Today we compare two very similar Symbian utilities — Handy Taskman and Best Taskman. Neither will win any marketing awards for best product name, but both are great add-ons for your S60 smartphone.

Just like how you can “Alt” or “Apple”-tab between the open applications on your desktop computer, holding down the menu key on your Symbian s60 v3 device will show you a list of what’s currently running on your handheld, as in the screen grab above.

Handy Taskman uses the same shortcut key to produce a more detailed full-screen view of your handheld’s current goings-on, including (from the bottom of the right-hand column) the available space on your removable memory, available space on your phone’s built-in memory, the current RAM usage and, in case you missed it on your home screen, the current date and time.

Even better, Handy Taskman gives you the ability to instantly kill any stubborn programs that have locked up or won’t quit properly. It’s the equivalent of “Force-Quit” on the Mac or “Control-Alt-Delete” on Windows desktop computers.

There’s also an additional quick-start screen where you can launch an application simply by entering the first few letters of its name. That’s handy… Oh, now I get it!

But another Taskman has appeared to take Handy Taskman to task — I can’t believe I just wrote that. Anyway, here’s Best Taskman. At first glance it doesn’t live up to its name. For starters it takes the same information that Handy Taskman gives you and divides it between two screens, as you can see above.

But what’s this? From this second screen you can delve deeper into the inner workings of your S60 device…

… And see a list of all running processes on your phone! Even if, like me, you’re absolutely clueless as to what any of this stuff means, it shows that Symbian is a lot more open than a hiptop or iPhone.

Oh, and the “Kill” command can be found within this same sub-menu. Not quite as handy as — well, you know…

Best Taskman also features a quick-start screen, but this one you have to pre-load with your most oft-used apps.

And if that weren’t enough, there’s another way to switch between the programs running on your device. Holding down the “Shift” and “Menu” keys will produce this quick select floating window, for those occasions when every second counts! Kinda breaks the S60 user interface, though…

The Verdict

So it’s pretty clear that these two products are aimed at slightly different users. Handy Taskman delivers on its promise while Best Taskman lets you get your geek on and tunnel deep into the inner workings of your phone.

And as you’d expect, neither of these powerhouse utilities are free. But here’s what you probably wouldn’t expect:

Handy Taskman, the lesser of the two with respect to features, costs twice as much as its supposed better!

Handango.com currently has Best Taskman selling for $9.95 USD and Handy at a whopping $19.95 — both are available to try out for free, though Best Taskman’s trial is also twice as long, two weeks to Handy’s one.

Handy Taskman’s elegance and focus may be worth a premium to you, but for me Best Taskman ultimately lives up to its name. Unless they decide to call it “Best Cheaper Taskman”…?