User opinions please Nokia N85/Nokia 5800D, Nokia E52

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Technofreak

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Topic # 58075 6-Mar-2010 12:47

I'm looking to upgrade from the Samsung F480.

I am interested to hear comments from owners of these Nokia models for use on the XT network.

I have shortlisted these phones because I am looking for these functions, WiFi, GPS, mass storage, bluetooth A2DP, ability to sych with Outlook, touchscreen.

The touchscreen and GPS functions are not must have, hence some phones in my lineup without these functions.

The N85-3 is my first choice but I have seen some bad comments on other sites regarding reliability and the readability of the screen in bright sunlight.

The 5800D looks to be a good touchscreen unit but there are bad comments about the usability of the interface. Also it only has the 850/1900 frequency choice for WCDMA which means that it cannot use the 2100 fill in frequency XT uses.

The E52-2 is probably the third choice but I do like the small size and the ability to read the screen in bright sunlight.

All user comments and any other information greatly appreciated.

Thanks. :)

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Reply # 305032 6-Mar-2010 15:25

I would have a look at Nokia X6 as well. Great phone, thinking of geting one myself.

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Technofreak

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Reply # 305055 6-Mar-2010 17:07

Sorry X6 not on my radar. Doesn't do enough extra for the money. Unless someone has some compelling evidence to the contrary, the only phones I am looking at the moment are the Nokia N85, N5800 and the E52

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DS248

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Reply # 305119 6-Mar-2010 23:17

N5800XM is very good & excellent value for money, especially once upgraded to the latest firmware. Interface could be better but is OK. Very comprehensive feature set.

My two main wish list items would be a higher screen resolution (800 x 480 would be nice for web browsing) and larger memory capacity (8GB card that it comes with is fairly minimal these days). But that is probably being optimistic at this price level.

Camera seems a bit sub-par but I did not have high expectations in that department anyway. Probably needs more practice. However, I have a decent Canon ultra compact so the camera on the phone is not really an issue for me.

I am not familiar with the other phones you asked about so do not know how they compare. Both have even lower resolution screens so would not be my choice.

Technofreak

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Reply # 305479 8-Mar-2010 17:40

I think some of the bad comments I have read about the 5800 have been from people with the early versions of software. From what I can gather it is now a solid performer.

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NZtechfreak

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Reply # 305483 8-Mar-2010 17:54

Either the 5800 or N85 should serve well, the N85 does have an AMOLED screen, so indoors its amongst the best looking out there, however outdoors legibility in sunlight is an acknowledged weakness of that display technology. The new super AMOLED screen from Samsung look set to address that, but it doesn't apply here.

The real problem with the N85 for me is its poor screen resolution, and virtually for that reason alone I'd take the 5800 over it.

E52 I believe is one of the handsets that cannot be hacked, so I'd rule it out straight away (severely limits the amount of freeware you can install, since it needs to be "signed" pre-installation, which is easily achieved if your handset is hacked and a serious pain in the posterior if it isn't).

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Technofreak

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Reply # 305508 8-Mar-2010 19:48

NZtechfreak

Thanks for the feedback. When it comes to the E52 I'm not sure I would be needing other freeware, but you never know what you might decide you would like to use in the future.

The screen resolution isn't a biggy. The bigger screen of the of the 5800 3.2 V 2.6 of the N85 certainly appeals. I would like to play with a 5800 before buying to see how I liked the touch screen and the interface. Part of the reason for upgrading is that I don't like the interface on the F480. Different operating systems, I know, but some reviews I have read about the 5800 allude to interface issues as well.

I like the the idea of touchscreen and I've used them on my Palm devices for several years but perhaps once bitten twice shy when it comes to phones. I've played with the iPhone and like the touchscreen used there. However I like the Nokias as a phone.

The form factor of the N85 appeals and at this stage I think I would prefer physical buttons.

DS248

Thanks for your input. You too have picked the 5800. See my commesnt above re the 5800.

For me too the camera is not a make or break point, I have another camera I would prefer to use most of the time. The phone camera is useful for those shots where you need to take and immediately send the picture, that's about all.

8Gig of memory is plenty for me.

So far 5800 2, N85 Nil, E52 Nil.

