UK: iPhone v N95 on Gadget Show Ch5 tonight

[DogcowUK]

The Gadget show has always been crippled by the fact it is trying to appeal to the un-educated and non-techie majority of the public in order to maximise viewing figures. Therefore the reviews end up being dumbed down, desperately trying to be entertaining and failing completely at the task of showing the viewer the Gadgets. It's sad because the presenters are reasonably likeable and I'm sure they could make the show appealing whilst satisfying the likes of "us lot" with decent reviews...

The same is true of Top Gear etc

 

[sneeks]

The review was informative, factual and a honest presentation of the iPhone. Or perhaps not. What a waste of time it was watching that. I'm sure Nokia must have provided the script for that episode.

 

[loxs]

N95 v Iphone

Guys i dont mean to get anyones backs up with this but it just made me laugh at how everyone was getting excited about the review then the iphone doesnt come out on top you slate it?

Bottom line is N95 is a far superior phone to the iphone (i have both before you ask have had the iphone for 3months)

You ask if they touched on the touch interface well did they talk about the buttons on the n95? no. its not as if a touch interface is even a "new concept" HTC anyone? its not something to get upset over there are many phones on the market people want phones for different reason and all you saying the n95 is a brick behave.
and look at the stats.
----------- WEIGHT LENGTH WIDTH DEPTH
IPHONE 135grams 115mm 61mm 11.6mm
N95 120gram 99mm 53mm 21mm

ok so based on size the only thing the iphone has is its slimness but in every other sense its a SMALLER PHONE? so i take it if the n95 is a brick the iphone must be a breeze block. 😛

Next the iphone doesnt have 3G !!! this is a MASSIVE disadvantage and anyone who says otherwise is LYING you have a great web browser but your on EDGE/GPRS i would rather have a faster connection seeing as its a mobile solution i want information quickly and as long as its readable then fine.

Ok so the iphone has an ipod built in. SO? the ipod function plays music and videos. so does the media player in the N95 (and whilst i cant stand by it i would expect it to support more formats than the iphone due to the apple lock down)

The Camera N95 wins this hands down

the UI

Ah Apple beautiful apple I do actually own 1 mini mac 1 macbook and a imac so i like apple gear 😛

and i have to say the UI beats the n95 real bad with it. but hey its apple and apple do what apple do best and thats innovative design with ease of use. so a win for iphone here.

The iphone has a larger display but this is at cost of a larger device i feel the screen on n95 is a decent size doesnt need to be bigger. (i recently got rid of an htc touch due to size and the fact i wanted an iphone)

The gprs i have mixed feelings on I have used the N95 gprs and its got me home fine isnt that what gprs does? admittedly it can take a while toget a signal and the GPRS chip is under the keyboard so you have to have the phone open when using it.

I think all in all guys the n95 is a better phone. but i like apple and there UI so i have an iphone to cus it looks pretty but its overall function is a little 2005?


Flame away or read and take my personal opinion on it. im not a fanboy either way but i appreciate good technology and the N95 isnt slow upgrade your firmware 😛

Thanks for reading guys.

🙂

PS.

I thought i would add i have never EVEr had a problem with the wifi it connects in my office and at home and works perfectly as does the iphone 😉

 

[Chappers]

I visited someone last night who had the show on in the background. Can anyone explain why they were bungee-jumping off a bridge to test these phones? 🙄

I think you can blame Top Gear for the stupid little stunts whilst reviewing something these day.

 

[illitrate23]

Guys i dont mean to get anyones backs up with this but it just made me laugh at how everyone was getting excited about the review then the iphone doesnt come out on top you slate it?

lol - yes i was worried it was just myself that was exhibiting such bi-polarism, i think it's probably because we're all within the pre-launch RDF

added to the fact that there's a guy here in the office who likes to walk past my desk every hour an tell me "iPhones are crap" 🙂

 

[CD3660]

I think all in all guys the n95 is a better phone.

