The iPod touch and the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet may seem like apples and oranges (Apples and Nokias?) from a consumer perspective. One is a mobile internet device that happens to play music and videos. The other is a mobile music/video device that happens to have a web browser. The purpose of this article is to accentuate the strengths and weaknesses of each device help people decide what's right for them. It's neither a review of the touch nor of the N800. People familiar with both devices don't seem to want to own both, which is sensible since the functionality overlaps quite a bit. Both, as internet and media devices, are similar in a notable way: neither are phones or intended to replace phones. The fact that both are intended to be a "second device" is the critical commonality. They're fighting for space in your other pocket.
An introductory video showing the N800 and iPod touch side-by side.
Compared are music, video, and simple web browsing.
Released at CES 2007, the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet was designed to give users the best possible "internet experience" in a pocketable device. The Linux core houses an Opera 8 (factory) or Mozilla (installable) browser with Flash 9 support rendered on a 4.1 inch 800x480 widescreen display. Connectivity is achieved through either WiFi (802.11b/g) or over a Bluetooth connection to a 3G mobile phone. Integrated Internet-centric applications include Skype (voice and chat,) Google Talk (voice and chat, plus video calls through integrated webcam to other N800 users,) a Google search applet, an RSS feed reader, and an Email client. Installable are a wide variety of chat clients, internet tools, games, and more. On the multimedia side, the Nokia N800 is stronger in options but weaker in style. The integrated media player is simplistic and has a lightweight black-on-white interface. Even so, it supports streaming radio and RealMedia content. An Internet Radio home-screen applet is included in the base software as well. A Rhapsody client is included giving listeners unlimited access to thousands of songs for a monthly fee - but only while the device is connected to the internet. There are three pieces of hardware that add to the media experience: Dual SD card slots (up to 8GB SDHC in each slot,) a pair of speakers, and an FM radio. The radio, however, is only usable when the headphones are connected because it uses headphones for an FM antenna. Finally, Nokia finally released a Video Center application (link goes to video demo) intended to catalog local video and Internet video from select sources and download them locally for offline playback.
Both browsers rendering perfectly.Click for high-res versions of all images on this page.
That covers the out-of-box internet and media experiences of the Nokia N800. The internet experience is quite strong but the media experience clearly secondary. Before I get bludgeoned to death by teeming masses of N800 fans, I will now address a great strength of the N800: A vast catalog of downloadable applications. On the multimedia side, there are options like Canola, Kagu Media Player, and UKMP. These greatly enhance the media playback experience by offering simple touch control, inertial control, or greater file format support. Another notable application is UKTube which gives smooth YouTube video playback simply from the user pasting the YouTube URL into the application. VOIP to phone/mobile calls with webcam use is supported on Gizmo Project. Most of these application are free or open source.
Media Player vs. Media PlayerThe built-in iTunes music store is convenient to snag a few new tunes on the road. The Internet experience, however, is much more limiting. The integrated Safari browser renders most pages well, but has problems with AJAX pages with scrolling componets: most notably Google Reader and Google Maps. Multi-touch pinch zooming and zooming are essential, as the resolution is much lower. Gmail and Google Documents both work well. The last Internet enabled application, the YouTube viewer, is nice and entertaining at times. The video selection is limited (only 18 of my 78 videos are available as of this writing) but the video quality actually looks MUCH better on the touch than it does on the YouTube site itself. I have been having problems with videos playing lately, though. I assume the wider adoption of the iPod touch and iPhone is putting strain in the YouTube H.264 servers (that's the streaming protocol YouTube uses for these dedicated players) and loading interrupts many times in the middle of playback.
StarTrek.com - "Flash Required"Here's the web browsing kicker: There is no Flash plug-in. When I first pointed this out in a video podcast, I was blasted by some (I assume) Apple fans saying that the YouTube viewer makes up for the lack of Flash. I agree that YouTube probably serves out more Flash content than any other site on the web (and that I made that statistic up on the spot,) but it is hardly an argument that Flash is not needed when the YouTube application is present. Flash navigation is still present in a great many sites. Flash video is required for news and weather sites - content that is both too new for YouTube and illegal to post there anyway.
