Nokia C7 or N8 which one to choose ?

A very tough decision indeed to choose either Nokia C7 or Nokia N8 , both the phones run the latest reincarnation of Symbian i.e Symbian ^3 , both has the same software features and the only place they differentiate is in looks and hardware offerings  with user available memory being another factor.

The Looks

Where Nokia N8 looks sturdy and sporty with sharp curves , Nokia C7 with it’s all round corners and black trim looks sleek and sexy .  If looks are the deciding factor , Nokia C7 has our vote . It does not has the protruding camera housing at the back nor it’s as thick as Nokia N8 , holding it in the hand just feels right and  the phone is versatile enough to be taken to a club or taken to a business meeting and it will look right at home.

The Screen

Both Nokia C7 and N8 features a 3.5 inch AMOLED screen , but they differ in screen properties , where Nokia N8 features Gorilla Glass ,i.e it won’t scratch ( easily ) if kept in pocket with keys and coins , Nokia C7 does  features CBD or Clear Black Display which makes Blacks more deep and Whites more bright  ( Our mistake CBD is on C6 not on C7 ) .  In our usage , we didn’t noticed the difference as much so we’ll go for N8 as we do carry coins and keys and our previous phone screens do tend to scratch a lot .

The Camera

A 12 MegaPixel Carl Zeiss on N8   will beat a Full Focus ( read no Auto  Focus )  Camera on C7 anytime , none the less the photos on C7 came out fine during the day and little blurry indoors .  Another deciding factor is the  flash , N8 features a Xenon flash excellent for taking night photographs while C7 features twin LED flash , which although works is not as bright as Xenon but again it works in video mode while N8’s Xenon flash does not  . So you decide which one you prefer.  We are photo people so stick with N8

Builtin Flash Memory

Nokia N8 comes with 16 GB Internal flash while C7 comes with 8 GB however they both support upto 32GB MicroSD cards but again N8 takes precedence as it’s memory card is hot swappable with the slot being on the side  while to insert or replace the memory card on C7 , we had to take out the battery and change the card , so even being hot swappable , the phone needs to be shut down.

External Connections

Nokia N8 comes with a number of external connectivity options and wires ,  it has HDMI Out , USB on the Go and regular TV Out ,  surprisingly , although  C7 does not come with any wires , it supports USB On the GO , thanks to supplied wires with Nokia N8 and it even supports TV Out through Nokia CA-75 cables ( supplied with N97 Mini )  , no HDMI our but the purpose on C7 was solved. The only damper here is non availibility of connectivity of wires with C7 , if they were given with the phone or available in the open market , C7 would have stood equal to N8  .  Our decision is based on that not everywhere we get HDMI connection and at many places TV Out works the best.

User Available Memory

Nokia’s tech dept works in strange ways , a phone capable of taking 12 MP photos is given just 175mb of User available memory while it’s younger sibling is given 357mb . Fortunately ,one of the big memory  hog , Nokia Messaging , now supports saving email on the largest available internal flash disk which is 16GB on N8 and 8GB on C7 so the advantage ends here .

Dimensions and Weight

Nokia C7 overall weighs 130g as compared to 135g on Nokia N8 and C7 is just 10.5mm thick with 117.3mm length and 56.8 mm breadth while Nokia N8 , is chunkier with 12.9 mm thickness , a length of 113.5mm and breadth of 59mm thus everyway N8 is thicker and wider  than C7 making C7 the sleeker of the two.

Over all although Nokia N8 has edge over C7 with it’s Gorilla Glass , Superior Camera and larger internal flash memory , but it all comes down to your need and purchasing budget , the software is the same and C7 feels snappier than N8 so if you want to have Symbian^3  functionality go for Nokia C7 , if you are looking for a replacement for your previous N86 8MP or don’t want to carry your DSLR every where go where N8 . The choice is yours