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Nokia E90 vs iPhone 6s Plus video shows how much have 'communicators' changed

posted by Daniel P. / Dec 11, 2015, 5:54 AM

Oh, Nokia Communicator series, you were the epitome of high-end business cell phones, and your famed E90 representative hit the shelves concurrently with the handset that sent you into an oblivion, the original iPhone, back in 2007. Fast forward eight years and change, and Apple's latest mobile juggernaut, the 5.5" iPhone 6s Plus, is so far removed from the E90, as nobody would have believed in the spring of 2007.

Don't believe us? Just look at this comparison video of the two handsets above. The plumpy E90, with its physical keyboard, 4" internal and 2" external displays, an OMAP2420 processor on 330 MHz, and 128 MB RAM, has nothing on the thin and light iPhone with a screeching A9 chipset, and a high-res 5.5" display. Nothing but the nostalgia factor, of course, plus the fact that it is tough as a nail (pun intended).

Of course, the E90 was one of the most advanced handsets for its time, and had specs on par with the OG iPhone at launch. Check out the unorthodox comparison above, and tell us what you think about the smartphone evolution since that watershed 2007 moment.

Nokia E90 Communicator vs Apple iPhone 6s Plus vs Apple iPhone

Display

Display size

5.5 inches

3.5 inches

Resolution

800 x 352 pixels

1080 x 1920 pixels

320 x 480 pixels

Pixel density

401 ppi

165 ppi

Technology

TFT

IPS LCD

LCD

Screen-to-body

67.91 %

52.35 %

Peak brightness

500 cd/m2 (nit)

Additional display

240 x 320 pixels, Color, TFT, Colors: 16 777 216

Hardware & Performance

System chip

Apple A9 APL1022

Processor

Single core, 332 MHz, ARM11

Dual-core, 1840 MHz, Twister, 64-bit

Single core, 412 MHz

GPU

3D Graphics HW accelerator

PowerVR GT7600

RAM

0.1 GB

2 GB LPDDR4

0.1 GB

ROM

256 MB

Internal storage

0.128 GB

128 GB, not expandable

16 GB

OS

Symbian (9.2), S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 1

iOS (13.x, 12.x, 11.x, 10.x, 9.x)

iOS (3.x, 2.x, 1.x)

Battery

Capacity

1500 mAh

2750 mAh

1400 mAh

Talk time

5.80 hours

8.00 hours

Stand-by time

14.0 days (336 hours)

16.0 days (384 hours)

10.4 days (250 hours)

Talk time (3G)

24.00 hours

Internet use

3G: 12 hours; LTE: 12 hours; Wi-Fi: 12 hours

Music playback

80.00 hours

24.00 hours

Video playback

14.00 hours

7.00 hours

Camera

Rear

Single camera

Main camera

3.2 megapixels

12 megapixels

2 megapixels

Features

Autofocus

Sapphire crystal lens cover, Optical image stabilization, Phase detection autofocus, Back-illuminated sensor (BSI)

Specifications

Aperture size: F2.8

Aperture size: F2.2; Focal length: 29 mm; Sensor size: 1/3"; Pixel size: 1.22 μm

Video recording

640x480 (VGA) (30 fps)

3840x2160 (4K UHD) (30 fps), 1920x1080 (Full HD) (120 fps), 1280x720 (HD) (240 fps)

Features

Video calling

Optical image stabilization, Time-lapse video, Continuous autofocus, Video calling, Video sharing

Front

Yes

5 megapixels

Design

Dimensions

5.19 x 2.24 x 0.78 inches (132 x 57 x 20 mm)

6.23 x 3.07 x 0.29 inches (158.2 x 77.9 x 7.3 mm)

4.50 x 2.40 x 0.46 inches (115 x 61 x 11.6 mm)

Weight

7.40 oz (210 g)

6.77 oz (192 g)

4.80 oz (135 g)

Materials

Back: Aluminum

Biometrics

Fingerprint (touch)

Features

Full keyboard, Numeric keypad, Soft keys

Notification light

Shopping information

MSRP price

$ 949

Related phones

View Full specs

PhoneArena Rating:

9.1

Read Full Review

User Rating:

8.6

Based on 9 Reviews

Display 800 x 352 pixels

Camera 3.2 MP

Storage 0.128 GB

Battery 1500 mAh(5.80h talk time)

