Nokia N97 vs iPhone, the Comparison

Posted by Saad Hamid on December 9, 2008

Now that iPhone has a potential competitor in town, its hard to say which one of the two will survive in the consumer market.

The new Nokia N97 seems to be a promising smartphone not only in terms of its features and functionality but also in terms of its stylish form factor, color and design.

If the slide-out QWERTY keyboard is not enough to beat the on-screen keyboard in the iPhone, I must mention that the N97 has a 5MP camera (with flash) and a video-recording option too. For more of the comparison between N97 and iPhone, take a look at the table below.

Nokia N97 Apple iPhone
Operating System Symbian S60 5th edition iPhone OS
Locked? No Yes
SMS forwarding Yes No
MMS Yes No
Colors White and Dark Gray Black and White
Input Slide-out Keyboard On-screen Keyboard
File transfer Yes No
Camera 5MP with flash 2MP without flash
Video Recording Yes, DVD quality No
WiFi and GPS Yes, with electronic compass Yes
Removable Battery? Yes No
Memory 32GB with microSD 8GB or 16GB only
Price $600 $700 (unlocked)

The comparison table pretty much sums it all.

Nokia N97 is going to be an amazing device, though we shouldn't get our hopes up until the device is out and available in the market.

However if you were planning to get an iPhone soon, a thorough look at the comparison table again may help you change your mind.

  • Why would any non-fanboy-ish person want an iPhone after the N97 is in the market!
  • bretham
    We’ve seen it before: Features don’t win customers, Experience does.

    N97 will still give us an ancient mobile-os. Its browser will suck… the list goes on…

    i totally agree too.
    b
  • Why would he want one now?
  • Parag
    Well the cost will still be an issue for long time till it becomes a common man's gadget
  • We've seen it before: Features don't win customers, Experience does.

    N97 will still give us an ancient mobile-os. Its browser will suck... the list goes on...
  • @ Sohail Abid

    my dear friend iphone is practically nothing in front of nokia n97.be it looks,features or what you have mentioned here
    OS and Browser

    iphone browser doesn't even support javascript.Now nokia n97 supports not only javascript but also flash and flash video.

    Take a look here

    http://www.nextiseast.com/2008/12/04/preview-no...
  • What about Samsung i900 omnia?! See it here!
    I love this one.
  • @Sohail

    You are right, but still the most important factor is Apps. Lets not forget that it is a Symbian, which owns the market. Plus Nokia has been working on improving their WebKit and trying out jQuery too. Plus you can choose from thousands of S60 apps (Opera Mobile) and Nokia is much more open to developers than Apple is.

    @Alifaan

    Samsung doesn't have a developer following.
  • Yeah, i'd prob go for the N97 now
  • You forgot to mention bluetooth & usb. I tried one iphone that was purchased by my friend.

    It does look nice on UI level. but... It did not allow me to transfer files via USB like a flash drive or transfer files via bluetooth. My Nokia N95 is still better.
  • Actually the iPhone does have Bluetooth and USB both but Yes! it doesn't support file sharing through any of these two mediums.

    I have already compared the 'File sharing' feature of both the devices.
  • still there will be people like Sohail thinking apple is better in every way because its sold more :)
  • The comparison could've been more comprehensive.
  • Mark Perrin
    Does the N97 have a built in iPod? No, does the iPhone? Yes

    Does the N97 have an infrastructure of docking stations and add ons? No, does the iPhone? Yes

    Does the iPhone have a brighter future? Most probably as Apple will continue to develop for it long after the N97 is dead and replaced.

    Why do people think that more features makes a better product? its always been the case, More watts makes a better sound, more processor speed makes a better computer, blah blah, this thinking has always been flawed time and time again. The iPhone is a technological piece of shit really, but the software it runs kicks ass, as its easy to use and powerful. The opposite can be said for the Nokia, the hardware will be great but the software will be typical Nokia, dreadful and buggy. By the time the phone is bug fixed it will be replaced or broken. My 1st gen iPhone is nearly 2 years old and isn't showing any signs of wear, my old N95 broke in 8 months, didn't even see my contract through. Says a lot if you ask me. Ill be sticking with my iPhone, and you can always unlock it or jailbreak it if you want to. I spent £10 on a Rebel Sim for my iPhone 3G and run it on T-Mobile UK, works great. Another great phone from Nokia I am sure, but the iPhone is the true mobile OS.
  • I got my N97 before two days and it's far better then the iPhone, so if you are planning to get iPhone, better check the demo of N97 at the nearest nokia store before ordering iPhone.

    Cheers
  • mugenyi
    is it ok to let me know about more comparisations of the two phones. thanks. robert.
  • orestis
    well i have a N96 and i can say that whetever features has a cell phone it must be checked first


    i would like to buy N97 it seems it has many advantages but i cant really trust nokia again
  • anthony5550
    I have the new N97.
    It really is an amazing device.
    Having had an iphone 3g's before i can tell you there is a big difference between them with the new nokia being superior in many ways.
    The nokia has many apps,not to meantion ms office coming soon.
    It gets a 10/10
  • Denny
    I just got my N97 2 weeks ago and while I have had one or two problems with lags and bugs, I think it's a great phone. The phone does just about everything I want it to. However, Nokia still need to refine the phone through firmware updates, as at this point in time, the iphone is better when it comes to ease of use and general user experience. Still, this is a great phone, which I'm sure will only improve with firmware.
  • gabridx@hotmail.com
    Hey man iPhone 3Gs but has mms and also compass. Get the information before critical, and you forgot to mention that the nokia n97 has real player is very useful
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