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DS248

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Reply # 305532 8-Mar-2010 21:44

Nothing wrong with the 5800 as a phone. Neatly fits my hand. The touch screen is fine. That was one thing I was reluctant about (started looking at the N97 mini), but I have been pleasantly surprised. Good haptic feedback & larger buttons than many (most?) physical buttons.

As I unfortunately discovered, the phone is also more robust than I would have guessed; ie. dropped it onto a gravel road while cycling @ 15 - 20km/hr. The "unfortunate" relates to me - on realising I had dropped it, I grabbed the [alas front :( ] brake. Nice 3 point skid along gravel road, head (helmet did its job), shoulder & arm. Head & phone survived almost unscathed - helmet, shoulder & arm not so unscathed. Moral: do not try to set a "Lap" point (Sports Tracker) while approaching a narrow gap at ~20km/hr.

Technofreak

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Reply # 305614 9-Mar-2010 09:45

Hi DS248,

I have a couple of questions

Are you using the 5800 on the XT network? If so where do you use it mainly, main centres? Rural? How does it perform in fringe coverage areas? Is the lack of the 2100 freq an issue in the main centres?

Do you use the calendar for schedules/appointemnts? How good/easy to use is the calendar for this purpose? How well does it synch with Outlook?

Thanks

Regards AJ9

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DS248

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Reply # 305634 9-Mar-2010 11:06

I have only had the phone for about a month (half of that time in the UK & Bermuda), so have yet to test many features. Also, this it the first smart phone I have used, so definitely in the novice category (despite being 2 - 3 x the age of most Geekzone members!). But to answer your questions:

+ No, I'm on Vodafone Prepay - no coverage problems so far (NZ or UK). I also used it on O2 Prepay in the UK. (No Vodafone coverage in Bermuda)

+ Predominantly urban (Wellington & London), but have used it in 'rural' Wairarapa & Oxfordshire (UK). Again, no coverage problems (phone or web).

+ Because I am on standard Prepay I have been hesitant in setting up email for (possibly unfounded) fear of potential data charges. For same reason I have l used web only very occasionally. Also, my email is just standard Outlook (& Gmail), not Exchange Server etc so I am not certain I can link to my Outlook emails (can to Gmail).

+ I have sync'd my Outlook calendar and contacts. Sort of worked & I am sure normally it would fine. But I have a non-standard set up for both; eg more than one Calendar - one from an old PC & one from my current PC. Guess I should merge them. I think the 5800 just sync'd with one calendar, but I have yet to dig into the detail. Issue with Contacts is that I have most of my contacts in 'sub folders' under Contacts in Outlook; ie. Sub folders are "Home" & "Work" - plus there are quite a few contacts directly under
Contacts. I think it just sync'd with those directly under Contacts, but again I have not investigated in detail.

+ To be honest, I have not used the calendar scheduling. I spend most of my time at my desk, so predominantly rely on Outlook on my PC for appointment reminders etc.

+ From above, it will be apparent I am not a typical & certainly a far from heavy user of mobile services. The features I have used most so far give that away: FM Radio, Sports Tracker app, GPS, SMS, phone (incl Skype - test only), mp3, web (network & wireless - mostly just testing). But it is early days so far!

For what it is worth, I bought my phone from a parallel importer in NZ just before travelling to UK. It was obviously an early version & it was not till I got back to NZ (& help from this site) that I updated the firmware from v2.xx to the latest (v4.xx). Updating to the latest firmware was a big plus, but in the end was also very straightforward.

One last point about wireless connection. Initially I had great difficulty connecting to our long serving wireless router (WRT54g), yet encountered no such problems while traveling overseas. I later discovered my son had changed the security on the router to AES rather than TKIP. Have had no problems since changing back to TKIP. Have not yet investigated if I can change settings in the phone to connect with AES set, or whether the phone cannot handle it (son keen to change back to AES).

Technofreak

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Reply # 305818 10-Mar-2010 00:12

DS248

Thank you for your very full reply.

I expect the XT version will work as well as yours does.

One of the prime reasons I am upgrading is to have a good calendar/schedule system on the phone. I am need to have my schedule with me as I am not at a computer during the work day. Currently I use my PDA but I would like to be able to just carry my phone a lot of the time.

I will use the media functions plus I use my phone to check my emails so a decent size screen is high on the list. This is one of the big attractions of the 5800 over the N85.

