Nokia Tube vs Apple iPhone vs Android G1

[grimgibber]

This is a comparison to all three phones at techradar.com

Well, it's been coming for centuries. Byzantine monks prophesised the battle between three phones, with each looking for touchscreen supremacy... and now we bring you that battle. We hope the edge of your seat is comfortable...
Home screen
The place where it always all begins: the home screen needs to look good, or else you'll just get lost in a sea of options.
The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic (we'll be calling it the Tube for simplicity) has an innovative four-photo option on the front screen - each person's details are updated with Facebook status, photos from Flickr or texts and calls. The menu key gives easy access to the normal grid Nokia lovers will be familiar with.
The iPhone's home screen just makes sense. No innovation, just simple icons all in front of you. No space for more? Well, just slide the screen along and see the next set.
The G1's Android home screen is innovative too, but incorporates the smart ideas of the iPhone. Icons can be moved around; open applications can be pulled down from the top of the screen, and a swipe to the right gets you into Google search. It also just makes sense, but in a more complex way.
The verdict The G1's interface is nice and simple with some good bells and whistles, and the swishing and swooshing means it edges the iPhone's simplicity and the Tube's innovation.
Media
Every handset worth its salt these days (how much is salt worth exactly?) can do all manner of tricks and features... if it can't play tunes, show movies and showcase your photos, what's the point eh?
The iPhone is a handset for media, given that it's an iPod touch plus (or the iPod is an iPhone lite). Movies are a dream to watch, photos are easy to flick through thanks to the touch screen and music uses Apple's great cover flow system.
The G1 doesn't even come with a video player in the box - photo viewing is average at best and music playback is a bit bog-standard compared to its peers. Must do better for Android... but the development community will probably be on the case quick-smart.
The Tube is a great media device too, with the media bar accessible at all times. The Comes with Music functionality will open the handset up to a wealth of tunes, video looks crisp and nice, and photos, while slow to load, are OK to whizz through.
The verdict Unfortunately for the others, the iPhone lords it over all kinds of media, and we haven't even covered the YouTube ability of the handset...
OS
It might LOOK fancy, but how does it actually work in real life? A dodgy OS will make you want to cry every time you open a new menu screen... a slick interface might make you forget you're even using a phone.
The G1's interface is nothing short of breathtaking, even if it is more about the potential of Android rather than the way it works now.
It's slick, changes windows quickly and allows you to move in and out of applications with ease, thanks to the pull down menu.
The Tube's interface is a little cluttered throughout, and the simplistic menu system of old is starting to look a bit dated.
S60 is an ageing system, and although it's been re-designed for touch, it still creaks under multiple applications.
The media bar gives decent access to the important applications on the phone, but it still is slow when switching.
The iPhone's interface is the same as its home screen: it's slick, pretty and does the jobs, with easy application adding.
The verdict Android would probably win it based on the performance in the G1 alone... you add in the potential on other handsets and it's awe-inspiring.
Internet
It's not called a phone anymore according to Nokia - it's a multimedia terminal. With that in mind, if you can't browse the web is full whizz-bang fashion, then you'll feel sorely deprived.
The Tube's full HTML browser is slick and easy to use... however although it ran Flash it was still very slow to load pages (which may just be the 3G connection in the venue and the fact it's still a pre-production model) but seemed a bit sluggish overall... something common to the Nokia browser over the years.
The iPhone's internet experience, even sans Flash, is still the best mobile internet to date, and the multi-touch aspect with pinch-zooming is a veritable joy to use.
The G1's internet is as sluggish as the Tube's, and even less intuitive to move around and navigate through. A bit more development or perhaps some new applications will help this no end, but the G1 just isn't the device you'd buy for internet alone.
The verdict The iPhone doesn't just win this category - it owns it, leases it back to the competitors, and then wins it again.
Gaming
Though the DS and PSP are holding their own as standalone portable gaming units, phones are making huge strides in this area too. So what options do you have, and the main thing: do they look rubbish?
The G1 we used seemed to have very few games, and the main draw seems to be Pacman... we agree it's a great game, but it doesn't really do justice or show off the handset in any way.
The iPhone's motion-based games, combined with some brilliant rendering and graphics, as well as a huge selection of titles to choose from, make it a very nice gaming device on its own.
