Nokia N97, Samsung Omnia i8910 HD or HTC Hero?

Hunders

Hunders

Hunders

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It's that time again when I have to painstakingly hunt for a phone to upgrade to. I have been having a google around and I notice that there are three main competitors at the moment(excluding iPhone).

> Nokia N97 - The N97 was my initial choice. I have had the N95 8GB for 18 months and it works flawlessly so, naturally, the N97 seems the logical upgrade but people seem to be slating it as being a bit of a dog.

> Samsung Omnia i8910 HD - This phone is proving to be difficult to find a great deal about. One thing that puts me off the Omnia HD is the fact that my mate has an original Omnia and hates the bloody thing. He always complains about problems which include settings constantly changing or changing to their default value and touch screen issues. Have these problems been ironed out with the HD?

> HTC Hero - After having a look at reviews and such like, I think the Hero is at the top of my list but I hear complaints regarding a slow processor. I'm not really one for needless widgets so I think this may be a non-issue for me?

I mainly use my phone for calls and texts(obviously), internet(OcUK at work helps me get through the day!) and email. I'd ideally like to be able to use my new phone as an MP3 and video player as to eliminate having to carry a dedicated MP3 player but this comes secondary to my main usage.

With this in mind, what would you guys recommend that I buy and why?

Cheers.
 
have a look at the dedicated threads for each of the phones.

I went for the touch hd back in december, was planing on waiting for the n97 but my impatience got the better of me so I have to wait till next summer before I can look to upgrade.
 
Hunders said:
It's that time again when I have to painstakingly hunt for a phone to upgrade to. I have been having a google around and I notice that there are three main competitors at the moment(excluding iPhone).

> Nokia N97 - The N97 was my initial choice. I have had the N95 8GB for 18 months and it works flawlessly so, naturally, the N97 seems the logical upgrade but people seem to be slating it as being a bit of a dog.

> Samsung Omnia i8910 HD - This phone is proving to be difficult to find a great deal about. One thing that puts me off the Omnia HD is the fact that my mate has an original Omnia and hates the bloody thing. He always complains about problems which include settings constantly changing or changing to their default value and touch screen issues. Have these problems been ironed out with the HD?

> HTC Hero - After having a look at reviews and such like, I think the Hero is at the top of my list but I hear complaints regarding a slow processor. I'm not really one for needless widgets so I think this may be a non-issue for me?

I mainly use my phone for calls and texts(obviously), internet(OcUK at work helps me get through the day!) and email. I'd ideally like to be able to use my new phone as an MP3 and video player as to eliminate having to carry a dedicated MP3 player but this comes secondary to my main usage.

With this in mind, what would you guys recommend that I buy and why?

Cheers.
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Well out of those three if you want a video player and mp3 then the Samsung Omnia i8910 hd all the way.The screen is totally fine it uses capacitive.:)

If you want to watch video out in the open air the Omnia is a let-down with the OlED screen but indoors it's amazing.
 
The MP3/video comes secondary to internet. If two phones have a similar internet experience then the MP3/video will come into play but I can't have good MP3/video and a bad browser.
 
N97 isn't as bad as everyone makes out, but it does require some tolerance for s60 as there are a few quirks here and there. Software is on the buggy side too, although the v11 firmware update fixes a few of these.

i8910 is a great phone, but Orange have ruined it with their branding. Great if you are prepared to put another firmware on it. Also you miss out on a lot of Nokia's application ecosystem.

HTC Hero has fantastic software but the hardware isn't really up to it from what I've read. It has a relatively low-resolution screen too (N97/i8910 have 50% more pixels), which isn't so great for web/videos.
 
Hunders said:
The MP3/video comes secondary to internet.
Click to expand...

I am just like you and after playing with a 8910 and a magic I ended up with a HTC Diamond 2. The screen resolution of 800x480 just made browsing the web so much better as you could see (and read) the web pages so much more easily than having to constantly scroll around.

The touch screen was also pretty good. My old tytn 2 was rubbish to use with fingers but the screen on the TD2 was loads better and whilst maybe not as good as the iPhone/8910 capacitive screens, it was still very useable.

Have you considered a WinMo phone ?
 
Seft said:
N97 isn't as bad as everyone makes out, but it does require some tolerance for s60 as there are a few quirks here and there. Software is on the buggy side too, although the v11 firmware update fixes a few of these.
Click to expand...

I've owned an N95 for 18 months now and I've not had a single problem with it. After using Sony Ericsson's for years the symbian OS on the N95 took some getting used to but I found it very easy to use after only a day or two of adjusting. There's a very informative N97 review on youtube that I just watched and it looks like a nice phone even if the UI is looking very dated compared to the others.

i8910 is a great phone, but Orange have ruined it with their branding. Great if you are prepared to put another firmware on it. Also you miss out on a lot of Nokia's application ecosystem.
Click to expand...

The i8910 is a phone where I haven't been able to find as much information about compared to the others and It generally doesn't interest me as much as the other phones I've been looking at. It's probably one that I'll give a miss.

