Video: 23 minutes comparing Nokia N9 and Nokia Lumia 800 (MeeGo Harmattan vs Windows Phone 7.5 Mango)
@jenjaman tweeted us his video, 23 minutes of Nokia N9 comparison with the Nokia Lumia 800. This might be familiar as this was filmed a while ago in Russian. Now it’s in English (Though I can’t seem to find our last post on it, or the video either)
Anyway, here’s the English version. He’s done a very excellent job again. It’s pretty fair on both sides, with preferences changing as each does certain things ‘better’ than the other. As a note, the one that is ‘best’ is the one that is ‘best for you’. Which ever one suits your needs better, it’s not something set in stone.
- Look at the menu. App grid vs tiles (and list)
- Notification pages vs people hub
- Dialler
- Nokia Store vs Market Place
- Music Player vs Zune
- Maps
- Documents vs Office
- Screen brightness
- Multitasking vs ‘multitasking’
Video by TheUltimat111
Category: Maemo, MeeGo, Nokia, Nseries, Video, Windows Phone
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Hey, thanks for reading my post. My name is Jay and I'm a medical student at the University of Manchester. When I can, I blog here at mynokiablog.com and tweet now and again @jaymontano. We also have a twitter and facebook accounts @mynokiablog and facebook.com/MyNokiaBlog. Contact us at tips(@)mynokiablog.com or email me directly on jay[at]mynokiablog.comSubscribe
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Sites That Link to this Post
- Video: Nokia N9 vs Lumia 800 – Meego vs Windows Phone - SymbianTweet | December 4, 2011
- Video: Nokia N9 vs Lumia 800 – Meego vs Windows Phone - SymbianTweet | December 4, 2011
- Anonymous | December 5, 2011
- N9 MeeGo vs Lumia 800 Windows Phone; 23 minute video comparison | UK Mobile Review | December 5, 2011
N9 rocks. WP had only 5 apps open i guess it was auto closing the older apps when the limit of open apps reaches 5.
yes it does that but dont forget there are background agents that run behind the scenes for various apps. Secondly the os is so fast and the apps load very fast that you are one click away from anything you want
for example check how fast the app store opens and compare it with the meego one. Not even a contest.
of course msft would want you to spend ur cash as fast as their app store opens
i knew someone will make that somehow seem as a bad thing lol
Suddenly, this blog(it used to be open source os fans forum) come so many microsoft fanboys
May have something to do with Nokia’s new phone. The one with Windows Phone maybe. I don’t know. Just a guess. There was a hint of something happening 8 months ago, but I guess some may consider 8 months sudden.
Some quick observations,
Reviewer is novice in using N9.Swiping is inaccurate most of the times.
In many cases for wp7 you need two taps,while meego rocks with one swipe.awesome!!
Meego looks really beautiful,WP7 is asymmetrical.
Meego as an OS is very intuitive and fluid,but few of the apps need better launch time.fb,store etc.
Screen Brightness wise N9 is better.
Multitasking is where 800 can’t hold a lamp to N9.
It’s great in that your observations, the only things you see is positive things on one side. Well done. Both have their strong points. Thanks for making it seem the other doesn’t have any.
It is natural that if review is biased then even quoting facts might be called taking sides.
Anyways,i think you didn’t note that i myself criticized app loading time for meego.
But fact remains N9 serves the basic premise of intuitiveness without multiple layers.Hope you agree.
Surely the more worrying thing about this piece is the picture at 6.40. Disgraceful.
Well, the reviewer is a WP fanboy so what can you expect??
What a childish comment like that?
No I don’t agree. BTW I’m a N9 owner.
The N9 is intuitive for geeks only, whom are used to the idea of multi-tasking and windows switching (to use a desktop analogy), but most people aren’t multi-taskers by default. In fact scientifically people have been proven to be terrible multi-taskers in general. The idea that you don’t have back buttons and need to continuously swipe back and forth and keep apps running in the background yourself is a terrible UX for non-tech people. This is where I think WP actually gets it.
Also the N9 seriously lacks polish. Sure I can use developer mode or the terminal to get things done, but if people complain that WP is late to market then n9 isn’t even at the ready line (eg the browser is bare bones, adding accounts is non-intuitive such as not being able to pull contacts from Google unless you work around it, Nokia’s own software doesn’t sync with the N9 etc). Geeks need to understand that they are a minority, after using N9 I think Nokia going with WP7 is a smart move.
