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10 Things Symbian Does Better Than Android

By The Guru on March 2, 2010
Yesterday I shared with you 10 things that I’ve found Android does much better than Symbian. However, there’s
more to the story, so today I have a list of 10 things that my Symbian-powered touchscreen phones do much better
than my Android-powered HTC Eris, which is currently running Android 1.5. Obviously this isn’t a complete list, but
it’s things that stand out to me after a few months of actively carrying both phones.
1. Gmail – Believe it or not, while the overall experience might not be better, my Gmail consistently arrives in
Nokia Messaging on my Nokia N97 a good 5-7 seconds faster than it does on the HTC Eris. Obviously this is a big
win for Nokia Messaging, but since Nokia Messaging is also on Symbian devices at the moment, we’ll count it as a
win there, too. Aside from the speed of arrival, though, Android trumps Symbian in the overall Gmail experience, so
perhaps this one is a wash?
2. Multitasking – both platforms multitask easily, and while Android does a better job of intelligently managing
those applications for you, the actual experience is much better on Symbian. On Symbian, it’s much more obvious
(in most apps) how to ‘background’ an app, and then switch back to it. After several days (and 2 task management
apps) I’m still trying to get a good handle on how to complete this process consistently on Android. It’s not always
clear which applications are still running on Android, nor is it easy to consistently know how to send them to the
background.
Of course, there are 3rd party apps for both platforms to make this better, but Symbian does it better ‘out-of-
the-box’, especially with such eye candy as the Samsung i8910′s built-in task manager, shown below. It’s
exceptionally easy to tell which apps are still running, and to switch between them or close them altogether.
Another frustrating aspect is that many Android apps have an option for background noti ications, which let them
alert you of events even when they’re not the active application. This is awesome, but without being able to ‘kill’ an
app easily, it can be frustrating, as I’m never sure if I still have Seesmic running, for instance, which brings me to
my next point…
1 of 16 11/12/2010 6:36 AM
Multitasking on the Samsung i8910
3. Twitter – I’m a power user of Twitter, and actively manage 3 different accounts. Thus, inding a suitable Twitter
app on various platforms is quite a challenge. On Android, I was using Twidroid, as it seems to be the only option
that supports multiple accounts. Unfortunately, Twidroid doesn’t hold a candle to Gravity, mainly suffering in terms
of performance. Twidroid is slow to load and even slower to refresh my timelines. It’s also in initely slower when
composing and publishing a tweet when compared to Gravity. I’ve beta tested TweetCaster, from Handbrake, and
it’s much better, but still not up to the quality of Gravity. Seesmic for Android has now added support for multiple
accounts, but it’s still not as smooth of an experience as Gravity is on my Symbian phones, speci ically in getting
noti ications and the like.
2 of 16 11/12/2010 6:36 AM
Gravity on the Samsung i8910
4. Last.FM – Android has a native Last.FM app, straight from the company, so you’d think it’d be way better than
Mobbler, which is independently developed by a 3rd party (really just an insanely talented group of programmers).
However, that’s not the case – Mobbler completely trumps the native Last.FM client on Android, mainly for 2
reasons: Sleep, and Alarm. When I go to sleep at night, I start a station of soothing music, typically something like
Norah Jones or Enya. However, if I leave that running all night, my Last.FM pro ile would be totally messed up, so I
use Mobbler’s sleep timer to stop the station after 60 minutes. I also like to wake up to music, so I’m able to use
Mobbler’s alarm clock function to blast a custom station at a designated time, so I’m more likely to wake up.
3 of 16 11/12/2010 6:36 AM
Mobbler on the i8910
5. Waze – Waze is actually much better on

