Nokia N97 in comparison with iPhone, Xperia X1 and G1

The Nokia N97 was unveiled by Nokia today in its Nokia 2008 World event held in Barcelona, Spain. The Nokia N97 has created flutter all around the world with its brilliant design and specifications. A device from Nokia was long due that would take on the iPhone and other touch monsters such as the T-Mobile G1 and Sony Xperia X1 and it hopes to go one up on them.

Nokia in its keynote converted a Nokia N95 into Nokia N97. It even took a dig at Apple iPhone’s camera calling it a “toy” which has been placed at the corner of the device. Even Google wasn’t spared and its Google Maps came under fire for its static nature unlike the new Nokia Maps 2.0 Touch which now have dynamic elements.

So is Nokia N97 worth the hype? Read on to find out how it stacks up against the Apple iPhone 3G, T-Mobile G1 and the Sony Xperia X1 which have set new standards in the rapidly developing mobile industry.

Nokia N97 specifications :

• Dimensions : 117.2 x 55.3 x 15.9-18.3 mm
• Weight : 150g
• Display : 3.5 inches TFT touchscreen
• Display resolution : 360 x 640 pixels resolution
• Sensors : Proximity sensor, accelerometer, digital compass
• Keyboard : Full QWERTY
• Memory : 32GB internal
• Camera : 5 MP, Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, dual LED flash
• Card Slot : microSD up to 16GB
• Connectivity : GPRS, EDGE, HSCSD
• 3G : HSPDA, 3.6 Mbps
• WLAN : WiFi 802.11 b/g with UPnP
• GPS : Inbuilt with A-GPS and Nokia Maps 2.0 Touch
• Bluetooth : Yes, v2.0 with A2DP
• USB : microUSB v2.0
• OS : Symbian OS v9.4, Series 60 rel. 5
• Battery : Li-ion, 1500 mAh
• Other Features : Handwriting recognition, 3.5mm jack, Stereo FM Radio, Stereo speakers
• Release date : Q2 2009
• Approximate price : $700

Design

Design is an important aspect for any cell phone and it has been taken special care of by Nokia in the N97. The Nokia N97 has a design that is very similar to the Sony Xperia X1. It has a 3.5″ TFT touchscreen with a slide out QWERTY keyboard. First glance at the N97 reminds you of the Apple iPhone with a huge screen and  only a single button at the bottom. There are a couple of touch buttons too which function as Call and End keys.

Nokia N97 dimensions : 117.2 x 55.3 x 15.9-18.3 mm

Apple iPhone 3G dimensions : 115.5 x 62.1 x 12.3 mm

Sony Xperia X1 dimensions : 110.5 x 52.6 x 17 mm

T-Mobile G1 dimensions : 117 x 55.7 x 17.1 mm

Comparing the four, N97 is the tallest but the slimmest slide out QWERTY touchscreen we have had till now. It is narrower than the Apple iPhone and you can easily make out the difference when both are placed side by side. However slimmest just to say on the advertising boards as its thickness goes up to 18.3mm when measured near the camera. Not much to choose in terms of dimensions as they stack up with minor differences.

A lot of people have complained about it being thick and not easy to carry around. To put it straight, you put in a QWERTY keyboard in there, it will take up space and add to the dimensions to the phone. Take it or leave it.

Weight

Nokia N97 weight : 150g

Apple iPhone 3G weight : 133g

Sony Xperia X1 weight : 145g

T-Mobile G1 weight : 158g

Coming on to the weight, we again have no clear winner here. The N97 is about 5g heavier than the Xperia X1 but 8g lighter than T-Mobile G1.

The slide out QWERTY keyboard sits at a pretty angle that makes viewing a hell lot easier. The Xperia and the G1 has flat slide out QWERTY keyboards that require you to adjust your viewing angle in landscape mode. N97 receives a thumbs up here from our side.

Overall, the Nokia N97 has a polished design that looks much better than T-Mobile G1 and might give Apple iPhone a close competition in that department.

