Which smartphone? Find your answer here...

[LancelotSA]

The question always gets asked about which smartphone is best and it is often pointed out that it depends on the needs of the user.

For this reason I found the following grid rather useful, or at the very least interesting :

http://3lib.ukonline.co.uk/grid.htm


Interesting scrolling down and seeing where one phone is superior to another.

 

[LancelotSA]

Out of interest, and quite interesting considering my stance on this forum, my clear choice is the N8 with 328 points. Next is a tie between the iPhone 4 and the N97 mini on 298 points.

 

[HapticSimian]

I'm sorry, but the HTC Desire - the phone of the year thus far according to many sources - rated 2nd lowest? No credibility in that grid, then.

 

[LancelotSA]

I'm sorry, but the HTC Desire - the phone of the year thus far according to many sources - rated 2nd lowest? No credibility in that grid, then.

Um, rated second lowest based on what? It is your "importance" it is based on.

 

[HapticSimian]

Um, rated second lowest based on what? It is your "importance" it is based on.

Based on the default setup when the page loads. The Desire has an average camera & less-than-great loudspeaker. Everything else is top-notch. The weightings and scores seem borked as far as I'm concerned.

 

[LancelotSA]

Based on the default setup when the page loads. The Desire has an average camera & less-than-great loudspeaker. Everything else is top-notch. The weightings and scores seem borked as far as I'm concerned.

And indeed it gets a 1 for low light and night still images and a 4 for normal stills and video. It gets a 2 for loudspeaker. So from what you are saying the ratings are actually pretty accurate.

Does it have "office suite built in"? >2
Can it be easily used with one hand? >4

Go through each segment and see where you feel it is being really unfairly treated. I have the N82 and reckon that is pretty accurate. And I really have room to complain as it obviously loses major points on the touch screen front! I also think text entry is fine but I know for a fact when I give my phone to someone else they battle.

 

[HapticSimian]

Not quite, no. In nobody's but the author's world would "less -than-great" equal 2... 6 maybe, or a 5 even. It can display all manner of Office documents out of the box, and an app purchase gives you editing ability, so 2 then? Really?

One-handed operation? Not much of an issue; not any more so than any other touch-screen only phone, and a helluva lot easier than my wife's E71 with its comically small buttons.

I realise that it's *another* source that leaves you feeling warm and fuzzy over the N8 and that's fine, but as a tool to help people make a decision that's probably binding for 2 years it seems less than ideal, 'tis all I'm saying.

 

[LancelotSA]

Feel free to find me a similar chart that shows something different and I'll happily take a look at it....

EDIT : Oh, and the fact that the N8 came out tops was not the criteria for me sharing the link which you should really have noticed given the fact that I only posted the results of my criteria after sharing the link...... but how LUCKY for me that it did come out on top. Hardly surprising though given what a great phone it is looking like!

 

[HapticSimian]

By the same token feel free to attempt to convince me that using some amateurish Java chart, compiled by one person assigning arbitrary scores to various elements seemingly reflecting a combination of personal bias and lack of familiarity, can replace or even adequately compliment good old-fashioned research.

If you're the type of person who will forgo reading a couple of 10-page reviews on gsmarena or similar to formulate your own opinion in favour of clicking some buttons on a chart, then just perhaps a smartphone isn't for you.

PS

As an obvious flaw in the chart, note that all phones without touchscreens are scored "0" for touchscreen sensitivity. (well, duh) handing the iFruit a handy head start over a number of others...

 

[LancelotSA]

By the same token feel free to attempt to convince me that using some amateurish Java chart, compiled by one person assigning arbitrary scores to various elements seemingly reflecting a combination of personal bias and lack of familiarity, can replace or even adequately compliment good old-fashioned research.

If you're the type of person who will forgo reading a couple of 10-page reviews on gsmarena or similar to formulate your own opinion in favour of clicking some buttons on a chart, then just perhaps a smartphone isn't for you.

I think it has been proven on here on numerous occasions that some cell phone users/choosers are indeed as simple as you are trying to make out I am, and therefore I thought this might help them. Of course most of them would not have got passed the pictures before going "oooh, dat is pwetty" and buying an iPhone. Or you get the ones who automatically get an Android because it is apparently hip, happening, new and cool. These same types write off Symbian as being too complex (oh the irony).

The stupidity of this post is further demonstrated by the fact that you personally have taken the the time to respond to numerous reviews relating to the N8 that I have posted on here yet you seem to be keen to insinuate that I don't read reviews and form my own opinion based on them.

As an obvious flaw in the chart, note that all phones without touchscreens are scored "0" for touchscreen sensitivity. (well, duh) handing the iFruit a handy head start over a number of others...

Wow, you really smart..... the only problem is that I already pointed this out in post #6. If you applied an inkling of intelligence to your argument you would have seen that rating something as "not" important would have multiplied the rating given by 0 meaning it has no effect. Duh!

