Symbian in Motion

N95 vs iPhone - Part 2: The Web

by Zach at 12:11 pm | February 26th, 2008 | Category: Handsets

This could very well be the biggest gap ever in terms of the amount of time between part 1 and part 2 of a series. Part 1 was essentialy my conclusion as I stated, and to be honest not much has changed since I wrote that post over 2 months ago. I’ve been switching back and forth between the iPhone and the N95 and I must admit, the iPhone has definitely been getting more face time. For a while I carried both; the N95 was essentially for GSM voice and HSDPA connectivity for the iPhone thanks to JoikuSpot. That didn’t last very long though - I’m a one-handset-at-a-time kind of guy…

In this quick entry, I wanted to simply illustrate how the devices differ in terms of web. Both the S60 browser and Safari mobile are WebKit ports, and they really are similar from a very broad point of view. In terms of usability however, in my eyes they’re night and day.

First, what we’re all used to:

On the N95 when visiting a full website in the S60 Browser, you’re greeted by the top left corner of the page. Hmmm. The other problem here is that full webpags are not designed for tiny screens, so navigating is a bit of a pain. Moving around, the S60 browser usually does a fair job of sizing text columns for the screen - of course you constantly need to be moving around because very few words actually fit on the screen.

One thing I can’t stand about the S60 Browser is the fact that it doesn’t truly cache historical pages. Safari does. If I’m browsing a site and I want to go back a page, I tap back and I’m there. On the N95 I hit back, choose the page I want to go back to from the mini-page list, and then wait while the browser reloads all of the content.

Now, the iPhone:

The difference is remarkable. You’re greeted by a nice overview of the web page and you can easily navigate and zoom to the exact spot you want. The 3.5″ display can fit far more content of course, and the crisp screen displays everything quite clearly. Opening new tabs / pages is easy and accessing / adding bookmarks is easy. Everything is easy.

Browsing the web is also one of the few examples of usage where I FAR prefer a touchscreen. It’s so fast and simple to move around and see exactly what you want to see. Of course the double tap implementation and zooming are fantastic as well. Double-tap anything and Safari instantly zooms to the exact proper place. Double-tap again and you’re back to the overview.

It will be quite interesting to see how S60 Touch addresses browsing. Details on the upcoming new OS revision have been somewhat disappointing thus far so I hope the browser isn’t more of the same. To be honest, I can’t even recall the last time I held a UIQ device and I don’t remember the browser at all. If you have a UIQ device and wouldn’t mind, please do post your impressions on how the browser utilizes touch in the comments below.

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Viewing 20 Comments

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    Yup, I agree - the iPhone has the best small device web browser I've ever used. Some days it's even enough to overcome the other limitations... ;)
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    Hah, for sure Dave. 1.1.4 means the SDK should follow shortly though - and limitations will begin to dwindle. Now if some developer can write an app that'll morph a physical keyboard on there... we're in business! ;)
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    can iPhone safari browser watch youtube? support flash video streaming??

    n95 can, how about iPhone?
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    That's it? I admit the iPhone has the best web page viewer on the market, but in terms of functionality, it's probably somewhere towards the bottom with the inability to download/upload content or save images from web pages, limited amount of browser settings altogether (though it fares well regardless of any settings), and all of the other little things missing that the S60 browser can do. For those reasons, I can't bring myself to use an iPhone, even just as a backup or as an internet tablet for around the house. It's just too many steps back.
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    Zach, I feel the same way as you... I swap between the same 2 devices, but it's the iPhone that's with me the most. For the things I do regularly, i.e. Email, Browsing, Music and Video playback, hey, even Stopwatch and Google Maps... the iPhone is king.

    It rarely stands in the way of what I want to do... Much like the Mac really.
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    Just popping by to tell you that number 3 is the "back" button in S60 browser. No need to go to the history list.
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    Thanks for the comments guys. I'll add my $0.02 as follows:

    @extrememorph Bear in mind that the S60 Browser has been around for quite some time, and flash support was introduced only recently. Safari mobile will have flash support in the next few months, if not sooner.

    @JonnyBruha I can see which side of the fence you sit on with regards to the iPhone! ;) I was kind of there myself for a while but once I got one for my fiancee and played with it a bit, I was converted.

    "the inability to download/upload content or save images from web pages" - I've said it before, but to think of the iPhone without it being jailbroken is as crazy as thinking of S60 without apps. Simple plugins can be installed in a matter of seconds that enable Safari to download files and images, open links in new tabs and plenty more. I'm not sure what other functionality in the S60 browser you use, but I don't really do anything else with it that I can't do in Safari. Once the SDK is released... Forget about it.

    @James I couldn't agree more! I'll add to that list music (iPod, MobileScrobbler, iRadio, multimedia, Skype and plenty more. Email was next on my list of "vs" posts to make but I'm not sure if I'll do it - it's really not a fair fight.

