Nokia N95 vs Apple iPhone 3G

Sunday, August 31st, 2008
by Michael Sherlock

First of all, if you haven’t already seen my complete review of this Nokia device, I suggest you check it out. It’s very detailed, unbiased, and should really give you a feel of the phone. As for the iPhone 3G, you can watch my video review. Due to time constraints however my video review was split into two parts: negatives and positives.

Now for the meat of this post, the breakdown and comparison of the Nokia N95-4 8GB NAM and the Apple iPhone 3G. The phones are compared in five different categories spanning design, navigation, features, multimedia, and call quality. Although in the end one phone must win, both are quality devices and should not be taken lightly.

Design
The Nokia N95 has a very sleek look.The glossy black front and matte-black finish on the back looks quite nice. The dual slider looks good too. The screen is pretty bright and everything looks like it belongs. However, it would have been nice if Nokia updated the look of the buttons and made the device a little skinnier. As for the iPhone 3G, Apple has once again created a device which has no competition. The screen is amazingly bright, responsive, and large while the sleek finish on the back continues the unique design from the front.
Winner: Apple iPhone 3G

Navigation
The N95’s weakest attribute is its navigation. Finding a particular application or function takes a while when you have to dig threw the file structure of this phone. Plus, you are limited by the button navigation that is far less efficient than a touch screen or scroll ball. As for the iPhone, everything you need is with-in a fingers tap, as you can store anything you need on the home screen. Plus, the touch screen works so well. Nothing currently on the market can match the sensitivity and accuracy of that screen.
Winner: Apple iPhone 3G

Features The Apple iPhone 3G is loaded with features. You have the app store which is an amazing resource for free and commercial applications, Eight or 16 GB of storage, and friendly support at your local apple store. (If you ever need it) Plus, thanks to the great interface, web-browsing on the iPhone is amazing. (Both phones have HSDPA and UMTS for 3G networking.) The N95 doesn't have a great service for finding application on the go however you can run almost anything on it. With the iPhone, Apple decides what you can put on it, the N95 however does not have any such limit. (It can even run unsigned applications.) The N95 also has some basic features the iPhone is missing including MMS messaging, the option for turn by turn directions (although that costs extra), and the ability to tether your phone's data connection to a computer. It even has copy and paste functionality.
Winner: Nokia N95

Multimedia
The N95 has an amazing camera that rivals nothing I have ever seen on a cell phone. It’s simply great. Pictures are magnificent and video is very watchable. (The iphone doesn’t even have support for recording video) Viewing your media is pleasant too. The media viewer interface is pretty nice and you can go from viewing your entire collection to specifically one piece of media in a nice fashion. There are even convenient soft-keys to quickly pull up the camera and media viewer applications. However, mac support is abysmal. Out of the box you have very few options. When you finally are able to connect your mac and your phone, all you can do is browse the phone and download files to your computer. From what I could find, there is no sync options unless you pay a premium for a third-party application. Granted most of the world is running windows, I love how all you have to do is connect the iPhone to your computer (Windows or Mac) via the included cable and all your music, contacts, and photos are synchronized. Speaking of the iPhone, did I forget to mention it’s the worlds best ipod? Apple has had years to perfect it’s media player and man does it execute. Movies are enjoyable to watch on the magnificent wide screen of the iPhone, photos look great, and music is wonderful. I have found browsing by album art is such a fun way to listen to your music thanks to this phone. Each phone does what it does wonderfully which is why this category is a…
Draw

Call Quality
The final category in this show-down is call quality. Many people forget this component but when you think about it, you are buying a cell phone. The extra goodies are nice, but this is what it’s all about. (As a note, these phones were tested on the AT&T network both running over 3G.) The N95 sounded pretty good although I noticed slight hissing and popping noises. The iPhone 3G is much improved over the original model. Voices are loud and are easily understandable. Recently, a friend of mine answered my phone and commented to me how great it sounded. He wasn’t specifically looking for the sound quality but it was so good he had to mention it.
Winner: Apple iPhone 3G

In Conclusion, both phones are great but have some downside too. The N95 has an amazing camera while the navigation on the iPhone 3G is truly revolutionary. Furthermore, what carrier you have must be taken into consideration. For me, I already had AT&T, which is the sole carrier of the iPhone 3G in the USA, but the N95 is sold unlocked so you can use it with any carrier you want without having to sign a two year agreement. Overall, I would recommend both of these phones but when you look at them side by side, one has to be better than the other. In this case, I would have to go with Apple’s iPhone 3G.

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4 Comments

Michael Reyes

September 24th, 2008
at 12:11pm

I disagree on call quality. Both phone has good call quality, but I phone still need to perect its signal between EVDO network and 3g. What is the point having a good sound quality if you keep losing your signal.

John V

September 24th, 2008
at 12:21pm

I think you mean EDGE not EDO thats for verizon network

Michael Reyes

September 24th, 2008
at 12:22pm

Yeah your right EDGE they both start with E

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