Steve's Smartphone Grid

Steve Lichfield, from AllAboutSymbian fame, has for a long while had a 'smartphone grid' on his 3Lib website. It basically lists a selection of smartphones and grades them based on their usability for a set list of functions. All grades are Steve's own opinion, but seeing he has been around for quite a while, I think he knows what he is talking about. I remember talking with him via email years ago as I made my first venture into the world of Psion, and looking over the scores he has given, there's little if any I would dispute. I'm also pleased to say I have no experience at all with over hyped rubbish like the iPhone, other than playing around with one in the shop, and am not too well versed in recent Windows Mobile phones either.

Anyhow, enough of the waffling. I've played around with this smartphone grid a few times, and it always used to tell me, based on the criteria I selected, that the E90 was the phone for me. I could see why this handset was recommended, based on my selections, but I just didn't like that phone. Too big, see.

A few weeks ago, toward the end of December Steve posted about some tweaks he'd made to the smartphone grid, so I thought I'd pop on over and give it a go. After all, I'm still not totally decided on my next phone purchase, what with the E71 I purchased yesterday throwing a spanner in the works! (See post below)

After entering in all my choices, the top three phones recommended for me, are, in reverse order:

3rd Place: Nokia N95 Classic/N82 tied with 246 points
2nd Place: Nokia N95 8GB with 250 points

and the clear winner:

1st place: Nokia E71 with 267 points!

The E90 which was regularly my number one recommended handset is now in fourth, with 244 points.

So, is it to be the E71 that I roll with? Well, I've spent most of the day getting the phone set up with the configuration I like, installing maps, changing layout, setting email, installing my usual applications, and so far I like what I see. It may just be possible that if I don't stick with the N82, then this is the phone I will go for. The main issue for me, the QWERTY keyboard, is surprisingly usable, so this no longer counts as a negative mark against the phone. What I really need to do is get it unlocked and use it with my main T-Mobile SIM. Currently it is locked to Three, so I either risk dealing with the notoriously poor Three customer services, or try my luck with one of the local market stalls. Thing is, they would need to send the phone away for a few days, which isn't my preferred choice.

I'll give it a few days, and see how it goes. One thing I've noticed, as an aside, is how much better HSDPA is than 3G. Yeah, I know that's an obvious thing to say, but seriously, 3G is just so slow! Where I live I get HSDPA on T-Mobile, but only 3G on Three, and downloading some apps to the phone, was just painful. I realise that I'm spoilt with choice, but 'stepping back' to 3G is not something I'm enjoying!