Nokia Smartphones good/bad??

truebloodfan

Just wondering how are nokia for smartphones. i remember when they made all the best phones but they seem to have really gone downhill in the last few years. is there any sign of them ever coming back to their best again?

PCPhoto

they ruined their chances when they were slow to change operating systems.
which resulted in them loosing ground in the market.

in summary - I wouldn't go back to nokia now.... they had their chance a few years ago.

(just to say - I currently have an iPhone 4s, and previously had a HTC desire - I have only just gotten the iPhone so at the moment still think the HTC was a more user friendly phone)

truebloodfan

i currently have a nokia 6230i. have been told its time to get out of stone age so now thinking of getting a samsung smartphone. are they the best or is there any bugs to be ironed out?

g0g

I've had the N8 for a year now (I think!) and still think it's a great Nokia phone. Before that was N97 (dodgy at times!) and before that N95 (another classic!). Granted you don't have access to Android Market or Ap Store but there're still some decent Symbian Aps available. New firmware due soon will make phone even better. They were available for something like £ 200 on Amazon network unlocked recently if I remember correctly.

BostonB

Depends what you are looking for. Good camera's, free GPS, good sound quality. But much less addon applications. They tend to more pocketable than the huge phones from other companies too.

evolutionqy7

truebloodfan wrote: »

Just wondering how are nokia for smartphones. i remember when they made all the best phones but they seem to have really gone downhill in the last few years. is there any sign of them ever coming back to their best again?

Yup the new Belle phones are quite decent. 701 is for far the favorite out of the symbian if you can still call it that range.

Other than that their launching a new rango of lumia phones here (hopefully theil stick to their promise and deliver it this month)

Ive only played with belle for a while but from what i seen it was more than a solid experience.

Lumia series is part with Windows Phone which is the most stable and most fluid and beautiful ui you will find in a phone

BostonB

W7 has its own limitations though. The upside its fast on everything it seems.

evolutionqy7

BostonB wrote: »

W7 has its own limitations though. The upside its fast on everything it seems.

Well for the most part which is most important it operates smoothly and its stable no quirks or crap. Im counting the days till Lumia 800 will come here on contract. Rightly sick of my sensation since i traded of my Omnia 7.

My sensation might have the bells and whistles of a high class mobile phone but it stands nowhere to my old 1ghz 1st gen wp7 in terms of smootness and reliability and easy of use

BostonB

I don't disagree, but there's some basic stuff it can't do, like like memory cards for example.

http://www.gsmarena.com/windows_phone_7-review-521.php

But if none of those are of interest then it seems a lot slicker than android.

GreenWolfe

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

Yup the new Belle phones are quite decent. 701 is for far the favorite out of the symbian if you can still call it that range.

I wonder what the camera is like on the Nokia 701? I was never impressed by the camera on my C7.

BostonB

Its meant to be slightly better. But its still a EDOF

http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/features/item/13635_The_Nokia_701_and_EDoF_generat.php

evolutionqy7

BostonB wrote: »

I don't disagree, but there's some basic stuff it can't do, like like memory cards for example.

http://www.gsmarena.com/windows_phone_7-review-521.php

But if none of those are of interest then it seems a lot slicker than android.

Well considering the average user wont ever buy a bigger memory card if it already comes with 8-16GB of internal memory its not an issue.

Id get people coming into the shop that wouldnt even know that theres a memory card inside the phone. Internal memory especially if flash is used is faster, energy efficient and trouble free

GreenWolfe

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

Well considering the average user wont ever buy a bigger memory card if it already comes with 8-16GB of internal memory its not an issue.

Id get people coming into the shop that wouldnt even know that theres a memory card inside the phone. Internal memory especially if flash is used is faster, energy efficient and trouble free

Pity there isn't USB OTG support. Handy if you want to shunt occasionally viewed video to a USB stick.

evolutionqy7

EarthlyPangaea wrote: »

Pity there isn't USB OTG support. Handy if you want to shunt occasionally viewed video to a USB stick.

ill agree to that :P

But again some smarphones have never see what a pc to phone usb cable looks like :P nvm them doing that

Dont forget users like us are the majority

Most people just want a smart feature phone. I remember when i showing my mum how to use her Xperia smarphone. It was her first touchscreen and first smartphone. Previous to that she only owned feature phones.

You could just see a blank stare sometimes trying to process all the options you get with a smarphone. She managed it quick cause i was there to help her and shes not hopeless with tech. But i can only imagine what completely non techincal minded people do when they go home with a smarphone

BostonB

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

Well considering the average user wont ever buy a bigger memory card if it already comes with 8-16GB of internal memory its not an issue.

Id get people coming into the shop that wouldnt even know that theres a memory card inside the phone. Internal memory especially if flash is used is faster, energy efficient and trouble free

It getting stuff on and off the phone thats the issue. You can't walk into a photo shop and get them to print photos off your phone. Or put the card in the laptop and backup the photos etc. Considering the same non technical people are unlikely to plug the phone into their computer.