Symbian, again for a few reasons. For
starters, on my HTC Eris, the bottom
toolbar is hidden, and I have to press the
‘Menu’ button on the phone to get it to pop
up – this can take a few seconds, which can
directly affect the accuracy of my reports.
It’s also a somewhat unnecessary step that
the Symbian version doesn’t have. Also,
Waze seems to simply run better on my
Symbian-powered phones, with less delay
or slowness. On my HTC Eris, Waze seems
to lag quite a bit.
HTC Eris on the left, Samsung i8910 on the
4 of 16 11/12/2010 6:36 AM
right
6. Music – the sound quality on my Nokia N97 is much better than my HTC Eris, speci ically through headphones or
a plug-in speaker system. The N97 also facilitates syncing with my desktop music collection better, with the option
of mass storage mode or media transfer mode. The Eris, on the other hand, doesn’t immediately connect as
anything, really. I have to open the menu and choose ‘mount memory card’ to be able to access that. I personally
ind the Symbian music player a bit easier to navigate, as well, though that’s really more personal preference. Of
course, the Eris has access to Amazon’s MP3 store baked right in, but that doesn’t help me access the music I
already have.
7. Calendar – while I don’t use the calendar heavily, I do use it to keep up with my daily schedules, and adding
several events all at once on Android can be frustrating – there’s no way (that I’ve igured out) to be in the ‘Day’
mode and change to the next day. As far as I can tell, I have to manually back out to the full month and then click on
the next day. Also, when adding times, you are forced to use these little wheels, similar to a slot machine. While
these things have kinetic scrolling, I’d still like the option to just type in a number quickly, as it can be somewhat
dif icult to get the wheels to stop right where you want them to (exactly like a slot machine, come to think of it).
8. Powers Down – yeah, I seriously put this as an item because it’s really been annoying me. When you want to
turn your Android-powered smartphone off, you press and hold the power button…..which pops up a
submenu……from which you choose ‘power off ’…….which pops up a con irmation dialog……where you again
choose ‘OK’ to inally turn the blasted thing off. Oh, and it also takes for freakin ever to power back on. With
Symbian, you press and hold the power button and the whole thing shuts off – boom. It’s also roughly 2x faster
loading up and being ready to use.
9. Phone – one thing that Symbian fanboys have always enjoyed is that Symbian is more of a phonesmart than a
smartphone – that is, the phone part is always a priority, and it shows. The phone aspects of Android don’t really
work all that great, and can be confusing. For instance, when I’m on a phone call and hold the HTC Eris up to my
face, the screen goes off. This is great, as it prevents me from accidentally pushing a button with my cheek.
Unfortunately, the Eris doesn’t turn the screen back on when I pull the phone away from my face, so I have to press
the end button to turn the screen back on, slide to unlock, and THEN do whatever I wanted to do. Completely
unnecessary, and somewhat daunting to press the ‘end’ key in the middle of a call that I don’t want to end.
10. Developer Opportunities – As my friend Jason Harris at Techraver.com pointed out, Symbian has more
opportunities for developers to build an app. Currently, if you want to build an Android app, you need the Android
SDK…and that’s about it (save for web apps). Symbian, on the other hand, lets you use native C++, Qt, Python, Web
5 of 16 11/12/2010 6:36 AM
Runtime, Java, and a few others. There are also millions more Symbian devices in use than there are Android
devices – a great opportunity for a developer looking for the biggest market opportunity.
Can you come up with anything else that Symbian rocks at but other popular platforms like Android have trouble
with? Join in the comments and let us know. Check back here tomorrow for my inal conclusions on Android vs
Symbian.
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Posted in Feature | Tagged android, eris, N97, smartphone, symbian, Touchscreen
The Guru
The Guru, aka Ricky Cadden, started Symbian-Guru.com in November 2006, out of his
excitement for the S60 3rd Edition version of Symella. The Guru has used Symbian devices
since the Nokia 6620, and is known for his perspective as a power user. You can follow The
Guru on Twitter at @Rcadden
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Just to provide some counterpoints to your list:
For #2 on multitasking, press & hold the "Home" key and you should see a list of the last 8 applications you have run, then tap on any of
those to return to it. No, this does not tell you whether that task is still in RAM or not, nor does it provide you with a method for removing it,
