[santo98rini]

Hi all,

As far as I know gsm world is going to android operating system.

Nokia used and supported SYMBIAN operating system in their phones so far..

1) As of today can we say android is more preferreble to symbian ?

2) if everybody runs to android what is NOKIAs strategy for its new product telephones ?

3) What are the top advantages of android to symbian ?

Thanks in advance for the answers ....

[koolkiller]

Mate, nokia is coming with window devices but still we have to wait for the release and performance in the mean time until nokia window responds i'll prefer Android for sure.

[chanchan05]

I am using both Symbian and Android so I guess I can answer these well enough.

1. Most people are simply preferring Android because it looks good. (It does). However, when we go down to basics, Nokia phones have better hardware components (GPS chips, radios, music chips, durability, etc). Also, people have the impression that Nokia OS sucks and Android does not. Actually, the only problem I see why Android has become more preferable because in its current situation, Symbian is more micromanaging and less "idiot friendly" (if you'd forgive the term) than Android. The learning curve for Symbian is pretty steep.

2. Nokia will be releasing WP7 phones as their flagships starting next year.

3. Pros and Cons:
Android Pros:
-lots of apps and widgets. Very highly customizable to look and feel the way you want it to.
-The UI is fluid and quite obvious.
-the OS is basically a platform with each application sandboxed from each other. When an app crashes, the phone does not necessarily crash unless you are using a very resource intensive app like a PSX emulator. You can force close the crashed app (like the end task option in Windows Task Manager).

Android Cons:
-No proper task switching or managing. It only keeps a certain number of apps running and closes apps automatically when you are reaching full RAM usage. This may be nice in theory since you dont get the memory full message, but you have no control about which app it closes. Sometimes its very annoying when it closes the app you actually need to be running at the time. It does cache the app to start again from where it last was, but it doesnt happen to all apps and sometimes having to go through loading processes again is annoying. Symbian allows more control on what apps get closed and what are left running.
-Its more prone to malware and spyware due to its high level of being open source. Unlike Symbian which has certificate management, Android does not, so its best to have an Antivirus on it. Malware even found their way into Android Market
-Fragmentation. There are so many different droids with differing chipsets and hardware that not all apps would work the same way on one droid as on another. For example, Falling Fred for Android works well on a Galaxy S, but on an HTC Evo, there are some lags, despite the Evo having way better hardware than the SGS.
-Has practically no advantages to Symbian when you will be using it offline apart from games. Yes the apps you will use are different and may feel better on Android, but in terms of practicality, almost anything you can do on Android you can do on Symbian if both are offline. Android only wins big if you have a data plan to make use of its full potential (or maybe wifi everywhere you go?)
- Connectivity limitations. Android cannot create or connect to adhoc networks (unless you root it). Also their PC connectivity solutions/software are absolutely awful (or if they work good, they are worse in terms of functionality and capability than Ovi Suite, let alone PC Suite).

Symbian Pros:
- Proper multitasking control. As said before, you control what gets closed and what stays open
- Proper PC integration. We all know how bad Ovi Suite is compared to PC Suite, but nothing Android has can even compare to Ovi Suite in terms of functionality.
- Symbian phones generally have better hardware components. Speaking for Nokia vs Samsung alone, the GPS antenna, AGPS computations, 2g/3g radios, wifi receivers and transmitters, audio quality, durability feel and quality, of Nokia phones are superb compared to almost any Android phone in the market today.
- Ovi Maps - still better than anything Android can throw. I cant use Google Navigation in my country, but the rest all fail in comparison. Android doesnt even natively support the use of bluetooth GPS devices, you need to buy/download a Mapping System that does. Also, my 5800 running on Integrated GPS alone can get a more accurate fix than my SGSL on integrated GPS. It takes the same time for both to get a full fix too. If I use AGPS on the Nokia, it gets fix in 2seconds. Samsung Fail yes (bad GPS antenna), but partly Android too due to bad AGPS data calculation scripting.

Symbian Cons:
- App developers are leaving, so you have less apps and games to choose from. These is what is now starting to give Android more functionality than symbian. There's usually an app for whatever you may want to do.
- When an app crashes, the whole OS can crash, depending on the app, especially if its an integrated app.
- While many people customize Symbian (regional devs, operator devs), Symbian editing often causes problems, while Android is made to be customizable, reducing probable software errors which may ruin the phone up by devs and operators.


There are a few other things I cant think of right now, but as I said, I currently use 2 phones for 2 networks, and one is a Droid and the other Symbian, allowing me to enjoy the advantages of both OS and the ability to ignore the deficiencies of one by using the other for that purpose.

Community Manager's note:

Post edited to remove a couple of inappropriate words. If it is necessary to use spaces or abbreviations to say something, we should find another word with which to say it...

[donofworld]

Excellent post....+1.....but you missed Bigest cons of any android device-VERY POOR BATTERY LIFE,very poor software processing for any 5mp or 8mp camera!

[synth_fg]

The SGS2 camera is pretty special TBH

The big con of symbian from a user perspective is thet it's very juttery / laggy, android everything feals instant, symbian you often have to wait for a moment whilst the phone catches up

Functionality, Symbian you can do more and set up more out of the box, Android you ahve to download extra apps,

TBH Keis is almost on a par with OVI Suite in terms of functionality, tho lack of Bluetooth support is criminal, but then again you don't loose half your screen to application adverts

As mentioned there is a lack of developer support, everywhere today has an ios and android app, few are developing for symbian anymore, a problem that will only increase now the plug has been pulled on the os

[chanchan05]

@donofworld - The Xperia Arc camera 8mp is quite very good, so as the SGS2. HTC cameras suck though for whatever OS they use. Androids dont necessarily have poor battery life as well. Its a side effect of them having powerful hardware. Lower end Droids can have good battery life if properly configured.

