Recommend me a Windows Mobile phone as good as Nokia N95?

[Guest Restorer]

I have been with WM for a few years now (SPV C500 and then C600). I am quite taken by the N95 (especially its camera) but don't really want to have to get to grips with the vagaries of the Symbian OS as I need to it synchronize reliably with Outlook.

Can I get anything similar from a UK network that runs Windows Mobile?

As well as phone functions I would need:

Decent camera

3G

Good mp3/video player

Good size/resolution screen

Quad band

GPS (or at least ability to run TomTom6)

FM radio (not a dealbreaker)

Wifi

Thanks.

[Guest jimbouk]

Kaiser has all of the above except fm radio... and the camera is a 3mp auto focus but its not good in low light.

[Guest Restorer]

Kaiser has all of the above except fm radio... and the camera is a 3mp auto focus but its not good in low light.

Thanks I will look into its specs. Do you know what are its other names for UK providers? At first sight it looks like it is a good deal bulkier than the N95?

[Guest mark4130]

Thanks I will look into its specs. Do you know what are its other names for UK providers? At first sight it looks like it is a good deal bulkier than the N95?

Having gone from a M3100 to an N95, I would be wary of doing so again.... the N95 camera is good and it surfs sooooo fast, but button mis-hits on texting and a really unstable phone have pushed me back to my M3100.

The N95 is lovely to look at but the user experience doesnt match up.....

[Guest mandt]

Here's a size comparison of the Kaiser and N95

http://sizeasy.com/page/size_comparison/7501-Kaiser-vs-N95

Near as dammit the same width, Kaiser a little taller and N95 a little thicker. Real world there aint much between 'em

Uk network names for the Kaiser (in no particular order) are:

T-Mobile - MDA Vario III

Orange - HTC TyTn II

Vodafone - v1615

O2 - XDA Stellar (coming soon)

HTH

[Guest jimbouk]

The Kaiser (Tytn2/Vario3/v1615/o2 something or other) is heavier than the N95, but it brings true mobile broadband, qwerty keyboard and its not symbian..........

[Guest Restorer]

Near as dammit the same width, Kaiser a little taller HTH

hehe but not over a metre in height lol - someone got their mm's a little mixed up. ;)

That's a neat site - thanks for the link. Now, I can't find a forum here for the Kaiser - presumably it's a new model.

Anyone spotted any good deals? £99.99 on 12month Canary 30 is best I can find but not keen on Orange as their data costs seem very expensive.

I would want to use this phone for a fair bit of surfing - which network is currently cheapest? I'm thinking a webnwalk contract with TMobile might be the way to go?

[Guest mandt]

hehe but not over a metre in height lol - someone got their mm's a little mixed up. :D

;) Oh Yeah so I did :(

I'd agree with you that T-Mo are the network to go with, not just for data reasons but their CS is excellent. they even exchanged my old phone for a new one, after I'd upgraded

[Guest Menneisyys]

The Kaiser (Tytn2/Vario3/v1615/o2 something or other) is heavier than the N95, but it brings true mobile broadband, qwerty keyboard and its not symbian..........

Yup, MUCH heavier - 70g... and it lacks 3D acceleration, decent stereo speakers (they are really great on the N95), TV out, a REALLY decent camera (particularly when it comes to low-light videos) and, currently, its video playbck is sub-pr unless you use downsized, 320-wide videos (NOT original PAL / NTSC videos). As far as broadband is concerned, are you referring to the North-American behaviour of the N95? If you live in there, then, go for the Kaiser because, currently, the N95 8GB doesn't support broadband, "only" the N95-3.

Also see http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=342500 for more info on the current problems of the Kaiser

All in all, it's very hard to choose from between the two, particularly with the Nokia 8 GB out there, which no longer has the RAM and, consequently, the spontaneous reset problems.

I'd say if you absolutely MUST stay with Windows Mobile and/or you absolutely need a built-in thumbboard, go for the Kaiser; if you don't need them but want a great, lightweight gaming / entertainment device, go for the N95-3 or, if you aren't in North-America (see 3G), 8GB. The N95(-3 / 8 GB) is the first Nokia I really like - unlike their prev models.

[Guest Menneisyys]

Yup, MUCH heavier - 70g... and it lacks 3D acceleration, decent stereo speakers (they are really great on the N95), TV out, a REALLY decent camera (particularly when it comes to low-light videos) and, currently, its video playbck is sub-pr unless you use downsized, 320-wide videos (NOT original PAL / NTSC videos). As far as broadband is concerned, are you referring to the North-American behaviour of the N95? If you live in there, then, go for the Kaiser because, currently, the N95 8GB doesn't support broadband, "only" the N95-3.

Also see http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=342500 for more info on the current problems of the Kaiser

All in all, it's very hard to choose from between the two, particularly with the Nokia 8 GB out there, which no longer has the RAM and, consequently, the spontaneous reset problems.

