The Nokia N97 is the latest touch screen smart phone in the Nokia portfolio. It finds an able competitor in the Sony Ericsson IDOU (pronounced I do), the manufacturers flamboyant presentation.
Design
The Nokia N97 has vital statistics of 117.2mmX 55.2mmX 15.9mm and is slightly bigger than the Sony IDOU which has a size of 111mmX 54mmX 15mm. Both phones feel large in the hand, and the Idou feels bulky as well. The N97's 3.5 inch 360X640 pixel resolution touch screen is matched by a similar sized touch screen in the Sony Idou. However the Nokia has an ergonomically designed slide out QWERTY keypad with evenly spaced keys, in addition to the tactile input setting. This is a blessing for the less nimble fingered. The Sony Ericsson handset offers no such attribute.
Software
The Nokia N97 is an android smart phone that uses the Symbion 60 software whereas the Idou uses Symbion60 as its software platform with a user interface that is very different from the Nokia S60 UI. The N97 interface is very touch responsive and the Sony Ericsson also does an equally good job when it comes to tactile sensitivity.
Facets and Performance
The N97 is an attempt to cross the seam between the laptop and the smart phone. Its superior internet browser is the same as used in a full fledged PC. The 3G HSDPA connectivity allows fast downloading of web pages on to the mobile. The Nokia supports continuous social networking by integrating with applications like Face Book and My Space. The Sony IDOU has the usual browser found in high end smart phones, but supports other features like HSDPA. Both phones have Wi Fi and Blue Tooth connectivity.
The Nokia N97 has only a 5 Mega pixel Carl Zeiss optic lens camera that is blown away by the prodigious 12 Mega pixel camera of the Idou, the camera is also superior as it has a xenon flash and an LED flash in contrast to the Nokia N97 camera which has only dual LED flash.
Both phones have secondary VGA video call cameras. N97 can play flash files and flash based videos like You Tube videos. Its video capture has DVD quality and the phone supports uploading videos on the internet. The video quality of the Sony Ericsson IDOU can be regarded at par with the N97.
The Nokia phone has a 3.5mm audio jack for headphones which the Idou lacks. The N97 offers a stellar performance with its whopping 32GB memory which can be expanded by 16GBs using the micro SD card slot. The Sony Ericsson uses an M2 memory card for expansion, but its memory capacity has not yet been decided.
The Nokia N97 is loaded with Nokia maps to provide you with ready access to national and local maps. The Sony IDOU on the other hand uses Google maps application to aid navigation.
Both the N97 and the Sony Ericsson IDOU are equally functional and are a treat for tech savvy customers.
