Nokia 5800 vs Nokia N97 – A brief comparison by mster911
Posted by: Phat^Trance in Nokia, Reviews
Finally managed to get my hands on a N97 and I couldn’t resist comparing it to the 5800XM. These are my opinions and others may have different opinions from mine. I didn’t have the N97 for a long time, so I wasn’t able to extensively test it, so plz take this into considerations when reading my comparison.
Display – Quality and sensitiveness
Wins for N97: Larger display, and better visibility and clarity in direct sunlight
Wins for 5800XM : Display was more vivid
However vivid the 5800’s display was it couldn’t match the pleasure of watching a video with the N97 . The N97’s slightly larger display certainly makes a difference when watching a video on it. As for touch sensitiveness I didn’t feel that great a difference, however the interface on the N97 was faster, meaning that the action was performed as soon as the input was entered, with the 5800XM there is slight delay when opening the menu, folders,etc (usually half a second). Readers will have to know that I have never used an iPhone and therefore the touch sensitivity of the 5800Xm seemed great when I first used.
Interface
No questions here, the N97 takes the lead due to some slight improvements by Nokia. The interface is fast and easy to use, but what I was disappointed with was the lack innovation in flashy animated transitions, I mean an N97 user most probably paid about $700 and you usually expect a few extra eye-candy,but NO for the most part transitions were the typical N-Series usuals with slight differences.
But apart from that the interface is well thought out and a real pleasure to use and for most part is similar to that on the 5800XM
Multimedia
Photo Viewing
The default photo viewer on the N97 was definitely better than that on the 5800XM, the N97’s default photo viewer browsed through photos quickly and zoomed on slightly faster than on the 5800XM. The only real problem with the 5800Xm was that only 2 photos on either side of the photo currently being viewed were cached so when browsing quickly through photos on 5800XM meant viewing quite a few “loading” circles.
However on apps like Nokia’s Photo Browser and Scalado Photo Flow, there was no noticeable difference when viewing photos. One slight difference which I appreciated on the default Photo viewer in the N97 was that there was a tiny “play” button on the center of videos and the button could be clicked to actually play the video there itself.
Video Viewing
No big differences between the N97 and 5800XM except that videos on the N97 were less likely to lag (or not lag at all) when compared to the 5800, this may be result of the better processor.
Music – Application, quality and loudness (including loudspeakers)
The Default Music application was very similar and there was no noticeable difference, but when it came to audio quality I felt the 5800 had a slight edge on the N97 (nothing really important though).
Listening to audio on earphones was similar on both devices with no great difference. But the audio quality on the loudspeakers was definitely “”CRAP”" on the N97 when compared to the 5800XM.T he loudspeakers on the N97 were less louder and there seemed a problem with the bass (I’m note sure whether this was a problem on only the device I used, or whether its common on all N97’s).
Design
The N97 has a more sturdy feeling in the hand when compared to the 5800XM. The 5800XM feels as if a few forceful dashes onto the ground might crack it, but the N97 feels as if it built like a tank and I especially love the slide mechanism ( but I have a few doubt as to how much stress it can truly handle).
However, on a personal note, I feel the N97 will be the first to take some serious damage when thrown to the ground repeatedly. This is because its a slider and even though the slide mechanism is excellent, I fell it might break when exposed to high stress.
However both phones have a great design and feel sturdy and have the usual high Nokia build levels. The 5800XM is extremely pocket friendly and fits easily onto the hand and can easily be used with one hand. The N97 is also pocket friendly, but only borderly, single handed use is OK not great but still usable, besides a majority of people will use the N97 with both hands
Camera
The camera on the 5800XM is at best mediocre, it good lighting conditions the camera on the 5800 performs with the best of the N-Series snappers, and in average light conditions its good and takes pics that are acceptable, but in low light conditions only an expert can take acceptable pics with the 5800XM. Video quality is excellent and for most part faultless with the 5800XM’s camera
The camera on the N97 is excellent in good and average light conditions and even takes acceptable pics in low light conditions. There are a few extras that most wouldn’t have noticed, the interface is now more polished (when compared to the 5800XM) and what I really like is that even in auto mode, fast moving objects are taken without a blur (I think this is due to fast opening and closing of the shutter, I know theres a word for it but can’t remember).
The few problems I have with the camera on the N97 are mostly software based. Sometimes theres a grey line appearing on pictures after capturing them and there seems to be a slight problem with purples. Zooming takes bloody ages and the image appears pixelerated at first. The only hardware feature I would really like is touch focus instead of auto focus.
UPDATE:
Certain reader seem to think that I say the N97 is better overall , which I don’t. It is only better in certain areas and the 5800XM has a few weaknesses which the N97 doesn’t. However the 5800XM is worth the price while the N97 is not. The N97 is ridiculously overpriced and both phones appeal to different sectors of users.
Teens and audiophiles will prefer the 5800XM , while business users, web surfers and heavy texters will prefer the N97. Personally I prefer to do all my web surfing on my desktop and use the web browser on phone rarely. The 5800XM is adequate for my texting needs and I mainly use it to listen to music , watch videos and play the odd game along with making calls, thereby the 5800XM is perfect for people like me who need an average smartphone but one thats not too expensive
Discuss the article here
[Thx mster911]
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