BostonB

Incidentally I've noticed that I'm getting for smartphone questions from family and friends, instead of just IT questions. Questions about syncing calendars or backing up photos.

xsiborg

there's plenty of life in nokia smartphones yet tbh, right now im typing this post on my nokia X6 running C6 custom firmware, im not really an apps kinda guy but i have skype constantly running in the background, i use dukto for file transfers over wireless, sync contacts and calendar with outlook via bluetooth, the odd time i'll fish out the cable to transfer a movie to the phone quickly, the 16GB hard drive also comes in handy for storing installation programs and presentation files i use on a regular basis, and then i have joikuspot for tethering to my netbook when i need to view a full webpage properly on the go (such as ordering computer parts, etc, most sites are not mobile optimized!). it took me a while to get used to the touchscreen but now im just as handy on it as i am on my nokia E51 (another fantastic smartphone, but a few years old now, still use it as my personal phone!). i can also pick up my gmail e-mail anywhere, and there are plenty of apps out there for syncing mail and calendars between google and pc. google maps has latitude which allows me to keep track of my son, (who has a samsung europa running android- cyanogenmod 7.1 ), but i still prefer to use nokia maps with turn by voice sat-navigation.

oh, and audio quality is fantastic for when i want to listen to my music or even switch to radio for the news.

sure, android has a ridiculous amount of apps in the market, but obviously (nobody ever seems to mention that many are paid apps, and most of the free apps, are dirt, and filled with ad banners) the more apps you put on your phone, the more you'll slow it down to a crawl!

evolutionqy7

BostonB wrote: »

It getting stuff on and off the phone thats the issue. You can't walk into a photo shop and get them to print photos off your phone. Or put the card in the laptop and backup the photos etc. Considering the same non technical people are unlikely to plug the phone into their computer.

Tbh i havent printed photos in ages. Whats the point of printing a 4" photo when your screen is 4.3" and you get the same quality

My mum prints the odd photo for a picture frame or for my granny. All them pictures are stored on the PC anyway. Put it on a USB stick and thats it. Its not a massive deal tbh

To the post above. The thing where phone used to slow down from apps is an old nokia thing and low end android thing. iPhones, Windows Phones and most high end Android phones wouldnt have that issue.

Not all apps are ad supported One thats you pay for are usually worth it. Most of the ones i buy are either games or back up tools to keep android alive

BostonB

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

Tbh i havent printed photos in ages. Whats the point of printing a 4" photo when your screen is 4.3" and you get the same quality ...:D

No idea, maybe its to give to someone else, who doesn't have a smart phone or a computer.

Last few times I was getting something printed, someone has always walked in and asked about printing from their phone.

evolutionqy7

BostonB wrote: »

No idea, maybe its to give to someone else, who doesn't have a smart phone or a computer.

Last few times I was getting something printed, someone has always walked in and asked about printing from their phone.

Well that wouldnt be my case. All my friends are on facebook or i have their email and send them to a quick link on my skydrive. My mum stores all her photos on the computer. I store all of mine on SkyDrive for convenience cause i would be using several PC and mobiles phones.

I agree some people need that but thats still a small market. But really nearly everyone has a PC these days or has access to them. Very few people would buy a smarphone without actually owning a pc or a mac.

Most people inlcuding me use a proper camera or a point and shoot camera for most picture needs.

Look at the amount of people that own an iPhone. That feature was not a deal breaker. Neither is for me.

BostonB

Its still an advantage for Nokia's with it, for those that want it.

Ditto for putting music on a phone. Far easier and faster with a memory car.

evolutionqy7

BostonB wrote: »

Its still an advantage for Nokia's with it, for those that want it.

Ditto for putting music on a phone. Far easier and faster with a memory car.

If you organise everything by folders yeah. Ive way too many folders. Its just easy to click sync on zune when im listening to a track. Rather to have to right click, open file location, right click again, send to xxx memory card.

Ive way too many songs. It would be impossible to go through all the folders for me in one day :P

With Wireless Sync you dont even need to plug it in . Just turn on wifi and you can sync over wifi.

Each OS or device has its own advantages. For me WP7 has the most.

Theres no one device for everyone. Memory card functionality might be important to some and not to others.

xsiborg

truebloodfan wrote: »

i currently have a nokia 6230i. have been told its time to get out of stone age so now thinking of getting a samsung smartphone. are they the best or is there any bugs to be ironed out?

i had a post written out there covering all the bases but the mobile site seems to time out while one is taking the time to write a lengthy post unfortunately.

you seem to view a phone as an investment, as you've held on to that one long enough! for the candybar style, my next phone is going to be a motorola RAZR running google's android ice cream sandwich. it quite simply is a beautiful phone and i believe with ICS, android may finally be mature and stable enough to hold its own against the likes of apples iOS or microsofts WP7, i hold no allegiance to any particular OS or manufacturer, just that up to now, i've bought what suited my needs, not what was trendy.

as another poster said, it really is an individual thing, even nokia smartphones themselves have gone so far away from the 6230i that you'd have just as much a learning curve with a nokia now as you would with any smartphone or OS tbh...

BostonB

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

If you organise everything by folders yeah. Ive way too many folders. Its just easy to click sync on zune when im listening to a track. Rather to have to right click, open file location, right click again, send to xxx memory card.

Ive way too many songs. It would be impossible to go through all the folders for me in one day :P

With Wireless Sync you dont even need to plug it in . Just turn on wifi and you can sync over wifi.

Each OS or device has its own advantages. For me WP7 has the most.

Theres no one device for everyone. Memory card functionality might be important to some and not to others.

I simply meant its a lot faster.

BostonB

I happened to be back on an old candy bar phone recently and was surprised how much quicker it was to make calls and txt vs a smartphone. Thats said I missed a few things like a decent calendar and alarms.

xsiborg

BostonB wrote: »

I happened to be back on an old candy bar phone recently and was surprised how much quicker it was to make calls and txt vs a smartphone. Thats said I missed a few things like a decent calendar and alarms.

hence why i keep on my E51, as i was saying to someone last night, i'll rue the day it is no longer useful, i'll get another 5 years out of it yet i reckon, quite the robust little warrior! there's a lot of people still cant get their heads around touchscreens, let alone all the features offered by a smartphone, i know for instance in india nokia still have a huge market for their older phones, as battery life seems to be more important than features in a phone, because as one person put it, 'they might not get near a charger again for two weeks!'... :eek: