N8, HTC, or iPhone or ?

preacherman

Okay, I am due an upgrade and have narrowed my choices down to the Nokia N8, HTC Desire HD or an iPhone4 but I am also open to alternative suggestions.

I'd like my phone to be first and foremost a phone !!! .... meaning I want to be able to make and recieve good quality calls, I want to be able to text easily, I'd like a user friendly phone without any faff ... a touch screen, preferably a one handed operation phone,

I need a good quality camera ...

I want to be able to surf the net, post on forums, facebook, twitter etc. and check my emails. I don't really use my phone to download music but I would like to know that I could if I wanted to. I would like a good music player though. I would need removable storage for music, books and movies ...

I want to easily go online using Wi Fi rather than having to pay for data but also have the ability to use data.

I need reasonable battery life ...

Ideally ... GPS/maps etc.

I am not overly concerned about apps. or games but obviously would like the option to acquire them if I wanted to.

I have mostly used Nokia phones including an N95 and my current E63 ... I like Nokias but I am happy to take advice on what I should get now ...

I suppose if I am honest I fancy the N8 but reviews are mixed and the HTC would be next in line followed by iphone ...

I am on the Vodafone network ...

Over to the experts

jimmy_t

i have an n8 so:
call quality is excellent, texting with swype is great, on a user friendly level you'll need to explore the phone a bit but if youve used nokia before it should be fine, i find the screen is just the right size for one handed operation, imo the desire hd is too big and you can only reach 2/3 of the screen with your thumb (depending on the size of your thumb)
the camera is unbeatable, brilliant,
internet experience is poor, supposedly it will get better with a fw update but until then.... opera is quite good but not good enough.
facebook and twitter i find are a nice experience with the social app, easily updated.
email experience is not good, passable but not good, i have a yahoo a/c.
music and radio player are good but i've never downloaded music
wifi is simple to setup and works well
battery life is good for a big screen smartphone, nearly two days of medium use one day of v.heavy use
gps and maps are very good, really handy to have them in your pocket and free.
apps and appstore i find are actually good, nokia make some great ones and i must have over 50 downloaded, and a lot of them are good,
if you are used to nokias it will be an easy transition, my last phone was an n78, i really like the phone but it takes tweaking to get it to your preferences, if your not into messing with it and just want it to work it mightn't be for you, the email can be a bit of a let down and the internet is not good but other than that its really a very good phone, if you can put up with using opera and updating the email app yourself its a great phone, if you love the simple life you should probably go iphone, youll lose your free maps and possibly your soul but its a great phone for making life easy if you can put up with the downside.
Ive only picked up the desire hd so i cant comment except for its a big phone, im sure its a great experience but someone else might shed some more light on that.

preacherman

Thanks a million jimmy_t for taking the time to give a really good overview of the N8. I will wait another while to see if anyone else chips in about the HTC and make up my mind then.

jimmy_t wrote: »

if you love the simple life you should probably go iphone, youll lose your free maps and possibly your soul

Thats what I was afraid of

Thanks again

Andrew

MastiffMrs

HTC is excellent.haven't used the Nokia and have a dislike for the iPhone so would definitely recommend Desire Hd. Maps are better than my sat nav, texting is easy and calls are so clear.web is really good and always using wi fi. Don't think you get as good a deal on vf as you would on 3 but obviously that is up to u.I'll b sticking with HTC for the foreseeable future anyway. Eta camera is great and battery needs charging every day but are most touch screens the same?

Skerries

I have just recently changed from a Nokia 5800 to the Desire Z and it is like night and day compared to the older Symbian OS
I won't be going back to Nokia until they embrace Android or make something comparable
i think you should definitely go down the HTC, iPhone or even the Samsung Galaxy S path as Nokia is old tech now
I think you should just pick one of them and love it as they are all very good at the moment

kirving

Nokia don't use old technology, Symbian is actually faster than the others, and the N8 is absolutely crammed with the latest tech.

It's the actual UI which some people think let it down. It's behind in terms of fancy graphics, but all the features are still there.

shadowninty

Kevin Irving wrote: »

It's the actual UI which some people think let it down. It's behind in terms of fancy graphics, but all the features are still there.

when you look at things like task management, app installation and data storage, sync, online capabilities, core apps, defaults system, ecosystem etc you will see why Symbain is behind and wont catch up to the competition

Riamfada

Where can you get the Desire HD?

cnocbui

The Samsung Wave S8500 fits your criteria. First and foremost it has superb reception and voice call quality. It has a very good camera and is a superb music player, both in functions and audio quality. It has the best battery life of any smart phone and the best screen available. It is also actually available.

preacherman

Thanks folks to all that gave opinions ... much appreciated ...