it's up to individual apps to provide an "exit & unload from memory" button, just pressing the Android "Exit" button doesn't do that
typically, it just suspends it in the background.
6 of 16 11/12/2010 6:36 AM
But, as far as consistently backgrounding and returning to an app, pressing home once backgrounds all apps, press & hold it to return to the
app, that's about as consistent as it gets.
#3 You should mention that Gravity for Symbian is $10 whereas Twidroid & Seesmic are both free (no Gravity's 10-day trial does not count
as offering a free version). Granted, to handle multiple accounts you'll need Twidroid Pro, but Seesmic is free entirely. But it isn't really fair
to compare 3rd-party apps and claim it benefits either OS since tomorrow they could port Gravity to Android, or Seesmic to S60.
#6 Your Eris should show up as a mass storage device also, the need to -choose- to mount the memory card rather than having it merely
automount is honestly a feature I need, if your S60 device has apps that store files (for instance, music) on the flash drive, and you're fond of
listening to that music while your phone is plugged into your computer (for instance to charge it), then you would appreciate this feature.
Because your Symbian phone (and all others) can't read the microSDHC card while it's plugged into a computer and mounted. The option to
mount it also prevents other applications from crashing that rely on the computer. Since most S60 devices don't come with USB ports, I
understand you are unlikely to plug it into a computer just to charge it and not to also transfer files. But I find with my Android device that I
more often leave my phone plugged into my home computer, or my work computer, for charging, than into any devoted charger. I think that
Android devices need this functionality because they are far more flexible of a device than an S60 based phone.
#7 When viewing the current day in the calendar, fling your finger left or right to change days. I don't use HTC Sense, but in the stock
Android when entering a new event time, you can tap on the hour/minute display and the keyboard will pop up and you can type in the
time you want the event to occur at, but I find scrolling faster, even though I have a hardware keyboard on my phone.
#8 On your S60 device you list the so-called "feature" of pressing and holding the power button to "simply" shut off your phone. On my
Android phone, when I press and hold the power button I get a menu with the options to select "Silent Mode, Airplane Mode, Reboot phone,
Power off". I prefer having options when I choose to shutdown, especially if I just want a quick reboot or to rapidly turn off all the phone's
radios. I'll grant you that Symbian starts up faster than Android, and I can understand some people being irritated by having a final warning
prompt that their phone will be off, but for me I appreciate the warning in case that's not the operation I intended (maybe I was trying to
silence the phone or put it into airplane mode, but I missed and hit reboot instead).
#9 My phone (the G1) doesn't have a proximity sensor for fading the screen when I put it near my face, but I know that when it goes dark I
can hit menu twice and it will light up again, you shouldn't have to hit "End". From my experience with Symbian it doesn't support
proximity locking the keyboard/touchscreen though, does it? So as far as reducing accidental phone-tones, I'd call this an Android "Win".
But yes, the phone (and especially addressbook) are lacking in Android so far, it is definitely a smartphone and not a "phonesmart".
#10 For Developer Opportunities this where I think things are really upside-down. Needing the "Android SDK" is a misnomer, all it is, is a
compiler with a debugger, emulator, and the Eclipse IDE. Eclipse is Open Source, and cross platform on everything (Linux, Mac, Windows).
Symbian's SDK by-the-way, including their debugger is Windows-only. Not even Mac, let alone Linux. Symbian can be programmed in Java
& C++, QT is not a language it's a widget set, and Python is provided by an external application, Python code cannot be interpreted by S60
natively. Android supports widgets natively, so learning something new like Nokia's Web Runtime is unnecessary, also Android's widgets
are interactive, whereas Nokias WRT widgets are read-only.
Using the Android SDK & NDK you can program in both C & Java for Android, and if you download the Android Scripting Environment
(similar to downloading Python for S60) you get access to languages such as Python, Perl, JRuby, Lua, BeanShell, JavaScript, and shell
scripting. A fair bit more flexible than S60 actually. You also failed to mention the incredibly high cost to develop for Symbian devices, code
