If you thought Windows phone 6.x was "dated..."

[Originally written June 30, 2010]

In light of the darling OSes of the moment, namely iOS and Android, when Windows Mobile/Windows phone gets mentioned in a tech article or blog (rare these days unless mentioning the upcoming Windows phone 7) the term "dated" is typically used to describe the "antiquated UI," and that is the reason often given for Windows phone's declining marketshare and lack of strong retail presence.

I, too, have fallen victim to that line of thinking recently, at least until this week, when I rediscovered what a "dated," "antiquated" UI really is; I picked up a Nokia Symbian S60 5th edition (touchscreen) handset to play with last week- the Nokia 5230, sold as the "Nuron" by T-Mobile USA.

My first "smartphone" was a fairly early S60 handset, the Nokia 3650, that I bought back in 2003 mostly to use as a GPRS modem for my Pocket PCs. (Back then I was still anti-"convergence" because I didn't want to compromise on the features standalone PDAs had that were lost in the transition to the early Pocket PC/Windows Mobile phones, like screen size, fast processors, and multiple memory card/IO slots.)

The 3650 was a good little phone- decent camera, an included email app, and fairly good browser (for its day) and there was a good amount of software available via either native Symbian apps, or Java (J2ME) apps, but nothing like the wealth of native applications available for Pocket PC/Windows Mobile. The 3650 had no touchscreen of course- you thumbed around the screen with a directional pad, selecting icons and moving through "radio buttons" and menus as needed.

Fast forward to 2010, and I'm, as anyone here who reads my posts knows, a die-hard, devoted WinMo user, watching in horror as WinMo has seemingly become marginalized over the last couple of years, and even starting to buy into the "antiquated UI" theories. Tempted by T-Mobile's expansion of 3G service into my neighborhood, I was dying to upgrade to a T-Mo compatible 3G handset, but I just don't like the 3G Windows phones offered by T-Mo (HTC's Touch Pro 2 and HD2) because HTC ditched the directional pad I love dearly, in an attempt, apparently, to "iPhoney"-up their current offerings.

So, I figured, why not just buy a cheap-as-dirt 3G handset I can tether to my current WinMo phone, (a Sony X1, a 3G phone incompatible with T-Mobile's oddball 1700MHz 3G network,) to give 3G a try? Enter the Nuron, purchased as a prepaid handset from a local "warehouse" store for $120, cleverly avoiding a contract extension. So far, so good- out of the box the Nuron supports Dial Up Networking over bluetooth, and it uses the familiar old Symbian OS I used for a few years. And, boy was it familiar- although fully "touchified," Symbian S60 5th edition seems little changed from the 7-year old version on my old 3650. The directional keys have been replaced by flick and scroll motions, and menu items are selected by an annoying double tap (single tap for icons and radio buttons, though- so much for "intuitive") instead of a selection/enter button, but it reminded me a lot of Windows phone 6.5- pretty icons and finger-friendly menus, but under that glitz the old OS was still hiding virtually unchanged. The mail app is virtually unchanged (and pretty primitive.) Even with the new Ovi app store, plus third-party sites, the app selection seems a little weak, probably due to some major compatibility issues with the new touch version of Symbian, rendering a lot of old Symbian apps uninstallable, but presumably that will fix itself with time.

Now, understand that I'm not writing this to pick on Symbian in any way- I'm actually pointing out the parallels between Symbian and WinMo- the relatively static "outdated" UI over the years, the very superficial changes to core apps like the mail client, the mostly unsuccessful "conversion" to finger-friendliness, and the breaking of old apps by new form factors (e.g. HTC's and Nokia's removal of directional pads!)

However, that comparison left a burning question in the back of my mind- why has Windows phone's market share been tumbling in the last two years, while Symbian, though its market share is eroding, is still, by a large margin, the best selling mobile OS on the planet? Why didn't it crash and burn under the Apple and Google juggernauts? Is it simply that it's so large it takes longer to crumble, or is it because Symbian is simply "good enough" for a large number of users, and is available at lower price points?

I've (tried) using this Nuron as my "main phone," to give it a thorough test, for four days, and Symbian S60 is less functional, and no easier to use than Windows phone. (Though I'd almost forgotten how much I love Nokia's hardware! If only Nokia had ever built a WinMo 6.x device...) Symbian seems to lack the power of WinMo, but has the relatively steep learning curve and inconsistent UI WinMo is "famous" for. Like WinMo (and Android,) however, it's available in a plethora of form factors, and multiple manufacturers. So why did Symbian rule the roost for years, while WinMo merely found a nice, stable, niche with the enterprise user?

Again, this isn't a Symbian bash- for $180 list (full unsubsidized price), or free with a contract, I wouldn't expect this Nuron to be the equal of a good Windows phone that costs hundreds more. If fact, because T-Mo considers it a "dumbphone" it's eligible for a $10/month non-smartphone unlimited data plan from T-Mo, and supports tethering out of the box- I'd be very inclined to recommend the Nuron for someone who wants to dip their toe in the smartphone pool without getting soaked in $300+/year data plan costs!

I'm just wondering how Symbian has thrived and survived over the years, while WinMo never achieved that type of success with a superior OS product, and as dedicated an ecosystem of third-party devs as Symbian ever had. After the frustrations of the last few days, attempting multiple times to sync my Contacts and Calendar OTA with the Nuron, (and getting two duplicate sets of each on my PCs, but ironically only 7 of my seven hundred contacts ever making it to the Nuron!) downloading countless apps that wouldn't install due to compatibility issues (made for older versions of the OS,) and not being able to access Windows Media streaming radio or video, I'm done with the experiment. My SIM is heading back to the Sony, unless I decide to party like it's 1999 again, and go back to carrying a separate phone and PDA! For the $120 I paid, however, I suspect I'll keep the Nuron as a full time standalone GPS, and part-time 3G "aircard" whenever needed, when stuck in the occasional hotel without free WiFi! For everyday email, and light browsing use, my good ol' EDGE service is good enough. Other than tethering or streaming video, I don't see any huge advantage in 3G for a device with a 3" screen- certainly not enough of an advantage to compromise and use a device I don't enjoy using, whether it's an alternate OS, like the Nuron, or a handset without a D-pad, like the HD2.