Symbian vs Windows Phone (The switch)

[Squachy]

1.) Smartphone batteries suck for every device out there. Everything's a battery hog. Every device ive come across, whether its friends devices or stuff I read online, unless you fiddle around with it, tweak it, close this, close that, root, whatever you're battery is going to last 1 day at most. I used a Nokia 6568i or something dumbphone before my WP7 device and that lasted a week before recharging. I jumped on the smartphone bandwagon awhile back and it could barely get by a full day. Nothing's changed. More power, more fully featured OS, same old 'barely a day' battery life. Its just the nature of the beast. Nokia seems to just want to stick with the 2000mah or smaller batteries also which doesn't seem to help. The off/on thing just seems to be a preference really....
2.) I think the FM radio got re-enabled in GDR2/Amber
3.) That's valid. I remember switching to the 'silent' mode (press that volume icon on the drop down volume drawer) and then I had a incoming phonecall still come through full volume ring.....
4.) This complaint would be valid on any other smartphone also. I don't think any of the smartphone cameras except for the 41mpx Lumia/808 has been known to surpass it.
5.) I personally hate swiping for everything (some things just doesn't feel right with swiping). Its like motion controls in gaming, some things just shouldnt be done in that way. But I also dislike having to spam the back button a gajillion times.
6.) Nokia keeps dropping the ball on their flagship/high end devices when they omit the microSD.....

 

[svenhassel]

I've just 'upgraded' to a Nokia Lumia 925 from a Nokia N8 and I can't believe how bad the Lumia is compared to the N8.


2) I love the FM transmitter on my N8. I can get in a car, ANY car, and send my music to the in car entertainment system. Where is this on the 925? It's not possible, that's where it is.

3) One volume key to rule them all on the 925 and no profiles. Gone are the days of simply pressing the power button on the N8 and choosing 'Silent' or 'Office' or any other profile. This functionality has been around since mobile phones were invented so why remove it now??


5) Swype. Need I say more? Gone are the days of swyping away on my N8 landscape keyboard. It's back to one key at a time. Progress? I don't think so.


I could go on and on but feel I've said enough. Maybe I'm just an old stick in the mud and just need to adapt to the new technology. What does anyone else think?

I really miss those too

 

[watty1964]

1.) Smartphone batteries suck for every device out there. Everything's a battery hog. Every device ive come across, whether its friends devices or stuff I read online, unless you fiddle around with it, tweak it, close this, close that, root, whatever you're battery is going to last 1 day at most. I used a Nokia 6568i or something dumbphone before my WP7 device and that lasted a week before recharging. I jumped on the smartphone bandwagon awhile back and it could barely get by a full day. Nothing's changed. More power, more fully featured OS, same old 'barely a day' battery life. Its just the nature of the beast. Nokia seems to just want to stick with the 2000mah or smaller batteries also which doesn't seem to help. The off/on thing just seems to be a preference really....
2.) I think the FM radio got re-enabled in GDR2/Amber

Thanks for your thoughts.
1) Wasn't really about battery life but about being able to turn the phone off after setting an alarm. I don't think this is a preference. It's a feature. Sure, some users won't use this feature but at least they have the choice. After all, why leave the phone on overnight unless you're expecting some mega urgent call?
2) I'm not about to hack the phone with GDR2/Amber (which I had to Google!). Anyway, my point is about the FM TRANSMITTER,not receiver. I'm not bothered about listening to FM radio stations on the phone. I want to be able to transmit the musice to other devices via FM and I don't believe this will ever be possible on the 925.

 

[fdruid]

I loved the Belle Refresh on my N8 but what the OP says doesn't make no sense. If you're distracted by the smartphone, it's your problem, not the phone's.
Symbian is in many aspects more powerful and customizable but it's dated and it shows. There's not a lot of discussion there.
Before the 1020 I could even understand someone getting an 808, but now even that doesn't make sense.
Poor old 808, didn't have its deserved time to shine

 

[krishna6233]

Recently, I switched my platform and device from Windows Phone 8 to Symbian, Nokia's previous platform before Windows Phone, as part of a personal journey in finding myself and stop focusing too much on my phone. Our smartphones nowadays have plenty of helpful functions, but they take a lot of our time and focus from the things that really matter. For example, before, I used to glance to the vivid tiles of my Windows Phone screen at all times waiting for a social network notification,a news notification, a message to pop up, or anything that made those beautiful live tiles flip and tell me that I had to use my phone. As a college student, I decided that I had to stop being one more of the tribe of those who look at their phone constantly to text, send a whatsapp or just browse the web. Maybe you haven't noticed, but I am sure that most of the people who are reading this stare at their phone much more than they look at their relatives and friends. So, I decided to quit my “addiction”. I made this decision at the beginning of this year.

