The most hyped Nokia device after 2008’s 5800 XpressMusic, the Nokia N900 is finally available in India. With an all new OS and interface and a bunch of new features, the N900 has arrived
The N900’s primary feature, the one that found itself front-and-center, is the all new, Linux based, Maemo 5 OS. Although I am pretty wary of new mobile OS-es, since plenty of the pre-existing ones themselves need more polish and refinement, the N900’s OS had me excited. This was primarily because Nokia first foray into touch with Symbian wasn’t ideal and now with a new OS and interface, I was expecting Nokia to correct all their past mistakes.
Well, the good news is that the new interface and OS works better in most counts than the S60 (that powered numerous devices such as the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, Nokia 5233, Nokia N97 and Nokia N97mini) did. The N900’s interface is really, really fast and very responsive. The interface still shares certain design similarities with the S60, but overall it is a completely new UI that works differently too. First, it does away with the left and right menu buttons’ instead the application’s main menu is right on top.
Well, the good news is that the new interface and OS works better in most counts than the S60 (that powered numerous devices such as the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, Nokia 5233, Nokia N97 and Nokia N97mini) did. The N900’s interface is really, really fast and very responsive. The interface still shares certain design similarities with the S60, but overall it is a completely new UI that works differently too. First, it does away with the left and right menu buttons’ instead the application’s main menu is right on top.
Also, to exit an open app, you either tap the ‘X’ at the top right corner or, if the application/menu allows it, tap on any blank spot outside the window. Another option allows you to tap the task manager button (if there are other apps open) or just exit directly to the apps menu. This is slightly confusing and takes some time to get used to but once you have used it enough, the UI feels quite intuitive. The touchscreen also works well and is both accurate and responsive. Scrolling through lists is helped by the kinetic flow which is much, much better than on the S60 phones.
I need to devote some part of the review on the N900’s multi-tasking capabilities. I won’t be exaggerating if I said that in terms of multi-tasking, the N900 shoots the ball square in the top right corner. I opened more than 12 applications in one go and the phone was still very usable. The N900 doesn’t let you forget its multi-tasking prowess either. If you have more than a single app opened, and you want to open a third app, you have to go through the task manager screen. On one hand, it’s a logical step since it lets you quickly switch between two open apps but it can also serve as an irritant as it adds an extra step when all you want is to go to the home screen or the main menu. Plus, the task manager only lets you close one app at a time, so it is tedious if you have many apps open.
I need to devote some part of the review on the N900’s multi-tasking capabilities. I won’t be exaggerating if I said that in terms of multi-tasking, the N900 shoots the ball square in the top right corner. I opened more than 12 applications in one go and the phone was still very usable. The N900 doesn’t let you forget its multi-tasking prowess either. If you have more than a single app opened, and you want to open a third app, you have to go through the task manager screen. On one hand, it’s a logical step since it lets you quickly switch between two open apps but it can also serve as an irritant as it adds an extra step when all you want is to go to the home screen or the main menu. Plus, the task manager only lets you close one app at a time, so it is tedious if you have many apps open.
So far, I am painting a pretty rosy picture about Maemo 5 but there are some downsides to it too and some pretty serious ones to boot. The most infuriating thing is that at the time of writing there was still no way to get the phone functioning in portrait mode. Yes, that’s not a typo; for the most part you can only use the phone in landscape mode. I know it’s supposed to be a ‘mobile computing device,’ but seriously, Nokia? Seriously? The accelerometer only kicks in when you hit the dialer button and there were no other apps that you could use in portrait mode. Reports online say that Nokia might soon release a firmware update that lets you use apps both ways but why wasn’t it taken care of before the N900 was launched? It’s quite inexplicable and frankly, it leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
The Nokia N900's Home Screen.
Other Features
The Nokia N900 comes with a nice set of pre-installed software, including a couple of games. These include Ovi Maps (with GPS but strangely, no voice navigation); trial versions of productivity software that lets you work with Word documents, Excel sheets, PowerPoint presentations and PDF files. The N900 lets you configure an impressive number of e-mail accounts from a bunch of service providers like Gmail, Rediffmail and even Sify.com. Of course, it supports Nokia Messaging and Mail for Exchange, so you can sync your office inbox with the device. You can also easily import contacts from Ovi Mail, Gmail, Facebook and other services. An interesting app is XTerminal that gives you command line access to all of the phone’s functions. The Nokia N900 also lets you access Nokia’s Ovi Store which features a lot of free apps of great quality but in terms of pure numbers, it still feels lacking when compared to the Apple App store and the Android Market.
When it comes to hardware, the N900 is all spec’ed out. It runs on the ARM Cortex A8 600 MHz processor and also boasts of the powerful PowerVR SGX530 graphics chipset. It has a massive 32GB of internal storage expandable by another 16GB using a microSD card. The phone also has a 5MP camera with dual LED flash and uses a microUSB port. It also supports 3G, Wi-Fi and GPS.
Design & Usability
The Nokia N900 a heavy and bulky device; it puts even the Nokia N97 to shame. Its bulk combined with its black body gives the impression of a serious, serious phone and not one that will draw attention with flashy colors or cute design. It’s also a solid device, built like the proverbial brick. There is little pointless movement in the phone’s body and the QWERTY keyboard slides out smoothly without any fuss. The keyboard itself is well designed with decently sized buttons and a rubberized finish. My only issue with it is its size. In this day and age when we have phones like the Motorola Milestone, the LG GW620 and the Samsung CorbyPRO with four-even five- row keyboards, the N900’s three row keyboard feels small. Also, there is no dedicated D-pad but fortunately there are dedicated direction keys within the keyboard.