 

[HapticSimian]

I think it has been proven on here on numerous occasions that some cell phone users/choosers are indeed as simple as you are trying to make out I am, and therefore I thought this might help them. Of course most of them would not have got passed the pictures before going "oooh, dat is pwetty" and buying an iPhone.

The stupidity of this post is further demonstrated by the fact that you personally have taken the the time to respond to numerous reviews relating to the N8 that I have posted on here yet you seem to be keen to insinuate that I don't read reviews and form my own opinion based on them.

You can drop your usual high-horse tactics, as it's completely unnecessary. Having read through your N8 Hands-on review thread with some interest, I wasn't trying to imply that you fall within the target audience of this little Java exercise - honest apologies if that's the impression I left you with. My reservations revolve around the entire sheet being intrinsically flawed, hence giving less-than-ideal advice to even the most basic phone buyer.

Wow, you really smart..... the only problem is that I already pointed this out in post #6.

I know, but thanks anyway - you help my self-esteem so. No Lance, you misunderstand me once more. My issue is that a phone should not arbitrarily be penalised for not having a touchscreen. If it manages to function equally well with normal clicky-clicky buttons such a penalty is daft.

 

[LancelotSA]

No Lance, you misunderstand me once more. My issue is that a phone should not arbitrarily be penalised for not having a touchscreen. If it manages to function equally well with normal clicky-clicky buttons such a penalty is daft.

You may have missed my edit.

Although I too should probably apologise for the tone.

I will add that I have not owned the HTC Desire, I have owned the N82 and feel the ratings given for it were quite fair. I have also done a helluva lot of reading on the N8 and those ratings also seem reasonably fair. I can then only assume the rest are fairly accurate. If the author has a personal problem with the Desire then that is unfortunate.

 

[4cer]

I'm sorry, but the HTC Desire - the phone of the year thus far according to many sources - rated 2nd lowest? No credibility in that grid, then.

sorry what ? Samsung Galaxy S was phone of the year? where's your credibility ! if you used one, then a Desire, as i have i think you would understand that its below the galaxy at the very least.

well lets leave that part out of it! I descredit any review that puts a Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, the same as a galaxy and above the HTC... seriously ? thats like saying your 320i with a conefilter will beat the M3 ! ive had a Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, it was marginally ok when it came out... now its really a piece of k@k compared to the new phones.

 

[HapticSimian]

You may have missed my edit.

Although I too should probably apologise for the tone.

I will add that I have not owned the HTC Desire, I have owned the N82 and feel the ratings given for it were quite fair. I have also done a helluva lot of reading on the N8 and those ratings also seem reasonably fair. I can then only assume the rest are fairly accurate. If the author has a personal problem with the Desire then that is unfortunate.

Yeah. I nearly missed this one as well. I think it's highly unlikely that a self-admitted ageing (for those with ageing eyesight, like mine! - from the chart) unknown person has a personal issue with the Desire, or Android in general. I would equally doubt that he is in any position to judge technology he probably doesn't have an infant's grasp of.

As for your prior edit - this one:

If you applied an inkling of intelligence to your argument you would have seen that rating something as "not" important would have multiplied the rating given by 0 meaning it has no effect. Duh!

Apart from still being unnecessarily acidic, it doesn't invalidate my argument. Change all the answers to "not" apart from aforementioned touchscreen sensitivity which goes to "quite". This, in my mind at least, implies some wiggle-room. I'd rather want a very capable phone with tactile buttons than an acceptable touchscreen-only approach, yet the scoring does not compensate for this... Anyway, I'll stop flogging the dead (high ) horse now.

 

[HapticSimian]

sorry what ? Samsung Galaxy S was phone of the year? where's your credibility ! if you used one, then a Desire, as i have i think you would understand that its below the galaxy at the very least.

Dude, when I had my Desire in hand you lot were still dribbling spittle on your keyboards fapping over pictures and specsheets of the Galaxy S. Besides, my standard response of "but it's a Samsung" successfully nullifies your statement. In fairness, I'd rate them pretty similarly - what the Desire loses out on in the camera & screen stakes, it makes up for in solidity and not being a Samsung.

 

[Maddmatt]

These scores seem a bit ridiculous, at least as far as my phone and my previous phone are concerned (Samsung Galaxy S, Nokia 5800).

Why does the Samsung Galaxy S score so low in robustness? It is tougher than in looks with Gorilla glass in front of the screen, just like the Motorola Milestone. Mine has survived a few drops, nothing major though.
Why is the file management a pathetic 3/10 when it has virtually the same file management capabilities as a PC? Should be 10, with 3rd party apps it can even open archives like zip files.
Gaming and graphics potential should be the highest since it has the most powerful mobile CPU and GPU available right now. Who knows if that will be taken advantage of though...