I started exploring the possible platforms that could help me achieve this goal. I thought that an old platform would do it since the lack of many recent and popular apps would help me not to want to use my phone. However, I didn't have the opportunity to switch until about a week ago. A friend of mine broke his phone and asked me that if I could sell him my precious yellow Lumia 620. I hesitated for a moment because of the good performance that the mid range phone had given to me up to that point. But, I made the decision and I sold it to him. Right after he gave me the money, I went to deposit it to my bank account and pay for my new Nokia phone, the Nokia N8. At first, I hesitated about buying it, but this week has been very pleasant. Thus, I want to remark some of the advantages and disadvantages of this Operating System.


First the file manager is years ahead from Windows Phone. The experience of managing the files, made me remember my old Sony Ericsson days where finding a file or moving it was a few “clicks” away. However, now this task was achieved through a tactile display. It was very smooth easy to manage those files. However, Windows Phone 8 lacks an in device file managing system, making it really hard for users to move documents,pictures and others from the removable storage(Micro SD cards) to the mass storage of the phone. Although Microsoft has enabled the mass storage transfer function while connecting the device to your PC, it is still not as convenient as transferring those files from the device itself. Maybe in the future (WP 8.1 or later), Microsoft will allow users to achieve this task easily.


Second advantage of Symbian over Windows Phone is multitasking. While Windows Phone has been improving in this area update after update, true multitasking is still not a smooth experience with those “loading” pages in between switching from one app to the other. In the N8, I just press the physical button for a few moments (like the back arrow on WP) and the multitasking screen comes up. Then, I select the any other app and automatically opens it without loading screens or crashing the app in the process.


A third and last advantage that I have found over this week is battery life. Maybe this advantage has its own flaws since I haven't used a High-End Windows Phone 8 like the Lumia 920, 928, HTC 8X or ATIV S, and I don't use my Symbian device as much as I used my Lumia 620. While using my Lumia 620, I found that the battery life was not enough. It barely lasted a day with moderate usage, and with heavy usage like games, music and email maybe 4-7 hours top. On the other hand with my N8, I unplugged the device at 7 A.M and came back home at 9 P.M, and it still had 45% remaining. In my opinion, for a “smartphone”that is very impressive. Like I said this advantage has its own flaws since I heard of other users that get a day and a half from their High End phones.


Well enough with the Windows Phone “bashing”. Now it is time for Symbian to take some hits from a former WP user
.
First off, the interface is dated. Windows Phone is a million times more beautiful than Symbian. I cannot believe how ugly this Operating System is. The browser specially is not as responsive as Internet Explorer on Windows Phone. I can say that it is a pain to browse the web on this device, it is better than a flip phone, but nothing compared to the smoothness and lag free experience that I had in my Lumia 620. The apps' interface is horrible. When I check the mail app, I cannot help but remember the clean and beautiful mail box on my Windows Phone.


Secondly, the overall experience while using applications. Windows Phone has many more apps than Symbian. In my Lumia 620, I had more than 30 apps and a couple of games. Symbian has the basics, but do not hold your breath if you think that you are going to find a popular newly released app for this OS. WP apps are more functional they have more options and the interface is just prettier making the overall experience better.


Lastly, support.Every new version of Windows Phone is promised to be supported at least for 18 months. Whereas, Symbian is no longer supported by Nokia instead they handed it to another company that brings security fixes to the platform only.


I have not used this phone extensively (meaning that its only my first week) enough to say that I am an expert. But, overall my experience has been pleasant . I am not using my phone as much, I have more time to write, study, and talk with people. I am not looking at my phone constantly anymore. It has been a good change so far. It has been hurting since I was so used to check my apps constantly, but I am learning to be more patient and to rely less on my phone and more on the outside sources. Thank you for reading. Cheers!'




P.S There are twoother things that I like about symbian over WP, but I think they havebeen covered by previous articles at websites. Camera(By popular request: Nokia N8 vs Lumia 920 PR1.1 vs Ativ S camera test) and Sleeping Screen(Symbian's 'little feature that could' still to be equalled, even on Windows Phone). Although the latter is coming soon!!! to Nokia WP

why re u using stock browser when u have opera mini??? all the available browsers in wp suck ..i use 2g :/

 

[krishna6233]

To the OP, if you typed your post with that N8, you might want to check the functionality of the space bar. BTW, even though the UI is not as elegant as WP, I think Symbian is still worlds better as far as function.

super like for that comment!!!