audit fees, developer fees, etc. Whereas for Android the total cost to develop apps for life is $25. Compare that to over $2,000 -per
application- for commercial carrier apps on Symbian, without the support of an extensive marketplace on every device (Ovi may be nice,
but it is on a fraction of those millions of Symbian devices you mention, and is brand new with very few apps comparatively). But yes, there
are substantially more Symbian devices than Android ones right now. We'll see what Symbian^3 and MeeGo have in store for Nokia's
future.
kmmerwana and 4 more liked this
Your first point isn't a counterpoint at all except to confirm Symbian phones manage tasks much, much better. Hold the silver button
on the N97 and a list of currently running apps is displayed (by icon). Press on any of them for 2 seconds and you get a menu to switch
7 of 16 11/12/2010 6:36 AM
to that app, or kill it without bringing it to the foreground.
". From my experience with Symbian it doesn't support proximity locking the keyboard/touchscreen though, does it? "
Yes it does.
"On my Android phone, when I press and hold the power button I get a menu with the options to select "Silent Mode, Airplane Mode,
Reboot phone, Power off". I prefer having options when I choose to shutdown, especially if I just want a quick reboot or to rapidly
turn off all the phone's radios."
On the N97, pressing the power button brings up a similar menu. Continuing to hold the power button goes straight to shutdown.
1 person liked this.
I'm aware of the press-and hold Home key thing, but as you concede, it doesn't really offer any multitasking abilities - it's more of a
recently-used list (apps may or may not actually be running). It's very confusing, and I've ended up just using my Eris as a
featurephone because of it.
#3 - point taken, I'll update the post. I do, however, think their inclusion is fair, since Google or Symbian could just as easily (though
not as quickly) update the platform to fix these points - any comparison piece will be dated eventually, that's why we have post-dates
and why I mention specifically what phones/OS versions I'm referring to.
#7 - Perhaps this is a limitation of Sense UI, then, because I've tried flinging every which way and nothing happens. To be honest, in
most cases, I've determined Sense UI to be somewhat of a step backwards, though I'm not easily able to tell which parts of the UI are
Sense UI and which aren't.
#8 - on Symbian, you press the power button once to bring up a similar list - easily change between ringer profiles, activate Offline
(airplane) mode, or turn it off. However, there's no annoying second confirmation. I also do not have the option to Reboot the phone
on my HTC Eris - another limitation of Android v1.5?
#9 - yes, the touchscreen Symbian phones that I've used all disable the screen when you hold it to your face on a phone call, and
re-enable it when you pull it away.
As noted previously, this list is based on my experience with Android on the HTC Eris, from Verizon. The phone isn't that old, I believe
it launched towards December 2009 (I got it in January 2010). There are also numerous other devices currently on the market that
use Android v1.5, thus I believe it's realistic to compare this version of Android, as long as I make it clear that I'm doing so. This is
likely the Android experience that the vast majority of normal consumers would have, though obviously it's not the absolute latest
and greatest.
I think the title of this article is a bit misleading, it would be nice if you could test several Android handsets that are already running v2.1
otherwise this article really should be called "10 things that Symbian phones on the latest firmware like the N97 and i8910 do better than
the Droid ERIS running Android v1.5"
4 people liked this.
8 of 16 11/12/2010 6:36 AM
There are numerous devices running Android v1.5, though, whereas there is only a few devices running Android v2.1. Plus, I've
checked on the Motorola DROID - most of these things are the same on the Eris as they are on the DROID. It's also quite clear in the
lead paragraph that this list is based on the HTC Eris running Android v1.5.
Ricky, I find your article somewhat inconsistent, is it what Symbian does better, or what Symbian applications you like better? 3
of your points are better Symbian apps for certain tasks (or apps preferred by you).
I also have to ask if 5-7 seconds delay when receiving an email does make so much difference to you? It sure doesn't to me, what
matters is seamless integration of modern email client, displaying HTML mails without a hitch and receiving mails each and
every time, which Nokia yet has to do in many devices (sadly, including mine). As for Nokia messaging, I'm not quite as
optimistic as you are about this application. After downloading the latest version from software update, not only does it turn my