For web browsing I'd say the 5800 deserves a lower score. At least, it shouldn't be the same as a SGS. It's decent though.
Also, why does the SGS get a lower web browsing score than the other Android phones and iPhone? Same browser, even bigger screen. It's the best phone there is for web browsing in my opinion.
It comes with Thinkfree Office built in, so "Office Suite" should be 10/10 (or is Thinkfree not that good? Seems very good to me but I hardly use it).

Video playback should be 8 or 9. It plays 720p and a bunch of formats, but I guess it should be penalized a bit for lack of 1080p and subtitle support.
Why does it score so badly for still photography? I'd rate it at 7. Nothing special but it's good. Lots of software features like blink detection.
Video recording has terrible audio so I'd give it a 5, plus it looks nothing like HD.

I suppose "regular firmware updates" is based on past history or something? The 3 seems a bit harsh but I wont argue that until Samsung release a good Froyo firmware.

The Nokia 5800 sure as hell does not deserve 10 for multitasking. A web browser and a couple of tabs can kill everything in the background.

The 5800 should score lower for software stability, mine froze up occasionally and my brother (I gave it to him) complains about that too.
How can the SGS get a lower score than the other Androids for this? I've never had it freeze up, not even with unofficial firmware.

Edit: Damn it looks like I have too much free time, writing all this...

 

[LancelotSA]

I descredit any review that puts a Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, the same as a galaxy and above the HTC... seriously ? thats like saying your 320i with a conefilter will beat the M3 ! ive had a Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, it was marginally ok when it came out... now its really a piece of k@k compared to the new phones.

Again, fair enough but what are you basing it on? You'll notice that based on the default responses the 5800 will score highly based on cost (obviously), it also scores higher on one handed operation, size is one of the better scores, loudspeaker quality and volume (I would assume so considering it is a music phone). So can you argue against these? And if these factors are no important to you then make them unimportant and get your result.

You guys seem to be assuming the default setting immediately recognises the best phone. It doesn't.

 

[LancelotSA]

These scores seem a bit ridiculous, at least as far as my phone and my previous phone are concerned (Samsung Galaxy S, Nokia 5800).

Why does the Samsung Galaxy S score so low in robustness? It is tougher than in looks with Gorilla glass in front of the screen, just like the Motorola Milestone. Mine has survived a few drops, nothing major though.

Not sure why I feel the need to defend this but it does say "Robustness (and hardware simplicity)"....

Also which Galaxy S is being referred to there. When I search on GSM Arena I see three (M110S, I909, I9000). If I knew which one I would be interested in seeing what GSM Arena says about construction.

 

[HapticSimian]

You guys seem to be assuming the default setting immediately recognises the best phone. It doesn't.

I just don't think it's a successful attempt. One-handed operation: HTC Desire - 4, N8 - 7. Why? The Desire's screen is 5mm bigger, with a higher resolution, and regarded across the innerwebz as better than or equal to the iFruit, which gets also gets a 4. How on Earth can a bigger, higher-res screen be worse to use one-handed? Especially seeing that the weight of the N8 and the Desire is exactly the same according to gsmarena...

Your link sucks.

 

[LancelotSA]

I just don't think it's a successful attempt. One-handed operation: HTC Desire - 4, N8 - 7. Why? The Desire's screen is 5mm bigger, with a higher resolution, and regarded across the innerwebz as better than or equal to the iFruit, which gets also gets a 4. How on Earth can a bigger, higher-res screen be worse to use one-handed? Especially seeing that the weight of the N8 and the Desire is exactly the same according to gsmarena..

I'm not really sure how to answer you as it seems to obvious an answer!

Surely a smaller phone would be easier to operate one handed?! Add in the rounded edges on the N8 and possibly the positioning of most used "keys".

Strangely enough the more you chaps are responding the more it's making me think that link is extremely accurate!

EDIT : Here is some interesting stuff I found online :

The N8 has a T9 keyboard when used in portrait. This alone would make a difference to one handed use! Quote to prove the point :

The N8 really is a beautiful looking handset, it sits perfectly in the palm of your hand and it’s design means you can use the handset one-handed, including typing on the T9 keyboard.

Pinch to zoom is OK for me but ONLY if they also provide a one handed alternative means of doing the same thing. Trying to look at maps one handed on the iPhone is a terrible pain in the butt, it will zoom in with a tap but can't zoom out. Web pages zoom in and out with a tap but only to a single preset level that the Safari browser decides for you. Terrible piece of UI.

Maps is going to have a zoom bar - and I find this much easier to use when driving a long in the car. However a lot of people seem to love pinch to zoom.

Photos is one of the application that supports multi-touch. In this case it's the 'pinch-to-zoom' gesture. However Symbian^3 retains the zoom bar (left hand side) because not all devices will have a capacitive screen. Furthermore the zoom bar is easier to use one handed that a multi-touch gesture.

Indeed, the more you guys talk the more it makes me love the N8