A few days ago I posted my intention of dumping Nokia in favor of the new iPhone 4. Nothing has changed. However, Apple’s announcement of the iPhone 4 details has stirred up much debate and comparison to the upcoming Nokia N8. The thing that strikes me in those discussions is the comparison based on pure specs. The problem is that specs only tell part of the story. I bet that even my N97 would hold up well if you compared the specs to an iPhone. For example:
- The N97 has a built in full QWERTY keyboard. *BUT*, it’s hard to type on and nearly impossible to see the letters if the back light goes on…at least on my white version.
- The N97 uses a full multitasking OS. *BUT*, it’s so sluggish and inconsistent that it will have you pulling your hair out.
- The N97 has a 5MP camera with flash and Carl Zeiss lens. *BUT* the flash bleeds into the picture making it unusable in low-light conditions. (Don’t even give the BS about using a black marker!)
- The N97 has a removable battery. *BUT* the thing is a behemoth compared to the iPhone.
- Nokia is a phone company first. *BUT* sometimes you can’t even answer the N97 because of the stupid UI. I always miss calls.
- Symbian is open. Why then are there so many cool apps for the iPhone that don’t exist for Symbian? (I will say though that I’m going to miss Joikuspot and SymSMB.)
The better argument would be user experience. Pick up an iPhone and the experience is as smooth as butter. Pick up an N97 and you think you’re in hell. I have little hope that the N8 will fix all of the issues I have with the N97. I don’t want to be sitting waiting for the next firmware update hoping it will fix whatever issues I have.
I have been a Nokia lover since first seeing the N95. I loved that phone. There was nothing else like it. I am really sad that I have to jump ship. Of course. I’ll be glad to return if Nokia gets it act together.