Now that the introductory rants and raves on both devices are complete, it's time to get down to the actual comparison. For simple specs, I've made a table:
| Nokia N800 Internet Tablet | iPod touch | |
| Hardware | ||
| Size (mm) | 75 × 144 × 13 (18 mm curved protrusion for webcam/stylus) | 110×61.8×8 |
| Screen | 800x480 4.1" touchscreen | 320x480 3.5" multi-touch display |
| Headphone jack | yes | yes |
| Speakers | stereo | none |
| Microphone | yes | no |
| Integrated Storage | 128M | 8GB or 16GB |
| Removable Storage | Two SD/SDHC slots (up to 8 GB per slot) | none |
| Stand | Integrated 2 position locking stand | small plastic separate stand |
| Connectivity | WiFi and Bluetooth (internet dial-up to 3G phones) | WiFi only |
| Media | ||
| Audio player | yes | yes |
| Video player | yes | yes |
| YouTube player | 3rd party | yes |
| Internet radio | yes | no |
| FM radio | yes | no |
| Music store | Rhapsody (online playback only, monthly fee) | iTunes (pay per song/album, online and offline playback) |
| Installable 3rd party media players | yes | no |
| Internet | ||
| Browser | Opera or Mozilla | Safari |
| Flash support | Flash 9 | None |
| Chat | Google Talk, Skype installed. AIM/ICQ/Y!/MSN/Jabber installable (Pidgin) | none |
| Voice over IP | Google Talk, Skype installed. Gizmo Project installable. | none |
| RSS reader | yes | no |
There is also an item I want to address regarding the browsing speed of the iPod touch. I went to performance.toast.net (since my preferred site, speedtest.net, is Flash and therefore incompatible with the touch) to test the speed of the iPod touch compared to the Nokia N800. These are the results:
Baseline test using my iMac Core2Duo 2.0 connected to a Linksys WRT350N. The 8895 kbps result establishes that my Internet connection is not the bottleneck. Next, the N800:
The N800 rendered the same test at 2056 Kbps. Naturally not as fast as the Mac, but still a worthy speed test over WiFi. Finally, the iPod touch:
The touch rendered at only 565 Kbps. This is odd since the tests were carried out moments apart from the same physical place (on my couch, 10 feet from the router) with the identical test from the identical server. Additionally, the introductory video above shows the touch rendering BBC News faster than the N800. It is possible the site had Flash elements that the touch ignored, however.I tried using other servers on performance.toast.net and got similar results several times over. I do not know if this lag was caused by the wireless stack or if it was caused by rendering delay, but it was odd to see that measured out. The test I used was "Shuttle+Text" through GoDaddy, PowWeb and LunarPages.
By specs alone, it seems that the iPod touch wins in size and storage (before SD/SDHC cards are purchased) but loses in nearly every other category. This isn't a competition on specs alone, however. Size is an extremely important factor in deciding how to fill your other pocket. The iPod touch also has (and will continue to have) a much wider range of accessories, car and home integration options, and that one last killer app.
That brings us to iTunes. The iPod touch works with iTunes to sync your music, video, podcasts, playlists, web bookmarks, calendar, contacts, and audiobooks. iTunes music store purchases will work from your desktop and your iPod. All this functionality is both extremely important to the consumer and absent in the Nokia N800. There is no tool on the N800 to organize, synchronize, and prepare your content on a desktop PC. Except a good video converter tool, there's no desktop client for the N800 whatsoever. The iPod touch's media player is nice by itself. This, coupled with the power of iTunes, soundly beats the N800 in the media playback category. The iPod/iTunes marriage is just that, though. They are exclusive to each other. It's impossible to load an iPod touch without iTunes while it is possible to load the N800 with music and video directly downloaded or stashed on to any SD card from any operating system.
Who wins the fight?
The iPod touch paired with iTunes will be my media player of choice. I lack the patience and motivation to manually prepare all my content and playlists on the N800, but know I will be watching my long movies on the N800 because large videos can be stored on additional SD cards and loaded only when needed. The N800 also no problem with dark-on-black contrast like the iPod touch does. The lack of a Flash browser or third party applications can be overcome with software updates, but the (highly probable) lack of Bluetooth or a low resolution screen cannot.
