Overview of Internet Telephony Clients for Symbian 9

Hey. Rostik and I did a review of VoIP clients for smartphones based on Symbian 9. Here we have an overview of the features of the programs, a comparison of the quality of communication and the traffic consumed, but since few people use Internet telephony on mobile, first we give a small educational program that you can skip.

Typically, calls between Internet users are free - you can make calls to your computer and mobile with the entire VoIP client through the Internet. There are a sufficient number of services that provide this service: Skype, Mail.Agent, GoogleTalk and others.
For ordinary phones for which VoIP is not implemented, there is another option - all kinds of paid services such as Callback (Talkonaut for Java) and making calls through a gateway (Skype Lite), when the program makes a phone call to its gateway, and Internet telephony starts from there. In addition, there is the possibility of making a call from a mobile to another phone via the Internet, in this case VoIP is activated, and then the call to the subscriber continues through the gateway. For example, on Skype this service is called SkypeOut, calls cost money and are charged per minute. You can pay for such services through Webmoney / PayPal, as well as by credit card or an ordinary recharge voucher.

The review did not include programs that did not want to work (Octrotalk, Yeigo), paid programs (IM + for Skype, TiVi, because if you want to pay for a VoIP client, your referent will choose the right program), as well as official Skype Lite, since it is not native, but written in Java, and conversations there are carried out by calling through a mobile network to a special gateway and are relevant only to owners of tariff plans with unlimited calls. So we settled on Talkonaut , Nimbuzz and Fring .

In this review, we were primarily interested in Skype and GoogleTalk, however, the reviewed programs perfectly support a rather impressive number of protocols (including SIP), but for Gizmo you can find the mobile client on the project website.

Talkonaut

   
Supports (via GTalk2VoIP-gateway): Jabber, Google Talk, ICQ, AIM, MSN, Yahoo, SIP and Skype.

A good program for chats and conferences, good support for Jabber, but the calls have let us down. Here for voice calls using its own gateway GTalk2VoIP. You can call Google Talk, MSN, Yahoo, and SIP for free. But Skype calls - either for $ 5 buy unlimited, or be content with demo calls lasting three minutes. In addition, through the same GTalk2VoIP, you can call regular phones at prices that are on average about a quarter cheaper than with SkypeOut.

Account replenishment in GTalk2VoIP is carried out through WebMoney and PayPal, unlike Skype, which is replenished even with a credit card or Privat24. According to our calculations, when depositing funds from a credit card to Webmoney, exchanging WMU (WMR) in WMZ and replenishing an account, the advantage in the price of GTalk2VoIP over SkypeOut is practically leveled.

Regarding the quality of voice calls - it is disgusting. It is very quiet even at maximum volume and the most fashionable codec, and Skype calls are made through the gateway, that is, not on your behalf, but with open_sky_38, for example.

Connection and network entry: 20 kb;
Minute of conversation in GoogleTalk: 280 kb;



There are two more programs - Fring and Nimbuzz. First, consider the issues that apply to both of them.

Fring, like Nimbus, has its own protocol and can call other fring mobile users directly. We turned fring on two phones and called from one to the other via skype and through fring. There is no difference in sound quality, which suggests that the same codec is used.


Chatik in Fring and Nimbus as a whole is second-rate, there is no history, copying the text from the conversation fails, if you sent a link, there is nothing left but to redo it.

There is no way to add Skype contacts, but Nimbuzz can add all the rest, and Fring can only add contacts from its network and ordinary numbers to the phone book.

You cannot initiate group calls and chats, but you can participate in group calls if you are invited there. Group chat is divided into individual ones.

Nimbuzz

   

Supports:
VoIP: Skype, GoogleTalk, Yahoo, MSN, SIP, Nimbuzz.
IM: ICQ, AIM, Facebook, Orcut, MySpace, Twitter, AIM, SchuelerVZ, StudiVZ and MeinVZ, Giovani, Hyves, Gadu-Gadu.

I was pleased with the possibility of using SkypeOut with the display of the current balance and the phone book. The sound quality is excellent. You can send files and take pictures with your phone’s camera.

The program itself is well-arranged, nice interface, the only thing that
guarded me - the red button to end the call does not break it, it just minimizes the program, but these are little things that you can get used to.

Sound quality: I heard the interlocutor on Skype perfectly both in WiFi and in 3G network. I was heard a little worse (a call to the test center confirms this, but everything is quite legible). But with GoogleTalk there are continuous troubles - the volume is good, but even on the high-speed channel jerks and delays sometimes start, which make the conversation unacceptable. The experiment was repeated on different phones and with different interlocutors - the result is the same. At the same time, the interlocutor hears me perfectly, but the user of the nimbus experiences inconvenience.

Measurement results:
Connection and network entry: 30 kb;
Skype conversation: 350 kb;
Minute of conversation in GoogleTalk 280 kb;
Standby time: 10-100 kb, depending on the status of the contact list.

Fring

   
Supports:
VoIP: Skype, Google Talk, MSN, SIP, Fring.
IM: ICQ, Facebook, Last.fm, Twitter, Orkut.

A funny program, once I used it for a long time. The main advantage over the others is the low traffic consumption - even using an ordinary EDGE to use the fringe is a real pleasure. Another thing is that on the wide channels the same codec is used, and of course the sound in the nimbus is far away.

Fring can use SkypeOut to call phone book numbers.

Connection and network entry: 20 kb;
Minute of conversation in Skype: 130 kb;
Minute of conversation in GoogleTalk: 130 kb;

We did not include a few more free programs (Yeigo, Octrotalk) in the review, because we didn’t succeed in getting Yeigo to call, and Octrotalk, which is offered for download on the official website, is not installed, because the file is broken.





Conclusions:
If you need Skype for voice calls and the channel is fast (WiFi or 3G) and not expensive - Nimbuzz ;
if you also need GoogleTalk, or expensive traffic, or low speed (for example, EDGE) - Fring ;
if you need chats and conferences, there is an exchange of links, etc., then you will have to endure the low volume of conversations in Talkonaut , because text communication is up there.
In addition, all reviewed programs support the reception and transmission of files.

I would like to thank Rostislav Forostyanoy ( Rroosstt ) for help with testing the programs and preparing screenshots.

Thanks for attention!