Kaiser or n95

[gooshy]

Ok here is my dilema. I am due to renew my T-Mobile contract at the beginning of October. My current phone is the HTC Wizard and I have been looking at the N95 as it has a lot of nice features. However I have recently been told about the kaiser and that its about to be released on T-Mobile in September. Can anyone give me any suggestions what I should do or if anyone knows how much it is likely to cost on TMobile UK?

Thanks

[gogol]

I like Windows Mobile, so my choise is Kaiser :)

I tried Symbian before, but I dont really like it. Especially application wise.

[roqin]

N95 seems to support only Nokias own GPS soft.

[sub69]

Well, I've got an N95, having just switched to Vodafone and been given one for free. It's my fist S60 phone since the Siemens SX1, and I have to say it's really rather nice. Has become my first choice over the Hermes until my Kaiser is delivered...

I'm using Roadsync for MS Exchange and Route66 for GPS navigation with no problems at all (I've also seen TomTom running perfectly on an N95, so don't worry about the compatibility of GPS software). The only thing I'm really missing is the QWERTY keyboard for the many e-mails I knock out every day. Basically, it's not a phone to go for if you'll be writing lots of text, but apart from that it's hard to fault.

The main advantage of the N95 over my other current phone (the Hermes) is the way that S60 deals with data connections. No need for manual switching between Vodafone's Wap and Web connections in order to use either Vodafone Live! or "anything else" because it's all handled automatically with two simultaneous connections if needed. Something that Windows Mobile certainly can't do as far as I'm aware... And WiFi connections are handled more sensibly (in my opinion) under S60, too.

All that said, S60 isn't as configurable as Windows Mobile, and although S60 may have better games, I'm more interested in productivity from my device, so I'm still eagerly awaiting my Kaiser, at which point my N95 will become my weekend phone....

[leoni1980]

im due an upgrade in two weeks. i tried the n95 for two weeks an i believe it to be the most over-rated handset ive seen since the razr.

granted, gps is a nice feature for a phone to have, but everything else is laggy and slow. the camera is average - certainly not as good as the k series from sony ericsson - just try taking a snapshot on a nokia and try not to get irittated by its slowness! video is excellent i have to say but marred by an inability to have the flash on constantly during filming. also the gallery is painfully slow to refresh thumbnails. battery life is terrible for a phone and the menu navigation system is dreadfully long-winded and ill thought out.

i would definitely wait for the kaiser as it has so much more to offer.

[sub69]

I'm struggling to think - Qwerty keyboard aside - of anything more that the Kaiser will actually offer?

Anyway, in reply I'd have to say that GPS is perfectly adequate, but the built in software is pretty dodgy. Remains to be seen whether the Kaiser does any better but I'm assuming it will be pretty similar in practise.

Yep, the camera is definitely slower than my old K800i, but significantly better than any PPC phone I've ever owned or seen. Video is pretty good, but I don't really use video so that's not a big deal for me, and at least the N95 has a flash - I definitely can't see the Kaiser being any better for video or stills.

Generally, I find the phone no more laggy than my Hermes (even after it's WM6 speedup) especially when multitasking. The gallery certainly seems to be no worse than "Pictures and Videos" on my Hermes when it comes to speed, but I only have about 75 pics / videos on the N95 at the moment compared to a couple of hundred on my Hermes.

Battery life isn't good, but I'm getting the same sort of time between charges with my N95 as I do with my Hermes (which is not a long time - about 24 hours).

I didn't particularly like the S60 menus either. The first thing I did was create folders and subfolders all over the place and rearrange virtually every single icon in the phone. After getting used to it though, I find it better in many ways than Windows Mobile - you can at least shift program icons around and have them in any order you want rather than just alphabetical (Probably why there are no pieces of "Launcher" software made for S60 - there's no need for them when it's basically built in to the OS).

I would like to point out that the "Active Standby" screen (or Today screen as we WM users would call it) is utterly useless on the N95. You can't put anything on it except for a row of 6 program shortcuts and a couple of other rows which are all but identical to the default WM setup (Next Appointment & Messages received). Massive mistake by Nokia not allowing custom plugins as I believe they have on their E-Series smartphones.

Anyway, it's all personal preference and you have to go with what suits you better. Kaiser is definitely my number one choice because I use my devices for business and messaging more than games and pictures. However, after a good few years away from Symbian phones I'm very glad that this Nokia fell into my lap - I'd never have thought of paying for one and I've been very pleasantly surprised by the *lack* of limitations that I've found compared to my WM devices.