The Nokia N800 is far more powerful as an Internet device. The Flash plug-in, third party applications, higher resolution (2.5x the number of pixels) true widescreen display, voice-over IP support, and ability (over Bluetooth) to connect to the Internet in the absence of WiFi make this essential as an Internet device. An open-source platform powers it all and invites developers to keep cranking out more software. This is all before adding in extras like a GPS, car monitoring system, Bluetooth accessories, and more. A desktop client like Nokia's own Media Transfer application could possibly make up for the lack of a desktop component, but the Nokia Internet Tablets would have to skyrocket in popularity to have the array of multimedia accessories that the iPods already have.
The winner here depends on which application is more important to the consumer. If you want a richer internet experience, installable applications, and a wider variety of functionality, get the N800. If you want a slim, attractive media player with occasional light web browsing thrown in, get an iPod touch. For me, neither will replace the other.
p.s.
Thanks to whoever was nice enough to digg this article.
pps.
This article started as a N800/Touch/UMPC comparison article, but the UMPC stuck out like a sore thumb. Ultra-Mobile PCs are devices dedicated to serious computing and application support in as small of a box as possible for that purpose. There are thousands of things you can do on a UMPC that you cannot do on either the iPod touch or the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet. The UMPC, however, will certainly not fit in your other pocket.
34 comments:
Thanks for the detailed comparison. I am still torn between the two devices, but I think the N800 will win out in the end. The only thing is my N95 phone covers some of the extra functionality the N800 has over the Touch.
How does the sound quality compare between the two devices (with headphones)?
I would have liked to see Kagu showcased too for the n800. The new 1.0.8 version is pretty nice and has kinetic scrolling. No video though.
I own a 770, an n800 and not an iPod touch, so I think it's fair to say I'm probably not biased towards Apple; but I find it odd that the quality of the touch-screen wasn't mentioned in this comparison. The iPod touch has a technically superior touch-screen (even disregarding the multi-touch!) and that should probably factor in somewhere... Just my opinion anyway.
Nice, easy to digest, comparison. Looking at your comparison table, it is clear that consumers will gravitate towards smooth operating "eye candy" rather than kludgy high functionality. Even more so when there is an established brandname association/bias involved! I for one continue to see value for my money as well as potential in the N800. BTW, while I'm on this theme of functionality, Exaile is my audio player app of choice. However, the other multimedia apps you mentioned are maturing quite impressively.
How does the Archos 605 wifi fit into the mix? Curious to hear your opinion on that compared to both because it seems like the Archos 605 might be the right mix of both.
Great post! Wonderful to see an objective, non-fanboy perspective. It's interesting to see as these technology evolves, different devices will suit different needs.
That's a great comparison, thanks. I'm looking to replace an ageing PalmOS Tapwave Zodiac, and had been all set to go for an N800 when the Touch was announced...
Out of the box, the bizarre crippling of the Touch (no notes application, no updating calendar events) makes it a non-starter as a PDA, but if it turns out to be as hackable as the iPhone to get a few more applications on there (an ebook reader would be a major bonus), I reckon I'll go for it. It looks a lot slicker (and, for the 8Gb version, cheaper) than the N800, and I don't think I'd need the extra functionality.
Been waiting for a head-to-head like this. Thanks much, TF. And kudos for mentioning the iPod's killer app. IMO, iTunes is the iPod's key strength, yet so many reviews and comparisons fail to consider it at all (not that I expected you to make the same mistake).
I agree that iTunes is the real reason to get an iPod. Anyone who puts music on an n800 on a regular basis will probably understand that. Sync'ing over WiFi, while slow, is also uber convenient, I'm sure.
On the n800, the music upload process is a 4 or 5 step process:
1.) shut down any app using the media card
2.) connect via USB or remove media card and connect to reader
3.) move music to device
4.) scan for new music
5.) start up player again.
