Preview of the Nokia N900
The Nokia N900 is a pivotal device for the Finnish manufacturer with the potential to catapult the firm back to the top of the smartphone pile or condemn it to another underwhelming launch. For the uninitiated, the Nokia N900 bears a striking resemblance to Nokia's previous flagship device; the Nokia N97. The combination of a resistive touchscreen and slide out QWERTY keyboard feature in both phones and it's much the same case in many other areas of the phone save for one important detail; the operating system. Symbian has long been the OS of choice for Nokia's flagship devices so a departure in favour of the relatively unknown Maemo OS is risky and exciting in equal measure. Join us as we take a first look at the Nokia N900 in our preview.
To compare the N900 with the N97 in terms of design is perhaps selling the N900 short. Yes both feature a slide out keyboard and touchscreen but side by side the N900 is easily the more appealing device. The touchscreen on the N900 is 3.5 inches which dominates the front of the phone as you would expect. In a first for a Nokia touchscreen phone, the N900 features no physical keys on the front of the phone until you slide out the QWERTY keyboard. The slide mechanism on the N900 is reassuringly stiff and finishes with a nice click into position. The keyboard itself is a 3 rowed affair with nicely rounded keys that are large enough to accommodate high speed text input. Sliding the keyboard shut is equally as satisfying and there is little give when the phone is closed making it just as enjoyable to use with or without the keyboard. On the right side we find the camera capture key, zoom/ volume rocker and oddly the power button and on the opposite side a smooth surface populated only by the top lip of the stylus at the bottom (which slides neatly into the body when not in use). At the top of the phone we find the first of the two stereo speakers and the microUSB charging point and at the bottom sits the second speaker, 3.5 mm audio jack and a sliding lock key. Lastly, on the back of the phone we find the camera and a kickstand (as previously seen on the N96 and N86 8MP).
The N900 is quite a chunky handset at 18 mm thick which when compared to the likes of the iPhone 3GS which comes in at 12.3 mm, does sound rather on the large side. The length and width of the phone aren't too exaggerated though and if anything this chunkier design gives the N900 a sturdier feel to its slimmer rivals. Not that I'd recommend throwing it around but it's nice to have faith in a phone that you could well be using for over 2 years. The minimalist design works well; the phone looks great in the absence of physical buttons on the outside and the high quality materials used give the N900 an extra touch of class. The glossy plastics that surround the screen combine nicely with the metallic border that frames it and the matte black finish on the back feels nice in hand and looks just as good.
The 3.5 inch touchscreen on the N900 sports 800 x 480 pixels which make for an incredibly sharp and crisp display. The touchscreen employs resistive technology meaning multi-touch is sacrificed in favour of the aforementioned stylus. The phone features kinetic scrolling meaning swiping through menus and navigating is nice and responsive. In the absence of multi-touch, zooming in applications and online is handled by either double tapping or swirling on screen. All in all, the touchscreen user experience is fluid and incredibly user friendly. The display reacts to light prods instantly so you won't find yourself jabbing at icons to launch an application. The N900 is hands down the best touchscreen Nokia have made.
Ask anyone about the N900 and the main talking point has been the operating system. Where as in the past Symbian has been the operating of choice for top of the range Nokia's, this time the manufacturer has decided on a new direction and chosen to run the N900 on the Linux based Maemo 5 operating system. This isn't a huge gamble as Nokia have been using Maemo in their internet tablets for years but it does show a massive shift in the direction of the company. The idea behind Maemo is to bring a desktop experience to a mobile device and with that in mind the N900's home screen mirrors that of a desktop PC. Applications populate a mini desktop and can be called upon with a simple click on screen. Tapping on a dedicated application icon will display all apps that are currently running as icons on screen. From here it is simple to switch between open apps and close them as needed. In addition to this, users can set up multiple desktops and set them up to specialise in different areas such as a desktop for online content, multimedia and messaging. On the subject of messaging, the N900 follows in the footsteps of the Palm Pre by compiling all your messages into seamless conversations. So, if you start a conversation via SMS then continue it in an instant messenger client, Maemo will store the message in one location.
As with any smartphone platform with aspirations to be the best, the N900 will be fully supported by a dedicated area of the Ovi apps store supplying Maemo users with a range of enhancements. One application that is currently being developed is the Mozilla Firefox web browser that promises to deliver the best mobile internet experience yet. Desktop features such as tabbed browsing, customising search engines within the browser and synching your most frequently viewed sites from you PC to your phone have all been previewed on the N900. We'll reserve judgement till we've had a dedicated playtest with Maemo but from what we've seen so far, Maemo is streets ahead of Symbian and could really shake up the smartphone market.
On the inside, the N900 sports an ARM Cortex A8 processor with a clock speed of 600 MHz. The same processor as seen in some of its key rivals including the iPhone 3GS, the N900 is suitably snappy opening applications instantly and switching between the various desktops with ease. A slick new operating system is nothing without the hardware to back it up and thankfully the built in processor, backed up by up to 1GB of application memory, keeps everything running smoothly. In addition to the impressive processor and RAM, the N900 features 32GB of internal memory providing ample storage for applications, hours of video and thousands of music tracks. And as if this wasn't enough the N900 also packs in a microSD card slot so you can expand the memory by a further 16GB.
In terms of features, the N900 is a more than capable feature phone. The 5.0 Megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics is supported by autofocus and a dual LED flash. We've yet to try out the camera on the N900 but expect it to perform comparably to the N97. The phone features HSDPA and Wi-Fi, GPS with A-GPS support and a built in digital compass (so the phone knows which way you're facing, perfect for on foot navigation), a built in MP3 player and FM transmitter (allowing you to play your music through any FM radio within a 10 meter radius), TV-out and Bluetooth v2.1. Put simply, the N900 is one of the most fully featured phones Nokia have ever made. We'll put these through there paces in a dedicated review but from first impressions everything appears to be present and correct.
From what we've seen so far of the N900, it certainly looks as though Nokia have turned a corner. Maemo was specifically designed for touchscreens and you get this impression as soon as you pick up and use the phone. What's more, Nokia have included impressive hardware to back up the excellent new OS and packed it into a phone that finally feels on a par with its key rivals in terms of design and build quality. We've yet to see how the other areas of the phone are shaping up but provided Nokia can deliver a quality phone in the areas we know it's capable of, the N900 could succeed in bringing a desktop user experience on a portable device.
Dan, Mobiles.co.uk
Pricing
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