View Full specs

PhoneArena Rating:

9.2

Read Full Review

User Rating:

9.2

Based on 21 Reviews

Display 5.5" 1080 x 1920 pixels

Camera 12 MP / 5 MP front

Processor Apple A9, Dual-core, 1840 MHz

Storage 128 GB

Battery 2750 mAh(24h 3G talk time)

FEATURED VIDEO

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35 Comments

1. Sidewinder

Posts: 515; Member since: Jan 15, 2015

The glory days of Nokia.. I miss Nokia. My first ever smartphone was a Nokia and there was nothing I couldn't do with it back then.. We need Nokia to make a comeback. They are the only company which would dare to try new form factors while the companies today are just playing it safe and sticking with the tried and tested but boring form factor.

posted on Dec 11, 2015, 6:23 AM 9

3. -Shadow-

Posts: 95; Member since: Mar 26, 2013

Well the screen dictates it. Screen rectangular = phone rectangular, some small changes can be made, but dont expect weird designs anymore, not even from nokia (if they ever comeback)

posted on Dec 11, 2015, 6:53 AM 2

16. Sidewinder

Posts: 515; Member since: Jan 15, 2015

Would love to see a android touting E7-like design with a slide out keyboard...

posted on Dec 11, 2015, 8:07 AM 0

29. techperson211

Posts: 1280; Member since: Feb 27, 2014

They're just showcasing how fruty's phone is so "smart". Hahaha creating an article to highlight fruity. I'm a tech lover but this is beyond extreme, endorsing in every way and inserting fruity just for the sake of writing an article.

posted on Dec 11, 2015, 11:48 PM 0

7. cdgoin

Posts: 614; Member since: Jul 28, 2010

BlackBerry is still trying.. check the PRIV out..

posted on Dec 11, 2015, 7:31 AM 1

10. LetsBeHonest

Posts: 1548; Member since: Jun 04, 2013

I hope they come back to business. This time with Android(may be along with Windows too).

posted on Dec 11, 2015, 7:38 AM 0

2. Wiencon

Posts: 2278; Member since: Aug 06, 2014

I still have this E90, it was awesome device at that time, everyone was like, wow, when looking at it

posted on Dec 11, 2015, 6:42 AM 1

4. Johnnokia

Posts: 1158; Member since: May 27, 2012

Nokia communicator was the first real pocket PC in the mobile history

posted on Dec 11, 2015, 6:53 AM 4

8. cdgoin

Posts: 614; Member since: Jul 28, 2010

No.. the HTC Universal was

posted on Dec 11, 2015, 7:32 AM 0

14. tuminatr

Posts: 1169; Member since: Feb 23, 2009

The Nokia 9000 was the first smartphone most people think of but it was not the first. The IBM Simon released in 1992 was the first. The first windows phone that I am aware of was the HTC 9500 released in 2002http://www.phonearena.com/phones/HTC-9500_id403

posted on Dec 11, 2015, 7:56 AM 0

25. hemedans

Posts: 761; Member since: Jun 01, 2013

in reality IBM simon is not smartphone but feature phone. what make it smartphone?

posted on Dec 11, 2015, 3:54 PM 0

28. tuminatr

Posts: 1169; Member since: Feb 23, 2009

Why would you conceder it a feature phone? What makes it a feature phone? here is an article from Time http://time.com/3137005/first-smartphone-ibm-simon/

posted on Dec 11, 2015, 5:43 PM 0

35. cdgoin

Posts: 614; Member since: Jul 28, 2010

Yes sort of.. it was hampered with WM4.. The HTC universal had GPS, 640x480 screen, and much much more.http://www.phonearena.com/phones/HTC-Universal_id1336 We can all agree though most of what Apple came out with was repackaging what already existed.

posted on Dec 17, 2015, 3:36 PM 0

5. cnour

Posts: 2305; Member since: Sep 11, 2014

Apple reinvented cellphones and all the others followed. Thx god I'm fan of originality and not copies.

posted on Dec 11, 2015, 6:55 AM 1

9. cdgoin

Posts: 614; Member since: Jul 28, 2010

No they never invented a damn thing.. they just conglomerate everythign others are doing and blend it together. Rarely do they have an original idea.. even today "NEW" features on iPhones tend to have been done by other developers at Google/MS/HTC/etc.. etc.. etc..

