"The scene was set. In a laboratory on the frozen January sea shores of Ostrobothnia, the two squared up to each other.
 

One of them was the undisputed King of the Hill. The Apple logo glowed softly in the dimmed interior of the lab. Not the ”5” that every iFan had yearned for, this, the ”4S”, had still managed to please the masses with its ease-of-use and its myriad of apps. The 4S stretched confidently as the researchers prepared the tests.
 

The other was the offspring of a wounded beast. Devastatingly slick, the Lumia 800 leaned against the wall, not fully being able to mask the pain from that 1 billion euro loss in Q4 of 2011. The Microsoft Windows logo gleamed in the light of a monitor as the Lumia slowly flexed its polymer exterior.
 

- We’re set, one of the researchers said, wiping sweat from his brow.
- We don’t have much time. Let’s go!

Without as much as looking at each other, the two phones headed off in the direction of the test persons.
 

- May the best phone win, the researcher said to himself, as he followed them through the door to the lab."
 

We have been conducting User Experience and Usability studies for close to a decade at our User Experience laboratory in Vaasa, Finland. Today we use the advanced combination of specially developed methodology paired with eye tracking goggles, EEG helmets and skin conductance measurement equipment, in order to give the most in-depth answers possible to the queries of different clients.
 

This test is a comprehensive test between the iPhone 4S and the Nokia Lumia 800; not a battery life test, not a clocking speed test, but a User Experience test to answer one question – which is the better phone to use?

Our study shows clearly that the iPhone has a brilliant reputation that will make users forgive flaws and challenges in the use of the phone. The Nokia Lumia on the other hand is seen as inferior, even though it actually is the better phone of the two in many instances.

To read the test, the discussions and the conclusions, check out our test summary here.
To enquire about testing services, please mail Sebu Björklund at sebu.bjorklund@abo.fi.

The leading business magazine Talouselämä is writing about the test in their 5/2012 issue. See the shorter web version here.  

Read the press release:
In English
In Swedish
In Finnish