Jens Begemann

Over the last ten years I called about 20 different devices “my current phone” and I used a couple of hundred for at least a brief time.

The legendary Nokia 6310i 5 years ago was the last one I really loved, but since then I wanted more than phone calls and SMS:
E-Mail, calendar, web surfing, camera and MP3 player in a small package.
But no device was good at all of this and I always had two carry two mediocre devices.

Since July of this year the wait is over. Two phones appeared on the market simultaneously that finally satisfy me – and I think they are both equally great:
The Apple iPhone 3G and the Nokia E71.

The Apple iPhone 3G

Everything has been said about the iPhone 3G.
When I first used the originally iPhone a year ago I was amazed by the ease and elegance of its interface, the stylish look and the amazing screen – but I thought it lacked key features and was more of a toy.

But a couple of months later I put in my SIM card and used it as my main device for a couple of days. This changed my view: The original iPhone offered few features, but these features are implemented brilliantly.

This summer 3G and especially software 2.0 finally made it a great device. Not flawless – see Pros & Cons below – but great.

The Nokia E71

Sadly Nokia is not very good at creating a hype or an event around the launch of a new device: Few people I talk to even know of the E71. But in my opinion the Nokia E71 is as great as the iPhone – with different strength and weaknesses.

The interface of most S60 devices feels slow and the ones with a QWERTY keyboard were clunky. Not so the E71. It is much faster than old S60 phones and slightly smaller than the iPhone in every dimension. It is small enough to fit in my pocket comfortably and big enough to host a nice screen and a good keyboard.

The Nokia E71 is based on the Symbian operating system in Nokia’s “S60” flavor. S60 was introduced with the Nokia 7650 in summer of 2002 (back then a breakthrough device). The system has been significantly improved since then and now virtually every feature imaginable is there. And due to its openness there are a lot of applications that add even more capabilities – also on low levels of the system you don’t have access to as an iPhone developer.
But it lacks the elegance of Apple’s interface and sometimes the sheer number of features and options makes it less useable.

Pros & Cons

Apple iPhone 3G – Pros:

• Big and crisp screen: Great for full-length movies and web surfing
• Superb interface and great touch sensitivity (much better than at other touch-phones)
• Great MP3 player and browser
• Ability to charge via USB at your Laptop
• Seamless software marketplace: Even though the restrictions Apple put on the APIs limits the possible applications significantly, I install more apps on my iPhone than I used to install on my Nokia devices, because it is so easy.

Apple iPhone 3G – Cons:

• Pointless restrictions to satisfy carrier demands: E.g. the iTunes store does not work via 3G (only via WiFi!!!) and the phone does not serve as a 3G modem for your Laptop: Fortunately my carrier T-Mobile Germany offers a second SIM to be used in a 3G Laptop card without any additional monthly charge.
• Only available SIM-locked (e.g. can’t insert a prepaid SIM to get cheap data access)
• Bad camera (feels like 2005)
• Battery drains quickly if you use the multimedia features
• The interface sometimes hangs for 1-3 seconds if the phone is filled with a lot of data (e.g. hundreds of contacts)

Nokia E71 – Pros:

• Open software platform with a longer history; Therefore more capable applications are available; e.g. very good turn-by-turn navigation software means you don’t need a TomTom/Garmin any more
• A very good keyboard
• Not-so-bad camera with flash
• Every feature you can imagine

Nokia E71 – Cons:

• Uncommon 2.5mm headphone plug
• Almost too many features and the heritage of the S60 system decrease ease-of-use significantly.
• o seamless WiFi/3G handover: You have to manually switch from 3G to a WiFi hotspot and back every time you want to use it, even if it’s a known hot-spot!
• No touch screen

Conclusion

In think both devices are great: The two best mobile phones available on the market today.

If you write a lot of mails or need the phone to serve as your 3G modem, go for the E71. The better camera and the possibility to buy it unlocked might also make you prefer it.

Take the iPhone if web surfing and playing music & video are more important to you. Reading E-Mail is also slightly better, because of the bigger screen.

I chose the iPhone 3G, but the decision was very tight. I would love to have a slide-out-keyboard and a better battery – without making the package bigger.
But I love the ease-of-use, the attention to details and the big touch-screen. The phone makes me smile every time I use it.

For example the silent/normal switch allows changing the audio profile within a second without looking at the device. I therefore always use it. As a result I don’t interrupt meetings and don’t unintentionally miss phone calls any more. As a downside you only have two modes (silent/normal), but who needs 5 different audio profiles anyway?

And due to the brilliant screen I use my Laptop at home only half the time and watching full-length movies – or a complete season of 24 – on the plane is just great.

Remarks reg. both devices:

You obviously you need a flat rate data plan and I recommend using Microsoft Exchange to keep your calendar & contacts in sync in addition to E-Mails (I use Skyfillers Hosted Exchange).
You need to charge both devices every evening. You will need a secondary battery (E71) or an external backup battery (iPhone) if your next plug is more than 12 hours away.

Of course all of this is not the case if you view the devices as “mobile phones” mainly to make phone calls – but then you should get a different piece of hardware anyway.