Well i don’t think you have had n9 in your hands ever.Reason is simple what is more intuitive than a swipe.Trust me and all who use N9,it is addictive.you will not settle for anything less than N9 once you have used it.
No I have one. If you want proof I can email you a screenshot or a photo with my screen name on it.
The problem with the meego fanboys is that they don’t want to admit that meego is not ready for the mass market. Sure it is pretty and a tweaker’s wet dream, but the mass market don’t want that, as proven by the iphone. Swiping in theory is good, but sometimes it is hard to distinguish between a swipe that is from outside of the edge of the screen or what the system defines as a “flick” which is just a short push on the screen, which a lot of the time can cause frustration. A universal “home” or “back” button is easier to understand, there’s a reason why as much as Steve Jobs hate buttons, he still had to retain that lone home button on the iphone.
Someone already did a not scientific but nevertheless some evidence where WP7 is more intuitive than meego to n00bs, whereas the Android expert finds it easier on meego (exactly my argument).
Just to add there are features that I like about the N9. Double tap to wake is very handy as with the continuous display of the clock. Swiping to change IME is a great idea which takes away the need to have a change keyboard button and thus not make the already cramp virtual keyboards even smaller (or god forbid the Android way of tap and holding to bring up a menu). Swipe down to close app is a nice gesture (I find the system is less prone to mistakes for top to bottom swipe, probably because it takes more concious effort to do that gesture compared with the horizontal swipe). The lock screen music player control is also handy.
Still, there are just too many rough edges on the system right now (wifi drop outs, not doing proper handover from 3G to wifi, keep prompting for facebook password when connection lost etc) for this phone that it is hard to recommend people to get it. Put simply it is not a phone that would just work out of the box, and that is not going to get people to buy it.
[(wifi drop outs,]
I have seen some folks with issues there, & others that claim their signal is great.
Sounds way more like a case of poor WLAN set-up to me.
Actually some have had really bad WiFi issue, and had it disappear after a re-flash IIRC.
[not doing proper handover from 3G to wifi,]
Not sure what you mean, can you elaborate?
[keep prompting for facebook password when connection lost etc]
This is a known issue it affects all accts types.
But for some users it only manifests for one acct.
It’s lodged in the bug-tracker, fix coming in 1.2.
Apparently it just missed being included in 1.1.
[Sounds way more like a case of poor WLAN set-up to me.]
Yet my Android tablet, iPod touch, iPads, Windows Phone and computers (PCs and Macs), PS3 and Xbox360 all work. It’s only the N9 that drops out. Sounds like a problem with the N9 to me.
[Not sure what you mean, can you elaborate?]
When I’m logged on on Gtalk facebook etc, when the 3G hands over the internet connection to wifi, all the accounts will fail to reconnect, and vice versa, this is obviously a connection handover issue. It’s a known issue and many N9 users are complaining to Nokia about it. Nokia developers said the issue is fixed in the internal PR1.2 firmware, so it’s definitely not a “user issue”.
Well, all I can say is that the vast majority seem to be getting a stable signal.
There were notably more having issues before 1.1, & before a re-flash to 1.1.
As in some instances the flash wasn’t happening properly.
But generally post 1.1, I’m seeing far less with WiFi signal drop-outs.
Yes I’m aware of that issue.
It’s got nothing to do with the hand-over process, despite appearing that way.
But it’s well doco’d & apparently a fix is already in place for 1.2.
Apparently it was due for 1.1, but didn’t quite make the cut in time.
“Sure it is pretty and a tweaker’s wet dream, but the mass market don’t want that, as proven by the iphone.”
Slow down tiger, it’s been out 2mth & was killed-off before then.
So of course it’s never going to be a raging success.*
Pundits/analysts aren’t conformable that commercial ecosystem can form around it, & they’re mostly right.
Doesn’t mean it can’t be a great device for avg users though.
*The 1st run (maemo5) was never a “run”, it was always kept in the shadows by Nokia as a “learning” device
[Swiping in theory is good, but sometimes it is hard to distinguish between a swipe that is from outside of the edge of the screen or what the system defines as a “flick” which is just a short push on the screen, which a lot of the time can cause frustration.]
Never seen one user complain about this as a major issue (not one) after using it for more than a few days.
[Never seen one user complain about this as a major issue (not one) after using it for more than a few days.]
That’s the key though isn’t it? After a few days – which means the N9 has a learning curve, thus the exact opposite of intuitive. Again look at the video, people can use WP7 much easier than a N9 from the *get go*.