The N85 comes with Quick Office which might be handy for viewing documents. I understand that the 5800 can be loaded with Quick Office. Have you got or tried Quick Office?

Sorry for all of the questions and thank for all of your feedback. Thanks again.

Are the any N85 owners out there who can provide some feedback on that phone?

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BrentR

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Reply # 305838 10-Mar-2010 07:48

Yes you can get Quick Office for the 5800, they've got the full version on special at the moment through the Ovi Store also.

DS248

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Reply # 305851 10-Mar-2010 08:30

Re: Quick Office

Yes, the only two apps I have bought are Quick Office (US$6.95 through Ovi Store) and Adobe Reader LE 2.5 (US$9.89 through Ovi Store). Pain having to pay for Adobe Reader but both apps are a lot cheaper through Ovi Store than from other channels.

I am afraid I have yet to use either of them so cannot comment on how good they are (only installed a few days ago). Next thing is to set up email.

re: contacts & schedule - depending on your set up, I see no reason both will not function fully. I simply connected & sync'd. I noticed that not all contacts were there but have not looked closer (was actually more concerned that it had dragged down a large number of contacts from Outlook that are semi obsolescent. Suspect I might have to tidy up Outlook to fix that issue).

gkjb

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Reply # 305859 10-Mar-2010 09:06

I currently have the N85-3 on XT and am overally content with it. I have it since XT was launched officially and it worked extremely well for a long time. Recently it has become a little laggy at times. Especially while launching programs and messages. This being said it is only marginally slower but it is noticeable.

There are a few minor inconveniences like retrieving email can take a few times to connect to the server. Not a big deal really just a tad annoying at times.

Outdoors the screen visibility can be dreadful. Often enough though shading the screen with one hand works fine.

Quick Office works as well as you would expect. No issues there from my perspective though I am not a huge user of it.

The reception on my handset seems to be slightly better than other models on XT that I have witnessed. That could just be me though.

Screen shows the oils from your hands and can get dirty very quickly. It is easy to clean off though.

Durability wise it is up to the usual Nokia standard of build. It has been dropped a couple of times and only bears a few minor surface scratches on the screen. Below the nav button though the plastic is somewhat thin and has cracked through. This in no way has affected the usability.

Camera colours seem a little washed out at times but I didn't get it for the camera.

Battery life is generally good. After a full day of using it somewhat constantly it is almost out of juice around 15 or so hours.

All in all I am happy but if I hadn't got it free I perhaps wouldn't have bought it at the $1300 or $1500 they were asking at network launch.

Hope this helps.

Handsomedan

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Reply # 305860 10-Mar-2010 09:07

I have had a 5800 for around 6 months now.

If I don't bugger about with it too much and if I don't try to load up the 16gb card I have with DRM-protected music, it works flawlessly.

Obviously I can't help myself and I tend to tinker, drag my itunes library to it (including all legacy DRM-protected tracks)

and that's where the issues start. BUT - if you do regular back-ups to your memory card on the device itself, it's really easy to reset the phone, run a restore and it's like nothing happened except someone stole 3 minutes of your life.

To be honest it's the best touchscreen phone I have had (it would be better with a capacitive screen, but that's not an option, so who cares?) and it is a Symbian unit, which some feel is old-fashioned and not great. I like the interface of the iPhone, but hate the price.

Personally, I love the simplicity of symbian and there is so much that I use this phone for, that I find it hard to consider a replacement right now - especially with the free turn-by-turn GPS from Ovi.

The X6 is simply the 5800 with internal memory, 5MP camera and capacitive screen - hardly worth twice the money.

Legibility of the 5800 screen in bright sunlight is crappy, but I have not yet had a touch-screen phone with great sunlight-legibility anyway.

The only word of caution I would offer is immediately change the Micro-SDHC card for another one - probably Sandisk or Kingston. The unit they ship with the phones are rubbish and lock up, crash and corrupt often.

Go to http://forum.dailymobile.se for more info on this awesome phone - there's a huge 5800 community out there.

Handsome Dan Has Spoken.

Handsomedan

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Reply # 305866 10-Mar-2010 09:16

Oh yeah...I have Quick Office loaded on mine and it's a very, very good program.

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