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Ushio01
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Smartphone over a feature phone

Fri Mar 26, 2010 9:32 am

I currently have a nokia feature phone (6700 classic) and am considering upgrading to a smartphone but first I want to know what advantages I should expect from the upgrade.
 
emi25
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Re: Smartphone over a feature phone

Fri Mar 26, 2010 10:04 am

 
Flying Fox
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Re: Smartphone over a feature phone

Fri Mar 26, 2010 11:41 am

The best thing to do is take the SBA approach: state your usage and budget, then the answer would be clear from those.
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Ushio01
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Re: Smartphone over a feature phone

Fri Mar 26, 2010 12:07 pm

Budget £500 or under handset only as to usage my current feature phone can do a lot including access the internet(no flash though), camera/videocamers, e-mail/SMS/MMS/IM, copy & paste since that seems to be a big deal, apps from ovi store, gps with nokia and google maps etc but there must be something smartphones do better since they are all anyone talks about anymore.
 
ekul
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Re: Smartphone over a feature phone

Fri Mar 26, 2010 12:53 pm

I guess the real question is there anything you'd like to do with your phone that you currently can't? You seem to be pretty happy with your current device. If that's the case a smartphone is just a waste of money.

The line between featurephone and smartphone is becoming more and more blurry as smartphone features get pushed down into featurephones. Combine that with the fact nokia featurephones tend to be very good and for a large number of users the extra money doesn't seem to make sense.

To see if the switch would be worth it let's define a smartphone. For me it would have to include:

1. Full HTML/CSS rendering engine. The device needs to be able to display the real web
2. QWERTY input. Hardware or software but there needs to be one button per letter
3. App support. There needs to be a way to install things
4. Full email support. POP3/IMAP and SSL/TLS support
5. Media support. Needs to play back all sorts of audio and video formats, especially MP3, AAC and h.264

I imagine there are other things that people look for in a smartphone but that is my list. If you don't want or need those things there are a lot of devices in between.

I think part of the reason you are hearing all about smartphones and not featurephones is most of the english gadget blogs are based in north america and high end nokia featurephones never really took off here. Here you buy from your carrier and they will either sell you a simple flip phone or a blackberry. There are exceptions but there are very few featurephones here.

EDIT: I just thought of a simple test. Which do you do more? Make calls or do everything else the phone offers? If you mostly make calls a featurephone is for you. If you do a lot of web browsing, texting, navigating, emailing, calendar checking, twitter feed reading, restaurant review hunting and mobile game playing then a smartphone will serve you better. Featurephones are phones first, everything else second. Smartphones reverse that ratio. They make calls just fine but they do everything else much better since they have better input, bigger screens, faster hardware and more flexible OSs.
 
Ushio01
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Re: Smartphone over a feature phone

Fri Mar 26, 2010 2:34 pm

I think i'll get this then.
http://www.nokia.co.uk/find-products/all-phones/nokia-e63/specifications

It adds AAC support and the below 2 features to my phone which already had the rest of your list only lacking full flash but on a 2.36" who cares about full flash support.

1. Full HTML/CSS rendering engine. The device needs to be able to display the real web
2. QWERTY input. Hardware or software but there needs to be one button per letter

Thanks for the clarification.
 
drsauced
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Re: Smartphone over a feature phone

Fri Mar 26, 2010 3:41 pm

ekul wrote:

EDIT: I just thought of a simple test. Which do you do more? Make calls or do everything else the phone offers? If you mostly make calls a featurephone is for you. If you do a lot of web browsing, texting, navigating, emailing, calendar checking, twitter feed reading, restaurant review hunting and mobile game playing then a smartphone will serve you better. Featurephones are phones first, everything else second. Smartphones reverse that ratio. They make calls just fine but they do everything else much better since they have better input, bigger screens, faster hardware and more flexible OSs.


Smartphones also tend to be flagship products, and as such have much higher advertising budgets.
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codedivine
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Re: Smartphone over a feature phone

Fri Mar 26, 2010 3:50 pm

Ushio01 wrote:
I think i'll get this then.
http://www.nokia.co.uk/find-products/all-phones/nokia-e63/specifications

It adds AAC support and the below 2 features to my phone which already had the rest of your list only lacking full flash but on a 2.36" who cares about full flash support.