Not really, everything has a learning curve, & generally take a few days to appreciate.
Of course it varies from person to person.
What you’re trying to assert simply doesn’t make sense.
[Someone already did a not scientific but nevertheless some evidence where WP7 is more intuitive than meego to n00bs, whereas the Android expert finds it easier on meego (exactly my argument).]
I saw that, far too simplistic.
Reality is you’d need to run hundreds (if not thousands) of usage scenarios & tally it all up before you could conclusively say one is better usability-wise.
It’s a highly subjective thing until that’s done.
Which is why I already mentioned it is not scientific, but nevertheless is some evidence that Wp7 is more intuitive than the N9. Look at how the 2 people having issues even unlocking the screen without instructions.
If you want to claim that the N9 is more intuitive, then you go and make an usage experiment, but don’t brush off someone else’s (admittedly crude) experiement when the evidence is against your hypothesis.
It’s not evidence it’s not even scientific.
You may want to claim it as the be all & end all, but the fact is it isn’t
I don’t want claim the N9 as more intuitive.
You’re the only one making claims based on what isn’t evidence.
[nonsensical UX/multi-task rant]
WTF?
In what way is WP7.5′s browser more featureful?
And why does that mean it’s “less” geeky?
Huh, you can pull contacts from Google OOTB, how were you doing it?
It does sync with the N9, you just need to install an older version 1st
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?r=31711090#r31711090
[In what way is WP7.5′s browser more featureful?]
At least I can save and sync bookmarks in Wp7.5. You try that on the N9.
[Huh, you can pull contacts from Google OOTB, how were you doing it?]
I found the work around by adding it as a exchange server, but that was after I tried adding the Google Accounts from the options which DOESN’T WORK AS MANY HAS FOUND OUT. But for someone who has no freaking idea what a Exchange server is (ie not a geek) and has a Google account, their first thought when prompted to add an account would be what? They would go and tap the Google Account icon and find that no contacts would be pulled down from the cloud! However if I do this in Android or WP7, contacts are pulled down straight away. This difference is the difference in UX polish, which you just brush off as rant WHEN MANY OTHERS HAD THE SAME ISSUE so much so that work around guides had been written for it.
You keep helping re-enforces my examples which supports how the N9 is not user friendly “out of the box”. I thank you.
Oh yeah and by saving bookmarks I mean within the browser and not drop it on the app folder as a damn separate icon for each page.
I believe konttori identified that as one area being rectified in 1.2
http://konttoristhoughts.blogspot.com/2011/10/n9-on-sale-in-finland-and-few-other.html
Well it can be done in Fennec.
Plus a whole host more can be done there.
Possibly on Opera, never used it.
The OS was effectively started from scratch about last Oct.
They’ve done pretty well considering.
Esp. since the team’s been downsized a bit since Feb, when if anything it needed to up-sized.
Hopefully the stock browser won’t be quite as sparse in 1.2.
That is the feature release.
No I brushed off as rant the prior paragraph, which did make no sense.
I honestly had no issue getting it going right away.
And I’m no ubergeek…
If only Nokia had devoted more resources to N9. its a beauty. the tiles look like an after thought, but Nokia will continue to portray as lumia hardware was designed for wp7!
When N9 was launched, I was pretty excited and fell in love with the design. But after I have seen some reviews of WP7, I must say WP7 is really good. The things that I like about WP7 are UI, speed, cleanliness, fresh, and so on. WP7 seems implemented with details, and I like how they pay attention in such small details. Meego is awesome. I really like the design and how easy to use and more freedom. One thing that I like in N9 is nokia sleeping screen; it seems that other manufacturers forget about it. I always get frustrated to wake up the screen just to see if there are any missed calls. Also, clock on the screen is very convenient. IMO, Nokia should improve swipe experience like in the BB playbook. In short, I’m still torn between Meego and WP7, but I think I will get N9(cyan).
