The general manager of Nokia UK, Mark Loughran, believes that the Nokia N97 is a better smartphone than the iPhone 3GS. To quote- “The new iPhone is an evolution rather than a revolution and for people trying to decide whether to get a Nokia N97 or an iPhone, it comes down to a decision on performance and value for money.”

Normally I would think nothing of a statement such as this, but I have just spent the past 4 days trying to get the Nokia N97 to do the simplest of things and failed to succeed in so many areas. Nokia also calls the N97 a ‘mini-computer’ because it has a keyboard and a larger screen, but the keyboard is hardly overly friendly and the screen is not the best outdoors.

Comparing the N97 to the iPhone is madness. It may have a better specification and technically do more, but it doesn’t work properly and there is little add-on software available that is worth buying. Love or hate the iPhone, it does most things very well indeed.

UPDATE: eccleshill posted the following on 247- “So why, Mr general manager of Nokia UK, do I wish I’d got an iPhone last week instead of the N97? The last few days have been a horrible experience trying to unbrick a device which refuses to function as normal. I’ve hardly got any use out of it, have lost important photos and videos of my grandson and found it slow, buggy and unreliable. After a hard reset this evening, I’m now getting functionality back. I have no doubt that it has the potential to be far superior to the iPhone. But I’m sorry to say, Mr general manager of Nokia UK, I wouldn’t recommend the N97 to anyone.”