[leoni1980]

The qwerty keyboard is quite a 'deal-breaker' really, compared to the squat t9 keypad of the n95. The fact that the difference in size is not all that great sways it for me, and you can tilt the Kaiser too! I certainly believe that the Kaiser is more of 'what computers have become' than the flimsily-built and rather frustrating Nokia N95. I just wish the Kaiser had a VGA screen, then it would be PERFECT.

If the Kaiser has the same camera as the Ameo then it will take superior black and white pictures to the N95 (in my opinion anyway) with greater depth and clarity. The shutter lag on the 3mp HTC cams might be an issue but the response time on the Nokia's camera application is so poor that they're kind of on a level really. Also 5mp vs 3mp is rather an insignificant comparison considering most of us will rarely blow our pictures up above 7" by 4".
I will concede that the N95 camera is better at night.

There are a ton more applications for windows mobile including a huge array of GPS applications (an advanced windows live search, tomtom, copilot etc), a free media player -TCPMP- which can play most video types and an integrated Remote Desktop which is superb.

It's touch screen so it feels more 'hands on'. This really shows itself when you're browsing the net. Despite the cute pointer on the N95's browser it still feels a little rigid and limited.

Hot-swappable sim slot - suprisingly handy if you're stuck on contract with someone other than t-mobile and want to take advantage of T-Mobile's quid a day PAYG internet service without taking your phone apart.

As regards the menu system - well I don't know which wm6 ROM you were using but mine on my TyTn was like shit off a shovel. INFINITELY faster than nokia's sllloooooowwww and overly-snazzy gallery facility, and snappier in menus. Since the Kaiser is so much higher spec we can expect lightning fast menu transitions.

My Nokia was on T-Mobile, though I also tested a friend's on Orange. After installing a number of applications we both found that the N95 would restart after heavy use with more than a few applications running in the background.

So there we have my reasons for choosing the Kaiser over an N95.

Oh and another, shallower reason for owning the Kaiser.....

It's all shiny and lovely.

I want one and i want one NOW!

[jaybyte]

wait.......tmobile is getting the kaiser? US tombile? if this is true than my day has just been made

[dwella]

AT&T is getting the US Kaiser.......not tmob

d

[bchau]

I like how customizable Windows Mobile is. I got my Hermes last year and in these short 10 months, my phone has transformed so much, from the original WM5, then to the Elf LSVW WM6, then to the various Black ROMs. I feel that my phone isn't 10 months old. It is very new and current. Same thing can't be said about Symbian phones or others.

So my next phone decision is easy. It would be a Windows Mobile phone. Only need to think about which one. For now, Kaiser would be the best out there.

[sub69]

Qwerty is most definitely a deal breaker for me too. That's why the Kaiser is going to be my main phone.

I've never taken a single black and white photo in my life, so I couldn't possibly comment on that specific aspect, but if you think that the Athena's camera is better than the N95, then I won't argue... My opinion is different, but there you go.

Yes, a hot-swappable sim slot may well come in handy. I have no use for it personally, but I can appreciate that someone might.

Apart from that, everything else falls into the category of S60 vs WM. It's a very old arguement. I'm very definitely in the Windows camp because of the tasks I use my devices for, but S60 will be a better choice for others.

The N95 shows how far S60 has come, but it was never designed to compete with WM PPC Phones - that's what S80 and UIQ have been trying to do (badly). I'm very happy with the N95, but for me it'll never replace a PPC phone.

Probably a better comparison with the WM6 Kaiser would be the S60 Nokia E90. The Kaiser still comes out on top for me, but again - it depends what features you want / need, doesn't it?

[abubasim]

Probably a better comparison with the WM6 Kaiser would be the S60 Nokia E90. The Kaiser still comes out on top for me, but again - it depends what features you want / need, doesn't it?
I would definitely pick the E90 before the Kaiser, with the display being the deciding feature.

[HBK]

I have been a total MS man too, for the past few years. Never thought I should own a S60 device, but the N95 made me change my mind. I have previously owned the original SPV, the HTC Typhoon, the HTC Magician and the Mio A701.

A few months back I found it was the right time to get rid of the A701 but couldn't find any MS device I really wanted. Especially the camera on the MS phones I have tried have always been so bad, that they couldn't be used for anything but MMS. So I took a closer look at the Nokia N95...

After about a month of considering, I finally bought the N95, making it my first Nokia in 5 years. I must say I am very impressed by the hardware. The camera is so good, that I no longer bring my Sony digicam on normal road trips aso, but only for those special occasions.

One very important thing before testing the Nokia N95 is to make sure it is running the latest firmware, called 12.0.0.013. If you run the old v11, you are really not testing the N95 but just an old beta product, which should never have been in stores.