wifi connection on forever draining my battery in the matter of hours, but, wait for it, wait for it, it DOESN'T receive emails. So
I'm not really counting this one at the moment ;-). From NM support forums, there are scores of people with the same problem,
and, as usual, it points to rather poor QA on Nokia's part. (end of rant :))
Also, for multitasking, you chose a phone that is not really a typical Symbian device, is it? It would be much more fair fight if you
compared Nokia's multitasking to Android.
As for Calendar, what you describe is a minor UI problem, and boy, you don't want to start comparing UIs... What matters to me
the most is sync of the said calendar to the cloud, which Symbian does only with 3rd party apps, And if you try to mention Ovi
Sync to me, I tried to set it up for 3 days before giving up after last hard reset. Ovi just doesn't seem to be able to send me a
configuration SMS. Sure you can set it up manually, but how many people have the patience to do this? Android wins this one
with me...
In short, it very much seems to me that you tried quite hard to find your 10 points, and as far as my user experience is
concerned, you didn't really succeed with many of them.
I usually like your articles very much, by the way. Hope that Symbian^3/4 will be what we all want it to be and more. However,
I'm not very optimistic so far, other OS vendors are improving by leaps and bounds (mainly Android IMHO), Symbian seems to
be playing catch up at this point.
simply put Android is still in childhood age to mess with the big boys! Symbian is a matured smartphone OS, that's what i've been telling
people all along! All these iphones, android, blackberry devices look great and all but that's only till you actually use them and then you find
out ooo shoot i just spent a fortune and it cant even video chat, sync over bluetooth, can't use the phone feature properly on a phone!! all
kinds of crap that a phone should be able to handle. Once we get a Symbian UI overhaul people will see that symbian is just what everybody
needs in a phone. Other OS's will need years to mature and are not necessary until we get better batteries to handle pc OS's in a phone.
Let us face this Guru. We die hard symbian fans are finding it real difficult to prove to the world what we are capable of. I have noticed one
behavior which I would like to share. I have been using Nokia phones for the last 7 years and pricesly because of Symbian. The only reason I
was willing to forgo the design of Sony, the budget of Motorola (I live in India. So, we did not have fancy stuff here before 3 years) was
9 of 16 11/12/2010 6:36 AM
because I wanted to use a phone whose OS can be customizable. I am following various other tech sites and all of them are of the same
opinion: the mobile market is not about hardware anymore; nor is it about the platform. But it is purely about the apps available and
customizations possible (I read this on Gizmodo.com and I agree to it). Now you go back 4 years before Iphone, Andriod, RIM. Symbian has
been having the developer community since ages now. There have been symbian applications right since the beginning. The only thing
Nokia did not do right is not to collate these into a single platform (which people now call as appstore).
People say that manufacturers are learning from Iphone. Android learned from Iphone. But guys.... the beginner for all this was Symbian.
Nokia gave us things since 2002 and it took Apple 4 years to understand that, and better that in terms of Iphone. Of course, they have
mastered the art, and now they are screwing everyone.
If anyone from Nokia is reading this, please please please I beg you to look into this aspect. You guys are the best at what you do. Symbian
has the potential to reverse the situation so easily.
Developer opportunities are there but developers are ignoring symbian which is very very frustrating. I don't have a dropbox app, evernote
and wordpress thankfully are in development, there is only one ebook reader etc. Etc. Btw great article. Symbian is better than android in
many ways. Symbian should try and improve some of the things which you mentioned in the last article.
one app i cant be without for my n97 is Truecaller which now is available for android but i still prefer symbian over all. eagarly waitin for
symbian^4:D
I've been using Symbian for years, and Anroid only for the last 6 months, and I don't agree with most of the points made here. First, most of
them are not related to the actual comparison of operating systems but comparison of software on it (points 1, 3, 4, 5, 7), one is hardware
related (6). I'll give you 2, 8 and 9 even though I have no problem with 2, and 9 can come down to personal preference much like soft vs
hard keyboard. And #10 is just bogus.
Hello! Nice post.

