After a few months of patiently waiting for production problems to be remedied, I have finally got my hands on a new mobile phone, a Nokia E90 Communicator. This phone is the logical successor to my trusty 9500 Communicator, which I’ve been using for the last couple of years.
The new phone is both a logical progression and a quantum leap from its predecessor. The basic facility of a vibrating alert is thankfully now available. That was possibly the most glaring omission on the 9500. On the other hand, the fax functionality is gone on the E90 and, for the life of me, I can’t imagine why Nokia might have removed it.
The only guess I have is that they didn’t consider it worth porting to the E90’s new Symbian S60 3rd Edition platform. The 9500 was an S80 series phone. On the few occasions I had reason to use my mobile phone’s fax facility, I was very happy to have it, so I lament its passing. As far as I can tell, it’s the only application the 9500 had that the E90 doesn’t.
The E90 remains an incredibly difficult phone to locate. I first spotted one at the end of July, at which time Nokia had made it available in extremely small quantities. Soon after that sighting, the E90 was beset with production problems, including a keypad that scratched the inner screen and the fitting of an inferior microphone. Those problems, together with very high demand, made the phone almost impossible to lay one’s hands on; and not just in this country, but worldwide, too.
None of the shops in Amsterdam have the phone, but I found a retailer in Rotterdam with some new stock, so I drove over there yesterday to pick up a unit, together with a 4Gb MicroSD HC card.
Nokia has changed the bloody AC adapter pin yet again, so that necessitated a new car charger, too. A Noreve case to protect my new gadget completed the package.
The phone is bursting with functionality, which makes it quite a heavy unit (210 g) for its size, which is considerably smaller than the 9500. Apart from quad-band GSM, it also offers the much-vaunted 3G functionality, which means that it can be used on UMTS/HSDPA networks. In addition, there’s a GPS, Bluetooth, (E)GPRS, 802.11b/g WLAN, a SIP client for VoIP calls, voice-dialling, spoken menus, a 3.2 megapixel camera with flash and even an FM radio. In actual fact, there are two cameras; there’s an extra one on the inside for making video calls.
The SIP client was a bit tricky to configure for XS4ALL, but after a few minutes I had it working. Now, wherever I am in the world, all I need is an open wireless network to enable me to make VoIP calls against local Dutch tariffs. I’ve made a couple such calls already over the home WLAN and am impressed with how well it works.
The Web browser and mail client are vastly improved over those on the 9500. They’re fast and don’t appear to choke went confronted with large amounts of data.
New firmware for the E90 came out at the end of October, so I flashed my device with the new version (was 7.38.0.2, now 07.40.1.2). Doing so erases all data on the phone, so it makes sense to do this as soon as you take possession of it, before you’ve spent any time configuring it and amassing data. Otherwise, you’ll need to perform a back-up and restore operation.
Once that was done, I used Bluetooth to copy over my telephone directory from the 9500, plus a few custom MP3 ringtones that I had added myself. With PuTTY installed, I now have everything in my arsenal that I need.
In my opinion, this is the absolute top end of the mobile phone market at the moment. Absolutely nothing else can compare, especially the de rigeur fashion accessory of the moment, the Apple iPhone.
Here are just a few things conspicuously missing from the iPhone: 3G capability, a removable/replaceable battery, GPS, expandable storage, a real keyboard, instant-messaging clients, and browser Flash support. The iPhone’s camera is a 2 megapixel model with no flash and there’s no built-in SIP client for VoIP calls.
I also take exception to the fact that Apple is SIM-locking these very expensive phones. This is not a free phone whose true cost price needs to be recouped by tying the customer to the offering carrier’s network, so there’s really no acceptable excuse for locking people into a single carrier like this. Thinking consumers like choice and Apple is all about taking that away.
OK, you can unofficially unlock the iPhone these days, but do you really want to be lining the coffers of a company that actively tries to prevent you from using the device that you purchased with your own hard-earned money in the way that you see fit?
Apparently, unlocking the iPhone is a risky business, too, as Apple states that future firmware upgrades may render unlocked devices inoperable. Nice. This could just be a ploy to scare people off, but either way, it seems to me that the interests of Apple are once again diametrically opposed to those of their customers.
One thing that I can’t take away from the iPhone is that it is a great-looking gadget. A lot of people have spent a lot of time perfecting that UI. The screen is also razor-sharp and a pleasure to behold. With that comment, however, everything good about the iPhone has been stated.
Will any of this (significantly) injure sales? Of course not. Apple has managed to capture the imagination of a generation of technologically enabled fashion victims, who will happily purchase overpriced, inferior technology as long as it looks good. Apple is to the electronics industry what Rolex is to the world of wristwatches.
We can expect to see more pocket-sized monuments to form over functionality for as long as Apple’s thoroughly undeserved customer loyalty endures. It certainly shows no sign of abating in the near future.
Meanwhile, if you want a phone that does just about everything (except fax) and you can afford the purchase, get an E90.
Well, I would expect a phone that costs almost twice as much to be a lot more functional! 😉
Seriously though, I also think they are in very different market segments. SIP? The only thing the average iPhone buyer wants to sip is a latte. And putty is something they go over a well groomed poodle.
I think the only other smart phone many iPhone buyers would consider is a Blackberry.
It is true, unlocked iPhones did become bricked after an update, but that lasted only for about a week until the next crack came out. But people should not be forced into a contract, especially since, apart from Visual Voicemail, the thing works just fine on any GSM/EDGE network. Just Apple’s way to make a profit on the sale and the net a large sum of money for 24 months on each of them too.
