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Symbian is making its big play in 2009, and two phones are leading the charge: the Nokia N97 and the incredible Sony Ericsson Idou. Let's see how they stack up against each other...

Nokia N97 - taking Symbian to the next generation

After the triumphant launch of the Nokia 5800, which was only ever meant to be a mid-range phone, Nokia need a new top-ender to really wow the public. And that top-ender is the hyper-powered Nokia N97. It takes the brand new Symbian Touch interface, and adds in bags more power, as well as a full QWERTY keyboard. Even starting with the looks, it's a truly stunning phone, with sleek surfaces and a minimalist design making the Nokia N97 truly a beautiful sight to behold.

However, the impressive nature of the Nokia N97 doesn't end with the exterior, as it's what's inside that really impresses. Equipped with a 5 megapixel camera, it effortlessly switches from phone to camera, letting you leave your separate camera at home. And then, of course, there's the media player, and with a massive 32Gb of integrated memory, the Nokia N97 lets you leave your mp3 player at home. And, of course, with HSDPA data speeds, and WiFi, the Nokia N97 even morphs into a miniature laptop when you need it to. It's quite simply an astounding phone.

But there IS a phone that can beat it...

Sony Ericsson Idou - the ultimate Symbian phone?

Announced at the Mobile World Congress, the Sony Ericsson Idou takes the same Symbian OS seen in the Nokia 5800 (which is a good comparison, as both are keyboard-less), but refines it, adding a bespoke Sony Ericsson interface on top. It's much more optimised for finger control than either of the Nokias, and because of that, the Sony Ericsson Idou takes the crown in terms of usability. In terms of features, it may not have the QWERTY keyboard you get with the Nokia N97, but with a massive screen, and a much slimmer body, that's not an issue. Oh, and of course, it matches its features (except for built-in memory), but the Sony Ericsson Idou has one killer feature that beats the N97 hands down: the camera. The Idou is the first phone announced for the UK that features an enormous 12 megapixel camera. It may lack the keyboard and built-in memory of the Nokia N97, but it's still the better phone. It's so good that many are predicting it may well be the phone of the year!

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Nokia N97, Nokia 5800, Sony Ericsson Idou