Technically, what you say may be accurate. However, the point you miss is the 'magic' of the iPhone. It is one of those rare objects where it can be said that 'the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts'.

 

[redgaz26]

Technically, what you say may be accurate. However, the point you miss is the 'magic' of the iPhone. It is one of those rare objects where it can be said that 'the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts'.

exactly, the 95 may very well be a better phone, but my pal got one last week and there's just nothing special with it.
did u see the screen shining last night on the iphone?
this is a magical device and when we all gets ours i bet all the 95 owners will be asking for a shot.

 

[alFR]

Bottom line is N95 is a far superior phone to the iphone (i have both before you ask have had the iphone for 3months)

Well, I think that depends on how you assess them: point-by-point feature comparison or taking into account ease of use, for example.

You ask if they touched on the touch interface well did they talk about the buttons on the n95? no. its not as if a touch interface is even a "new concept" HTC anyone?

The HTC doesn't support gestures in the same way as the iPhone does, for a start.

Next the iphone doesnt have 3G !!! this is a MASSIVE disadvantage and anyone who says otherwise is LYING

Maybe not.

Ok so the iphone has an ipod built in. SO?

So it integrates with iTunes, N95 doesn't. That may or may not matter to you, of course.

The Camera N95 wins this hands down

Maybe in megapixels, but not necessarily in overall quality - pretty much all 'phone cameras suck compared to even a midrange point & shoot digicam. There's a limit to what you can do with such a tiny lens: I think for snaps either is probably fine judging by the samples I've seen on here.

The gprs i have mixed feelings on I have used the N95 gprs and its got me home fine isnt that what gprs does? admittedly it can take a while toget a signal and the GPRS chip is under the keyboard so you have to have the phone open when using it.

I'd rather use a standalone bluetooth GPS than a built-in one (not that the iPhone supports that - yet!) to spare the phone battery.

Personally I'd take better UI and fewer features any day (as at least I'll get to use more of the features if the UI's better): Nokia might have improved their UI by the N95, I don't know, but I can tell you that my 6630 sucks UI-wise. I don't use half the functions because it's too much hassle.... YMMV. 🙂

 

[sananda]

added to the fact that there's a guy here in the office who likes to walk past my desk every hour an tell me "iPhones are crap" 🙂

tourette's?

 

[loxs]

Originally Posted by aIFR
Quote:
Originally Posted by loxs
You ask if they touched on the touch interface well did they talk about the buttons on the n95? no. its not as if a touch interface is even a "new concept" HTC anyone?
The HTC doesn't support gestures in the same way as the iPhone does, for a start.

Ah but the HTC touch does you see. it has similar gestures as the iphone does. which is what i had before the iphone you can flick it to the next screen spin through phone book etc.


please dont think im on either side. but each phone has its good points and things which grab you. In response to the camera. the n95 camera is unbelieveably good. I have filmed my youngster and then played it on my tv via my appletv and it looked great.

end of the day its nice to have the choice but i would of expected apple to "pimp" the iphone out a little more than it did is all that my opinion is.

to be honest aswell I think apple locking it down so not even 3rd party applications run on the iphone gives it a disadvantage there are loads of apps out for the n95 and its great you want an app for your phone to do something chances are you can find it.

But it is beauty and the beast and the iphone has mass appeal due to the success of the ipod 🙂 has a huge market already people will think. hmmm i can replace my phone and not have to carry my ipod thus converging two gadgets into one and making it one less thing you forget in the morning when running out of the door 😛

 

[seedster2]

Ive spent some time with the N95 and if you're talking all in one gadget it is superior to the iphone.

Once you get over the iphone's amazing interface, there are few other funtionalities besides the ipod and browser that are worthwhile.

SMS lacks functionality, email is poorly executed and most of the other apps are simply fillers. The iphone sports superior construction and looks but the n95 has the greater substance.