 

[krishna6233]

I've just 'upgraded' to a Nokia Lumia 925 from a Nokia N8 and I can't believe how bad the Lumia is compared to the N8.

1) Someone mentioned above how the alarm functionality in Windows Phone is better than Symbian's and this may be true. Yes, you can set alarms to repeat but if you wanted a repeating alarm in Symbian then you can just set up a recurring event in the calendar with an alarm. However, despite not being able to set up recurring alarms easily there is one massive flaw in the Windows alarm set up and that is you have to leave the phone switched on to hear an alarm! On the N8 you can set an alarm, turn the phone off, and it will still sound. The advantages of this should be obvious. No chance of being woken up by late night callers or texters and no battery drain overnight. The battery on the 925 barely lasts a day as it is and I couldn't imagine leaving it on overnight and I don't want to be fiddling about charging it as I generally go to bed after my wife and don't want to wake her up....

2) I love the FM transmitter on my N8. I can get in a car, ANY car, and send my music to the in car entertainment system. Where is this on the 925? It's not possible, that's where it is.

3) One volume key to rule them all on the 925 and no profiles. Gone are the days of simply pressing the power button on the N8 and choosing 'Silent' or 'Office' or any other profile. This functionality has been around since mobile phones were invented so why remove it now??

4) The N8 camera far excels the one on the 925. Where is the physical zoom button? Where is the Xenon flash etc etc. It's just embarassing how bad the camera is on the 925.

5) Swype. Need I say more? Gone are the days of swyping away on my N8 landscape keyboard. It's back to one key at a time. Progress? I don't think so.

6) Where is the Micro SD card? LOL. I'm stuck with 16gb on the flagship 925 but on my N8 I had virtually UNLIMITED storage!

I could go on and on but feel I've said enough. Maybe I'm just an old stick in the mud and just need to adapt to the new technology. What does anyone else think?

these re the things that is limiting wp mass adaptation ...wp is no where near symbian in terms of basic features ........multitasking is big joke in wp(7 & 8) ..!!! im living with the missing features !!!:eck::eck:

 

[cckgz4]

I can completely understand this way of thinking. Family functions are now spent with folks with their heads down on their electronic devices and hunting for chargers. But I cannot go "backwards" in functionality. If anything, I need to be able to tell myself, like with anything else, that things are good in moderation. I remember to keep my phone in my pocket when I'm with company or when I'm out with friends. I'm also a college student and I gotta get a lot of things off the school's website. With apps available to help you organize and study, I don't see why its not being used to this advantage. Only you can know your limits, but I'd rather build up some self-control than go to an older operation system

Sent from something UhMEHZing using Tapatalk

 

[shyam1986]

Hi one and all,
I have been using Nokia n8(Symbian) from last 1 year. Now my n8 is very slow, i m in plan to change the OS. Which Os is suitable for that now and where can i get that.Please give a advice.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Skiffle]

Don't do it mate! Windows phone has been the bane of my existence for over a year now, rubbish notification system which barely bloody works, crap apps, problems left and right (just browse these forums and see what I mean). Personally I have just ordered an S4 and will reap the benefits of something as bloody simple as Facebook actually working.. I reckon the only reason Nokia threw a massive camera into the 1020 was to disguise the fact that other than live tiles nothing bloody works as it should.. And even they mess up all the time. Get an android or dare I say *cough* iPhone...

 

[inteller]

Cool story bro. You can go back to wherever you came from now, Mr one poster.

 

[Skiffle]

Cool story bro. You can go back to wherever you came from now, Mr one poster.

lol, enjoy your crap wank device that does ****! Hahaha

 

[phasar]

To the OP, if you typed your post with that N8, you might want to check the functionality of the space bar. BTW, even though the UI is not as elegant as WP, I think Symbian is still worlds better as far as function.

I agree. When you need to get something done, Symbian is simply a more capable device.

 

[rdubmu]

For the alarm function. Put your phone on silent by pressing the volume control and have it on silent. Then make sure your sound is ar 30/30. You will not get any notification sounds like text, calls ECT. But apps like alarm and music work like it should.

Sent from my RM-820_nam_att_100 using Tapatalk

 

[Dileeshdon]

Symbian is a very good OS but it's suffer from some bugs & short of Applications
True: But it still ticks all the boxes when it comes to basic functionality.

