Touch Diamond vs iPhone 3G vs BlackBerry Bold vs N96

Very soon we will face four new phones. Competition is fierce and consumers are getting confused on what to purchase, and which one is best at this or at that. Here at the Nokia N96 Blog we support the N96, but you always have to compare it with other phones to make sure the N96 is actually the best or not. Perfection is impossible, so let’s see in what features the N96 is better than the competition, and how it gets beaten in some components.

	HTC Touch Diamond	Apple iPhone 3G	RIM BlackBerry 9000 Bold	Nokia N96
Max data speed	7.2mbps on HSDPA	1.8mbps on HSDPA	3.6mbps on HSDPA	3.6mbps on HSDPA
User Interface	HTC 3D TouchFLO	Multitouch UI	BlackBerry UI	S60 v3 FP2
Thickness	11.3mm	12.3mm	14mm	20mm
Weight	110g	133g	133g	125g
Display	2.8” touchscreen	3.5” multitouchscreen	2.2”	2.8”
Screen resolution	640×480	480×320	480×320	240×320
Camera	3.2 megapixel	2 megapixel	2 megapixel	5 megapixel with Dual LED flash
Battery life	4 hours on GSM	10 hours on GSM	5 hours on GSM	3.67 hours on GSM
Web browser	Opera	Safari	HTML	S60 browser
GPS	Yes, A-GPS	Yes, A-GPS	Yes	Yes, A-GPS
Availability	Already available in some markets	July 11th in 22 countries	Summer 2008	Shipping starts August

Now that we have the specifications, let’s see:

The HTC Touch Diamond is definitely better in terms of HSDPA speeds. I’m not 100% sure on the Apple iPhone’s HSDPA speed, but as Jobs said that the iPhone 3G will have speeds 3.6 times higher than the first model, I presume it can only go up to 1.8mbps. And yes, the N96 loses the battle, but not the war.

The User Interface really depends on one’s likes. Some say that Apple’s multitouch UI is the most revolutionary one, some stick with S60, here we can’t really compare, can we?

In terms of thickness, HTC Touch Diamond takes the first prize, with only 11.3mm. I can say that it was indeed very slim, as I noted at the launch party. The N96 is the complete opposite with a full 2cm of thickness.

The display size award is taken by the Apple iPhone 3G, with a whole 3.5”, and a multi-touch touchscreen panel.

However, the resolution is best on the Touch Diamond, with VGA resolution on that tiny 2.8” touchscreen.

N96 wins on the camera bit, with a 5 megapixel camera with Autofocus, Dual LED flash, and video recording at VGA resolution at 30fps.

The BlackBerry Bold is the only which doesn’t have A-GPS, which is a big disadvantage in terms of GPS lock time.

The Apple iPhone 3G wins in battery life, as Apple had to tweak it to handle all that music playback timings necessary to conserve Apple’s reputation. The N96 does very poorly, and its battery has already been criticized about as it only has 950mAh.

Web browser again is subjective, although we might be able to leave BlackBerry’s browser behind. Safari is the talk of the town, so again the Apple iPhone 3G takes the crown.

There is a GPS receiver in all phones, so this will be a tie. [thanks for the correction, RussianMan]

Availability date doesn’t really count, but it’s there for reference. The clear winners was the HTC Touch Diamond if you just refer to the specifications table, but I’m when we publish our reviews, you might just change your opinion.

Specifications courtesy of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc

Forum Discussion

N96 live pictures and hands-on notes

At the right N96 N81 8GB, and at the left the N81 8GB N96. It’s not just the display that’s bigger, but there are few minor changes in cosmetics on the front. The keys are slightly separated, and the multimedia key is smaller. The navi-wheel is made thinner and higher so that it feels good to the finger.

Read more

Two days for N96 to release!

Yes it’s only two more days before the Nokia N96 releases to the market. As I said previously, this should be the final media release, which means that in few weeks it will hit the markets. It only depends on national regulators, networks, and logistics on the date of release to the public, all retailers usually differ.

Stay tuned to our upcoming review. For now you can appreciate Mobile-Review’s Eldar’s review.

Apple iPhone vs Nokia N96

We’d love to say that we’re doing this comparison because Apple have announced a date to release the iPhone in Australia, but as you probably know, Apple is playing its cards very close to its chest. Thankfully, Nokia have been a little more forthcoming, and we’re still expecting a release of the N96 in Q3 of this year.

 (click in the image to see in real weight)

Source: CNet Australia

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