Why Symbian Belle users must switch to Android rather than iOS or Windows Phone?

My first smartphone was Nokia N8 which featured Symbian^3 operating system, a 12 megapixels carl zeiss lens, 16GB + expandable microSD storage (hot-swappable) + FM Transmitter + USB on the go. I was too delighted with my new Nokia N8, 2 years back. I could do so much with that super awesome Symbian^3 smartphone and it was a great multimedia + gaming experience. Still I do have Nokia N8 and use it for my cellular, camera, fm transmitter & usb on the go needs. Symbian has been abandoned by Nokia and there was an immense need for me to switch to any other OS which is closest to Symbian. Unfortunately iOS and Windows Phone 8 are far away from Symbian Belle and Android Jelly Beans.

With the passage of time, smartphone market grew with Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android. While last year Windows Phone started to rise gradually. In addition to the Operating System battle, hardware specs battle also raised up. Below I’ll discuss why Android is the best alternative for Symbian Belle users like me and why iOS and Windows Phone suck.

Apple’s iOS is way too much restricted, iPhone users cannot even transfer music / song files without iTunes and USB cable. Users cannot transfer the content via Bluetooth unlike in any other Symbian Smartphone. Even Windows Phone 7.5 Mango didn’t allow users to send files over Bluetooth, with Windows Phone 7.8 and Windows Phone 8, this flexibility of Bluetooth file transfer has been introduced. Even now with Windows Phone 8 there is no default file manager application to manage the data within the phone.

Unlike Symbian, you cannot install / side-load the applications directly via File Manager. You must have to jailbreak your iOS and Windows Phone device in order to side-load applications. You cannot install .ipa & .xpa applications without App Store on default non-jailbroken iOS and without Windows Phone Market Place on your non-jailbroken Windows Phone respectively.

User interface of iOS and Windows Phone cannot be customized in the way, as you could do on your Symbian Smartphone. You cannot add widgets on iOS & Windows Phone. For minor customization like changing the phone’s themes, you’ll have to jailbreak your iOS and Windows Phone device unlike Symbian where you can easily install .sis / .sisx themes.

Both iOS and Windows Phone do not support USB on the Go, which is extremely important feature, that allows you to connect any usb storage device with your phone and transfer the files with immense ease + you can connect any USB enabled device like Keyboard, Mouse, LED, USB Portable Hard-drives of Terabytes.

• No HDMI out support

Neither iOS nor Windows phone have support for HDMI out, which is also an extremely important feature to deliver your content on wide screen LED TV.

Android resembles to Symbian Belle in terms of functionality, you can consider Android as the advanced version of Symbian Belle in terms of customization & value added features. Below we will discuss the common and advanced features among Android Jelly Beans and Symbian Belle.

• Homescreen, Widgets & Notification Bar

You can add up to 6 home-screens on Symbian Belle, while on Android Jelly Beans there is a flexibility to add virtually unlimited home-screens  You can add up tons of widgets which are available by default on Android and further could be downloaded for free from Google’s Play Store.  Pull-down notification / status bar works in the similar fashion, Android offers many advanced features in pull down notification bar.

• Live Wallpapers, Themes & Launchers

Android OS has a support for live animated wallpapers, custom launchers / shells (3rd party User Interface) like Go Launcher, SPB Shell 3D and tons of others. Which do have support for themes. And you can do this all customization stuff without any jailbreaking or rooting on your Android Smartphone.

• Apps & Games Availability & Installation

Google Play store offers tons of useful applications and HD games which can be easily installed on any Android Smartphone. You can even side-load .APK installation files without any restrictions with the help of default file manager. We at Android Fan Club try to deliver you latest popular Android Apps.

• USB on the Go Support

Like Symbian Belle smartphones, many high end Android smartphones have USB on the Go feature enabled. (USB OTG allows you to connect any usb storage device with your phone and transfer the files with immense ease + you can connect any USB enabled device like Keyboard, Mouse, LED, USB Portable Hard-drives of Terabytes)  You can use it even on your Samsung Galaxy S II and Galaxy S III.

• DLNA (WiFi Content Streaming) + HDMI Out Support

If you are Symbian Belle user & looking forward to switch to another smartphone OS then Android is probably the best option for you, in the light of above features and explanation. Recently Sony has announced Xperia Z Android smartphone which is water and dust resistant with full HD display and 13MP camera sensor.