n95 compared to iphone 3g by a man who has lived with both

[r0ckin247365]

There seems to be a lot of buzz on these forums nowadays about the iphone 3g and how much better the n95 is...but there's also a few people interested in switching over. I've decided to write about this not argue about which phone is better, but to give an unbiased oppinion on the two phones as I have owned both.

I LOVED my n95 for six months, and I laughed when my friends would show off their iphones as you all probably do. But after 6 months, my phone completely died out of the blue. I had HORRIBLE problems with Nokia repair, as they would promise to call me, e-mail me, keep me updated etc. but never did. I sent it in for repair under warranty and they refused to repair it because of "corrosion" which doesn't make sense because it lived on my desk and in my pocket in a case. I decided there is no way I could ever own such an expensive Nokia product ever again with such awful customer service and decided to try out the cheaper iPhone 3g.

Browsing - Hate to say it but I love browsing on the iPhone. So easy to navigate and the huge screen in landscape mode is amazing. I thought the touch screen controls would be frustrating but they are very smooth. I love the easy zoom in/out feature and how clear pictures become even when zoomed in closely.

Texting - The n95 offers a lot more in terms of what you can do (MMS, forwarding etc.). I do however love the qwerty keypad on the iPhone once I got used to it (I was horrible at first!!). Auto spell correct functions greatly. The conversation style text is the best way to do it and Nokia Conversation was a cool application which made texting more like the iPhone on the n95.

Maps/GPS - Using maps on the iPhone is very smooth and much quicker than the n95. Often times the n95 would search for satellites forever and never find my location. I really enjoy being able to drop a pin anywhere and find directions with the iPhone. Zooming in/out is much better too.

Camera - Obviously the n95's camera and video camera shut the iPhone down completely. If having a good camera on you at all times is important to you, stick with the n95.

Applications - This is where the n95 originally KILLED the iphone. The n95 has TONS of free and payware applications. However, the iPhone is quickly catching up with the appstore and jailbrakes. I definitely use more iPhone apps than I ever did n95 apps. I'm loving Pandora radio, remote for itunes, Shazam which listens to a song and finds it for you, website apps such as facebook and NYTimes, and YouTube works flawlessly on the big screen. I hated that you had to have mobitubia or emtube for the n95 because they never worked well for me. Sometimes they worked okay if I was connected to WiFi.

Games - Playing mobile games for me is definitely a huge selling point in a phone. The n95 has plenty of shockingly good games like Quake and Quake II, flawless emulators, and nGage titles. Controls are usually a bit hard (hated always hitting that media button by accident!). Graphics on the n95 are extremely impressive for a mobile phone. The iphone is now just as good for gaming I would say, if not better. Mainly because many of them make great use of the acceleromater (monkeyball, crash bandicoot nitro cart etc.), are on a much bigger screen, intuitive controls, and ps2 comparible graphics (see Crash Nitro Cart for iphone and the version for ps2). RockNScroll and nokemote never did it for me on the n95. Also, with a jailbroken iPhone, quake I and great emulators with touch controls are available.

Battery - I wouldn't say either have GREAT batteries, but the iPhone 3g battery is worse for sure. Games and applications kill it quickly, while surfing the net killed it quickly for my n95.

Making calls - I get the exact same amount of bars of service with both phones. Both are good for making calls but ear volume is a little low on the iphone and speaker phone volume is a JOKE.

Mp3/Video player - I enjoyed the drag and drop file system of the n95, and being able to search for a song by typing it in. The sound quality was great for a phone but changing songs was a bit slow. Never watched many videos because of such a small screen. The iPhone 3g mp3 player sounds better and more clean. I have 16gb which is nice. Scrolling to a song is different but songs can be found just as quickly as it does work well. Album pictures are displayed a lot more often for some reason as well. Videos work great with the bigger screen.

Customer service - The main reason I will never go back to Nokia. Nokia repair is unbelievably bad. The iphone customer service seems to swtich back and forth between Apple and AT&T depending on the problem, both of which I have had no complaints with ever.

Size - People used to see the n95 outline in my pocket and ask if I was carrying a brick in my pants. With the iPhone 3g, it's nice to have something so thin.

Problems I have encountered - Both phones would randomly restart on me. The n95 did it a lot more and sometimes just turned itself off.


It all comes down to which one satisfies your needs. If you HAVE to have a great camera and a video camera and don't mind the clunkiness, the n95 is for you. The n95 offers a lot more as well obviously such as a bar code scanner. But if you don't need stuff like that the iPhone does most of what the other things the n95 does but a bit quicker, more smoothly, and all around better. If I could magically bring my n95 back to life I still am not sure if I would. I love the gaming and music apps on the iphone, and I love the camera on the n95. These two phones are the best out there. I am curiously to see Nokia's next big thing (not the n96!!) and what Apple has up its sleeve in the future.

