EDGE on Iphone vs EDGE on Nokia N95

wuhuuu

New member
Ok. So i browse the web occasionally with my Nokia N95 (tmobile) - I consider it to be almost unbearable, but hey what are you gonna do.

I have read so many reviews about the Iphone, even though having EDGE - people are saying that the web browsing via EDGE on the Iphone is a better experience than other phones?

What gives?
 
Could be related to CPU power, OS overhead, RAM availability, efficiency of all the above etc. I did see a video comparison of EDGE browser rendering between an iPhone and a Prada phone and the Prada was like 3+ times slower or something like that. I am not saying the N95 would be that slow but just an example that the same network may give vastly different results on different devices/software:

iPhone-vs-LG-Prada--Video
 
Interesting video. I wouldn't use EDGE for web browsing nearly as much if it always was as slow as the Prada. I'm surprised sending the text message took significantly longer on the iPhone though.
 
Well I don't think 99% of iPhone users use the phone for texting with one hand while in the cradle The Prada was used while being held which seemed a bit unfair. I know I can text much much faster than that video, especially since I use two thumbs pretty well now
 
On the same network with the same reception, the N95 would be faster.

The iPhone is a class 10 EDGE device, the N95 is a monster Class 32 EDGE device.

Tzones is notoriously slow though.
 
I just switched from the N95 (which I Loved) to the iPhone (which I love even more). I didn't plan on it, I thought the N95 was the most advanced cell phone on the planet, so I didn't NEED the iPhone. Then I tried one and I was hooked. YES, Edge does run much faster on the iPhone. I think it handles memory management & cache much better than the N95. Surfing on the N95 was excruciatingly painful on Edge,but I rarely have problems with the iPhone - yes it is slower than Wi-Fi, and videos will load slowly, but it is easily twice as fast as the N95 every time. I do miss a lot of the N95's features (games, video recording), but almost everything on the N95 takes forever to get to, even the camera is extremely slow to use, so I didn't end up using many of the cooler features very much. GPS is so slow, especially without a keyboard & touch screen, that I never used it at all. But the speed & beauty of the iPhone's interface more than make up for the missing features. With the iPhone I can actually use every feature, especially web browsing on Edge, because of the speed in which it lets me access them & the size of the screen doesn't strain my eyes. Being able to quickly zoom in & out of web pages & navigating with a touch of the finger makes browsing a much more satisfying experience than trying to scroll around with the N95's navigation pad & it is so much easier to type in web pages with the iPhone's keyboard.
 
Actually a coworker and I did a few tests.

He has an iPhone and I an N95, we needed to check the flight status of a flight coming in from SFO at United airlines. I was able to get the flight info a full 13 seconds before he was. We both hit the United site.

I was also able to load and browse the Gamespot.com homepage while the iPhone browser mostly became unresponsive.
 
I just did the exact same thing a week ago. I had an N95 (which is a GREAT phone), I mean it is loaded with just about everything you can imagine, but, for me, it just comes down to the iPhone having a MUCH easier screen to look at, full size keyboard (just don?t like t-9 for type out a lot of SMS or long emails), FULL size web pages that are a WHOLE lot easier to maneuver around in, and everything is just easer to get to and look at. Yeah, I do have a wish list and am anxiously awaiting version 1.1
 
Apple made a deal with AT&T for them to increase EDGE speeds to closer reach its full potential. This gives AT&T a slight advantage over other networks depending on sigal strength. So you can't compare phone hardware that much in this case.
 
I am waiting anxiously for the update as well, I'm hoping they will fix a lot of minor issues & I would really like to use my own ringtones instead of a duck quack (!?), but I used to get whatever the latest greatest cell phone was (Samsung D600, Nokia N80, N73, N95, next would be the E90), and the N95 WAS my favorite phone ever. But now every new phone that is announced, no matter what great features it has - I KNOW it won't have the ease & joy of use that the iPhone has & it holds no interest for me. I can't see my next phone being anything but the iPhone 2.
 
N95-webkit - safari GUI
(Or Presto - Opera Mobile GUI)

vs
Iphone-webkit - Web Browser GUI

vs
Prada-proprietary through Obigo browser (like Openwave, crippled--no ajax, scripting, WAP/WML limits to redering)

Comparing webkit to Obigo is apples to oranges and pointless. N95 and iphone are the same for rendering through webkit. The difference is optimizations: device specific, safari on the iphone only, Web Browser on any s60 device; and network specific between ATT and Tmobile. N95 may not be optimized completely but at least they give you the option to install an alternative like Presto/Opera.
 
That wiki says "class 32 (up to 236Kbps)" so even if you are on a network which will give you all those slots why would it still be limited to 236Kbps? On a good strong EDGE connection I can usually get over that on the iPhone. I think once you are hitting the max theoretical of the network it all comes down to the CPU and how the device handles the render.
 
i used the iphone in the att store , so i really dont have a great example. The iphone and the n95 both seem to open at the same level, also as for rendering pages they both rendered nicely and as for screens the iphone is larger but to me the n95 was as crisp and seemed brighter, maybe was settings on the iphone.
 
I've almost given up on browsing via EDGE with my iPhone. The speeds are so inconsistent. I tested with dslreports.com

Sometimes it's really slow (during peak daytime business hours) something like 20-50 kbit/s (and yes, this slow speed is really noticeable on the iphone's safari browser).

For the few times I've been able to get max potential out of ATT (newer/faster EDGE speeds), where I am getting between 130-175 kbit/s) the browsing experience is adequate for my needs. However, those higher speeds are few and far in between. I feel most of the time the web pages are so slow it's not even worth the trouble.

ATT needs to get more consistent higher EDGE speeds with the iPhone.

Like ATT's CEO said in an interview with USA today right before launch, he basically reasoned the EDGE was good for basic emailing and texting and left out the internet browsing part.
 
You get over 236kbps over EDGE? I don't think you are or there is a mistake somewhere because Class 10 EDGE on the iPhone can't get over that speed or even at that speed.

EDGE sucks anyway, use HSDPA once and it's like going back to dialup when you're on EDGE. The Latency problem is also horrible.
 
It's a function of your signal, and I'm also sure if you're moving enough to switch between cell towers that probably slows it down as well. It's not like there are squirrels in an AT&T datacenter chewing on wires slowing it down.

Yes, depending on the situation it can be slow pulling pages (although much quicker than other EDGE phones), but the interface and the ease of browsing the pages, zooming, scrolling, and switching to other pages makes it a faster overall experience.
 
Just curious how does speed make up for lost features. I mean what did you use the n95 for, ill admit the ui on iphone is awesome, but after that the n95 is just more powerful as u stated, speed dont help stereo bluetooth which i use, speed dont help full bluetooth functionality, speed dont help video recording, or having full office suite, or a dictionary, or my bible, or gps or video gaming or voice dial ect...... Please im not knocking the iphone im just baffled bye some statements. P.s. with updates for both phones, speed and userability increases, agps is on the n95 now locks in like 15-30 seconds
 
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