I am not a techie so to be honest I probably value hardware, battery life and ease of use over browser capability and apps etc.

So far I think its fair to say from your replies that the N8 wins on battery life, camera and has free gps but falls down on its internet and email capability,

The HTC Desire HD wins on features etc. but falls down on battery life, something thats important to me, and the iPhone to be honest would be a last resort purely because I have always had an issue with iTunes lack of portability. Classy looking gear but just not for me.

Thanks cnocbui for pointing me in the Samsung direction, my research found that the Samsung battery life deteriorates fairly quickly so I probably wont go there. Thanks anyway for taking the time to reply.

It seems to me its between the HTC Desire HD and the N8. ... I am seriously leaning towards the N8 despite the OS issues, I like the phone capability, camera and battery life ...

Can any N8 owners convince me to buy one or to stay away and get a HTC Desire HD instead ?

Andrew

cnocbui

preacherman wrote: »

So far I think its fair to say from your replies that the N8 wins on battery life
...
Thanks cnocbui for pointing me in the Samsung direction, my research found that the Samsung battery life deteriorates fairly quickly so I probably wont go there. Thanks anyway for taking the time to reply.

Andrew

No worries, you're welcome.

I am slightly puzzled by your findings though. I have owned my Wave for over 6 months - almost since launch - and the battery life has actually improved beyond the 3.5 days GSM Arena managed as part of their original review - which is 12+ hours more than the iPhone 4 lasted with the same test and 36 hours more than the N8:

http://blog.gsmarena.com/nokia-n8-battery-test-results-are-out-good-but-not-the-best/

Since GSM Arena did that test with a Wave running the original firmware, the battery life has actually improved with subsequent firmwares. I now charge mine between 1 and 1.4 times a week, depending on use. I'm not the only one, It just so happens another Boardie posted this today:

Is it normal for the XXJID FW to improve battery life significantly? I updated it about a week ago and haven't charged it since, using for maybe an hour a day on wi-fi, and as an alarm everyday, on standby otherwise, and it's now on 43%. My Desire might be getting an early retirement.

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=70527824&postcount=359

deco nate

n8 specs here
http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_n8-3252.php

also i have just passed the 2 an a half day mark on
my n8,mad i know....no calls some game playin,
an hours of surfin boards usin wifi.wifi set to always
on...had whatapps runnin in the background
an a good few texts.
what does the n8 have that others dont?
hmdi
usb on the go
fm transmitter
bluetooth v3(others may have this)
latest dolby surround sound
huge codec support
stereo recording on your own home made videos.




thats all i can think of.
hope it helps:)

see edit

xtal191

cnocbui wrote: »

No worries, you're welcome.

I am slightly puzzled by your findings though. I have owned my Wave for over 6 months - almost since launch - and the battery life has actually improved beyond the 3.5 days GSM Arena managed as part of their original review - which is 12+ hours more than the iPhone 4 lasted with the same test and 36 hours more than the N8:

http://blog.gsmarena.com/nokia-n8-battery-test-results-are-out-good-but-not-the-best/

Since GSM Arena did that test with a Wave running the original firmware, the battery life has actually improved with subsequent firmwares. I now charge mine between 1 and 1.4 times a week, depending on use. I'm not the only one, It just so happens another Boardie posted this today:

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=70527824&postcount=359

Got to agree with you, the battery on the Wave is great. As cnocbui already said the call quality is very impressive and it does have one of the best screens on the market.

http://www.gsmarena.com/display_shootout-review-541.php

I've been very impressed with it!!

preacherman

cnocbui wrote: »

No worries, you're welcome.

I am slightly puzzled by your findings though. I have owned my Wave for over 6 months - almost since launch - and the battery life has actually improved beyond the 3.5 days GSM Arena managed as part of their original review - which is 12+ hours more than the iPhone 4 lasted with the same test and 36 hours more than the N8:

My apologies cnocbui, I had just read customer feedback on Vodafones site and there was a lot of mention of battery life but I just looked back at it now and these reviews appear to be from people that were used to a bog standard phone that did not eat into battery life the way smart phones do.

I will have a good look at the wave over the weekend.

Thanks again.