The lure of that money must have been so big that Steve forgot he likes to go it alone and not get locked into anyone else to sell his stuff.
I know a few people that have one and are very happy with it; all they want is their email on the road and maybe a quick browse every once in a while. The size of the Communicator is enough to put them off that one, despite the added functionality.
My sister also likes the iPhone very much but for a different reason. So much so that she bought five of them in SanFran last month! (only to promptly sell them to gullibles in Amsterdam, netting 200 euros on each of them)
Given that the iPhone is SIM-locked, I compare its shelf price to the price of an E90 with a 2 year contract (extension). After all, if there were an unlocked iPhone available in the shops, it would cost considerably more. With that in mind, the price differential is not that great, especially in view of the extra functionality you get on the E90.
SIP is a big deal these days, as lots of people are now moving to VoIP. If you told an iPhone user they could cut their monthly charges down to a fraction of what they currently are, I’d say a good portion of them would be interested.
PuTTY, I grant you, is not of interest to most people, but I installed that myself, so I’m not counting it as an advantage of the E90. For all I know, it may be available for the iPhone, too.
I have to smile when you say that the unlocked iPhones becoming bricks “only lasted for a week”. I find that an unacceptable state for my phone to be in. Who wants to be having to crack and recrack a piece of hardware they paid for? Isn’t it the right of the consumer to use such an expensive device the way they see fit? I just don’t understand why people are willing to reward a company that is so clearly anti-consumer with its products and policies.
As for your sister, I agree that the main appeal of the iPhone is as an investment vehicle for taking advantage of gullible people. I’d never be able to bring myself to exploit stupid people in this way, but I congratulate her on her success.
There’s a shop in Amsterdam that currently sells iPhones for €687 a piece. I’m sure there are people buying them, too, just as there were people standing in the rain all day to buy them on day one of the American release.
Why don’t people just import one themselves? Again, it’s stupidity; more money than sense.
My understanding is that it’s not that Nokia have DECIDED not to include fax functionality, as such, but that fax is not compatible with 3G. So, given the choice between 3G (or rather 3.5G) access to the internet or fax functionality, it’s hardly surprising that they’ve gone down the 3G route.
Could you post the details of getting it to work with XS4ALL? You are the top Google search result for “voip e90 xs4all”, so it would help all of us trying to get it going!
Thanks!
Julie, if that’s the case, why not just keep the fax functionality, but make it dependent on falling back to GPRS?
Steven, I’ve posted the required settings for you.
The bricking obviously only lasted for a week for those stupid enough to install the upgrade, knowing that it would likely brick their phone! How retarded can one be? Those who heeded the warning and waited were perfectly fine.
The long and short of it is that you either like the iPhone and think its purchase price and 24 month contract is good value, or you don’t.
Knowing that Apple doesn’t want you to unlock it and will try to stop you at every opportunity and then still buying one just to unlock it and pay someone else to use it on their network (are AT&T’s rates really that outrageous?) is just plain stupid.
Now, lets wait for the first Google Android based phone then – I am sure that before anything else third parties will sell these to use on any network.
I’m in a similar situation with the nokia 9300, just ordered my e90, I should receive it in a couple days. As far as faxing goes, you could use efax.com or some third party faxing service. My only issue is the 3g will not work here in the states, with AT&T and T-Mobile both not using the same spectrum as Europe’s 3g… however, it wasn’t enough to keep me from the phone.
It’s pricey, however consider buying each component separately (GPS, 3.2 mpx camera w/flash, mp3 player, video camera, video player, FM radio, Web browser, phone, email, bar code scanner, etc.) I’ve convinced (or conned) myself into thinking the device is worth it’s money.
I do admit the iPhone interface/navigation is groundbreaking.. however it’s a closed system and doesn’t do enough (what use is google maps without a GPS? why a camera without video capability?
Google’s Android seems to be picking up where Apple left off, with the open source apps being added to their mix and 40 hardware vendors competing for the best style/form factor.. although this won’t be available soon enough for my addiction.
Bas, I can agree that it’s stupid to apply an update to your phone if you know it will render it useless, but how many people who applied the upgrade knew this?
Even if everyone knew, should one have to choose between software upgrades and an unlocked phone? I, for one, like to have both. Of course, anyone who bought an iPhone knew it would be locked, so you could say that it serves them right for buying it anyway.
If you want an unlocked phone, buy an unlocked phone from a manufacturer whose objective is not to restrict your access to its functionality. That’s definitely not Apple.
I also agree that buying a phone to use on someone else’s network is stupid in the case of the iPhone, since one receives no discount for committing to the other carrier. I saved hundreds of euros on my E90 by extending my KPN contract for a further two years and would not have purchased the phone if my contract had not been up for renewal anyway.
The long screen of Nokia E90 is tremendous for reading mails and editing documents. The camera can take still images up to 2048 x 1536 resolutions and it has digital zoom. Came across something interesting on Nokia E90 at
http://www.g2bux.com/myaction.do?product=425
well hey guys… i had an htc P3300 but it broke down within one month for i dont know what reason. then i though of buying a e90 and i have been using it now for i think 4 months. few of my freinds have an iphone and i am getting really attracted to it. im now thinking of buying my self. but after all the money i spent on my e90 i could have bought 2 iphones. now unless i really get convince that the e90 is better than the iphone i will not have any sleep. what do u suggest?
Aaron,
It ought to be pretty easy to decide whether the E90 better suits your needs than the iPhone.
Do you need a 3G phone with a SIP client and all of those other goodies? If so, the E90 is a good phone to have. If not, any number of other phones fit the bill.