I believe one day soon Windows Phone 8 will inherit the most cool & advanced options from Symbian & Meego OS.
May your belief saves you...I hope, wish & pray WP8 to implement atleast the basic functionalities that comes standard in any Java feature phone.(Like a file manager, mass storage mode or being able to set ringtones). Apparently, By the time these basic things appear on a WP8, Google would bring teleportation in androids and Apple would make iphones capable of reading minds!!!

I can see Microsoft strategy ................>> they want to give people something to talk about it all the time.
If that was the truth, I would rather have given people something good to talk about than being bashed like this by feeding its customers with ****.

Microsoft is playing & enjoying the catch up game where in Apple IOS & Google Android we can't see big deference between the upgrades, where in Windows Phone 8 the OS is changing dramatically with each upgrade.
I don't know whether they enjoy or not, but iOS and Android updates doesn't bring dramatic changes because, unlike WP, they all have got their basics correct long back, it is the minor tweaks or cosmetics changes that are added to make the user experience feel refreshed whereas WP still struggles in the basic features, let alone it will ever catch up with iOS or android or even symbian. To void the gap they has to implement fixes through continuous updates with dramatic changes so that its users atleast doesn't feel sorry for the catastrophic switch they ever made.
Only god now can say how many hundreds of update cycles WP8 will have to go through to make it as functional as a basic symbian phone.

I saw some screen shots for the GDR3 upgrade for Windows Phone 8 where closing an application from the multitasking can be down by touching "X" to close it the same way as in Symbian.
A welcome step indeed! something is far better than nothing.

Microsoft are taking advantage of being behind the leader OS, to learn from their mistakes & avoid it.
In that case what about the mistakes they managed to make on their own, mistakes the makers of the 'Leader OS' dared not to see or hear about in their worst nightmares? For example, in the plight to make most secure OS on earth, they embraced a 'sand boxing approach' in allocating memory space to applications. That means absolutely nothing (including the OS!) can access or even see a file, other than the specific app designed to handle that particular file type. This may sound like excellent ingredient for safety, but wait till someone(presumably more clever or intelligent than those at Redmont) write a code(read virus) to bypass this setup and get in to the memory space. Suddenly this set up becomes the perfect ingredient for damage since no antivirus can ever detect the threat (since the virus sits safe and virtually undetectable). They will claim this is impossible to happen, but wait...I heard them saying the same whenever a new version or fix for their previous OSs were released, only to be followed by the news saying that too was hacked within a month or two:winktongue:. Even if one finds the security in WP as uncompromisable, the trade off for achieving the same is huge. For instance, it is virtually impossible to have a system wide file manager, where you can see all the files (agreed...at least user files like media, documents, app installers and unknown file types) and handle them like you would in a normal symbian or java phone. You cannot send or receive a file through bluetooth unless a compatible app is installed prior to that. (Just imagine if my friend shares an important pdf file over bluetooth to my lumia and at the time there was no pdf reader installed in my phone. The file reaches my phone, but is seen nowhere even if I install a pdf reader later on.)
This lack of system wide memory access creates other bottle necks as well.viz,
1) You cannot use your phone as a pendrive other than for songs and images (Come on... I am talking about a smartphone, not a mediaplayer:angry
2) USB host or USB On-The-Go (OTG) functionality will never be possible ( A feature which was present in early 2011 symbian phones and we are in late 2013:shocked

I believe with in two years Windows Phone 8 will control big shares in smart phone market & maybe more than Apple & Google
In the current form and practice, with confidence I must say that is never going to happen unless;
1) Majority of the people who buys and use smartphones become ******** enough to oversee the limitations this 'so called platform' have, while being ignorant of the obvious benefits other platforms have to offer.
2) Microsoft success fully manage to inject another trojan horse into companies like google, apple and samsung (Just like they did with nokia) and bring them down as well. Or they can sent the trojan horse to US Government or Military systems to make the HQs, R&Ds and Manufacturing facilities of above said companies as targets for their next annihilation exercise.
3)Last but least probable, make WP as functional as android or symbian.
Come on mate, don't make yourself look like a fool by saying this. If MS was not able to learn from their experience and mistakes spanning over 13 years of OS development, (Counting on Pocket PC OS from 2000. After the long 13 years, still I am stuck with a phone which doesn't have profiles or file manager or bluetooth file sharing (non media files) or even able to connect to a wired remote headset or be able to fast forward or rewind a song using seek slider) what on earth are they going to learn in two years?