Hello all.
Wanted to post this to provide my comparison between WP8 and Symbian, a fairer comparison than WP8 to iOS/Android.
Let me start out by saying that I had a Nokia 700 with Nokia Belle running on it. I got it for 149 on ebay, to test my feet in the world of GSM phones (I was with VZW for years.
Here are some of the things that Symbian does better than WP8:
File Management
Symbian has a default file manager, and unlike WP8 apps can be set to store files on the SD card (maps, Spotify, etc). This is one of my main gripes about WP8, but I honestly think it was a good idea to not implement this at first, since there have been issues with me installing files to SD cards on other OS'.
Notification drop down menu
As you can see from above, Symbian has a drop down menu for notifications. I love the toast notifications in WP8 (more about that later), but as you can see there are options to turn WIFI,BT, Mobile data, volume off and on. In WP8 it takes a little longer for me to open and close these settings... not a major thing but something I miss.
Multitasking
Multitasking in Symbian is different than WP8. On my 700, I would hold the center button to open the running apps , and click an x to close them. Apps in WP8 seem to pause themselves automatically, but I like to keep my phone lean with suspended apps, wish I could select to close rather than hitting back 50 million times. I've heard this may come in the future... It will be awesome if it does.
What WP8 does better than Symbian:
Battery life
On my 700 using the Tmobile 3.5G network (4G), my battery would die extremely fast. On my 521... it lasts more than 12 hours. Impressive.
Apps
Everyone who reviews WP8 and compares it to iOS and Android whines and complains about Apps. Let me tell you something... nothing compares to the lack of Symbian apps. Yes, WP8 is missing official Instagram, Facebook, Google, etc etc. But Symbian has none of that, and since Nokia abandoned it, there is very little development going on.
Speed of the os
Back in the day, Symbian was the king of OS smoothness. Let me tell you, since I went to WP8, Symbian looks like a old Windows 95 computer. Hell, I feel like WP8 is faster than iOS! When I used to start my 700 up, it would tke 5-10 minutes for the phone to actually work with out lag. I am shocked that WP8 is so efficient on lower spec hardware that I love it.
Notifications
I love that i can click toast notifications to oppen messages and apps. Never been able to do that in Symbian.
Honestly, with all the little problems, I love WP8. I love that I bought a 140 dollar phone that has the smoothness of an iPhone.
Bonus Feature:
I was thinking about all the phones I had one day, when I realized that WP8 had a phone that beta tested alot of its features on Verizon , and served as some of the graphical inspiration.
*drumroll*
Presenting the Kin series:
(Also known as Microsoft's failed dumbsmartphone)
This phone had a Tegra chip in it, and had alot of the layout of WP8. But it had no apps, no updates, was buggy and boring to use. Plus it was a crappy quality phone.
So glad I have my 521.
Wanted to post this to provide my comparison between WP8 and Symbian, a fairer comparison than WP8 to iOS/Android.
Let me start out by saying that I had a Nokia 700 with Nokia Belle running on it. I got it for 149 on ebay, to test my feet in the world of GSM phones (I was with VZW for years.
Here are some of the things that Symbian does better than WP8:
File Management
Symbian has a default file manager, and unlike WP8 apps can be set to store files on the SD card (maps, Spotify, etc). This is one of my main gripes about WP8, but I honestly think it was a good idea to not implement this at first, since there have been issues with me installing files to SD cards on other OS'.
Notification drop down menu
As you can see from above, Symbian has a drop down menu for notifications. I love the toast notifications in WP8 (more about that later), but as you can see there are options to turn WIFI,BT, Mobile data, volume off and on. In WP8 it takes a little longer for me to open and close these settings... not a major thing but something I miss.
Multitasking
Multitasking in Symbian is different than WP8. On my 700, I would hold the center button to open the running apps , and click an x to close them. Apps in WP8 seem to pause themselves automatically, but I like to keep my phone lean with suspended apps, wish I could select to close rather than hitting back 50 million times. I've heard this may come in the future... It will be awesome if it does.
What WP8 does better than Symbian:
Battery life
On my 700 using the Tmobile 3.5G network (4G), my battery would die extremely fast. On my 521... it lasts more than 12 hours. Impressive.
Apps
Everyone who reviews WP8 and compares it to iOS and Android whines and complains about Apps. Let me tell you something... nothing compares to the lack of Symbian apps. Yes, WP8 is missing official Instagram, Facebook, Google, etc etc. But Symbian has none of that, and since Nokia abandoned it, there is very little development going on.
Speed of the os
Back in the day, Symbian was the king of OS smoothness. Let me tell you, since I went to WP8, Symbian looks like a old Windows 95 computer. Hell, I feel like WP8 is faster than iOS! When I used to start my 700 up, it would tke 5-10 minutes for the phone to actually work with out lag. I am shocked that WP8 is so efficient on lower spec hardware that I love it.
Notifications
I love that i can click toast notifications to oppen messages and apps. Never been able to do that in Symbian.
Honestly, with all the little problems, I love WP8. I love that I bought a 140 dollar phone that has the smoothness of an iPhone.
Bonus Feature:
I was thinking about all the phones I had one day, when I realized that WP8 had a phone that beta tested alot of its features on Verizon , and served as some of the graphical inspiration.
*drumroll*
Presenting the Kin series:
(Also known as Microsoft's failed dumbsmartphone)
This phone had a Tegra chip in it, and had alot of the layout of WP8. But it had no apps, no updates, was buggy and boring to use. Plus it was a crappy quality phone.
So glad I have my 521.
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