1. Full HTML/CSS rendering engine. The device needs to be able to display the real web
2. QWERTY input. Hardware or software but there needs to be one button per letter

Thanks for the clarification.


I have an E63 and I would recommend installing Skype (yes it works both over 3g and Wifi and doesnt use airtime minutes, only data) and Opera Mobile 10 beta. I am not too happy with the email client on the phone, so I bought Profimail. But maybe you will like the default client anyway. Keyboard is pretty nice once you get used to it. The inbuilt web browser is not good and Opera is way better but still free.
 
ekul
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Re: Smartphone over a feature phone

Fri Mar 26, 2010 3:55 pm

Ushio01 wrote:
I think i'll get this then.
http://www.nokia.co.uk/find-products/all-phones/nokia-e63/specifications

It adds AAC support and the below 2 features to my phone which already had the rest of your list only lacking full flash but on a 2.36" who cares about full flash support.

1. Full HTML/CSS rendering engine. The device needs to be able to display the real web
2. QWERTY input. Hardware or software but there needs to be one button per letter

Thanks for the clarification.


flash support is pretty spotty among phones. apple has stated categorically they will never support flash and MS isn't including it in windows phone series 7. 10.1 with hardware acceleration is coming for android but adobe announced it a long time ago and said it would be ready in the fall, draw your own conclusions.

I've actually been looking for new a phone and the e63 looks pretty tempting except for the lack of even aGPS. If that's something you need the e71 (or e71x) is supposed to be excellent.
 
Flying Fox
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Re: Smartphone over a feature phone

Fri Mar 26, 2010 6:07 pm

Ushio01 wrote:
I think i'll get this then.
http://www.nokia.co.uk/find-products/all-phones/nokia-e63/specifications

It adds AAC support and the below 2 features to my phone which already had the rest of your list only lacking full flash but on a 2.36" who cares about full flash support.

1. Full HTML/CSS rendering engine. The device needs to be able to display the real web
2. QWERTY input. Hardware or software but there needs to be one button per letter

Thanks for the clarification.

Do you email/message often enough to warrant the physical qwerty of the E63? Do you want a touch screen? It really depends on how you use your phone (mostly calls, or mostly the other stuff?). I'm a Nokia guy myself, but in terms of smartphones all the cool kids are supposed to diss on Nokia. They are kind of falling behind with the dated but still very capable Symbian OS, so you have to take that into consideration. Although Symbian, Maemo (now MeeGo) and Android are really the only ones that you can do true multitasking with. Then again it depends on whether you really need that functionality.
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codedivine
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Re: Smartphone over a feature phone

Fri Mar 26, 2010 8:13 pm

Well, there is no denying the fact that Symbian is falling behind. Whether its just the dated interface (not just in form but in day to day functionality), or the fact that android and iphone OS both seem to have a much larger and more interesting collection of apps, S60 is definitely behind. Further, once Symbian^3 phones start coming out, Nokia will probably not offer any more updates to the old phones. And E63 cannot be upgraded to a higher version of symbian.
I have used an ipod touch and I use the E63 right now and the iphone OS on the touch is certainly better. For example, things like email setup a breeze on the touch. For E63, the default email client was hard to setup and not very good. Web browsing is far superior on the touch. Podcasting app on the E63 works ok but is a little buggy at times sometimes downloading an episode twice, on the touch it worked fine.