I from Brazil and know the prices from Symbian and Android phones is becoming accessible to the average public. Last week I buyed a SE
Xperia x10 mini with Android 1.6 and my co-worker buyed a Nokia 5800 XpressMusic.
All the specs and price differences trying to make me believe the X10 + Android is better than 5800, but there really really simple things I
cannot do because ANDROID DOESN´T SUPPORT, like acessing a ad hoc WiFi or sending files across Bluetooth - and with Symbian is so so
easy! Ok, maybe I could do this with the right appz, or "rooting" Android, but - what is the point?
I´m really disappointed with Android phones. Some things like sending SMS to multiple contacts was more simple in my old SE K750 (I miss
so much!) or Nokia 5610 XpressMusic.
10 of 16 11/12/2010 6:36 AM
Hoohoh, its quite stupid to list web apps that work better here or there because they are just client apps not related to the platform..
And symbian is already dead and ditched by Nokia.. so there...!
I disagree on 10. Developer Opportunities
It really depends on how you define opportunities, and for me, it means market acceptance.
You forgot two of the biggest things, for me at least. The functionality to custom adjust and create your own equalizers in the music player,
and Profiles!
saying that android doesnt multitask so you had to use the device as a feature phone is just plain silly. the majority of your list of things that
symbian (a platform) does better were actually just 3rd party apps, not functions built into the os. so if this is fair in your eyes then why
wouldnt you just download one of the many free task managers and place a shortcut on your main homepage and click it when you needed
to multitask? it would let you know if it was running in the background and give you the option to switch back to the app or kill it. i have
used every nseries and eseries since the n95-1 and a few before it and i think that with any of these 3rd party task managers android
handles multitasking better.
you point to the i8910 as the example of the best symbian task managers, but it is not indicitive of the majority of s60 devices. the scrolling
when setting calendar entries is no how the majority of android devices are, just some of the ones running 1.6. it was easier on 1.5 and it is
easier again on 2.0 and above.
the fact that you had the device that long and could only come up with this list is further proof that the current state of symbian is a joke.
hopefully for you symbian does enough with v3 and v4 to keep it interesting
I didn't say that Android doesn't multitask - I said that the *experience* is rotten, as there is no user control built-in. In Symbian (both
on the i8910 and on Nokia's like the 5800 XpressMusic and N97) there is a very clear way for the user to see what's running and close
individual apps. The point is, on Android, I *need* a 3rd party app to handle this - on Symbian, it's built-in, out of the box.
The majority of the Android devices on the market *currently* run either v1.5 or v1.6.
11 of 16 11/12/2010 6:36 AM
while i respect the effort, time, and dedication it takes to run and grow a site lik this i just think this article is completely flawed.
dont you see how weak your arguement becomes when discussing which device has a better multitasking experience because
you compare stock os features, yet 40% of your list of symbian strengths are 3rd party apps? if you loaded a 3rd party task
manager on both platforms you would see that android would be a better experience and only be left with a list of 9 things. as
soon as you compare 3rd party apps i think the entire article is flawed, but if you are going to bring them in to the arguement
then you should at least do a better job at comparing apples to apples (which you did do for some of the apps but not all). by
this i mean if the stock app is deficient or non existent then you should see if there are apps available for both platforms, install
them, then make a final judgement.
you are correct that most android devices run 1.5 or 1.6, but the calendar experience that you complained about is not a factor
in 1.5 or in the hotest selling android device (droid/milestone on version 2.0).
another issue i have is that you are comparing a few different s60 devices with one specific android device, which based on your
comments in this article is a device that you have not learned how to use to its fullest potential yet. i understand and dont doubt
that you are the symbian guru, but you have much to learn about android. i hope you give it a fair chance with an open mind. if
you have any questions about how to set up an android device so that it more closely matches what you need let me know and i
will try to help out.
The 10th reason is not completely true.

