The final showdown - Nokia N97 or the iPhone 3GS?

It's been sometime...

So it's been sometime since I've written about mobile phones. Yes, it's true... I now have an iPhone in my life, not like I haven't had one in the past but this time... it's the - 3GS.

Question is, what about my other baby? The N97? How do they compare? Is the iPhone 3GS king? Is the Nokia N97 any competition at all to the 'fruit'? I'm really tired of comparing the two phones. Once and for all, I'm going to lay out cards for both devices.

I've been using the N97 for a good period of time now. 3GS is new but the iPhone OS remains the same - of course with a few tweaks here and there in the 3.0 operating system. So here it goes, the final showdown...

Capability and Hardware

Both the N97 and the iPhone 3GS are very capable phones. Both have autofocus camera built-in, digital compass a.k.a magnetometer, touch screen, 3.5G connectivity etc.

That said however, the N97 has far more superior features

• the 5 megapixel carl seiz lense is truly unbeatable. The contrast, the sharpness, the quality beats iPhone 3GS' 3.0 megapixel autofocus flat
  
  
• the N97 comes with a removable battery - which has much better battery life compared to the iPhone 3GS
  
  
• comes with a standard 32GB - on board memory
  
  
• comes with an option to expand the onboard memory through a memory card
  
  
• comes with a front facing camera for 3G video calls
  
  
• comes with a physical qwerty keyboard (not exactly essential for all users)
  
  
• Has a higher resolution 360 x 640 (nHD) resolution screen compared to the iPhone 3GS - you see more

Software

Then there's the iPhone 3GS which has none of the above features BUT excels in usability

• On board video editing with one-touch upload to YouTube (it's a little more complicated on the Nokia)
  
  
• Has one of the best, in my opinion Cut, Copy, Paste and Undo implementation on any mobile device
  
  
• Device wide search a.k.a Spotlight is faster and cleaner compared to Nokia's implementation of the Device Search
  
  
• More fluid, user friendly interface
  
  
• Has an AppStore with over 10,000 applications - there's literally an app for everything! - more on this in my future posts
  
  
• Built on a SOLID OS X platform - it has not hung even once since I turned on the phone

The N97 - how does it fare software wise?

• Since revision v11 of the N97 firmware, the phone has certainly hung less. I would dare say 1 restart is required every after 1 - 2 weeks of usage. The Symbian S60V5 platform is still not the most stable - that said however, as with all Nokia products, firmwares are periodically released making the phone perform better and sometimes adds additional features to the phone's existing featureset which I'll discuss later
  
  
• Nokia has been in the mobile phone industry way longer than Apple has and so it's no surprise that the pioneer would have the upper hand in mobile telephony software. Nokia's got a HUGE range of featureset as far as mobile phone usage is concerned for instance :

1. Profiles - Apple doesn't have that. This is extremely useful when you like different settings for different environments, ie. much calmer tones in the office, louder when you're outside etc.
   
   
2. Call Screening - I'd love to have this on the iPhone - when I sleep, I turn on a customized profile which alerts me only when the person calling is in my 'allowed list'
   
   
3. Wake-on-alarm - It doesn't matter if your Nokia is completely turned off. If there's an alarm set, the phone will automatically turn on at the designated time and set-off the alarm
   
   
4. Unlimited call and message log - Nokia allows you to set how much of your call log is recorded and how many sms messages to save - unlike Apple where there is not such setting
   
   
5. Want to send files, photos, songs via bluetooth? No problem - can't do that with the iPhone
   
   
6. Want to send out contact numbers via SMS? No problem - you need to send those contacts via MMS on the iPhone
   
   
7. 3G video call? No problem
   
   
8. Similar to the iPhone, Nokia embarked on the same boat and launched the OVI Store - similar to the AppStore however, because it's still quite young, there aren't many apps available. Those that are there are already quite promising. It's worth a look. I personally love the "Digital Compass" app.
   
   
9. Device-wide search - Searches the entire phone plus SMS messages as well unlike the iPhone which only searches e-mails, contacts, calendar entries and music. This comes in really handy when you're looking for some information you received via sms awhile back - instead of checking one message at a time, just a quick search quickly reveals the information required

Web extensions to the phone

The iPhone 3GS

The one web extension I can think of for the iPhone is the MobileMe service. Which you can subscribe to and synchronize all your calendar and contact entries across all your Macs, iPhones and iPod Touches. The moment you add in a new entry to the calendar, phonebook, it gets uploaded to the server and backed up instantly. Never worry about losing your information ever again!

On the 3GS, with the service, you can even find your lost iPhone. Just logon to the MobileMe website and immediately you'll know where it is along with an option to set off an alarm to the person who took your phone or completely wipe all data to protect your privacy.

The only down side? It costs 329 ringgit per annum.

Nokia's answer - OVI - pronounced as 'ohvaeh'

The OVI service is available to most of the latest Nokia models in the market - including the N97. Does pretty much what MobileMe does - synchronization is not done automatically - simply sync your content to the OVI server with a single click. Once done, you may update your contact entries, put in new calendar entries, notes etc via OVI's website and the next time you sync, it gets pulled straight into your phone!

Best part? It's ABSOLUTELY FREE!

The Nokia Promise

Nokia believes in releasing a phone with a working firmware but vows to continuously improve it by adding more features, make it more efficient through firmware upgrade. Below are some of the promises set for the N97...

• Kinetic scrolling - similar to the effects of scrolling the contact list on the iPhone but will only release that in the next firmware release- Multitouch support - similar to zooming in and out of pictures on the iPhone using 2 fingers
  
  
• Skype for the N97 - Soon we'll be able to make calls for free via our mobile line's data connection. The iPhone has Skype as well however, voice calls are only restricted to WiFi use only

So in short which is a better phone?

It's really not fair to judge. The iPhone is a really SLEEK phone. Comes with gajillions of apps - which will take Nokia's OVI Store to catch up but only time will tell. Both phones have their advantages and disadvantages.

The said however, one thing is clear, if you are looking for the BEST MOBILE PHONE with the highest quality of components plus all the bells and whistles - the N97 is the answer. If you want the MOST ENTERTAINING and sleekest looking mobile phone - it's the iPhone 3GS.

The verdict is OUT