However, if one is happy with what the E63 offers right now, and if the price is good, then E63 is still a good phone. The hardware is solid, keyboard is great and the battery life is pretty good too. Unlocked E63 is also an open device and you are free to put whatever you want. My primary uses of E63 are phone calls, VoIP using both SIP and Skype, email (now using profimail, not perfect but decent), a little bit of web browsing to quickly check google reader (using Opera) etc and finally listening to podcasts. On all these fronts E63 is now working great but did take a little bit of tinkering and experimentation. I would not have given this phone with out-of-box software to my parents but it is working good for me. To get the best of E63, you have to tinker.
 
zima
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Re: Smartphone over a feature phone

Fri Mar 26, 2010 9:27 pm

ekul wrote:
...
To see if the switch would be worth it let's define a smartphone. For me it would have to include:

1. Full HTML/CSS rendering engine. The device needs to be able to display the real web
2. QWERTY input. Hardware or software but there needs to be one button per letter
3. App support. There needs to be a way to install things
4. Full email support. POP3/IMAP and SSL/TLS support
5. Media support. Needs to play back all sorts of audio and video formats, especially MP3, AAC and h.264

I imagine there are other things that people look for in a smartphone but that is my list.
...

Your list indeed shows that the distinction is quite blurry...more than you think, I guess. Nokia 6700 does almost all of those things (lately S40 comes with Webkit web browser, too; still, IMHO Opera Mini works too good to pass), only except QWERTY of course; but that's mostly a choice of form factor.
...Featurephones are phones first, everything else second. Smartphones reverse that ratio. They make calls just fine but they do everything else much better since they have better input, bigger screens, faster hardware and more flexible OSs.

...also few things worse. Mostly sturdiness, battery life, size (input, screens, faster hardware (which is there largely because OS requires it - Nokia featurephones certainly don't feel laggy) don't help in most of those; as usual, a matter of compromise). And I still can't get rid of the perception that signal reception and call reliability is better in simpler phones...
 
ekul
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Re: Smartphone over a feature phone

Fri Mar 26, 2010 11:10 pm

zima wrote:
Your list indeed shows that the distinction is quite blurry...more than you think, I guess. Nokia 6700 does almost all of those things (lately S40 comes with Webkit web browser, too; still, IMHO Opera Mini works too good to pass), only except QWERTY of course; but that's mostly a choice of form factor.
...also few things worse. Mostly sturdiness, battery life, size (input, screens, faster hardware (which is there largely because OS requires it - Nokia featurephones certainly don't feel laggy) don't help in most of those; as usual, a matter of compromise). And I still can't get rid of the perception that signal reception and call reliability is better in simpler phones...


Having used opera mini on a few different device I have to say it has a place but it isn't a full web browser. It makes browsing on low resolution screens or EDGE tolerable but mobile safari or the android browser are in a whole other league.

I'm pretty flexible on the definition of smartphone since it's a made up word anyway but I have to draw the line at qwerty. Everything from texting to email to adding/searching contacts to entering urls and everything in between is better with qwerty. Without it a device, no matter how many features it has, is primarily a phone. If you try to use it as a web or email device more than occasionally it's going to be slow and frustrating compared to a device with qwerty.

here are some current smartphone platforms and what I think is their primary function. All these platforms do other things but his is what they excel at:
iphone: ipod, mobile web and apps (especially games)
android: turn by turn navigation, mobile web and location aware services
winmo6: exchange email/contacts/calendar
winmo7: MS's me-too iphone
blackberry: corporate email/contacts/calendar
webOS: multitasking and contact/calendar consolidation

The thing that unifies all these platforms is none are focused on calling. It's just something the devices does. None of them (except maybe winmo6) places calls badly as a result but when used for the primary function they are a joy. After browsing on a nexus one, emailing from a blackberry or listening to music on an iphone going back to a weaker device is a measurable let down.

I don't think any device that has calling as its primary function can be classified as a smartphone and is squarely in the featurephone department. Which leads to the status of s40/60. I have the least experience with s60 but from the time I spent with it the particular hardware seemed to impact the function rather than the platform, a testament to the flexibility of s60. There are s40/60 devices where calling is the key feature and I think that makes them featurephones. There are also s60 devices primarily for email (e63/71) and media (n9x) that are smartphones thanks to their form factor.
 
emi25
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Re: Smartphone over a feature phone

Tue Mar 30, 2010 2:40 pm

Android games: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LEjO9DGppo
:D

and this is just the beginning...

