Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

I'd say that it is only Nokias engineer roots. plastic isn't always plastic.

PE, PVC, PS, PA, POM, PP, PTFE, PVDV, PMMA, PC, PETP, PPO, PUR, PF, SI

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

well, i suppose the core of my attraction is the fact it is a unibody polycarbonate shell.

touch as old boots presumably..........

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

If the n950 broken due to dropping on floor, case broken or screen scatch, then bring to Nokia Care repair, it is so fun I feel
LOL

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

Everyone these days uses some sort of a rubbery case for their phones. N9 material will eliminate the need for that

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

True as long as nothing brakes inside, or gorilla glass pops out.
Rubbery material would absorb some shock. With polycarbonate and gorilla glass the inside will take shock too. It remains to be seen how durable this device will be.

As for n950, sooner or later there will be an issue with the main flat.

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

Are you happy with the keyboard on the N9:)

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

Thats how apple doit :)

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

I've been thinking about the whole N950 vs N9 alot recently.

although i haven't touched either or seen them in the flesh. i reckon the N9 would win out.

My reasoning is the N950 has more movable parts in it and is not a solid piece. so if i threw an n9 and an n950 at each other enough times i think the n950 would come out worse.

on a more serious note though i think the fact that the n950 isn't for sale and won't be means it's lost. remember most people want something because they can't have it. we often think something is better because we've convinced ourselves it is, even if it's not. my example could be about apple's but instead i'll use the portrait mode on the n900. lots of demands for it in the whole system rather then just 1 or 2 native applications. personally i've always seen it as a landscape device and now that you can have portrait mode in stuff the people i know who were screaming murder for it don't even use it. so just because the n950 has a keyboard doesn't mean it's better.

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

I have the N950, and even so I think I will get the N9 when I have the money to do so. Probably I'm just the minority here, but I find the vkbd easier to use (at least on N950) than the tiny keys of these kinds of mobile devices. There's no way I can do 10-finger typing with either hwkbd or vkbd. With that advantage gone, the vkbd feels easier and faster for me. The only thing I'm missing is the lack of arrow keys in vkbd, and that could be fixed in updates.

And having both N950 and N9 would not be a waste I think. Then I could solely use N950 for development and testing stuff, without fearing I would mess up something in the phone I use for day-to-day stuff.

I'm really liking this OS. I've tried to introduce the device as a new member of the family, but the wife resists. I think I'll never undestand women.

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

@ajalkane

are you coming from using the n900 as your day to day mobile to using touch screen keyboard? i've often found it a little annoying writing on a vkb

do you mind me asking what your developing? i'm curious to know what people are bring out. i don't have the patience to learn how to develop, most my time is spent keeping up with changes in work and making reports in excell :(

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

No, that's the thing, I'm coming to both touch screen keyboards and hardware keyboards as a total new comer. My previous phone was N95, because before N9/N950 nothing excited me. N900 interested me, but just not quite enough to make the purchase.

I can imagine N900 with vkbd can be annoying because the resistive screen. Part of the better experience for me using vkbd vs crammed physical keyboard on N950 is the capacitive screen, a light touch makes it easier for me to use such small keyboard effectively.

The first project I'm tackling will be a dynamic profile switcher, so that the used profile will be changed automatically by rules set by the user. At the moment the rules I'm intending to implement (or at least explore) are time and location based. Like for example use silent profile when at home during 9pm - 7am at home.

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

Before I even knew about the N9 or N950, I was using the N900 for my phone and was looking around for other possible options (was honestly assuming the N900 was the end of the line from Nokia). My *one non-negotiable requirement* was hardware keyboard. My first smartphone was a G1, and I switched to N900 from that (and I also had an N800, with which I *always* carried my bluetooth travel keyboard). I type on my G1 and N900 with two thumbs at 60WPM. I have only managed to get to about 20WPM on N950 because the keyboard is a bit weird, and I'm still adjusting, but I know I will speed up.

I've used the VKBD on just about every iPhone model and several Android devices, including the ones by HTC that have Swype (or whatever they call their special inputmethod). After using so many, I've realized that there is no way I could ever be nearly as fast or accurate on a VKBD, especially on a capacative screen (so inaccurate compared to the N900's resistive...) simply because they don't let me hit the keys quickly enough. There is an innate delay that is caused when you hit one key, because it waits for you to lift up your finger before taking more input.

That said, obviously the winner will be N9 for the public, since the public only has one choice (with the N950 limited to a single run of developer only devices that will never go on sale). It can't win if it can't be bought... Also, I am perfectly willing to admit that I am a special case, as most people don't try to code on their cell-phone or use it to chat on IRC all day or as their main SSH client.