@synth_fg - Kies is nowhere even close to Ovi Suite IMO in terms of reliability.
1. I dont like the way it syncs pictures. Its just too cluttered, also, if you have your pictures arranged in separate folders, if its outside the DCIM folder, it wont get synced, or it makes doubles. Or Im probably doing something wrong. I ended up using Sugarsync (which is available for Symbian too).
2. It cant sync your Google Contacts properly. The big thing about Android is constant sync, when you edit your contacts on phone, it edits your Google Contacts. Kies only detects the phone contacts. On Nokias, it only has one phonebook instead of several like on Droid, which makes Sync easier. So if I edit a phone contact, it doesnt get synced to my Google contact? Thats crazy.
3. It cant store and make messages like Ovi Suite can.
4. For the life of me I cant get it to tether internet via USB.
5. Sync is even slower than Ovi Suite. Many people are already complaining about Ovi, which I dont since it works fast for me. But Kies is just GAAH.
6. For something thats supposed to be for use with Android, it doesnt support the OS fully.

So basically for me Ovi>Kies. Even experienced Android users are telling me to use a different program.

[subhadeep_c7]

One of the most important advantage of symbian over android is that it is the own software of nokia, thus the updates and bug fixed would be made are thinking about devices. Symbian may nt be so much hi-fi in terms of looks but its software is more stable than android. Symbian devices being a bit conservative type (i mean to say nt open for 3rd part apps widout proper certificate) provides better security, whereas android may easily get affected by spywares. Thats why i chose symbian powered c7-00 though i had lots of option over android in that price like galaxy ace, sony ericsson xperia x10 and few more...

[chanchan05]

Well, that's not really much of an advantage @subdaheep, since manufacturers are allowed to edit the Android codes to a certain extent, making each version of Android technically their own.

[santo98rini]

Chanchan . Very useful answer . Thanks. +1.

Despite everybody is running to android nowadays, I think there are still disadvantages of using both OSs......

Maybe, until the next  year 2 OSs will be clearer for us to make right decision.....

[chanchan05]

Next year, Symbian will be closer to the grave. Check out the Nokia WP7 phones instead by then. Windows will add more functionality to WP7, and their roadmap seems to fuse Win8 for desktop and WP7 functionality as much as possible: a 'One OS for All' mantra. Down the line they may succeed and we may find a true mobile computer, where PC apps and cellphone apps are one and the same.

In all honestly, I'm just waiting for Nokia to release a Windows8 tablet with Nokia goodies (Ovi Maps more precisely) on it. I already now think that a combination of a Nokia device with either an Apple or Android device is the way to go, having the best of two OS. Tablets nowadays are becoming more and more necessary, and owning a phone and tablet with the same OS is IMHO stupidly redundant, and with the limitations both iOS and Android has, Nokia is the best 'mediator' with WP7 and excellent phone hardware.

[donofworld]

yes xperia arc and sgs II have some nice camera performance but at same price level c6-01 and c7 kicks some heavy a** andriod phones like galaxy s etc
I hope wp7+nokia would bring next super camera phone in 2012

[chanchan05]

C7 and c6-01 are actually cheaper than SGS. SGS is almost twice as much as a C6-01 (priced same as Galaxy Ace), while C7 is priced same as SGSL (my phone). My caveat against C7 is its not autofocus (I need it for pictures of text), but SGSL has no flash. There's no such thing as a perfect phone really. In Android forums we're already having reports of SGS2 random restarts. Guess the grass aint really greener on the other side aint it. 

[9252fly]

---

chanchan05 wrote:
Next year, Symbian will be closer to the grave.

I was under the impression that Symbian will continue to be installed on future Nokia phones;it's just that all the high-end phones will be running on WP7. If this is true,than it should be interesting to see if it's ^3 that will live on.

[chanchan05]

@9252 - Nokia has been developing s40 for more usage (even 1Ghz models), and Symbian will only be supported until around 2015. Depending on market sales I presume, if it continues to sell. But with the way it is now, I think they'd drop it.

[subhadeep_c7]

@chanchan05- i didnt knw abt tht. I hv never used android. And the most affordable androids in india r frm samsung which come in same range as c7-00 is galaxy ace. It lacks several features like front cam, main cam is nt very powerful (i guess it doesnt also hv flash). If i had to opt between a higher range phn (like galaxy s or xperia arc) and nokia, android would hv been a bettrr optn

[chanchan05]

Galaxy Ace is the lowest I'd go for an Android, any lower I'd rather get a Symbian for features and apps. Android is only good if you have a higher end device.

[subhadeep_c7]

ya, thts wht i was saying... Lowr end r nt value fr money

[donofworld]

lol even high end android sgs 2 suffering from faults

[chanchan05]

Its not like Symbian high end devices arent (just look around in this forum). All devices suffer from faults.

[chanchan05]

Something I noticed: I made a typo in the part of Symbian pros regarding Ovi Maps.

What I meant was my 5800 on integrated GPS alone gets a fix faster than my SGSL on AGPS. This was fresh too, the 5800 from a hard reset and rebuild after migrating my stuff to the SGSL for it to be my phone on my primary network, and the 5800 for my second network (data migrated from my 5610XM). The 5800 wouldnt have been able to use cached AGPS data because there are none. The GPS hardware on it is simply way better than the one on the Android, including the software for calculating the AGPS data received.