HTC Hero has fantastic software but the hardware isn't really up to it from what I've read. It has a relatively low-resolution screen too (N97/i8910 have 50% more pixels), which isn't so great for web/videos.
Click to expand...

I never realised that the Hero has a such lower screen resolution compared to the others. The browser seems good on videos that I've watched and two things that I like are the 'pinch to zoom' function and the text adjusting to fit in view. The UI seems very nice and intuitive but I'm always wary about new UIs that don't have an established track record.

The camera/video seems pretty abysmal tbh, and whilst I'm not massively fussed about cameras on phones I do use them from time to time so such a poor camera could become troublesome in the rare occasion that I use it.

I'm a little unsure as to what the speed and responsiveness of the UI would be like for me. I've heard that it's slow from some people and it's fine from others and from videos that I've watched it doesn't look to bad. As I said, I'm not going to go mental with widgets but I don't really have an idea on how many widgets you can get away with before it gets sluggish.

Hodders said:
I am just like you and after playing with a 8910 and a magic I ended up with a HTC Diamond 2. The screen resolution of 800x480 just made browsing the web so much better as you could see (and read) the web pages so much more easily than having to constantly scroll around.

The touch screen was also pretty good. My old tytn 2 was rubbish to use with fingers but the screen on the TD2 was loads better and whilst maybe not as good as the iPhone/8910 capacitive screens, it was still very useable.

Have you considered a WinMo phone ?
Click to expand...

No, I've not looked at any windows based phones. What are they like and what sort of advantages/disadvantages are there?

I watched a few youtube videos of the Diamond 2 and it didn't really grab my interest tbh.
 
There are indeed three threads and I've read them but it's hard to gauge which one is best by reading those alone. My aim with this thread was for people who have spent a good amount of time with at least two of the phones tell me which is the best.
 
Hunders said:
> Samsung Omnia i8910 HD - This phone is proving to be difficult to find a great deal about. One thing that puts me off the Omnia HD is the fact that my mate has an original Omnia and hates the bloody thing. He always complains about problems which include settings constantly changing or changing to their default value and touch screen issues. Have these problems been ironed out with the HD?
Click to expand...

The Omnia and i8910 HD are nothing like each other. Different operating systems and developed by different teams within Samsung. The i8910 HD is a great phone, especially hardware-wise.
 
Yeah, I found out yesterday that the Omnia uses WinMo and the i8910 HD uses symbian. As I currently have an N95 that's fine with me but I'm still unsure about it, even thought I cannot pin point what it is I don't like.

I really don't know what to choose. My heart is telling me to get the Hero but my brain is urging me to go for the N97.
 
It's a hard choice i'm trying to make too. I think I might go and try and demo the HTC Hero in a shop to see what it's like resolution wise. Apart from that there just doesn't seem to be any decent all rounders.
 
Here's my opinion, and i'll add one more into the mix :P

Nokia N97 - A bit big, overpriced and resistive screen. Also its symbian, which isnt my number one choice. <-- Only if you're very used to the Nokia OS

Samsung Omnia i8910 HD - Resistive screen.and Windows Mobile - NO WAY! <-- rather use two cups and some string than use Windows Mobile again

HTC Hero - Looks pretty good. Android, Capacitive screen. Graphite (in Black) or Teflon (in Whte). <-- my second choice

Samsung Galaxy - Same as HTC Hero, but AMOLED screen, and few mm thinner. <-- my top choice
 
kam187 said:
Samsung Omnia i8910 HD - Resistive screen.and Windows Mobile - NO WAY! <-- rather use two cups and some string than use Windows Mobile again
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Well we know to discount anything you ever say then, as you have managed to get that entirely wrong, having as it does a Capacitive screen and Sybian.
 
atpbx said:
Well we know to discount anything you ever say then, as you have managed to get that entirely wrong, having as it does a Capacitive screen and Sybian.
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oh you're absolutely right. I did a hasty google search, and came up with windows mobile, and didnt bother to look at anything else. Sorry.

In fact it has a AMOLED screen it looks like, and a Cortex A8. It also does HD 720p@24fps, D1 (720x480 pixels)@30fps

Not bad at all in fact. I'm still going for the Galaxy because of android and its still thinner, but thats a tough choice.

BTW its Symbian.. a 'Sybian' is something TOTALLY different :P
 
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I'm on the verge of ordering a Hero...

There is a deal online for an Unlocked Hero on a Dolphin 40 package which includes 1200 minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB data for £30 a month BUT 9 months at £15 by redemption.

EDIT: Ordered. I just hope the supposed lag isn't very noticeable to me.
 
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kam187 said:
oh you're absolutely right. I did a hasty google search, and came up with windows mobile, and didnt bother to look at anything else. Sorry.

In fact it has a AMOLED screen it looks like, and a Cortex A8. It also does HD 720p@24fps, D1 (720x480 pixels)@30fps

Not bad at all in fact. I'm still going for the Galaxy because of android and its still thinner, but thats a tough choice.

BTW its Symbian.. a 'Sybian' is something TOTALLY different :P
Click to expand...

I know what it does, I have one.
Here.
Right in front of me.
And coming back with a spelling mistake after posting entirely incorrect information............. cheap.
 
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