    @Henrikki I always forget the browser shortcuts so I rarely use them! 1 for bookmarks is the only one I can remember. ;)

    I also neglected to mention the fact that I really like that a long-press of fire pulls up that little quick menu, but only because I use it to pull up the overview and scroll faster up and down long pages.
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    Regarding UIQ, I had a SE M600i for a while (pretty terrible phone, BTW) and for the browser it had Opera Mini, which is quite nice, in my opinion.
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    Press 3 to go back
    Press 8 for the page overview screen
    Not obvious, but very useful
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    I am alone on this discussion. I bought an iPhone and I hated it. Only the internet is nicer or "more beautiful" then my N95. There is no GPS, camera of 5MP, fast connection (3G) and the keyboad is awful. I would use it as a 2md phone (my fist is a N96) but I went back to my Blackberry and kept my N95. If the utilizations is for professional matters, I can not see how to replace a N95 by an iPhone!!!!!! I gave mine to my syster who loves beautiful stuff!
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    I know about the plugin for downloading files, but has there been anything developed for uploading files or saving pictures from websites? For example, suppose I wanted to thief a picture from your blog and put it on mine. I'd be able to save the image, upload it to flickr (or Ovi, more recently), copy the tag, and paste it in the new post. I also commonly will download an application or theme that I want to send off to someone else, and I can do it in the next step over 5 different connections depending on how far away that person is. Another would be turning off javascript when visiting HoFo for all the damn ads that pop up in the TEXT of people's posts! I wouldn't be able to use a device that didn't have the ability to turn those pieces of web content off alone, much less all of the other things I'd be missing.

    It's all relative between the two in one form or another given the hardware on each device. The iPhone's initial view looks just like the page overview screen on the S60 browser; you can't read anything on either until you zoom in. The Safari browser is easier to use because it has less functions whereas the S60 browser is more difficult to use because it has so many features and options.

    Oh, and did you know you can jump back to the top of a page in Safari by tapping the top area of the screen? Fun fact.
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    Oh, and single-handed operation is clutch as well. I do most of my mobile browsing on lunch or while driving (if not both simultaneously) and need a hand to eat and drive/both, respectably. :)
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    lol Jonny - I'm not sure about the whole driving while browsing thing... :)

    As for everything else above; yes, yes and yes. The only thing I'm not sure about is image download as I've never tried it or looked into it on any device. My guess is that you can use Finder to snag images from cache though, if there isn't a dedicated image download plugin. All other the other functions you mentioned are a go though.

    I can quickly and easily upload pics to Flickr using pushr or iFlickr, or to Flickr/TwangOVI/other via email upload. Downloading and sending apps/themes - check. Direct emailing will work, and there's a native SendSpace app I use all the time. Oh and disabling java script is a simple three tap endeavor.

    The nuts and bolts of the matter go back to my first post in this series. Neither handset can be called "better" or "worse". They're very different, but either can suit most purposes I think.

    @Luis As a business device, it's definitely a preference issue. I DEFINITELY prefer a physical keyboard, but it didn't take me long to get used to the iPhone. On a given day I would say I send between 25 and 40 emails from my phone and I have no problems doing so from the iPhone. The big drawbacks for me are lack of copy/paste and lack of OTA calendar/contact sync. I think it's a safe bet to assume that both of those issues will be resolved within 1-2 months of the SDK release though. Truth be told, I wouldn't like either the iPhone or the N95 as a pure business device. E61i for sure...

    @Joe Thanks :)
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    Well, sure, you could pull the images from the cache in the S60 browser too, but that's not native support for downloading images. Everything I've brought up is all part of using the S60 browser by itself without any other applications to substitute other functions. Including those, there's 3 or 4 different ways to upload pics and videos on the device as a whole. When I refer to sending those files, I'm not just talking about email. As I said, should the person be within ear shot, I can send it over Bluetooth or IR as well.

    And we're still talking about hacks. Easy hacks, but warranty-voiding hacks nonetheless, whereas this comparable functionality is native in the S60 browser out of the box. When the SDK comes out and can bring this kind of functionality without causing you to lose support from Apple, it'll be a different story. If we start throwing in the total capabilities of the device up until now (warranty in tact or not), you can add all of the features of Opera Mini and Opera Mobile as well. None of those third party apps void your warranty, including the pain in the ass that is unsigned applications.
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    One other thing. Has there been a plugin developed to save usernames and passwords? That's one feature I use constantly but always manage to overlook it since I'm so used to it.
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    lol Warranty-voiding. The last time I bought a Nokia with a warranty was... Well never. Actually aside from the iPhone I can't even recall the last phone I owned that ever had a warranty. It had to be at least 6 or 7 years ago...

    Having a phone capable of being hacked and not hacking it is fine for some. For tech-enthusiasts like you and I, it's laughable to think that we would limit our devices. I was editing seems and building my own firmware on my Motos, tearing apart my SEs and now I have a jailbroken iPhone. Comparatively it's hardly "hacking" and it takes about 10 minutes to virginize an iPhone should any warranty issues arrise.
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    And no on the User / Pass - but just like my N95-3 which doesn't store U / P, just leave the cookies alone and you're golden. ;)
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    Ha! Seem editing! I remember! Spending hours of my time changing little variables just to get my name on the outside of the flip rather than the carrier logo or the default Motorola logo. Even though it's much easier on the iPhone to achieve those little things, it's like the same story all over again. I hacked my Motos to death struggling to get it to do what I wanted until I picked up my first S60 and it did what I needed out of the box. Then the third party apps were just icing on the cake. I can only wonder how many iPhone hackers are feeling the same way not even knowing what S60 is capable of.

    The N95-3 stores usernames and passwords. You just have to turn it on. It's turned off by default. Options>Privacy>Form Saving Data.
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    N95-3's ability to use VoIP is one of my favorites---or maybe Fring! How about Garmin Mobile XT? A high speed modem, just to name a few...Can iPhone do this?
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    @Jonny Oh man, I loved hacking my motos - wouldn't have traded it for the world. Good call on the Form saving btw, forgot about that. I never clear my cookies so I don't bother.

    @Joel Well I do use Skype on the iPhone via IM+ for Skype, and there's also a SIP app - but no, no navigation for another couple of months most likely.

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