Edit:
As I said in one of my paragraphs above, the resistive screen is actually FAR EASIER to use, because it is far more accurate. I can place my finger directly on a key on a capacative VKBD and it wobbles around between three or so keys because it just doesn't understand where I'm actually trying to *apply* my finger, all it knows is where my finger *is*. There's a dramatic difference when the finger is a thumb and has a huge capacative surface, while actually applying pressure in a very small area.

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

Fair enough, I don't have day-to-day experience with typing on resistive screens so I'll trust you on that. Nevertheless, I've found I'm getting more and more accurate on the virtual keyboard each day, as my motorics are learning which parts of thumbs/fingers make first contact on the screen thus making me more accurate.

At first it was for me like you said above, if using thumbs, quite inaccurat - although word correction helped a lot.

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

i like the idea of your profile switcher, would be handy.

i had the n95 8gb, found it killed my thumb joint with 1 handed txting because the keys were so far down from the balancing point of the phone.
i went from that to the n900.

i've always been a fan of physical keys because it feels better. a little disapointed not to see the famed haptics on the n9 as it would give me better feedback on typing which i'd prefer. anyway.

there's something i've not seen in a long time, a bluetooth messanger. i used to love sending bluetooth txt's to random people on the bus. nokia had a nice app for symbian which had a BT profile and you could read others and msg them etc. be nice to see that now on maemo/meego.

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

How do you measure this? All I know is that I am about as fast on the N9 VKB in portrait as my fingers can travel. I am unable to type that fast with the N900 keyboard, because my fingers cannot physically travel and press down the buttons equally fast.

This is not how multitouch VKBs work (certainly not the N9). You do not have to raise the finger from one key before you can type the next. I have tried very hard to type letters faster than the input method would accept, it's not possible.


This may sound right in theory, but it's not right in practice. A resistive screen sends a multitude of contact events when you press down your thumb, causing all kinds of whackiness (the software tries to filter out the worst of this, but it's far from perfect). Most of you have probably encountered this problem on the N900, when e.g. a page would scroll when you just intended to remove your finger from the screen. Resistive screens may be more accurate with styluses, but with fingers they are are horrible mess.

The capacitive screen correctly detects that you put down only one finger, and will activate the element at the center of the surface. The result is that I can put down my thumb as flat as I like, and even on the tiny portrait keyboard, it always activates the button that I would intuitively expect it to activate. There is no wobbling, unless I significantly shift the center of contact. Of course normally I would never type by putting my thumbs completely flat on the surface anyway.

Perhaps you are used to activating buttons by applying pressure rather than contact alone, and perhaps that leads to some weird results. But that would be a matter of practice, not precision.

I have looked for a sample video of what can be accomplished on a capacitive VKB with a bit of practice, and this seems quite accurate (though it seems extra hard to read the words at the same time, the typing speed is definitely possible on the N9):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNcTE5WJGdw

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

so you don't consider deforming of austenic stainless steel frame as a risk for inside parts?

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

as a happy N900 user since the day they arrived in the UK; i can genuinely say that i'm not fussed either way, as the inconvenience of a lack of HW K/B is easily made up for by the robustness of the single piece design of the N9.

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

Just my 2 cents, but the vkb on the n950 is really good. Coming from the n900 where I don't think i've ever used the vkb more than twice in over 2 years, I find myself rarely opening the real keyboard on the n950. I think the main drawback of the vkb is the screen real-estate, but even that is handled quite well (compared to Symbian^3, where the vkb is ok, but it takes so much space you can't see what you're writing).
In my opinion, unless you're writing an essay or coding on there, the vkb seems good enough to justify the width and weight loss that the N9 will bring compared to the N950.

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

A very important feature I miss in the new harmattan devices, I really absolutely miss that one feature, especially on the NOKIA N9, shipping.
Elop, shipping is a real important feature.

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

What do you mean by shipping?

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

Shipping as in "Send the package with the N9 out to the customers..."

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

Comparing the N950 with the N9:
First some comparison photos: click me
The OS is the same with the difference that on the N950 it does make sense to have the homescreens in landscape which is (for me) very nice because I'm using my mobile device 90% of the time in landscape.

When typing a short SMS like "okay" or "yes" I'm using the portrait VKB.
When typing a URL I'm using 50% of the time the landscape VKB.
When I'm typing something longer I'm 100% using the hardware keyboard.
I like it more because I can feel the buttons and I'm a lot faster.

