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Which WiFi Smartphone is for me?

If you follow me on Twitter you probably know that I'm thinking about getting a new mobile phone.

My current contract is running out in June. Cell phones are heavily subsidized by the carriers in Germany. This means you get the phones cheap but are stuck to them for 2 years.

I do not talk much on my phone - but I want to use it as a mobile internet device. I will read and write a lot of emails on it and I will occasionally access the web. Having a usable data entry method is a must for me, WiFi is too.

Here are the candidates I identified so far:

	HTC P4350	Nokia E61i	Apple iPhone

OS	Windows Mobile 2006	Symbian	OSX based
Keyboard	Slideout + On-Screen	Thumbboard	On-Screen
Screen	2.8” 240×320 touch	2.8” 320x240px	3.5” 480x320px multitouch
Disk Space	microSD	microSD	8GB fixed
Camera	2MP with video	2MP with video	2MP no video
Weight	168g	150g	135g
Dimensions	109x59x17mm	117x70x13.9mm	115x61x11.6mm
3G	no	yes	no
Price ¹⁾	280€	220€	400€
Monthly Fee ²⁾	35€ (eplus)	35€ (eplus)	50€ (t-mobile)
Total Price ³⁾	1120€	1060€	1600€

The HTC P4350 is closest to my “dream hardware” except for the missing 3G. The slide-out keyboard is big compared to other phones and the stylus based input adds some more flexibility. Unfortunately it does run Windows Mobile. I'm not sure I could cope with the cruft that is.

The OS of the Nokia E61i is much more to my liking. I currently have a Nokia phone and really like the Symbian platform. The keys on the thumb board are a bit small but I might get used to it. No touchscreen though. What bothers me most is the bulkiness of the design.

The iPhone needs no introduction. Unfortunately it is only available from the worst provider in Germany – ex-monopolist T-Mobile. Their data plan is quite expensive as is the phone itself. Apple is known to design very usable interfaces on the other hand. Multiple iPhone owners did confirm this is true for the iPhone as well. The iPhone is also probably one of the most hacked for⁴⁾ gadgets of the near future.

Opinion Polls Market Research

I still have no idea what to choose. I wish I could test drive each of them for some weeks. Anyone wants to sponsor some review models? ;-)

What would you choose? Did I miss any obvious option?⁵⁾

Tags:: cellphone,; iphone,; nokia,; htc,; comparison,; poll

Similar posts:

¹⁾ subsidized by carrier

²⁾ for the contract I'd choose

³⁾ over 24 months

⁴⁾ in a good way

⁵⁾ Don't say Blackberry – I need real IMAP support

Posted on Tuesday February the 5th, 2008 (3 months ago).

Comments

my roommate got the sony erricson P1i yesterday, and i think its quite cool.

symbian os, touchscreen, wlan, umts, 3.2mpx cam

http://www.sonyericsson.com/cw … &lc=de

2008-02-05 19:13:42

knuspermagier

I have the Nokia Communicator E90 since November (via Vodafone). Symbian OS, WLAN, UMTS. Forget the integrated camera. E-Mail-Client supports IMAP.

I like it very much.

2008-02-05 19:50:22

Stefan Waidele

Personally i prefer no wifi phone...
I don't know why but i have the feeling that wifi waves have impact on my brain...
Don't know why :!

Take care of this object.

I use personaly of my new sony walkman

http://www.google.fr/search?q=w950i

2008-02-06 00:05:47

jm_zz

i have forget to buy a bluetooth keyboard, but i think its a cool feature for mail writing... http://www.expansys.fr/p.aspx?i=150080

2008-02-06 00:10:23

jm_zz

Even thinking of an iPhone as alternative is a sin. I own a E61 and saw the E61i a while ago, it's nice. It doesn't have the Internet on it, but you can access the "real internet" with it. What a shame we cannot blame them to tell us lies. The device doesn't contain the internet; just imagine : "OMG the a world wide internet server crash, but it would be know problem, because you have the internet on your iPhone". Sorry for this, but I hate this commercial end every time I remember it, I'm getting a bit "aggressive".

Just get the Nokia E61, I would ;)

2008-02-06 01:12:08

Julian Knauer

I'd take the E61. I once had a PDA with windows mobile and did not like it. For me the IPhone would not be an option becaus of the price and it's limited features if not hacked. I would not want to search for a new hack every few month.

2008-02-06 06:24:11

Nils

i did face a similar decision a few months ago and i went for the sony ericsson p1i. by then it was the only smartphone which
* had no windows os
* was usable with one hand only
* had alle the nice gimmicks you describe above

2008-02-06 08:51:36

xarumanx

Thanks everybody for the feedback so far.

The Sony P1 seems to be an interesting device. But the review at http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_e … ew-143.php suggests that neither the keyboard nor the touchscreen-UI are very good.

Stefan, the E90 is a bit too heavy for my taste.

I'm really surprised how few people voted for the iPhone so far. Its user experience seems not to outweigh the feature shortcomings for you.

Keep voting and commenting please. This is a really complicated decision for me.

2008-02-06 10:54:42

Andi

I just got an Nokia N810 - Not really a smartphone but Mini Internet Tablet with excellent support of VoiceIP and Messenger Services. Linux OS and for around 400€ also in price very good alternative. Great Device really comfortable slide out keyboard and 800x480 Touchscreen which is still readable under spanish sun. Use a phone to talk and use this for the rest.

2008-02-06 11:50:13

Joachim

Depending on your timeframe- I'd hold out and see what the Android phones are going to offer. Assuming the specs are up to par, I'm planning on getting an Android phone as soon as they come out:D

2008-02-07 16:46:59

Alex

I wanted to wait with commenting here until I have collected some experience with the iPhone (Disclaimer to keep my image as an Apple hater: I did non buy it, it was given to me by my boss for research). So after 5 days of playing around with it I can just say: Don't get it. It is a nice platform with great hack value (as soon as you open it up that is), but considering how much it costs and that you nearly have to sell your soul to T-Mobile to even get your hands on one here in .de, I wouldn't bother just for the hardware. Especially not taking into account how crippled that thing is before you get really close and personal with it.

In your position, I'd get myself the Nokia E61 (as I'm totally happy with my E70), or the E61i, and if I was that keen on playing around with the iPhone's multitouch display and general hardware, I'd instead buy myself an iPod touch (same software and hardware minus Bluetooth, Camera and GSM module, and fully hackable as well) in a couple of months. That would also provide you with a real keyboard on your phone (the iPhone touch keyboard thingy is not what I call fun to use).

Or, like already suggested, you could wait for the Android market. That looks very promising, and even might be tempted into getting myself something in this general direction in the future, althouh I love my E70 ;)

Just my two cents, and if you have specific questions about the iPhone, you know where to find me ;)

2008-02-08 09:43:39

foosel

I'm still undecided. I had my hands on a E61i in a store yesterday and didn't like the keyboard at all. Same goes for the Sony P1i.

Android would be my favorite but I fear it won't be available before June. Anyway I will cancel my current contract now (which has to be done 3 months before end) to keep all options open. This gives me time to postpone the decision until summer.

Thanks everyone for the useful comments. I really appreciate it.

2008-02-08 10:35:12

Andi

I have an HTC Wizard since quite a long time, it has the same CPU as the HTC P4350 and I like it. Except it has no 3G and voip is not very good, you might want a better CPU ...
For my next phone I am looking at a N82 + N810 combo ...

2008-02-10 21:31:02

Pierre

This is the personal web site of Andreas Gohr - human being, blogger and web geek from Berlin, Germany.

This page was last updated at 2008/02/05 17:35.
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