The n95 takes superior photos, has gps, 3g and expandable memory and removable battery. DC and NYC both have 3g and difference is pronounced

I know this is macrumors, but it's simply ridiculous that everyone tries to ignore the obvious shortcomings that make other phones superior in specific respects. When i bought the iphone i was looking for a device to combine an ipod and phone. I knew beforehand that the other parts had serious flaws

 

[CD3660]

...to be honest as well I think apple locking it down so not even 3rd party applications run on the iphone gives it a disadvantage....

This will be changing early in the New Year I believe.

 

[sneeks]

.
Nokia might have improved their UI by the N95, I don't know, but I can tell you that my 6630 sucks UI-wise. I don't use half the functions because it's too much hassle.... YMMV. 🙂

The Nokia N series interface has not changed very much at all from the days of the 6630. My N73 is essentially the same but with a better screen. Unfortunately it is painfully slow in comparison to the 6630 which in comparison with the N73 was a joy to use.

 

[marcol]

Ive spent some time with the N95 and if you're talking all in one gadget it is superior to the iphone.

Better for some things not for others. iPhone is better for music (gapless playback, iTunes integration) and for (playing) video (bigger screen with twice as many pixels, iTunes integration, nice YouTube app), better for viewing photos (slick UI, bigger, better screen), etc, etc - iPhone has an advantage wherever screen size and resolution are important. I haven't used an N95 but the UI doesn't seem to have moved on any from the E61 and the iPhone UI makes it look positively stone age. Plus, lack of a touch screen is sometimes *very* annoying. Not for no reason is Nokia scrambling to add touch screen support and a new UI to S60.

Also, just look at the two devices side-by-side! There maybe a couple of people somewhere that think that the thick hunk of wobbly plastic that it is the N95 is the prettier... but they're wrong 🙂 Beauty's in the eye of the beholder? Pah! 😀

 

[Mr Skills]

I think you can blame Top Gear for the stupid little stunts whilst reviewing something these day.

The fundamental difference being that in Top Gear the stunts are a fun piece of television into which they work the review - their opinion is not based on the outcome of the stunt.

Top Gear is a bit like Apple - whenever anyone else tries to copy it, they misinterpret what makes it so good.

 

[ascender]

We should be thankful that Top Gear and The Gadget Show get an hour on relatively prime time TV. The trade-off is that both shows have to go for the mainstream audience which means entertainment is the first priority. They could both make much more geeky shows on their respective subjects, but the audience they get would be much less than what they're getting now.

I was just surprised that they didn't focus more on the day-to-day experience of each of these phones. Most people I know are looking for devices which will let them get email on the move, surf the web and anything else is a bonus really. Obviously basic phone functions as well.

Having played with an iPod Touch for a week, I was surprised to see Jason criticising text entry in text boxes on the browser. I think he was complaining that you couldn't see what you were typing, but I found that was quickly cured by zooming in to a certain level which would let you see the txt box and keyboard clearly.

I've been worried about the quality of output from the camera, but having seen the pics posted on here, it does prove that its not all about the megapixels. I'll be interested to see comparison pics with my SE K800i.

The EDGE thing is also a concern, but I'll be honest, I don't know how much its going to affect me and how I use the iPhone until I've got one. I like 3G, its quick and reliable, but I do disable it when I'm not using it. I guess that's why its not viable at the moment for the iPhone as its designed to be an always-on device. People with N95s have complained about the battery life, so maybe Apple have the right idea. As for internet speeds, I'm not looking for anything blisteringly fast. It just has to be useable, so again, I'm optimistic that EDGE will be OK for most people's needs on the move.

I like the Gadget Show, I was just a bit surprised by how contrived the tests were, but I'm not going to get upset or take it as a personal insult or anything like that! They just seemed to gloss over certain areas of the phone which would interest me and many buyers who aren't just buying it for its shiny-ness.

 

[djellison]

I knew that feature would get up peoples backs here. I have a few issues with the comments here

1) They DID go on and on about the UI.

2) They DID go on and on about the multimedia features.

3) They DID demonstrate the touch screen , several times, at length.