The N950 feels very high quality, heavy, made from metal. The screen is not as curved as the one from the N9 but it is a little bit darker, so you won't see the screen as much as on the N9. The whole surface is complete dark black. If there is light around you, you'd think it is a AMOLED Clear Black Display.
The colors on the N9 are nicer, being a true AMOLED display.
But that also means that it does have a lesser amount of sub-pixels per pixel (because it is a pentile AMOLED screen) and if you look from close you can see that in direct comparision with the N950.
The N9 feels incredibly thin. Feels even thinner than the iPhone 4.
Also it feels very high quality but also very light.
The glass of the N9 is not as dark as the one from the N950.
The N9 does have Bluetooth 4 and NFC, the N950 does not have this.
If you drop a N9, you won't see the scratches as much as you see them on a N950. The N950 goes silver (metal) the N9 doesn't change the color.

I have the impression the the speaker of the N950 is a little bit louder than the speaker of the N9, but I'm not 100% sure. Have to check that later...

Any questions?

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

So the N9 has really Bluetooth 4.0?! It’s strange 'cause even the nokia page says it’s only 2.1

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

My thoughts (still needs to be updated)
http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php...45#post1052245
In response to...
http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php...31#post1051931

AFAICS the N950's camera is not better simply by virtue of having higher MP.
More than that's needed before one could unequivocally say "it's better".

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

But does this page prove that a BT4.0 stack has been implemented, & thereby certified?
And if it does, then the N9 must not be using a radio from the same family as the N950.

The N950 uses 1271/3 (not 1271/3L) as shown by recent dmesg dumps.
So it's only capable of a/b/g/n + BT2.1...

Whereas the N9 must use an entirely different radio that does have hardware support for BT4.

And it can't be using the 1271/3L... (a/b/g/n + BT4.0)
DeeGee found a thread that shows that devices using that radio, won't be available till the EOY or Q1.

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

Bluetooth 4.0
Let's just ask Nokia, okay?

Source: text file from here: http://www.developer.nokia.com/info/...ase_Notes.html

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

So what, that doesn't prove anything... :confused:
At one stage it said 950 has 2.1 & N9 4.0, but now that doc says nothing about their BT differences.

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

FYI, Nokia AMOLED displays use regular RGB layout. Samsung uses pentile.

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

the Nokia N9 uses a pentile amoled screen.
just fyi

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

I am not sure what they use for the N9, but the current AMOLED phones don't use pentile. I am gonna take your word for it ;)

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

So what, that doesn't prove anything... :confused:
At one stage it said 950 has 2.1 & N9 4.0...
But now that doc says nothing about their BT differences.

As opposed to RGB... you know this how exactly?

Thanks.

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

It is at least hinted in the release notes of the N950, there it is mentioned that one pixel stron lines should be avoided and they should be at least two pixels strong if targeting the N9. With Pentile you could run into visibility problems with such one-pixel lines...

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

I'm not entirely clued up on the differences...
Why's Pentile better than RGB layout for AMOLED, or is it?

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

Pentile vs Real-Stripe AMOLED Displays: What's Different?


http://media.tested.com/uploads/0/15...mage_super.jpg

This picture sums it up.

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

Pentile:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PenTile_matrix_family and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMOLED
TFT (RGB layout):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TFT_LCD

edit: and as you can see from the photos a page back, I've access to both a Nokia N9 and a bunch of N950, so I know for sure. ;)

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

I don't know which variation of PenTile matrix the N9 uses, but Ars ran an article on the Nexus One's screen that provides a good introduction to (one implementation of) the technology and of the pros and cons involved.

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

How does the overall experience compare to iphone 4? How is the email and does it support provisioning?

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

Thanks kozzi, zeh, & sjgadsby!
I'll read-up on the differences when I got a minute.

I still don't get how BT4.0 is now a definite though.
See my posts on previous page.

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

Polycarbonate products are rarely marketed as plastic. It's very high quality material and certainly much better and expensive than common commodity plastics.

Good heat resistance and by far the best physical resistance of all plastics. Some bullet proof windows are actually made of this stuff, but don't shoot your N9 (I doubt the shell is thick enough). It's resistant to most sterilisation methods and biologically inert making it ideal material for various bottles/containers/etc in my research work (microbiology). I've done some long term growth experiments with fungi that partilly dissolve most plastics and then die from released toxic compounds, but can't do anything to PC and thus live long and prosper.

Overall I would say good material choice for a mobile device. Light weight, tough, very durable against continous stress and for a plastic it also feels good in hand (ie. not that cheap plasticy feel of many commodity plastics).

Re: Nokia N950 vs Nokia N9
 

Aren't CrystalCases too made from Polycarbonate? I'm already on my 3rd, because t some point all of them developed a crack. By the way, POM (Delrin™) is also very resistive. For example black keycaps are made from it.