You can run Java apps on android,
Python apps are accessible using the 'Android Scripting Environment' (which is similar to the experience on Symbian),
and for native C++ I believe you can use the NDK (Native Development Kit).
Web Runtime is not necessary on Android, as the web browser supports HTML5 which includes most of Symbian's Web Runtime APIs.
There are a few odd things in this post:

1. Do you really consider GMail on Sybmian to be better solely on the fact that you get the emails 5-7 seconds earlier than on an Android
device? Are you involved in real-time stock trading through email alerts? It'd be inaccurate to attribute this advantage to Symbian - it's a
Nokia app, not available on the I8910, for example. I would compare easy access to GMail labels, starring, threading support and contact
completion (all are either impossible or poorly implemented using the basic email Symbian app. Exchange support on the I8910 allows you
to get instant GMail but email is not searchable on the phone nor is properly threaded).
7. Calendar: Given the immediate sync between Google calendar on the desktop and on the phone, edit your events in the browser - it'd be
much easier. You could also use the scroll wheel to move to the next day (from within Day view).
9. Phone: The frustration with the Phone functionality of the I8910 is the single reason I'm using my I8910 solely as a media player now:
The interface is just not snappy enough when I want to make a phone call - it's such a pain finding a contact or getting to the last calls
screen (compared to the Android). It's not hard to do, just lagging.
10. Development: You could argue that most Symbian owners are not even aware they can install software on their phones - simply
because they don't have Ovi Store on their phones (either because those are older Nokia phones or Samsung phones which don't come with
that). Overall finding applications for Symbian is a poor experience.
I do agree with 8, powering down, though - I am also annoyed by this confirmation dialog.
12 of 16 11/12/2010 6:36 AM
Actually, one of the reasons why I have stayed away from Symbian from mid-2009 till date is the problems their phones keep giving me
with Gmail. For some reason, Gmail either slows down the Nokia messaging app till its unsuable, or inbox clears at will.
This has been my experience across a couple of Nokia E-series smartphones - E90 and E75 to be specific. I don't know why its been like this
for me, but my Gmail account works without hitches on Windows Mobile and Android devices. I know its odd, but that has been my
experience. After getting burnt with those two high-end devices, I decided not to experiment with Symbian and Gmail any longer.
your list hear is quite biased when i agree that some of the symbians features standout more than the androids i doubt that the functionality
and the overall intelligence of the android would be over shadowed by the symbian. Symbian infact is still quite far behind on everything it
does. Also FYI basing your analysis only on one monster of an android phone against a nokia n97 which nokia itself admitted as a success
on sales but a failure on experience that it provides is totally stupid. you made yourself a target for criticism.
All of these points are based on S60 5th Edition - it's the same on the Nokia N97, 5800 XpressMusic, i8910, etc.
I disagree with a few of your points. The Last.FM and Twitter issues relate to the clients that are available for the platforms (Applications).
The fact that Android has native support for Last.FM is encouraging and means that there is interest in providing this service and the
implementation will likely improve over time.
As for Twitter, again nothing to do with Symbian vs. Android, simply that available 3rd party client/s for the Symbian platform is/are
"better" than the 3rd party client/s currently available for Android. If we want to talk about 3rd party apps you can start by commenting on
the total absence of a Pandora client for Symbian, and talk about the lackluster Symbian Facebook client while you are at it. You got it right
in your 10 things Android does better than Symbian #6 APPLICATIONS.
I am a fan of Symbian but the reality is that Symbian is yesterdays OS with a sorely outdated UI. Nokia is really struggling to innovate and
keep up with the competition.
Why is it that no one considers the option of S60 being the UI of yesterday and Symbian remaining an OS of the future? The Symbian
platform has been around for roughly a decade with several different versions of Series 60/S60 and UIQ interfaces, not to mention the
less well known Series 80, Series 90, and MOAP. You have to enter the arena of desktop operating systems to match this kind of UI
diversity on one platform. For a platform so mature, so absurdly flexible and scalable as Symbian to be written off based on a poor UI
implementation, well, it's almost comical. Few people can argue that S60 5th Edition devices have a problem when it comes to the
user interface, but I truly believe that on an OS level, Symbian is the most advanced platform on the market. There are some valid
reasons to criticize the current crop of Symbian devices. However, it is simply naive for critics to claim that problems in the current
generation of the UI will completely derail the Symbian platform and wash it into obscurity.
BTW, JuBaz, I certainly don't mean to imply that you are naive or that you are claiming any of the things I stated above. Your last
13 of 16 11/12/2010 6:36 AM
comment just happened to be a good jumping off point for a rant that has been building in me for some time :)
You make a valid point about the OS. Symbian is indeed a very powerful OS. However, the UI severely hampers its potential.
I started to write a comment and then realised it would probably be better as a blog post in its own right so you can see my response at
http://www.wafaa.eu/entry/symbian-vs-android-1-18.html
on point #10. if symbian is easier for developers, why are there so little apps. the andriod market is like a river, apple's app store is the
ocean, but symbian is only a stream
There are WAY more apps for Symbian, it's just that there isn't one single app store that covers them all like on Android or the iPhone.
So it's difficult to know exactly how many there are. The Ovi Store is currently the biggest with over 6500 apps, but I've got at least 30
apps on my N97 that are nowhere to be found on the Ovi Store :-p
I can just get Symbian apps from anywhere, sign them myself even, and install them to my phone. I don't need an appstore for that :-p
you are right. symbian users have been getting apps long before ovi. but i think nokia should make a greater effort in gathering
all these apps in one place making it easier for new users to find. i remember 'mosh' but nokia closed it because of the ovi store
opening, but was never capitalized on.
Symbian keeps your data safer?