The bias in this place is pathetic. Jason really really wanted to like the thing, but he was quite right in showing it's short comings. It's not the perfect phone - it has several serious flaws and shortcomings that need to be highlighted.

The bottom line is this. For £269 less, you can get phones with much MUCH better cameras, video recording ability, built in GPS, and the ability to play more audio and video formats. For some people - the nice UI and the 'wow' factor of the iPhone simply does not make up the difference in overall abilities. When you're paying a massive price premium for the iPhone - it should be perfect....and despite the opinions of people here, it isn't - it really really isn't.

Because he pointed out it's shortcomings, he's evil - the shows crap etc etc. Some of the people in this place are pathetic. I love my Macbook, but oh BOY I hate Apple fan boys. Kudos to those who've kept their feet on the ground in this thread and actually considered the issues without fanboy bias. If you want an iPod that makes phone calls - get an iPhone. If you want a feature rich cell phone, get the Nokia. That's the message the review gave, and it's the right one.

 

[CD3660]

I knew that feature would get up peoples backs here. I have a few issues with the comments here

1) They DID go on and on about the UI.

2) They DID go on and on about the multimedia features.

3) They DID demonstrate the touch screen , several times, at length.

The bias in this place is pathetic. Jason really really wanted to like the thing, but he was quite right in showing it's short comings. It's not the perfect phone - it has several serious flaws and shortcomings that need to be highlighted.

The bottom line is this. For £269 less, you can get phones with much MUCH better cameras, video recording ability, built in GPS, and the ability to play more audio and video formats. For some people - the nice UI and the 'wow' factor of the iPhone simply does not make up the difference in overall abilities. When you're paying a massive price premium for the iPhone - it should be perfect....and despite the opinions of people here, it isn't - it really really isn't.

Because he pointed out it's shortcomings, he's evil - the shows crap etc etc. Some of the people in this place are pathetic. I love my Macbook, but oh BOY I hate Apple fan boys. Kudos to those who've kept their feet on the ground in this thread and actually considered the issues without fanboy bias. If you want an iPod that makes phone calls - get an iPhone. If you want a feature rich cell phone, get the Nokia. That's the message the review gave, and it's the right one.

Ouch! 😱

 

[djellison]

I'm just sick of Apple fanboys telling out right lies because a product review (of a far from perfect product) wasn't 100% glowing. Ouch or not - some facts regarding what the review did or didn't say and did or didn't conclude were required - as they were totally lacking in this thread.

Doug

 

[danielforman]

I was disappointed they did not give a G rating for the iPhone. The N95 has a 4 G rating on their website. Granted the iPhone is not packed full of features like the N95 but I think the N95 just look like any other phone and to me it looks a bit boring and no style, but thats my opinion. The iPhone is a stylish device and although it does not pack all the features of the N95 it packs the features I require.

One thing that I was disappointed with was the last challenge when they had to get to the nou camp. I think Jason could have found the stadium easier with Google maps instead of going to multimap. I tried a search with Google maps on the PC, because i dont have an iPhone yet, and although putting "nou camp" in won't find it I simply put "nou camp, barcelona" the second time and it found it straight away.

Personally I think it would have been better if they done a review of it first showing a bit more detail about the features. Then introduced the N95 and done the challenge. Although they showed a lot of the features i think they could have given a bit more detail about it. For instance they didn't show you what email looks like, they didn't do a direct comparison between the browsers i.e. side by side of the same page.

There are lots of little features in the iPhone that some people might not realise like the water indicator, airplane mode etc etc that dont get mentioned but are useful if you need them.

Personally i think you can't really make your mind up about the iPhone from just that review/challenge. You need to read a bit more into it to discover all the features. Thats my opinion though. Its not always best to rely on one review of products of this type. There are lots of info about the iPhone out there so you can get a fair picture of it from doing a bit of surfing on the net.

 

[nsheikh80]

3g?

I saw the show last night and I thought it would've been more beneficial if they reviewed the iPhone on its own and then reviewed the N95 on its own, instead of going head-to-head playground style.