[Tommie]

I have the N95 8GB and it works greate for me , I cant anderstand why iphone is so behind in camera/video MMS and other basic stuff ?
See my sign

About the GPS in iphone is not a proper gps with turn by turn navigation !
Only some maps , if u try drive with the iphone u need to type in new directions in evry corner.
And here in Nordic contrys there have be a lott of complain because the 3G works real bad. They say iphone have to sad antenn?
so u cant use 3G in a proper way only edge.

And the main reason I never will go to Apple is because of terrible customer service
there u need to be in prison with Apple-s minimum 18 months plan for stupid much money
for a phone who not even cant sent a MMS.

If I want to see a greate movie I go to cinema or watch in my big TV-Screen.

[r0ckin247365]

yeah no turn by turn but tomtom and all that stuff is coming soon

[Tommie]

lol no because the gps chip are to week to take turn by turn navigation , but good u happy with your choice .
We see what Nokia and the rest will offer within 18 months..:)

[Tommie]

By the way If u want a smartphone in thin size and yes not made in plastic like the iphone 3G
but in steinless steel and the same size
You can look at the E71 the world’s thinnest smartphone with a full QWERTY keyboard.

If u get tierd to use the touchscreen...:) and want a real smartphone

with all the basic stuff and ofcorse a proper A-Gps .

Here moore http://www.n95users.com/forum/lounge...y-gadgets.html

Cheers

[AngusG]

Originally Posted by r0ckin247365

Album pictures are displayed a lot more often for some reason as well. Videos work great with the bigger screen.

The reason for this is because iTunes is about the only major media management tool which doesn't follow the intergalatic standards for embedding coverart metadata into the mp3.. so iTunes reads it differently to Winamp, Windows Media Player and the Music player in the N95

Originally Posted by Tommie

About the GPS in iphone is not a proper gps with turn by turn navigation !
Only some maps , if u try drive with the iphone u need to type in new directions in evry corner.

Doesn't mean it's not a proper GPS..

Nice review... AAS did a good comparisson of the two along side the new HTC phone as well.. AAS Feature: Smart in the Real World - the Nokia N95 takes on all-comers in a dozen common tasks

At the end of the day I think it comes down to what suits your needs...

N95 definately has more functionality.. for me I would love an iPhone just for the better quality music player (I live for music... It's the most important part of my life).. If I didn't just buy my N95-2 (was too exy for me to pay out my contract just yet) I probably would've ended up getting an iPod touch to use as an media player/PDA.. The enterprise support on the iPhone is a big winner for me as well..

but at the same time, we're in the second half of 2008 here.. No MMS??? it's the new right click...

[Panther]

Dude, your review does not sound, "unbiased":

"I decided there is no way I could ever own such an expensive Nokia product ever again with such awful customer service and decided to try out the cheaper iPhone 3g."

You obviously have a hard on for NOKIA and sorry you had so much trouble.

But it was an informative report on the Iphone so all in all it was a learning experience for me.

[mrbob2]

Interesting report.

Although the iphone is a nice machine there a few things that would put me off.

1st of all, im on pay as you go. So my options are, take out a £35 a month contract for 18 months just to get one? All these apps, interenet access seem to cost money, a lot of money. I use my n95 for free, all the games, apps etc i can use for nothing.

Im not saying the iphone is bad or anything, it just seems if you want one you have to pay your way lol.

Also....... i thought i heard a while back, due to piracy and naughty folks hacking tomtom mobile they wernt going to continue supporting mobile phones?

If iphone doesnt support turn by turn navigation (dont really know much about this) how can tomtom work/be any use?

[brownbox]

I can also speak of experience from owning an n95 8 gb and a iPhone 3g 16gb. All I can say is the n95 has been sold and terminal iPhone is what I kept (infact I'm on it right now. I had priorities that the n95 just couldn't cover. (more than 8gb, decent media player, web browser, games. Sure, the iPhone misses some of the features but the only thing I've found myself missing is the camera. Besides, the gap is getting closed pretty quickly with the apps there are available. I know what you mean about the brick in your pocket thing. The n95 is just wayyy too fat. What helped me make up my mind was that the n96 gets even bigger. Sorry, but this time, for me anyway, the n95 looses

Also fwiw Ive got the iPhone running on prepay (ie not on a plan). Also I found the iPhones reception to be far better than the n95. Along with this I find wifi to have longer range and the gps to have better reception

I beleive there will be turn by turn functionality added in future updates.

Also the crashing problem on the iPhone was fixed by a software update.

[fldude99]

The main reason I wouldn't touch the Iphone is that it is the relationship with AT&T. This device needs to be on the open market, totally unbranded and unlocked..til then it doesn't exist for me