Edit:
Google Earth on Nexus vs Droid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrftT_fTfzo
 
SMonroe
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Re: Smartphone over a feature phone

Tue Aug 02, 2011 9:19 am

I have an E63 and I would recommend installing Skype, a Top Voip Provider, (yes it works both over 3g and Wifi and doesnt use airtime minutes, only data) or another voip application from a Top Voip Provider and Opera Mobile 10 beta. I am not too happy with the email client on the phone, so I bought Profimail. But maybe you will like the default client anyway. Keyboard is pretty nice once you get used to it. The inbuilt web browser is not good and Opera is way better but still free.


There are significant advantages to upgrading to a Smartphone, such as the PIM system, multimedia apps, browsing the web, etc. However, it can be somewhat overwhelming for a beginner---you need to familiarize yourself with all the features and this takes a while..plus there is less simplicity of use. It is really like a miniature PC so great for business use.
Last edited by SMonroe on Mon Aug 15, 2011 7:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
 
killadark
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Re: Smartphone over a feature phone

Tue Aug 02, 2011 10:12 am

I would reccomend the samsung galaxy s2it is an awsome phone with ample features and is also faster than an iphone
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Anarchist
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Re: Smartphone over a feature phone

Tue Aug 02, 2011 11:08 am

hmmm ... is per-month cost increase even a concern?
 
codedivine
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Re: Smartphone over a feature phone

Tue Aug 02, 2011 4:10 pm

Way to necro an year-old thread :D
 
GMatlock
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Re: Smartphone over a feature phone

Sun Oct 02, 2011 7:54 am

SMonroe wrote:
I have an E63 and I would recommend installing Skype Business VoIP, (yes it works both over 3g and Wifi and doesnt use airtime minutes, only data) or another voip application from a VoIP service providers and Opera Mobile 10 beta. I am not too happy with the email client on the phone, so I bought Profimail. But maybe you will like the default client anyway. Keyboard is pretty nice once you get used to it. The inbuilt web browser is not good and Opera is way better but still free.


There are significant advantages to upgrading to a Smartphone, such as the PIM system, multimedia apps, browsing the web, etc. However, it can be somewhat overwhelming for a beginner---you need to familiarize yourself with all the features and this takes a while..plus there is less simplicity of use. It is really like a miniature PC so great for business use.


If you are even somewhat cell phone or computer internet savvy, I don't think there is much of a learning curve to smart phones. The droids are the way to the future in my opinion.
 
edall
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Re: Smartphone over a feature phone

Tue Oct 11, 2011 9:32 am

GMatlock wrote:
I have an E63 and I would recommend installing Skype, (yes it works both over 3g and Wifi and doesn't use airtime minutes, only data) or another voip application from Opera Mobile 10 beta. I am not too happy with the email client on the phone, so I bought Profimail. But maybe you will like the default client anyway. Keyboard is pretty nice once you get used to it. The inbuilt web browser is not good and Opera is way better but still free.


If you are even somewhat cell phone or computer internet savvy, I don't think there is much of a learning curve to smart phones. The droids are the way to the future in my opinion.

____
I hear they are taking orders for the newest iphone on Friday. I have always been a blackberry user but am ready to make the switch to an iphone because of pier pressure. ha ha Does the iphone have anything similar to BBM which is particularly important to me for my international travels?
Any info is greatly appreciated!

Cheers,
E. D.
Last edited by edall on Wed Mar 04, 2015 5:59 pm, edited 2 times in total.
 
balan
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Re: Smartphone over a feature phone

Tue Oct 11, 2011 6:26 pm

Not sure about the BBM function that you are inquiring about but all I know is that I am going to be getting myself one!
 
sweatshopking
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Re: Smartphone over a feature phone

Tue Oct 11, 2011 8:10 pm

edall wrote:
I hear they are taking orders for the newest iphone on Friday. I have always been a blackberry user but am ready to make the switch to an iphone because of peer pressure. ha ha Does the iphone have anything similar to BBM which is particularly important to me for my international travels?
Any info is greatly appreciated!

Cheers,
E. D.

There are third party programs. Such as whatsapp, kik, and a variety of others. they work cross platform, but they do require the other user to have a the software installed. they will essentially allow you to IM with BB, iOS, android and wp7.

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