Nokia N97 vs. Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1

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Asmodeus

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#40596 1-Sep-2009 11:55

Just lost my phone

and am looking to upgrade to a decent new phone.

Which would you guys suggest out of these two:

http://www.phonegg.com/compare/24/Nokia-N97-vs-Sony-Ericsson-XPERIA-X1.html

Anyone have experience with both?

Does the iphone kick both of them? Any other suggestions for similar phones that you think are better again?

Cheers

euanandrews

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#252203 1-Sep-2009 12:43

PM nztechfreak he has had both.
The N97 is awesome, highly recommend.

Canterbury

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#252204 1-Sep-2009 12:44

Nokia N97 is a lemon.Major issues with lens scratchingIssues with GPSIssues with lack of memoryAlot of hopes are being held out for the new Nokia N900. Still at least a month away from parallel import.Another phone is i8910. - by far, better than an iphone hardware wise, just no app store like the iphone.OVI is a joke IMO....

heavenlywild

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#252209 1-Sep-2009 13:03

Canterbury,

"Nokia N97 is a lemon" is a sweeping statement.

All products have their faults. Lens scratching doesn't happen to most people and the GPS issues? I think people try to improve the GPS reception, but there is nothing wrong with it.

Canterbury

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#252217 1-Sep-2009 13:30

As "TheBartender" has pointed out who does own one, he thinks its awesome and highly recommended which is great. Nokia Finland have released a press release indicting issues with lens scratching just in the last couple of days. Can't imagine them doing that unless there was considerable pressure from customers and indeed wholesalers.

euanandrews

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#252236 1-Sep-2009 14:18

Canterbury: Nokia N97 is a lemon.Major issues with lens scratchingIssues with GPSIssues with lack of memoryAlot of hopes are being held out for the new Nokia N900. Still at least a month away from parallel import.Another phone is i8910. - by far, better than an iphone hardware wise, just no app store like the iphone.OVI is a joke IMO....

Canterbury

Yes, I own a Nokia N97, but so does heavenly_wild, so we speak from expereince...you obviously do not, and are basing your comments and thoughts on rumors and reviews, many of which are just based on opinion and comparing specs, rather than actual physical long-term use or testing.

As heavenly_wild points out, no device is without its flaws...
A device can be perfect to some, but flawed to others as we all have different needs from a device...
Whats most imporant?...
Camera?
Memory?
RAM?
CPU/GPU?
OS?
Availablity of apps?
Simplicity?
Bling?
Touch screen?
Qwerty keyboard?
Codec and flash support?

Yes, there have also been some issues with the N97, but I concur with heavenly_wild that it is the minority who have problems with GPS or the camera scratching itself...

Nokia also provide fantastic software/firmware support, and with every firmware update the N97 has gone from strength to strength...with some mobiles, you are lucky to get 1 major firmware update a year, of which only offers basic features available in basic Nokia phones many many years ago...

Anyway, lets not get into a flame war regarding which mobile is best...
Asmodeus asked which we would recommend...I know myself and heavenly_wild both highly recommend the Nokia N97, but as I said, the best person to ask for a compaision is nztechfreak, as he has owned both.

heavenlywild

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#252246 1-Sep-2009 14:40

Bartender really gives a balanced view on things and I trust this member's comments and ideas. Anyway!

Well, as I only own the N97, I can point out some of the things you may need to ask yourself when deciding between the Nokia and the X1.

Do you want a good camera?
Do you want to have the ability to use it as an in-car GPS?
Do you want to store thousands songs on the go?

If you said yes to all of these points, go with the N97:) You won't be disappointed!

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tonyhughes

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#252258 1-Sep-2009 15:15

Asmodeus: Just lost my phone and am looking to upgrade to a decent new phone.

Which would you guys suggest out of these two:

http://www.phonegg.com/compare/24/Nokia-N97-vs-Sony-Ericsson-XPERIA-X1.html

Anyone have experience with both?

Does the iphone kick both of them? Any other suggestions for similar phones that you think are better again?

Cheers

I <3 your avatar. Keep up the good work.

Oh, and iPhone will kick butt.

NZtechfreak

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#252270 1-Sep-2009 15:41

heavenly_wild: Bartender really gives a balanced view on things and I trust this member's comments and ideas. Anyway!

Well, as I only own the N97, I can point out some of the things you may need to ask yourself when deciding between the Nokia and the X1.

Do you want a good camera?
Do you want to have the ability to use it as an in-car GPS?
Do you want to store thousands songs on the go?

If you said yes to all of these points, go with the N97:) You won't be disappointed!

Well in fairness the Xperia does 2&3 perfectly well (it runs Garmina and Tomtom), but its camera is definitely not as good as the N97s.

The main things the Xperia has in its favour are:

A better screen resolution, and...

...partly because of that, and partly because of Opera Mobile 9.7, a FAR FAR better browsing experience (also better document display in general).

I like its keyboard better than the N97s (thats somewhat a matter of taste of course, but objectively its space bar and function keys are much better laid out)

Its build quality is better

Its cheaper

In terms of customisability I'd also rate it higher than the N97, with the caveat that you have to have the time and aptitude to work things through (goes for all WinMo phones). I had mine running SPB Mobile Shell 3, with some tweaks to use TouchFlo's keyboards, increase menu items to finger-friendly size, use TouchFlo's onscreen volume control, and also add a shortcuts menu to a long press on the power button - all of that with TouchFlo3D running underneath because I liked its media player. With those tweaks in place I actually preferred it to the N97 in terms of UI, but as I say, you'd have to be prepared to sort out all those things in order to have those benefits

Email/calender/contacts are more easily setup on the device

Better Facebook application, and better Facebook integration if you go with Mobile Shell

In terms of advantage the N97 has the following:

32GB onboard memory

Better GPS (unless you get a dud unit in terms of GPS, typical Nokia N-Series build quality problems)

Better speakers (stereo, louder, better quality)

A bigger screen (lower resolution though)

An accelerometer (I used a hardware key/opening the keyboard for orientation switching on the Xperia, but there are many other reasons why an accelerometer is an advantage)

Better commitment to firmware upgrade

Micro USB connection, which is now the standard

Its hard to recommend one particularly strongly over the other, but I guess overall I would recommend the N97 over the Xperia. Having said that I would recommend the Xperia if browsing was a prime consideration over the camera/GPS - Opera Mobile 9.7 really is that much better than the any browser available on the Symbian OS.

... and having said all of that I would actually recommend the i8910 (Samsung Omnia HD) over both those handsets if a physical keypad is not mandatory for your use...

Other options worth considering if Windows Mobile is something you would consider: Touch Pro 2, and Samsung i8000.

The Nokia N900 due October 1st is also worth considering if purchasing a cheapie phone and waiting a month or so is an option...

I could refine my advice a lot further if you gave some indication about what experiences are most important to you in a phone - in order of importance.

Twitter: @nztechfreak
Blogs: HeadphoNZ.org

euanandrews

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#252280 1-Sep-2009 15:52

Good reply nztechfreak, all good points

gadgetmannz

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#253188 4-Sep-2009 14:47

Hey, Nokia will be launching the N97 mini shortly. Maybe you should wait a little. Perhaps get a phone to keep you occupied in the meantime. They also announced the Nokia N900 which I really want come October.

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