The TV out feature is absolutely brilliant. I have used it while on vacation to stream live tv feeds of Tour de France from the N95 straight into a small 20" tv, which was very nice. But when using it to show video clips and pictures to friends and family on their own tv, the N95 really shines with this high quality tv output. You can even use it for movies, with Dolby Pro-Logic sound through any surround amp.
The same cable you use for TV out can also be used to plug you N95 into a standard amplifier, allowing for very nice quality playback of your MP3s. Or how about plugging it into the LCD's on the backseat of your car, so the kids can follow the route of the GPS program?
The TV/audio out is a very simple, yet effective feature. I think this is the thing I would miss the most, if I decide to replace the N95 with the Kaiser.

I don't do a lot of typing on my mobile device, so I personally don't need the qwerty keyboard, although it would be nice to have. Actually the T9 of the N95 suits me fine, because it enables me to write short messages while on the go. Absolutely impossible on the A701 that only had the onscreen keyboard, and using a qwerty on the street is a bit too nerdy, even for me :)

Running GPS on the N95 is fine, after upgrading to the latest firmware. Before it took forever to get a fix, but after A-GPS has been introduced in the latest ROM, a fix is available in 10 seconds. TomTom of course haven't heard of the N95, once again proving they are the slowest software manufacturer on the planet. But you can run Google maps, Route 66, Navigon, Copilot and Nokias own Maps, to name but a few.

The built in Real Player run most formats, but of course you can also install TCPMP which has been available since feb06. The commercial version The Core Player is in the final beta stages right now. Papyrus, the calendar app known from MS Smartphones, also runs on N95, for those of you who are hooked on the Pocket Informant style.

Regarding speed I think the N95 is at least comparable to the Mio A701's WM5 on the Intel 520MHz cpu. Besides, it has a graphics cpu (gpu), making it almost unbeatable in 3D speed. Sweet, considering the 3D style of several upcoming GPS proggies. I have no idea why some would call it slow, unless they have been running the old firmware. Boot time is 30 seconds, or about 50% the time of my A701.

Here are some of my personal pro's and con's of the N95:

Pro:
1. TV-out
2. Very easy to switch between connections (HSDPA, WLAN, BT, IrDA, the N95 have them all)
3. Extremely nice camera for a phone, albeit a bit slow
4. Standard 3.5mm ear plug connector
5. Built in radio (can be used for TMC)
6. A-GPS extremely fast
7. Small(ish) size

Con:
1. TomTom still doesn't run on internal GPS antenna
2. Amount of 3. party applications very low, compared to PPC. Example: No app to configure the hardware keys (huge con)
3. Symbian forums are of a lower quality than those of PPCs. Kids arguing and name calling aso. Not many user developed apps or deep insight from a S60 forum
4. Battery life is 2-3 days if used as a standard phone. Use it 1-2 hours during the day with the screen on = don't expect it to last until bed time
5. Low on memory. Expect less than 20MBs of RAM at boot time. How can Nokia do this in the year 2007?
6. Today screen plugins are not allowed by Nokia (why?). You get date/time, a list of MRU's, your calendar and a wifi scanner. That's it!
(Notice that only 2 out of 6 points are hardware related)

Overall I am very happy about the N95. Weird... I never thought I would say that about a Nokia, or a S60 model :) Not sure I wanna swap it for the Kaiser, because I would miss the camera and the TV out very much indeed. No third device is of any interest to me.

Conclusion:
If you are torn between N95 and Kaiser, I would say it depends on your daily needs.
A. Input style is a huge difference, so if you type much, the choice is simple.
B. How many apps do you run each day? Low number = not much reason to go for the more advanced Windows Mobile OS.
C. How much does your usage differ from the average user? If much, then you may not be able to find what you are looking for on the S60 platform.

I have always considered S60 a 'functionally challenged' version of the PPC's and I still do, but if you don't use the extra options of the PPC, the N95 may be the better option.

[hbendavid]

I have a Hermes personally, but my best friend owns an N95 and I have a Test Kaiser to play with right now and it's a pretty great phone. It feels[I] more phone-like than the Hermes and it is definately slimmer and the keyboard tilt is a nice feature. As future ROMs become available for it as far as the biotouch or TouchFLO interface, I think the Kaiser will be a serious iPhone competitor. If you love a no-hastle multimedia interface, go for the Nokia. If you like expandability and touchscreen and rely on Exchange for mail, I'd go with the HTC.

[kaiserchief]

I think I agree with everything HBK has said. Although there is a patch to allow TomTom to run with the N95's internal GPS.

I never used the old firmware, because as soon as I received my N95, I altered the product code with Nemesis and reflashed it with the latest Nokia unbranded firmware (mainly to get rid of all the garish operator themes).