Display

Nokia N97 display : 3.5″ TFT touchscreen, 16M colors with 360 x 640 pixels resolution

Apple iPhone 3G display : 3.5″ touchscreen, 16M colors with 320 x 480 resolution

Sony Xperia X1 : 3″ TFT touchscreen, 65K colors with 800 x 480 resolution

T-Mobile G1 : 3.2″ TFT touchscreen, 65K colors with 320×480 resolution

Nokia N97 touchscreen betters its Apple counterpart by improving the resolution. Although Sony Xperia X1 has a better resolution, having just 65K colors and smaller size limits its ability. 3.5 inch screen seems just right to view movies at full glory on a hand held device. But again N97 does have multitouch like iPhone which will be big factor especially when browsing on the device.

Nokia probably missed a cue by not having a OLED display known for great contrast and pitch black color but then the price could well have been a few hundred dollars more.

User Interface

Touch phones demand a user friendly interface without cluttering up things. This has been the main reason why Apple has managed to sell 10 million Apple iPhone 3G devices round the world.

If you look at iPhone’s interface you would notice that it makes everything so simple without losing out on functionality. The Xperia X1 interface was slow which was its biggest drawback along with its lack of intuitiveness. T-Mobile G1 has a simple and functional interface that has quite a lot of things going right about it. Also being open to development, one can expect some big changes to its way sooner than later. The UI elements strike a chord with the end-user shooting up the sales for the device.

So what does Nokia has to offer? Nokia has its latest Symbian OS loaded on to the device which was first spotted on Nokia 5800 XpressMusic phone.

First look at the Nokia N97 hands on video posted on Engadget gives a good idea on what to expect from the user interface. The interface has a lot of things one can do from a single screen but still it is uncluttered. The touch seems to work smoothly on the device. But Nokia seems to have compromised on simplicity in order to stuff in more features on a single screen. The functionality of the single button below the display also remains in question till we get our hands dirty with the device.

It is going to be a very close fight between the two and only time will tell whether Nokia’s interface can match to that of the iPhone’s and the G1’s.

Camera

Nokia N97 camera : 5 MP, Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, dual LED flash, VGA@30fps

Apple iPhone 3G camera : 2 MP

Sony Xperia X1 camera : 3.2 MP, autofocus, LED flash, video@30fps

T-Mobile G1 camera : 3.2 MP, autofocus

There is no point comparing the cameras as you can already see who the clear winner here is. Nokia has put great cameras on its multimedia devices and Nokia N97 is no exception. It has Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus and DVD quality video recording that puts Apple iPhone’s camera to shame.

The Xperia X1 and G1 have 3.2 MP cameras that are respectable compared to Apple iPhone. The Xperia X1 also has DVD quality video recording.

Nokia seems to favor dual LED flash over Xenon flash even for its top of the line multimedia phone which is utterly strange as Xenon flash is much better than dual LED flash. This is the only drawback of Nokia N97’s camera.

GPS

All the four devices come with inbuilt GPS receiver with A-GPS functionality. Apart from Nokia N97, all others use Google Maps software for navigating around the world. Nokia with this device has come out with a new version of Nokia Maps called Nokia Maps 2.0 Touch. According to Nokia, it goes up one up on Google Maps by adding dynamic nature to its maps. More information on it is awaited but one can add elements to the maps to make them more functional and useful.

Nokia maps has the advantage over Google Maps that one can avoid data charges as maps can be downloaded over to the device. The voice navigation feature is pretty good with Nokia Maps with Google Maps on its heels. Route calculation algorithm works well with both too. So can the “dynamic nature” beat Google Maps? One will have to wait to find out.

Other Features

Sensors are another thing which made it big with the iPhone. The Nokia N97 has both the accelerometer and proximity sensor that the iPhone has, but it also includes the digital compass included in the T-Mobile G1.

Memory is another area where it beats all of them. It comes with 32GB inbuilt memory with the ability to add 16GB more through a microSD card slot.

Other than that it has the goodness of any other Nokia N-series device!

Final Thoughts

It is turning out to be a great battle between Nokia N97, Apple iPhone and the T-Mobile G1 but with Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 nowhere in picture due to its ridiculous pricing and other cons. Nokia has managed to put together a great device that has almost everything going right about. Pricing is close to Apple iPhone (without contract), its biggest competitor.

However, if you find Nokia N97 too expensive for you, then Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is something you should definitely look at.

Nokia N97 videos

Nokia N97 Demo

Another Nokia N97 Demo video

Engadget’s video on Nokia N97