Anyone that's played Kroll will see what the phone can do, and while the DS and PSP are still a lot better, for a quick 15 minute gaming session here and there it's great.
The Tube's games were, frankly, poor in comparison. Sketchy graphics and an over-exuberant accelerometer were a bit pointless... though you'd think that would improve over time as new titles were released.
The verdict The iPhone is a great mobile gaming device, so takes it. But only just, given the other two haven't really had the chance to see what could be developed for them... but the handset power doesn't give users a lot of hope.
Camera
Like it or loathe it, every phone has a camera these days. It needs to be easy enough to use so you can whip it out wherever and whenever, and thanks to the kids of today, YouTube uploading is a bonus too, for when you want to show everyone that hilarious moment when you ate a snail.
The Tube's 3.2MP Carl Zeiss-ed lens is a great little snapper... the phone takes great pictures, and is a cinch to use as well.
Video recording with one-touch upload of both photos and vids is a great feature as well, so Nokia should be pleased with what they've packed on what is essentially a mid-range phone.
The iPhone's camera is well-documented, just about adequate, and pretty old. The less said about it, the better.
The G1's camera is also a 3.2 (ish) MP camera is also a pretty neat option, but no video recording is a crime in this day and age.
The verdict Nokia plays it safe with this one, ticking all the boxes with a decent snapper. Well done.
Maps
"Where am I?" seems to be a question everyone is asking less and less thanks to GPS on handsets. But how well do these three actually help you stop wandering aimlessly to B when you've just left A?
GPS on all three handsets was impossible with the hands on tests we had... so only the iPhone has really had a decent run... and that has been sketchy at best to be honest.
The G1 and the iPhone both pack Google Maps, and the Nokia... well, it goes with Nokia maps, obviously.
The Tube's mapping function is decent, and as intuitive as Google... touch devices are made for scrolling through maps, and if the GPS is decent on the G1 and the Tube, then it's all much of a muchness, though the G1 and the iPhone have Streetview options as well to keep things interesting.
The verdict A big old tie... all tick the right boxes without impressing exactly, though a fair dishing of benefit of the doubt is present (we're in a generous mood).
Texting and E-mail
Touchscreens rock. But at text input they often suck. So which of our line-up actually gets round that problem of ditching the physical keyboard?
The Tube's variety of input options, including the handwriting mode, mean it will appeal to a lot of people: the two QWERTY modes are rather nice, and the fullscreen version is nice and accurate. The keypad input method is large and comfortable too, so newbies to the touchscreen world will feel right at home thanks to the haptics.
The G1 has a physical QWERTY keyboard, so kind of cheats on this one. But it's a good keyboard, and has had to sacrifice some thinness to incorporate the sliding section.
The iPhone's QWERTY works wickedly well in portrait mode, helped by the large screen. But no haptics, despite the supernaturally predictive way it works out what word you want, isn't enough for many.
The verdict The G1 has a physical keyboard on a touch device. It just makes the most sense...
Conclusion
Well, which one do we like the most? The iPhone is complete in most areas, the Nokia Tube has some nice touches and decent features, especially in the media and camera section, yet the G1's Android interface is super-smashing-great.
It's surprising, but it's a tie between the G1 and the iPhone at three wins each, and that's with the G1 not even being near at full potential as yet.
The Nokia Tube is good in most areas, but doesn't quite cut the mustard, especially when it comes to the S60 interface.
So well done to the iPhone and the G1... if you get either of these in your stocking, you should feel pretty smug with yourself.



http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-...roid-g1-473036

[RussianSolja]

Woah thats alot to read!

[iDragRockers]

hahaha yea i just read the verdict on them all....lol

[DesignDawg]

iPhone does NOT have streetview! (or, if it does, when did it get it? Because when it was introduced in the G1, it was clearly stated it was the first device ever to have it). Streetview + compass CLEARLY give G1 a large large edge in maps. That category should not be a tie.

[RegGuheert]

Outstanding review! Thanks!

[New World]

Originally Posted by DesignDawg

iPhone does NOT have streetview! (or, if it does, when did it get it? Because when it was introduced in the G1, it was clearly stated it was the first device ever to have it). Streetview + compass CLEARLY give G1 a large large edge in maps. That category should not be a tie.

Yeah, I don't ever recall it having streetview

Maybe they meant Hybrid satellite/street overlap O_o

[vbreal]

man nokia tube isn't even on my rador haaaaa

[vbreal]

nah the iphone does not have street view.

it don't even have turn by turn. *sigh* one day one day haa

[tread]

not to be a punk, but due to the unorderly appearance and horrible grammar by the orginal writer, i don't care about his opinion

[Xondria]

Originally Posted by grimgibber

the G1's Android interface is super-smashing-great.

I like this part