Nokia is a legend which everyone is waiting to die. We all used it at one time, liked it and loved it, but now we have moved away from it. Either in favor of a new Android phone or iPhone.
But before moving away from Nokia, many of us tried to find a Nokia phone with Android on it. Only when we failed to find this combination of Android and Nokia, we had to choose a Samsung phone with Android.
Same thing happened with my all friends who were once Nokia fans. They had to buy a new phone and they could not find a suitable Nokia handset with Android so they moved to Samsung.
I have 2 old but perfectly working Nokia phones with me, a Nokia 6030 which is a basic phone and second is a Nokia 5800 which is a Symbian based smart phone. So I became late in buying Android phone, while most of my friends moved to Samsung Ace or Samsung Galaxy S2.
In next few months I experienced few things which made me rethink about these Samsung phones.
The biggest difference I noticed was not because of phones operating system (Android or Symbian), it was something inherent by Samsung and was because of Hardware differences.
First problem was that in my Companies Cafeteria which is in the basement, none of the Samsung phones were getting good signal strength.
As a result, all Samsung Ace and Galaxy S2 were showing ‘Emergency Service’ only and were out of reach for whole world, while my both Nokia phones were always reachable and working fine with good signal strength.
Next difference I noticed while traveling. While all Samsung phones were crying because of slow bandwidth while showing real time voice navigation on Google Maps, my Nokia 5800 was flawless in giving voice direction using offline Nokia Maps.
I never need to worry about bandwidth and net connection while traveling. Nokia Map is a product which is difficult to beat in India. Get real time GPS based voice directions without worrying about internet connectivity on your phone.
Biggest pleasant surprise Nokia gave me few months ago, when I got a new firmware update on my 3 years old Nokia 5800 handset. It not just added ‘Swipe To Unlock’ functionality to my phone, biggest thing was that Nokia showed care for their phone even after so many years.
I have seen how my Galaxy Ace friends were crying for Android 2.3 updates, and now Galaxy S2 users are crying for Android 4.0 (ICS) updates.
These all things made me realize that when we are buying a phone, first parameter should be that it has to be a Good Phone.
Yes, we all get involved so much into features like Applications, Camera and bigger screens that we forget to check basics like Signal Strength, Voice Clarity, Offline Feature Support, Durability and Design.
We all know how bad Samsung is in Durability and Design also, once you slip your Galaxy S2 from your hand and see the result. When it comes to design Samsung phone will be either a black Rectangle with biggest possible screen (Galaxy S2, Notes etc) or another iPhone copy (Galaxy Ace).
Therefore I am still keeping my faith with Nokia, because when it comes to use a Phone as a phone. You can not beat Nokia in usability and phone basics.
Although I am not a Microsoft fan, but I am planning my next phone to be Nokia Lumia 900.
Nokia Lumia 900 has got great looks, Nokia Maps and specially the kind of support Nokia has shown for my 5800, I find it a much better option. And if its Nokia I can always be sure about its basics – Signal Strength, Voice Clarity, Offline Feature Support, Durability and Design. 🙂
September 18, 2012 at 5:17 am
nice and interesting article.