On the ipod I expect it's a few steps shorter:
1.) connect via USB or WiFi
2.) Move files
3.) play
I've got both the N800 and an iPhone. Since I got the iPhone I haven't even picked up the N800--the iPhone interface is that good. Web browsing is much better despite the lower resolution screen. The interface is quick and a double tap zooms in on a column of text instantly. Another double tap zooms out again. Scrolling with inertia is natural and easy.
The sound quality on my 3g ipod is far better than on my n800. Kagu, btw, is awfully unusable. I'm very much looking forward to try an ipod touch to see wether their user interface hacks can compensate for the far smaller screen. Still, I love my n800, since for me it's both the best linux device yet and the only truly mobile computer (since that's what the n800 actually is, even with nokias bad marketing).The sound quality on my 3g ipod is
far better than on my n800. Kagu,
btw, is awfully unusable. I'm very
much looking forward to try an
ipod touch to see wether their
user interface hacks can
compensate for the far smaller
screen. Still, I love my n800,
since for me it's both the best
linux device yet and the only
truly mobile computer (since
that's what the n800 actually is,
even with nokias bad marketing).
Great feedback from everyone. Thanks! Keep it up and feel free to make pointed arguments.
christoph,
why do you think KAGU is "awfully unusable"??? I do own several Ipod´s (but no touch), and the KAGU music player feels smooth as jelly for me, best mobile music app i´ve ever used...
The touch doesn't support internet radio??
So no speakers, no internet radio, no flash, no bluetooth for a2dp. How do you consider it as innovative????
Just wait for nokia s next tablet. It is going to pawn the touch
Can you comment on the color depth of each device? I had heard that the n800 only had 16 bit color.
Nicely done.
And I realize many disagree strongly with me, so I won't bore you all with a rehash of why I think the few real distinctions bear more weight than the many similarities-- suffice to say that in my opinion the *Linux* factor means far, far more than many seem willing to acknowledge.
I've got a 770 and am seriously considering a Touch. I'm not buying a n800 because I feel extrememly burned by their developement of lackthereof. However, the work on the 2007 HE is not to bad, so we shall see. The only thing so far holding me back is the hacking that will need to be done to install apps on the touch and so far Apple sounds like they are going to working at circumventing that hacking with firmware releases.
I recently got my Nokia N800 (about a month ago) and I have been an Apple user for years and own a couple iPods but I am by no means the type of person who is brand loyal (probably why I got the Nokia) and I must say I really love the Nokia. I think it does address a totally different market from the Touch. In a way I see a return to the black box old days of Apple where the computer was the finished product and with the N800 it is completely open and hackable.
One joy is VNC. I can completely control my MacPro from my N800 and use my native mail client remotely if I choose. I love the built in FM radio, which I attach to external speakers, the MPlayer is great because I just use Media Converter to spiff up the AVIs I had already converted and watch away. But for me, the killer app is Skype - not a third party Skype but a real made for the Nokia Skype and soon there will be bluetooth headset support that I can use with it. I just can use this device for so much!
If I replace my iPods....I will probably go with the Classic - more capacity and they do what they do best - play music and organize my music library! I know, the Touch is beautiful but my n800 is so hackable!
Thoughtfix, the N800 has 256MB, not 128MB of integrated storage.. I assume it's just a typo in your table.
Very nice article.
Just a small correction: Jabber is natively available on the N800. Their is no need of third party application to connect and chat with a Jabber server :)
To David above: Nokia has learned from the poor 770-to-N800 transition. That mistake will not be repeated.
Another small fix for the table: the N800 apparently supports up to 32GB SDHC cards (as would be expected), not just 8GB (ref. 16GB SHDC thread on ITT)
>>>The only thing so far holding me back is the hacking that will need to be done to install apps on the touch and so far Apple sounds like they are going to working at circumventing that hacking with firmware releases.
Not true. It is *unlocking* of the *iPhone* they are sealing up. Putting on 3rd-party apps should not be affected (ideally speaking).
At least, of course, until such time they deliver an SDK and official method of creating/installing apps.
Whoops!
I stand corrected. Apple IS going all-out too prevent 3rd-party apps on the iPod Touch.
