The iPhone may get more airtime on U.S. television commercials, but Nokia smartphones command a larger market share in numerous markets worldwide. Nokia smartphones are powered by Symbian, a revolutionary operating system that’s as intuitive as it is powerful. In fact, Symbian is currently the leading smartphone OS worldwide. Let’s check out some of the phones and identify the best Symbian phone.

Nokia N97 - $699

The Nokia N97 (retail $699) was released in June, 2009. Its features include a sliding / tilting touch screen with a 640 x 360 pixel display, 32GB of internal memory (with support for an additional 16GB of microSD memory) and, a 5-megapixel camera. The N97’s web browser supports Java, HTML, and Flash Lite. For input, the N97 has both touch screen input, a full QWERTY keyboard, and handwriting recognition capability. It has GPS support (Nokia Maps) and a digital compass. The N97 also runs media (audio and video), allows video and photo editing, and has a document viewer for MS Office files and PDFs. Overall, the Nokia N97 is a powerful phone with a powerful pricetag. Try to get the price of this phone lowered by buying it as part of a new service contract or a renewal.

Nokia E71

The Nokia E71 (retail $449) is an older but more popular Symbian phone. Though Nokia has added newer phones to its enterprise line (Eseries) of phones, the E71’s stability and solid capabilities have made it a lasting favorite. In addition to its 3G internet connection, the E71 has 802.11 b/g wireless capabilities, its browser supports XHTML and HTML sites, and it allows tethering for laptop modem use. Its business functions are strong, including push email notification, Microsoft Exchange Servers support, and the ability to view and edit MS Office files. Typing and input are simple with the physical QWERTY keyboard on the front. The E71 will keep you on the right path with its built-in GPS and directions for walking, driving, or biking. The E71 isn’t just a business tool, however. It has a richly featured multimedia player and a 3.2-megapixel camera. Though the Nokia E71 isn’t the newest, fastest, or shiniest phone on the market, its reliability and stability have made it a useful classic for many customers.

Nokia N8 - $549

The Nokia N8 (retail $549) is the newest Symbian phone from Nokia, just released in October, 2010. Its brightest features are the AMOLED touch screen, a 12-megapixel camera, HDMI output for media sharing, free lifetime GPS navigation, and web TV access. The N8 boasts nearly seamless social media integration for sharing photos, videos, and events through Facebook or Twitter. It has an application store with thousands of apps for gaming, media, and functionality. Its camera takes 720p video and offers geo-tagging and face-recognition on still photos. It runs on 3G network and Wi-Fi, and comes in five different colors. These features (and more) come together to make the N8 the best Symbian phone for business and fun.