iPHONE 4 V NOKIA N8
Some people are claiming that the entire future of Nokia as a force in the mobile phone industry hinges upon whether or not the N8 is a success. Such hyperbole rarely exists outside of a Apple launch presentation, so it is only fitting that we put the flagship handsets of Nokia and Apple up against each other.
Although the Nokia N8 is not yet available, we now have all the details about what is to be featured in Nokia’s first true entry into the high-level smartphone market. With the rise of many other companies, Nokia will be hoping that the N8 can rejuvenate their flagging efforts and once again see them reign over all other mobile phone manufacturers.
Whatever those making Android devices have to say though, it is the Apple iPhone 4 that currently holds the crown as the king of the smartphones. Let us see whether (on paper at least) the Nokia N8 has a chance of dethroning the Apple behemoth.
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Dimensions Winner: iPhone 4
A fairly comfortable for the iPhone 4 here. Although the Nokia N8 is a couple of millimetres shorter, it is slightly wider and the iPhone is actually only 3 quarters the width of Nokia’s phone. Added to this is the fact that the curved design on the N8 makes it look nice, but also gives it a larger feel than you would expect in the hand.
Display Winner: iPhone 4
It’s unlikely that any phone can legitimately claim that its display is better than the iPhone’s. The Nokia N8 has an excellent AMOLED screen, which you would be extremely be impressed by if you have never seen the iPhone, but the iPhone’s “Retina Display” is just a cut above everything else.
Engine Room Winner: iPhone 4
It is disappointing that the Nokia N8 looks set to be launched with just 680 MHz processor as opposed to the 1Ghz chips that have become standard for the latest smartphones. Although some nifty 3D Graphics Accelerator technology does squeeze every last drop of processing power out of the N8, the greater speed of the iPhone 4, with its 1Ghz of power, will be clear to just about anyone who gets to use the two.
Battery Draw
Although the iPhone battery life is notorious for being the source of much criticism, it has been improved on the iPhone 4. An impressive thing about the iPhone 4 is that there isn’t such a huge drop off from standby time to talk time as you get on most handsets. Because of this, despite having less standby battery life than the Nokia N8, it actually has better talktime battery life. Because of this, I’m going to score it a draw.
Imaging Winner: Nokia N8
The camera is the not-so-secret weapon of the Nokia N8. With 12 Megapixels, Carl Zeiss Optics and Xenon flash, the Nokia N8 is set to jump straight to the top of the pile for smartphone photography. While Steve Jobs can talk as much as he wants about how Megapixels aren’t everything, the quality of the Nokia N8′s camera is undeniable and gives it a clear victory over the iPhone 4′s good if unimpressive offering.
Software Winner: iPhone 4
While there is plenty of debate over how user-friendly the Apple interface is, there is no arguing about just how bad Nokia’s Symbian OS has been in past. The Nokia N8 is launching the new version of this OS, so some improvement is likely to be seen, it probably won’t be enough. The bigger problem than some clunkiness of the OS is that the poor performance of Symbian has left many developers unwilling to build apps for it. Up against the huge library on Apple’s app store, the iPhone 4 wins this with absolute ease.
Storage Winner: Nokia N8
As is traditional in our Simbasics comparisons, the iPhone 4 loses out here because you cannot expand the storage with an SD card. The large amounts of internal storage that you get in the iPhone 4 should be ample for most of your needs, but not having the option of expansion is extremely irritating, especially as it makes any transferring of files a huge hassle.
Price Winner: Nokia N8
We don’t yet have full pricing details of the Nokia N8, but you can get it SIM free for £419.99. That might not sound too cheap, but it is still much cheaper than the £499 you would have to shell out to get the iPhone 4 SIM free.
Verdict
If Nokia are banking on the N8 surpassing the iPhone 4 as the smartphone of choice, then look very likely to be disappointed. Alongside the new iPhone, you need a phone as well-rounded and polished as the HTC Desire or Samsung Galaxy S to stand a chance of competing. Unfortunately the Nokia N8′s outstanding camera and nice looks aren’t nearly enough to bring it into the same realm as these superphones.
