of connectivity, basic functionality (Forwarding SMS, MMS and a whole slew of email connections right out of the box).
I had a 1st generation iPhone and I can related to what you and Candrea are talking about. The interface and the whole touch experience is nice to have...What makes apple good is the whole apps thing. Everything is around apps for apple and to me that's the best selling point for a lot of people out there than the whole phone thing. The other thing I don't like about apple iPhone on AT & T is the connectivity. (I don;t blame apple at all on this one....It's all AT & T). When you charge 30$/month for data service then at least provide a decent coverage nationwide. It was a joke rolling 3G last year, when only 10 big markets were on 3G band and the monthly price increased from 20 to 30$ for 3G service. That to me was a pure scam and crime from AT & T and apple. Now, one spends 12 * 30 = (360 *2) = 720 + 300 (phone) =1020$ not counting taxes and voice plan to top it over 2 years and the service I get is just not worth it. My wife has an 3G iPhone and I did a lot of test to see the speed of my 3G reception and during my 2-3 days of testing at different times resulted in a 12% increase in data speed compared to EDGE service. 12%. That's right and I live in one of the three best 3G metropolis city in east coast. Now, why should I spend so much money on a phone and be binded to the contract when I get an unlocked phone for 200$ more then iPhone 3GS and spend less than half the money on a 15$ data plan?
I agree with someone on this forum, that most of the apps are waste of time and money. I am not gamer, so don't play much games on iPhone.
About engadget. I heard the podcast and I couldn't agree that is was Nokia N97 bashing experiment. I believe someone laughed hysterically and maniacally during the podcast when they discussed installing nokia messaging after purchasing the N97 phone...I didn't hear the same laughs when there was no SMS, no bulk forwarding in the 1st generation phone...I almost believe, that engadget makes money for apple and vice-versa. I am not no S60 fan...but that's just an observation...that there isn't a single day without an article of iPhone in the past 2 years!
About Nokia N97...BTW..Nokia N97 is a new phone. Give it a month and you might get the phone for 450$ for unlocked version and that makes it even more compelling to buy a stress and hassle-free contract for a decent hardware and software phone.I have an unlocked W995 and love it.
@Ineed911- Lets see...since I owed both the iPhone and the N97. I can tell you why I like the N97 a better than the iPhone. I can't compare with the N85 since I never owned that phone. I did have an brief overlap with the HTC mogul but I chose the iPhone. Althought the specs on the HTC was better, I got pulled in by the flashy UI of the iphone and the Apps.
Why I like N97 Better:
Sound Quality during calls
Real 3g bars (not fake ones after updates)
I live in a "dark orange" 3g area where it should be the highest. However when I was on the iPhone in certain parts of the house, my calls would drop or I would sound jarbled to the other person.
Tether for $15 a month (AT&T will probably charge $30)
Multitasking
Apps outside of the branded store w/o "jail breaking"
Send pictures,videos,and music via messaging
Send contacts, pics, music, videos, music via blue tooth
Live video feeds to internet
5mp camera (with flash!)
2nd camera (one to check my make up)
Physical keyboard
Adobe flash
Handwriting
Have my Emails and texts read to me (Don't know if "There's an App for that" but N97 does that out of the box)
Built in FM radio
Built in FM transmitter
Comes with Compass
Comes with GPS (with speech)
Home screen that updates
TV output
Video recording
32 gigs(don't need to mention that it's expandable because I currently don't need it)
On screen and physical camera button. I love the physical one because it works like a real camera. When you press it lightly it focuses and gives you an indicator of when to take the picture for the best results.
Different camera modes and scenes.
You can automatically upload your pics/videos online right from the camera options.
Having different storage/drive options
Things that I would love to improve on the N97
User Interface
Music section, can't complain really. I didn't use my to the ipod section on my iPhone much.
Still waiting for real integration with Skype that they promised. Not the fake/lite version that only uses wi-fi or phone minutes.
To be able to use video calling features built in. (I know that has to do more with being in US and data restrictions)
Ovi store is sad
Those are the features I use daily. I haven't gotten into the other stuff as much yet. Browser is at least 3x faster. I think that may be because I use Opera Mini on N97. I did not get a chance to use Opera on my iPhone.
Also, I can't use any personal comparison to the iPhone 3Gs, but in my opinion the N97 functionality still blows it away. Like I said, the UI on the iPhones are the best but I need to do more than look at my phone. I expect it to do a lot more.
I have to also mention that when I had my iPhone, I purchased an Nokia n810 internet tablet and a Netbook. I found myself wanting to do more without lugging a laptop around. I have since sold the Nokia n810 and my iPhone. I don't carry my Netbook as much anymore but it's nice to know that I can have internet where ever I have phone service without paying $60 a month for the data plan that is capped at 5g.
Wow, that was long, sorry.