I'm not sure on this but I think on Android you don't have system-wide strong full encryption as you can have on the E-Series (RAM + Card
are encrypted).
On the E72 for instance this works quite well and fast and was one of the reasons I bought this model.
14 of 16 11/12/2010 6:36 AM
This is a good point, and don't forget that Symbian (again, on E-series) supports Microsoft Exchange controls of forced keypad locking
and encryption. Most other devices (including N-series) do not support this. I haven't tried on Android, but for business class and
protection of data, Nokia E-series on Symbian hits the major requirements.
Add Spotify as well - the Spotify client on Android is basically unusable when doing most other tasks and skips alot.
For Symbian in the US context you can add to this an almost complete lack of dedicated apps for popular web tools like Fandango,
OpenTable, BOA, etc...
Sure you can utilise their mobile optimised websites but you miss the benefits of having a dedicated app.
In my limited experience using an E75 daily and testing a Nexus One for a week, one of the things that I found disquieting about Android
was that I never felt that I knew when the phone was going to do something online. With Symbian, if any application decides it wants to use
a data connection, I get to choose which Access Point it's going to use or abort the operation if I choose to. Perhaps I never found the
settings to make Android apps ask before using the network, or a suitable 3rd party app that does the same thing. But, for me coupling this
with your point #2 (you're never 100% what's running on the device) and I started to feel like I wasn't in control of the N1...
It really takes some time, after using symbian for a long time, to realize that Android is not asking when downloading e-mails, status
info from social network etc. But you can be 100% sure that nothing is downloading just by looking around in the options long
enough. Once you get used to that it becomes very easy to know what is running and downloading. I had 4-5 symbian devices in the
past and can say that I'm a big fan but Android and my Tattoo totally got me hooked on Google's mobile OS
How about bluetooth capabilities? Are there any different between Android and Symbian?
15 of 16 11/12/2010 6:36 AM
I haven't found any, honestly. Both work great with numerous different BT headsets, both mono and stereo, and both connect easily
to my computer to transfer stuff.
Does the Eris send files over bluetooth out of the box?
I'm not sure about now, but at one point, Android couldn't send files via bluetooth. One of my colleagues with a G1 spent ages
with beta apps trying to get something that would allow him to bluetooth files. Sure, Symbian delivers files received via
bluetooth into the message inbox (or at least it did until the X6, don't know about other devices), but at least it had the
functionality.
Keep in mind, too, that this is my own personal list. For some of you, Waze, Mobbler, Gravity, etc won't really be a factor. I did, however, try
to point out very specific reasons for each bullet point.
Also, I tried to keep phone-specific complaints out of the comparison. I'll have more on that in tomorrow's follow-up, but an example is the
HTC Eris - it's laggier than even the N97 on v10 firmware. Simply absurd.
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10 Things Symbian Does Better Than Android | Symbian-Guru.com http://www.symbian-guru.com/welcome/2010/03/10-things-symbian-does...

10 Things Symbian Does Better Than Android

Multitasking on the Samsung i8910

Gravity on the Samsung i8910

Mobbler on the i8910

5. Waze – Waze is actually much better on

HTC Eris on the left, Samsung i8910 on the

Posted in Feature | Tagged android, eris, N97, smartphone, symbian, Touchscreen

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Just to provide some counterpoints to your list:

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to that app, or kill it without bringing it to the foreground.

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Hello! Nice post.

And symbian is already dead and ditched by Nokia.. so there...!

I disagree on 10. Developer Opportunities

The 10th reason is not completely true.

There are a few odd things in this post:

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Symbian keeps your data safer?

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