posted on Dec 11, 2015, 7:33 AM 4

12. LetsBeHonest

Posts: 1548; Member since: Jun 04, 2013

Actually original iPhone was innovative. But never mind him he is just trolling .

posted on Dec 11, 2015, 7:40 AM 2

13. Dee79

Posts: 307; Member since: Jun 19, 2014

He said "reinvented"...

posted on Dec 11, 2015, 7:44 AM 1

17. threed61

Posts: 259; Member since: May 27, 2011

The original iPhone didn't seem very impressive at the time, but by popularizing capacitive touch devices, it killed Palm, WinMo, Symbian and Blackberry, all of which were designed for Dpad and stylus. ( I realize BB is still around, I'm typing on my Passport, but close enough to dead).

posted on Dec 11, 2015, 8:14 AM 0

21. HildyJ

Posts: 342; Member since: Aug 11, 2012

As far as Apple's innovation, you hit the nail on the head - a capacitive screen with an on screen keyboard was what changed the industry. It's too bad Palm's Treo went the Blackberry route instead of building on the Palm TX with its OSK.

posted on Dec 11, 2015, 1:27 PM 2

23. threed61

Posts: 259; Member since: May 27, 2011

I miss Palm most of all. It's an even greater shame that they insisted on making only keyboard devices with their webOS phones. Bigger screens and spending money on better build quality rather physical keyboards might have made a difference. Though they were probably just too late to the party.

posted on Dec 11, 2015, 2:03 PM 0

26. hemedans

Posts: 761; Member since: Jun 01, 2013

Maemo was first before ios (since 2004), even Apple was fined 600m and pay royalities for stealing Nokia touch screen technology.

posted on Dec 11, 2015, 3:58 PM 0

6. Rafishant

Posts: 405; Member since: Oct 13, 2015

Nokia E90 taken photos are still better than the one from the iPhona

posted on Dec 11, 2015, 7:10 AM 6

34. darkkjedii

Posts: 31644; Member since: Feb 05, 2011

You posted that strictly for likes.

posted on Dec 13, 2015, 8:16 PM 0

11. wabre

Posts: 3; Member since: Nov 19, 2015

when i think of the Nokias and also Motorolas, i actually have some memories which make me laugh and i can associate something with them. with todays phones (and since you wrote the article about them - iphones), it's just... next please..

posted on Dec 11, 2015, 7:39 AM 0

15. nighthawk_al

Posts: 55; Member since: May 23, 2014

"the handset that sent you into an oblivion" yeah, right... all former Nokia users bought an iPhone... totally unbiased, as everything in this website. Btw, Symbian S60 still had more features than iOS has nowadays

posted on Dec 11, 2015, 8:05 AM 0

18. Podrick

Posts: 1285; Member since: Aug 19, 2015

Nokia E90 >>>>>>>>>>>> Every iPhone there is.

posted on Dec 11, 2015, 8:15 AM 0

19. Tizo101

Posts: 605; Member since: Jun 05, 2015

Can I argue that it's not just the iPhone that killed Nokia but a number of things... Android is in there, blackberry also. In fact, Apple might have played a lesser role. Now if you were talking about blackberry then I would agree but not forgetting android as well. Android seems to be the next windows.

posted on Dec 11, 2015, 8:16 AM 0

20. mixedfish

Posts: 1567; Member since: Nov 17, 2013

Android definitely killed off Nokia's last niche with ultra cheap phones for the 3rd world countries. Where Nokia was still making a killing selling basic phones for $20-$50 out came those Chinese OEMs making a full smartphone for the same price.

posted on Dec 11, 2015, 8:43 AM 0

27. hemedans

Posts: 761; Member since: Jun 01, 2013

Elop killed Nokia and not Android. Nokia stop building symbian s60v3 phone 2010 (nokia E5 and C5 was the last one) and instead replace them with Nokia Asha. At that time Nokia sold around 400m phones per year. when Android and chinese oem enter low end smartphone market there were no single new low end symbian smartphone thats why they find it easy. even today symbian would still be popular and dirty cheap thats why Microsoft/Nokia they were scared to make symbian open source so that anyone could use it