The article,
Nokia S60 N97 mini and Maemo N900 Review from an iPhone Perspective — Smartphone Round Robin on
tipb.com was one of the more level overviews I've read. Unlike many sites that are
vehemently in one camp or another or simply plagued with
myopia, this review gives a very high-level overview of the different products and the marketing points, and is very honest about its bias coming from an
Apple iPhone background.
The preferences and observations mentioned in the article I find interesting because of this background; in a few cases I found myself commenting to myself on the strangeness of the preference since my own tastes were reversed. For instance, the comment on the
resistive vs.
capacitive touchscreen issue, the author indicates:
Having gotten used to glass, capacitive screens over the last couple years of iPhone use, however, I’ve come to regard using a resistive device as a chore. Instead of light flicks and swipes with the finger, Nokia devices require firm presses and drags with the finger nail. Sure, resistive screens are more pixel-precise, but they’re far less immediate than capacitive ones, and that lack of immediacy results — for me — in a lack of connection to my device. The iPhone’s screen feels like it knows what you want it to do and just does it. Nokia’s screens feel like they do what you force them to.My own experience using the
HTC Magic and
Apple iPhone is that the screens are overly sensitive, often causing me to select something I hadn't intended to. I do not know for sure if my own preference comes from
my general preference for a hardware keyboard so that a
slightly slower response from the screen doesn't slow down my typing, or that the screen itself on modern
Nokia phones are significantly more responsive than the last time I used a touchscreen on a
Palm Tungsten T3.
There are a few parts of the article which I do feel are misleading or misinformed.
But with the ability to manage your device to that degree comes with it the equal and opposite reality of a device that needs to be managed to that degree.There are plenty (probably the majority) of
Nokia users that do very minimal if any customization of their phones. Which leads well into the next criticism:
These are the dichotomies that face Nokia and its platforms — globally popular yet locally unknown, past its prime yet not ready for primetime, targeted at emerging markets yet embraced by high-order geeks. And given the strength of other options, I’m not sure it’s one most consumers will be willing to investigate.A few paragraphs of talking about the fact that Nokia has both
Symbian and
Maemo phones (not to mention the occasional
Nokia S40) conclude with this awkward attempt at summing-up. Although I don't disagree that the two platforms introduces some additional pressures on a company; Nokia has reasonably stated that they're targeting each at different audiences, with Symbian targetted at
mid-range smartphones and Maemo at the higher-end and more advanced
mobile Internet devices.
The articles closing advice does seem sound, however. If you don't know which one you want--if you don't understand the differences--the
Apple iPhone might be the best fit for you.
You'll look cool, and
people will like you. If you want a solid phone, the
Nokia N97 is probably your best bet, and if you want
unbridled mobile computing freedom, then the
Nokia N900 is probably your best bet.