I think that the first thing everyone does with a new smartphone should be to update the firmware, but maybe that is why some N95's are running slowly?

My brother-in-law works for Nokia and has had a prototype N95 since late last year. (At the time I have to admit to being totally uninterested when he showed me his new toy. I dismissed it as "just another nasty Nokia"). He's never reflashed the thing, and hates it because it's so slow and nothing works. I've tried to tell him to update it, but never has.

As HBK says, it depends what you want your device for. I think gooshy needs to think about whether he'd rather have a keyboard and the best productivity software, or a phone with better games software and a better camera?

[HBK]

Unfortunately there isn't a N95 patch for TT. A fraudster with a company named gpsmidlands (beware!) did his best to make us believe such a patch exsisted, but no. He got busted two days ago by some clever guys. It was only a scam to attract attention to his site. He used a bunch of nicks to promote his views and even after being busted, the mods have done nothing to stop him. I believe he has close to 10 nicks right now...

You can read the thread here http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62954. That will also show you the quality of this site, compared to what is available for the S60 series. After reading that thread, you will agree with item #3 on my 'con' list, I am quite sure :)

The N95 runs Exchange mail quite nice too.

[mean-machine]

I've got a Hermes and N95, which I bought for my fiancee when she dropped her SE W850i into a bucket of water :(
It's sleek and nice, and if I needed a phone rather than a "real thing" I would sell my Vario II and buy another one for me. But even when I tried TT6 with a Bluetooth receiver it wasn't that smooth as on Vario II. The battery drainage is also a problem. The only thing that I perceive as better is that in my area it keeps 3G signal better than Hermes, and it's got far better camera (pic are really good outside, but when you take them inside eg. museum with limited light, it's no match for a normal camera).

[Nicky]

I think they are both good phones but I would go for the phone with Windows Mobile at the end of the day because I like that there is more software available and the fact that there are a lot of developers tweaking and improving the operating systems for the rest of us (which is much appreciated :))

The N95 looks prettier and is more compact, plus has a great camera but the touch screen, keyboard and operating system of the Kaiser wins everytime for me.

I guess it very much depends what you need and expect from your phone, for a lot of people a standard compact phone that just does texts, makes calls and looks pretty is all they need so something like the Razr or SE's would be fine, and for others they need a full mini office which is where the Kaiser is in its element.

[maximuz329]

One more vote for Kaiser!!!

[hanza]

I have N95 (since April 07) and Kaiser (for 2 days) and to be honest I still can't decide :(

[jamijam]

I had the n95 for a couple of weeks. I now I have the Kaiser.

If the N95 had decent battery life on HSDPA/3G then it would be the winner for me. It's a great phone all-around with shitloads of stuff built-in like podcasting, etc. I found the operating system quite polished compared and the browser rocks.

Unfortunately the N95 on 3G would only last 10 hours for me on standby. Dead half-way through the day. That just kills it.

[jamijam]

Added note: Just read about the N95 8GB. 25% bigger battery! Perhaps even with improved firmware the battery life could be 50% higher? If that's the case I'm gonna have to lean back towards the N95 again. Especially considering the announcement came out today that there will be no 3G Iphone until next year at the earliest.

Either way, both the Kaiser and the N95 are very cool phones.

[Tr1gg3R]

After owning a Hermes, Nokia E60 and a Nokia E90 I can say:

HTC TyTN II / Kaiser All the way!

- Flexibility
- E-mail client is so much better
- Much more applications
- Much more 3rd party hacks and tweaks etc.
- Touch Screen!!!
- Hardware Keyboard (I think it's better than the E90 keyboard)
- Size and weight are very acceptable.

[Micro64]

I am a PPC Guru, the experience with the TyTN ONE was so frustration that it crashes constantly and so on.

While waiting for the Kaiser, I've decided to give up on PPC for the moment and switched to the Symbian S60 N95 for 3 months. I have to say that it is a nice phone with polished features. There are of course a certain bugs and annoyances(things that don't make sense) but overall, I would recommend it to any regular users. It doesn't crash(rarely) and is very stable.

I just bought the Kaiser yesterday and I have to say so far I am so much more impressed. There aer of course certian annoyances again but the phone is obviously much better built than the TyTn I (Hermes). I definitely like this phone more than the N95 and especially Nokia have decided to make a N95 Black Version with 8GB of internal storage. Like WTHeck? U dont even get a SD card slot. Who wants to watch movies on 240x320 screen? I do like the black look tho but is definitely a waste of money to change phones so Kaiser is clearly the choice. And it is a PPC :)

Ask me if u have any questions since I am a user of both. Hope it helps.