I've read a lot about iPhone's lack of 3G and I thought I would give my 2p worth. When the iPhone was first announced I decided that I would wait for 3G support before purchasing one. I have recently changed my mind and I will now be purchasing one on Nov 9th without hesitation, so whats changed?

Well, I bought a 3G card for my laptop about a month ago. All I can say is that coverage was terrible! It was fine in Central and Greater London but as anywhere else in the country was appalling, and do you know what service the modem uses when it can't connect to 3G, yup you guessed it...EDGE/GPRS. EDGE and GPRS are ubiquitous and I believe this is one of the many reasons why Apple went for EDGE. Also, at least it has WiFi unlike many other phones and nowadays you are never too far away from a hotspot.

 

[redgaz26]

I don't think anyone who's either got or is getting an iphone thinks it's the best phone in the world, but it is the best ipod in the world and it's the best looking bit of kit in the world. it's simple don't want one don't buy it.
roll on next friday!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[danielforman]

I don't think anyone who's either got or is getting an iphone thinks it's the best phone in the world, but it is the best ipod in the world and it's the best looking bit of kit in the world. it's simple don't want one don't buy it.
roll on next friday!!!!!!!!!!!

your exactly right. all the people that have said to me well it doesn't do this it doesn't do that i just say well you dont have to buy the iPhone, there is so much range out there. Some people think that because its apple that its going to have everything packed into it. Considering this is the first phone apple have produced i think they have done expcetionally well.

Roll on next friday (I second that🙂)

 

[CD3660]

I don't think anyone who's either got or is getting an iphone thinks it's the best phone in the world....

Well said. It's missing the point to say it hasn't got the best this or the best that. The overall package is irresistible to many, including me.

Stuff the N95, I'm just not interested!

 

[dombookpro]

Having read some of the utter bollocks written in this thread, thought I'd have another go:

The Gadget Show review was facile in the extreme. I'm in UK, don't own an iPhone, but plan to get one. I'm in love with the device. Because it's Apple? No. Because it is a revolutionary piece of kit. Does it have problems? Yes:

Limited Bluetooth capability (undoubtedly crippled at the behest of the mobile providers - read the small print from AT&T re tethering in their iPhone contracts)
Lack of Ringtone allocation is shocking offensive
Mediocre Camera
Lack of Video Recording
Lack of MMS
Lack of integrated ways to upload images to Facebook

These are but a few of the things I don't like about the iPhone - and there are more... HOWEVER

The gadget show review was facile because it was utterly flawed and skewed towards proving that the n95 was better. The guy blatantly didn't know how to use the iPhone. He complained about not being able to find a location in the Google Maps app. er... hello! So what? He either didn't search effectively, or, in the worst case scenario, Google maps was deficient in the listing of this particular location. It had NOTHING to do with the abilities (or otherwise of the phone)! The other thing which is worth noting, is that they compared the download speeds of each phone whilst accessing the net via EDGE. Has anyone stopped to think that is was highly likely that the n95 is automatically directed to WAP based sites, and thus was quicker? (irrespective of its 3G capability?)

This is why I despised the review, and NOT, despite what ****s on this forum seem to want to suggest, because I'm a fanboy. The software on the n95, is, like on all recent Nokia phones, utter crap. It is no accident that they decided to use EDGE in the tests rather than WIFI (because they "couldn't find an open hotspot"?!) - The n95 is clunky and cumbersome trying to connect it to WIFI hotspots. I used to rate Nokia phones, before I came to the conclusion a couple of years ago, that the software on them was indeed, as Steve Jobs said, "crippled". One example is that if I tried to use Opera on my n80, it took an age to load a page - However, when I tethered it, it was pretty damn fast loading pages on Safari. It was then I realised that it was the software within the phone that was lacking, and not the capabilities of the phone itself.

If i want GPS, I'll get a GPS unit.
I have an 8mp Digital SLR
It looks like ****
It has the build of a Fisher Price toy
It sucks.

Roll on 9th.