SF compared to N8 in terms of apps, screen, user experience? (not camera...)

[Guest dadashi]

I just wanted to know what you think of the SF compared to the nokia N8 in terms of user experience, screen, apps and so on.

But not the camera, that speaks for itself...

I've been eyeing the N8 up and I'm not sure what to think of it.

N8 screen seems to be slightly smaller, same height but slightly narrower. I think it's a normal TFT. And of course it's only got a 640x480 screen. And doesn't have the costumiseable homescreen android options...

Seems slower and not much fun to use, like a reliable old dog but doesn't really have that wow factor.

It has some interesting new ideas though, like hdmi, and usb host function for mediaplayer functionality...

But is the usb host function really useable? Can it load a 2,5" hard disc without extra mains adapter?

Can it play a variety of different film and music formats to justify using it as a mediaplayer. Like Divx, AVI, MKV, MPEG, FLV, Flac, etc...

Edited December 31, 2010 by dadashi

[Guest heavyduty00]

imo if you are willing to spend money on buying N8 which on a contract is like 30 quid a month, why dont you get something like desire hd/galaxy s/iphone which you can pretty much get for the same price a month and is much better than N8. I think the only thing that is good in N8 is camera and media stuff etc.

I think san fran is better since its android and very customiseable etc with very nice roms made for it.

Not sure about symbian though

And it has OLED screen and (640 x 360 )

[Guest Len Ash]

imo if you are willing to spend money on buying N8 which on a contract is like 30 quid a month, why dont you get something like desire hd/galaxy s/iphone which you can pretty much get for the same price a month and is much better than N8. I think the only thing that is good in N8 is camera and media stuff etc.

I think san fran is better since its android and very customiseable etc with very nice roms made for it.

Not sure about symbian though

And it has OLED screen and (640 x 360 )

Some older versions do - and the screen is 480x800

[Guest heavyduty00]

nah screen is 650 x 360..this is for N8 btw..

[Guest Victor von Zeppelin]

Aye, Nokia really dropped the ball on their smartphones. Other than camera wise, nothing compares well to the Blade, and indeed, Symbian vs. Android...Android thrashes it fairly and squarely. The N8 would only be a consideration if it ran android and was £80

[Guest Len Ash]

nah screen is 650 x 360..this is for N8 btw..

Rather unclear..! Happy New Year....

[Guest El Nino9]

agree with one of the post's above.

if you have money to buy a n8 then just buy 1 of the high end android devices mentioned rather then OSF

n8 is overpriced for what it offers, OSF is a bargin for what it offers.

[Guest dadashi]

OK... if N8 had android, a better 800x480 OLED screen and at least a 600Mhz cpu it would win because of the camera and the 16GB internal memory....

...with symbian :unsure: and a below average screen it's a no-brainer...

[Guest 90180360]

symbian :unsure:

Let it die already!

[Guest rayraven]

+1 to that, Nokia should go with Meego or Android

[Guest 6kle]

There is nothing wrong with Nokia N8. It has a lot of unique stuff going for it, most of it in various multimedia features. Hands down best camera ever seen in mobile phones, (dedicated pocket cam quality). HDMI-out is huge if you like to show video or pictures on a big screen from your phone. USB host (ofc it can't power every USB equipment out there because it's just a small mobile device but it opens all kinds of interesting possibilities) the so called "better phones for the same price" can't do those. Oh I forgot to mention it plays divx too... New Symbian is completely fine and it's getting nice improvements in January completely new (much better) browser and tons of small improvements. Don't forget Symbian is pretty damn well tuned for power saving and also optimized well to get all out of the phone hardware, which is why N8 runs smooth with 680 MHz processor (granted that the GPU seems to be really good) and it can do real multitasking (just don't try to run everything at the same time, it's not a desktop computer).

I bought ZTE Blade because it was cheap as chips and I really like it but I would have taken N8 in a heartbeat if it had been in the same price range (sadly it's nowhere near). Consider what you want from your phone and then decide what is best for you. Don't listen to blanket statements that say "this phone is better than that phone".

[Guest El Nino9]

OK... if N8 had android, a better 800x480 OLED screen and at least a 600Mhz cpu it would win because of the camera and the 16GB internal memory....

...with symbian :unsure: and a below average screen it's a no-brainer...

the screen isn't all that B)

its a good screen but just because its OLED it isn't god send. i can see the matrix on the san fransisco. i don't have that problem with the desire hd. or the desire with amoled screen. now the samsungs with their super amoled screens might have an amazing screen. but there's a lot more to hardware then mentioned above.

e.g. if you had a choice between a tv that was made by a complete unknown brand never herd off and a sony and there was only a small difference in price i bet you'd go for the sony.

so to put it straight, if N8 had android or meego on it it would work better for nokia.

[Guest 6kle]

I think a lot of people say their opinions about the new Symbian with zero user experience. It's either fashionable to say "it should die" or the opinions are based on experiences with the older versions, or worse, on the outdated looks of the stock UI that they have seen in some picture.

Since op asked advice about how it feels to use: You can customize N8 homescreens, add widgets, shortcuts, change wallpaper and all that stuff. Touchscreen is a smooth experience also and responds very well and everything rolls smooth on the screen, it's no worse than android on that front. The N8 I've tried belongs to my gf and she just got it so I haven't had a ton of first hand experience yet. It has a really good antenna design and it picks signals better than my ZTE Blade, better quality for making calls also (mic and speakers are better). Build quality is great, full aluminium body (except for top and bottom parts where it's plastic for better antenna reception purposes), "gorilla" glass screen.

Edited December 31, 2010 by 6kle

[Guest isambard]

i bought 3 blades, but my primary phone is going to switch back to the nokia e71. the phone isn't sexy but does many basic things much better than the blade:

- SIP client

- a good email client

- map with the ability to pre-download the whole world onto SD card

- battery life

i even prefer the opera browser to the browser on the blade sometimes because with keyboard navigation, it can be much quicker and more accurate (e.g. clicking on the 'next page' link on this forum for instance).

it's a shame nokia messed up so badly with developers. symbian is a decent platform.

i'm tempted to try the htc desire z. the ergonomics of the android phone would be much improved with a physical keyboard.

[Guest El Nino9]

i bought 3 blades, but my primary phone is going to switch back to the nokia e71. the phone isn't sexy but does many basic things much better than the blade:

- SIP client

- a good email client

- map with the ability to pre-download the whole world onto SD card

- battery life

i even prefer the opera browser to the browser on the blade sometimes because with keyboard navigation, it can be much quicker and more accurate (e.g. clicking on the 'next page' link on this forum for instance).

it's a shame nokia messed up so badly with developers. symbian is a decent platform.

i'm tempted to try the htc desire z. the ergonomics of the android phone would be much improved with a physical keyboard.

desire z is awesome.

the problem you are stating with the blade would be identical on the desire hd too. its all those without trackball/pad /optical pad. only thing you can do is try zoom in to the area you want to click.but even then it doesnt work too good. give another example. when i search on xda in the device section, on the desire hd i try use the arrows which don't highlight, on the blade its a struggle, on the desire and desire z so easy.

also agree that nokia have tweaked their os a lot to try compete with the smart phone market.

its up to the user what they want to use their phones for at the end of the day

[Guest 90180360]

i bought 3 blades, but my primary phone is going to switch back to the nokia e71.

:unsure:

I have an E52 and while it does many things I think it does most of them badly. There's always a problem with everything.

The SIP client is the only thing I'm missing.

How you can prefer browsing on an E71 compared to the Blade is way beyond me.

Then again it's always a matter of taste. I guess.