I'd say if you absolutely MUST stay with Windows Mobile and/or you absolutely need a built-in thumbboard, go for the Kaiser; if you don't need them but want a great, lightweight gaming / entertainment device, go for the N95-3 or, if you aren't in North-America (see 3G), 8GB. The N95(-3 / 8 GB) is the first Nokia I really like - unlike their prev models.

Now I see you're in the UK; then, the missing North-American 3G in the N95 (8 GB) won't affect you.

[Guest Restorer]

I'd say if you absolutely MUST stay with Windows Mobile and/or you absolutely need a built-in thumbboard, go for the Kaiser;

My only real MUST is that it has to sync reliably with Outlook Contacts and Calendar. I understand the N95 can be rather hit and miss on this one?

[Guest Menneisyys]

My only real MUST is that it has to sync reliably with Outlook Contacts and Calendar. I understand the N95 can be rather hit and miss on this one?

Frankly, I don't know as I, not being a manager type ("just" a consultant / "know-it-all" type of a guy), don't need to use calendars / contacts and, therefore, don't synch them either. Look / ask around in the AAS / HoFo Symbian-related forums; they may be able to help. Links:

http://www.howardforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=177

http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=40

BTW, the latest, v20 ROM of the N95 is superb.... it's just impossible to describe how shockingly good and reliable the N95 has become now with the new firmware... with it, I no longer want a N95 8GB :(

[Guest Restorer]

Thanks for the links. It seems the N95 syncs OK with Outlook. Now you have me leaning back to the Nokia - the camera is a great attraction over the Kaiser but then the qwerty keyboard would make texting so much easier. Hmmmm. What about quality of music playback? Anyone had experience of both?

[Guest Samsonite]

i gotta admit, with all the speak of the latest firmware making the N95 much more stable, i am wanting one more and more over my Vox (too slow, no 3G and awful camera)...

one thing the Vox does have over the Nok is video format support (admittedly via TCPMP)... Is there an app out there that will play mpg and WMV's? what does the Nok play natively? I've read that it has a Realplayer of one form or another but i'm unsure what that will handle.

if only the Vox had the same camera as the N95, i wouldn't even be swaying but now the kids are out and about and getting into mischief i find the Vox camera really lacking...

[Guest Restorer]

Well all things considered I opted for the Kaiser. In the end Orange made me a good upgrade offer (£199 the phone and a £20 a month tariff with 400minutes) so I stayed with them.

I am very pleased so far although I still can't find much about Orange's internet rates. I'm sure I read somewhere there was a number you could dial then wait 1 hour and get reduced rates. I've tried a search but am beginning to think I might have dreamed it. Can anyone help on this one?

The handset is a little on the heavy side but more compact than the photos suggest. The camera is takes very decent snaps in daylight although it's very laggy. Now I just need to get fixed up with a 4gb memory card, a decent screen protector (the one that comes with it won't stick flat) and a headphone adapter and I'll be away.

Thanks to everyone for the help and advice.

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

Yeah, my biggest complain with the Kaiser is the weight, it's not actually that physically large.

P

[Guest Monolithix]

The only data options for Orange Contract are £8/30MB any time browsing a month, or £5/25MB (daily) evening and weekend browsing a month. I think theres a £1 unlimited for a day option too but don't quote me on that!

Edit: good choice on the Tytn II though, btw :(

[Guest Menneisyys]

Thanks for the links. It seems the N95 syncs OK with Outlook. Now you have me leaning back to the Nokia - the camera is a great attraction over the Kaiser but then the qwerty keyboard would make texting so much easier. Hmmmm. What about quality of music playback? Anyone had experience of both?

1, use an external BT keyboard - for example, the ThinkOutside Stowaway. Opening it and starting to type takes about 5-10 seconds at most, it's pretty light and very small - while, when opened, a full-size (!) laptop keyboard. No drivers needed - the N95 supports it without any additional drivers.

2, the built-in Music Player is pretty good and battery-friendly (see for example my related power usage measurements at http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php...p;tb=1&pb=1 - sorry for the external link, as it's mostly Symbian-related stuff, I didn't want to cross-post it here). Because I use A2DP, I only use it to listen to music - not my HTC Vox / s710 any more. (The latter has a definitely worse-quality A2DP implementation.) No problems with it either - except for the fact that the Vox is able to play for 8-10 hours with a charge over A2DP, while the N95 for "only" 6 (without BT, 8-9). This is, IMHO, a small price to pay for the definitely increased A2DP sound quality and lower weight.

[Guest Menneisyys]

one thing the Vox does have over the Nok is video format support (admittedly via TCPMP)... Is there an app out there that will play mpg and WMV's? what does the Nok play natively? I've read that it has a Realplayer of one form or another but i'm unsure what that will handle.

WMV is lacking (albeit the CorePlayer folks promised they would implement it in a future version); everything else is supported (thru CorePlayer). I'm continuously publishing my multi-OS (WinMo, Palm OS, Symbian) Multimedia Bible chapters; the next one will be about H.264 and video playback in general.

You can find these articles in the Smartphone General forum here at MoDaCo.