How very strange. Can they want to sell iPod games *that* much? Os does the Touch run an OS very different than the iPhone's?
http://www.tuaw.com/2007/09/25/apple-sends-takedown-notice-to-ipod-hackers-isp/
>>>Despite what we've heard before, clearly they are very, very interested in making sure the iPod touch doesn't get hacked. Martyn tells me, as has Erica, that Apple has clearly gone out of their way to keep hackers out of their latest iPod. We're also told that progress continues despite all that, but Apple is apparently bending over backwards to do everything they can to keep the iPod touch closed.
Key features u missed!
Replaceable Battery!!! Don't have to send it in to replace the battery! Huge hassle with Apple!
ogg support!
FBReader!! Killer app for reading books and content
pdf reader!!
Basically I use my nokia is a brain extender. Ipod is a mp3 player with a browser.
Can you post a better capture of the two browsers? Safari (the Touch browser) typically does a beautiful job rendering text. Many browsers do NOT.
Also, can you tap on a phone number on any old web page on the Nokia to telephone that number?
do yo know if any other browsers are available on the N800 besides Opera. I downloaded Opera's latest browser onto my Mac and it is horrible at displaying the menus on my bank's site and my employer's intranet site. Every other browser works fine with these sites. I would really like to get and N800 if it was not for Opera
Considering buying a N800, among the feature I will use most are skype, pdfreader and photo viewer, just wondering how's photo viewing function compares between N800 and Touch(display quality, loading speed)?
I've had an N800 for about 4 months and found it to be an innovative and pratical device that straddles the gap between laptop and mobile phone, with obvious superior portability to the former and better web internet experience to the latter. That said, while visually pleasing (good size and resolution) the touch-scree aspect of the N800 is wanting: there is frequently a lag between the physical aspect of touching the screen and the execution of the intended action and I frequently find myself reverting to using the stylus (which I loathe) especially when interacting with icons on the edge of the screen.
I bought an iPod Touch yesterday and have had about 24-hours to play with it and it is on interface level that it really shines, responding seamlessly to physical input without any lag combine this with the rotating display and multi-touch that is sensitive right to the very edge of the screen and you've got a user experience superior in every way to the N800. One doesn't even noticec that the screen is smaller or of lower resolution.
From an apps point of view the N800 presently (and given it's open ource nature, possibly for the future) has a definite edge, with great SKYPE functionality being something of a killer app when compared to the iPod. However, the iPod makes up somewhat with tailor-made versions of You Tube and Facebook (neither of which are great on the N800).
As with most "Designed in Cupertino by Apple" products the physical apects of the iPod are exceptionally attractive and hard to resist when compared to the majority of othe consuer electronics (though the polished chrome back, as opposed to the matt back of the iPone is a bit of a regression).
If I'm going to continue using the N800 it will be in the office where it will be a secondary web-surfing and SKYPE communication device while the iPod is going to be the one to find its way into my other pocket.
For me, it's the N800. No contest. I run Linux, so iTunes means nothing to me, and, without iTunes, I have no reason to use an Apple device, even if I could get it to work with some third party program. Actually, I have a Cowon D2 for music and movies. The N800 is my mini-laptop.
If you wish to waste time by using an itouch, then converting all your files over to their format, go ahead.
The n800 can play all.
Expandable to 32GB, possibly more in the future, its awsome.
I reviews like this should be frequently updated. I think the Ipod touch continues to get more apps for it as well as the nokia n800. The N800 just recently had a newer OS created for it. The support for skype is increasing as well as other apps. One app that I found recently this week is an NES Emulator that is supposed to work quiet well with it. I haven't heard anything like that for apple's itouch.
The video was great! I just got my N800 today and saw that on the right of the screen it's noticeably darker. I saw that on your video as well. Is that the same thing for other users I wonder? Did someone actually ask and get a replacement because of that?
I bought an iPod Touch last week... biggest pile of rubbish I'd ever bought, and this is coming from someone who owns 3 iPods and a Nano (don't ask, lol). I took it straight back to the shop. Luckily I got most my money back. I expected one flaw with it, but with the Touch, there were far too many! Anyway I'll be getting an N800 soon, not as pretty but looks like it has a zillion more features, is unlimited in functionality, and much shepaer too if u buy online.
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