Andrew

cdb

Nokia is 'standing on a burning platform' and 'has reached a point of no return' ...Nokia CEO Stephen Elop
Gizmodo Guardian

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop is pissed the Finnish cellphone maker relinquished their dominance to Apple and Google. Real pissed. Fearing the company has reached a point of no return, Elop issued a no-holds-barred 1,330-word memo to employees, and seems primed to make some bold moves in the next week to help Nokia regain some of its former glory.
Bluntly stating that they've failed to compete with any of the major smartphone players, Elop, a former Microsoft executive, minced no words in the memo, which included the following bit:

"The first iPhone shipped in 2007, and we still don't have a product that is close to their experience. Android came on the scene just over 2 years ago, and this week they took our leadership position in smartphone volumes. Unbelievable."

preacherman

cdb wrote: »

Nokia is 'standing on a burning platform' and 'has reached a point of no return' ...Nokia CEO Stephen Elop
Gizmodo Guardian

Thanks cdb,

I take it you don't recommend the N8 then ... What phone would you recommend that fits the bill for my needs ?

Andrew

tfitzgerald

I have an iPhone 3GS and I love it but i was looking at the samsung galaxy s over the weekend it's a good phone I think when I am due an upgrade that's the way I will be going

cdb

preacherman wrote: »

Thanks cdb,

I take it you don't recommend the N8 then ... What phone would you recommend that fits the bill for my needs ?

Andrew

Far from it Preacherman, I've been a satisfied Nokia customer for years and while I've never even seen an N8 to be honest I'm certainly not saying you should dismiss it. The article I linked to does indicate a change in the smartphone marketplace though.

In terms of a recommendation I have the Samsung Galaxy S android phone and would recommend taking a look at that or any other android phone - the HTC range for example before making a decision. Can't speak for iPhones as I have little meaningful experience with them. Hope it helps.

mrs aol

I have a N8. If I could go back having used it for the last month or so I would buy one again.

BUT I don't think the camera is great. ok at best. (I had a SE C905 before this and my shots were alot better)

I find browsing not great but usable.

I use gmail and find that really good on the N8.

PCPhoto

currently own a HTC Desire (not the HD one) .... and find its good, does exactly what I want ....calls, texts and internet.

previously had a N95 and N97 (Nokia) ... which were both good, I found the N97 great but went snorkeling with it in my pocket over the summer and decided to go for something new.

Long and short of it.... Iphone is good but once apple have you with one product ... they own you for life !! (I've 3 macbooks and refuse to get the iphone until they release one which does everything - they are drip feeding over the past few years)

HTC Desire is reportedly better than HTC Desire HD, battery life with all smartphones these days is approx 24-36hours (max) .... if it wasn't for the need of internet access I'd be happy with any old phone - I'm not a fan of all these apps as they generally do nothing important.

one thing that I dislike about HTC is that in order to download apps you need to be logged into google (meaning google will keep data on what you download and whatever you view etc etc - Apple prob do the same but say nothing about it - Google's privacy issues have been well documented in the media - hope that doesn't come across as some wierd conspiracy theory type thingy - I'm not Jim Corr !!)

EDIT: Camera on HTC Desire is ok.... not great - and there is very little zoom.

user1842

Here's my two cent,

Dont get the upgrade, switch to the Vodafone simply plan instead. Its way cheaper.

Then I would buy the Motorola Defy outright, you can but it from Amazon for under €300. I could not recommend this phone enough, its excellent. I previously had an HTC Desire and I find the Motorola is better, great battery life too. Its also water resistant and shock resistant. It looks class. I was pleasantly surprised by this phone.

KrisW

BUT I don't think the camera is great. ok at best. (I had a SE C905 before this and my shots were alot better)

I'm wondering what way the N8's camera isn't as good as the Sony's? Is it focus, exposure, colour? Just curious, because the sample shots I've seen from the Sony are not as good as my own pics from the N8.

Squaredude

I've got a desire hd.the battery life was bad to begin with but after a few charges it gets better.I last charged my phone 32 hours ago and I've got 64% battery left now.
I'd definitely recommend the desire hd it does everything you want it to do and a hell of a lot more.

dr ro

my n8's battery gets me through the day everyday till i charge it at night every night whether it needs it or not. I also have a car charger which is very handy for holidays or hired cars when navigating or transmitting music through car radio. I could quite easily go through the battery in a day as it's hard to put down. I've audiobooks downloaded and played through car radio or ear phones. If running or cycling, radio, internet radio or mp3 player plus sports tracker Will be on. I'd defo get another one if i lost it.

DOC09UNAM

sahaya wrote: »

hi

its better to choose iphone. since you say you need all the advanced features.it would be a better selection.

You may have missed the important part, he wants to be able to make calls.

I would choose the HD myself, have had a chance to play with them all for work and I have to say the Desire is what won me over.

preacherman

Thanks folks for all your replies and feedback ... all going well I will get into town tomorrow and check out all of your recommendations ...

Andrew