NOW LETS FACE THE TRUE
N9 is still a nice phone…
the multitasking is super….i love it
having NFC is bonus but really personal with my c7 and 701 never really used it(some little games only for it)
the front camera is nice feature to have but personal had in my airtime even free video calls and the other persons either phone was not support video calls or either other person did not want to saw up
luck of memory extention is penalty for the lumia
the N9 is got lugs in it….the lumia is smoother
and before meego users call me whatever (just to know i am symbian user for long time) IS ME IN THIS BLOG I CALLED the windows 7 girlie os..and the funboys got upset with me
BUT the live tiles giving notifications in live time and the os finally is great and smooth
becauce the lumia lucks some features …. i will save my Xmas money and bonus and will wait for the leaked 900 or 810 which suppose to be in US begin of next year
IF the 900 will not come in UK i will go for the htc titan
HOPES nokia will bring it in UK because i started like the windows phones
The WP propaganda works…
Why is the slightest positive comment on WP propaganda to you? Are you so insecure?
yes the propaganda may works but not for me
also dont forget NO ONE WILL MAKE YOU TO BUY something unless you have a positive view about it….then seeing adverts and comments about it all day , Yes it will make you think twice
EXAMPLE:i can not really sell personal training to some one that never run in his/her life and never bothered to do dieting
what in the marketing are using, is the positive side of each product and so with the lumia
But if you don’t really like it thats it.will not bother with adverts or comments
i am not going to get the lumia now
i said will wait for the next nokia that hopefully will have bigger memory and perhaps more features
for me a social smooth phone is a positive for me so it has attract my interest
Why is there a picture of a guy holding his penis at 6:40??
Windows Phone user interface is such a mess. A lot of words on the screen in many different sizes and the header that almost allways takes 25% of the screen. And live tiles that show nothing (beside messages). It’s just annoying.
again i am not wp 7 fun yet
in my comment up i said is a nice and smooth ui
but if in the future wp7 add folders and bigger or exented memory it will rocks
also if some one uses the social services alot this is the best phone to go
For all WP fans who said Symbian is shrinking : WP is also shrinking with similar rate! WP isn’t better!
Nokia is just jumping from a burning platform to another more severe burning platform.
WP was a completely stupid decision
Lets see if it continues to shrink as you say in Q4 2011, and then Q1/Q2/Q3 2012. What are your predictions? Even more shrinking?
Mmm… At this point who know… Maybe yes, maybe not… Or just it stabilize and get a small slice of share (like old Windows Mobile) but the Nokia partnering isn’t rocketing Windows Phone as expected… The big question that every Nokia lover should ask is, what is the plan B???… Is team behind the Swipe UI working on a new ui for Symbian C??? Tweaking the actual Maemon/Meego Harmatan to replace Symbian???…
Who know… Who know
“Is team behind the Swipe UI working on a new ui for Symbian C??? Tweaking the actual Maemon/Meego Harmatan to replace Symbian???…”
It would be a replacement of Symbian…
That way “always” the plan (finally, but way too little & too late) before Elop came along.
Symbian was to move to the mid-to-low end or even be replaced entirely by S40 + Qt5 + SwipeUX.
seeing them side by side makes you realize how nice and clean and simple wp7 are…having all those apps on the mainscreen looks messy to me
Well, different strokes for different folks I guess.
@senshi: Sorry, but the video you linked is a nice test, but doesn’t tell us anything at all. People should know what intuitive means, before they use that word. It would take me to much time to explain what the word means (look it up on google). But someone can only tell what’s more intuitive if both devices are used over a while.
Windows Phone might be easier to use for a beginner. Why? It uses lots of button and we people are used to use buttons. On keyboards, on non-smartphones etc, etc… That doesn’t mean that swipe-UI would be less intuitive – we’re just not used to it, but that is because we’re influence by what we already know.
F.e at the good old windows times you had to click “start/shut-down” to turn your system off. That’s not intuitive at all. But I remember when I worked with a friend on a Mac-Computer a while a go and he was wondering where the Start-button is to shut the computer down. Ridiculous right? But that’s how we’re influenced…
Other example; many people were so used to use non-QWERTY (numberpad) that it felt wrong to write text messages with a QWERTY keyboard which was f.e on the iPhone standard – today every smartphone has only this option (exception might by Symbian) and nobody looks back to numberpad-typing.
And a last example, very off-topic though; The plane manufacturer Airbus produced years ago the first airliner which was controlled through a a little joystick. Most pilots say that you have to get used to it first, because its not like the typical paddle airlines have. But many of those pilots love that joystick once they’re used to it and even if it’s hard to adapt first – those joysticks are very intuitive.
Now think again about the comparison of those two Nokia-phones…
To me, Meego is very intuitive and once you use it, you don’t wanna go back to anything else. But it’s a fact that this system is still very young and if you’re just a simple phone user, you could have some problems to set everything up. Some things are just not 100% finished in the Meego System.