The N900’s front is completely devoid of any hardware buttons but its sides do have a bunch of them. I generally had no issues with their placement but I did have one with the lock/unlock button that is strangely placed at the phone’s bottom (or in landscape mode- the right side). I know it isn’t much to complain about but it just felt awkward.
Browsing, Multimedia etc.
Browsing is supposed to be one of the Nokia N900’s strong points and I’m pleased to say that its definitely a great device to browse the Web on. The N900’s default browser was built with inputs by Mozilla and it works very well. The browsers rendering capabilities are superb and almost every site I checked out on it looked like it should. Plus, it’s one of the very few mobile browsers out there that supports Flash playback. The browser also lets you bookmark sites, open sites in new tabs and generally do everything that you expect from a modern day mobile browser.
The Ace of Spades in the N900’s repertoire is Mozilla’s newest Firefox browser made specifically for the Maemo 5 operating system and available for download now. While the default browser is very good, this version of Firefox is excellent. It makes it very easy to open a new tab or just look at all the tabs that are currently open. It also allows you to download more than 50 add-ons and also sync your passwords, bookmarks, history and tabs among others with your PC.
The Nokia N900 comes with a nice set of pre-installed software, including a couple of games. These include Ovi Maps (with GPS but strangely, no voice navigation); trial versions of productivity software that lets you work with Word documents, Excel sheets, PowerPoint presentations and PDF files. The N900 lets you configure an impressive number of e-mail accounts from a bunch of service providers like Gmail, Rediffmail and even Sify.com. Of course, it supports Nokia Messaging and Mail for Exchange, so you can sync your office inbox with the device. You can also easily import contacts from Ovi Mail, Gmail, Facebook and other services. An interesting app is XTerminal that gives you command line access to all of the phone’s functions. The Nokia N900 also lets you access Nokia’s Ovi Store which features a lot of free apps of great quality but in terms of pure numbers, it still feels lacking when compared to the Apple App store and the Android Market.
When it comes to hardware, the N900 is all spec’ed out. It runs on the ARM Cortex A8 600 MHz processor and also boasts of the powerful PowerVR SGX530 graphics chipset. It has a massive 32GB of internal storage expandable by another 16GB using a microSD card. The phone also has a 5MP camera with dual LED flash and uses a microUSB port. It also supports 3G, Wi-Fi and GPS.
Design & Usability
The Nokia N900 a heavy and bulky device; it puts even the Nokia N97 to shame. Its bulk combined with its black body gives the impression of a serious, serious phone and not one that will draw attention with flashy colors or cute design. It’s also a solid device, built like the proverbial brick. There is little pointless movement in the phone’s body and the QWERTY keyboard slides out smoothly without any fuss. The keyboard itself is well designed with decently sized buttons and a rubberized finish. My only issue with it is its size. In this day and age when we have phones like the Motorola Milestone, the LG GW620 and the Samsung CorbyPRO with four-even five- row keyboards, the N900’s three row keyboard feels small. Also, there is no dedicated D-pad but fortunately there are dedicated direction keys within the keyboard.
The N900’s front is completely devoid of any hardware buttons but its sides do have a bunch of them. I generally had no issues with their placement but I did have one with the lock/unlock button that is strangely placed at the phone’s bottom (or in landscape mode- the right side). I know it isn’t much to complain about but it just felt awkward.
Browsing, Multimedia etc.
Browsing is supposed to be one of the Nokia N900’s strong points and I’m pleased to say that its definitely a great device to browse the Web on. The N900’s default browser was built with inputs by Mozilla and it works very well. The browsers rendering capabilities are superb and almost every site I checked out on it looked like it should. Plus, it’s one of the very few mobile browsers out there that supports Flash playback. The browser also lets you bookmark sites, open sites in new tabs and generally do everything that you expect from a modern day mobile browser.
The Ace of Spades in the N900’s repertoire is Mozilla’s newest Firefox browser made specifically for the Maemo 5 operating system and available for download now. While the default browser is very good, this version of Firefox is excellent. It makes it very easy to open a new tab or just look at all the tabs that are currently open. It also allows you to download more than 50 add-ons and also sync your passwords, bookmarks, history and tabs among others with your PC.
Although, the N900 might seem like an out and out work device, it plays pretty well too. Although, the 5MP camera might not be the best I have seen in this segment, it shoots images that fall between the decent to very good scale. There were a couple of issues like a constant smattering of noise in almost all images coupled with some loss of detail. However, the images I shot were clear and had good color reproduction. The dual LED flash is very powerful and as a result the Nokia N900 is quite suited for low-light shooting. The videos I recorded were also pretty good and had decent frame-rates and details.
An outdoor and an indoor image shot with the Nokia N900's 5MP camera.
The N900’s music and video playback is noteworthy too. Although, I wish the N900’s music playback had more volume, there was nothing much else to crib about. The N900 also supports DivX/XviD playback so it was easy just pasting movies on to the phone and watching them.
Voices during calls on the N900 sounded a little sharp and compressed but overall it was fine. The N900’s battery was disappointing especially with the Wi-Fi turned on and it just about managed to last a day.
Voices during calls on the N900 sounded a little sharp and compressed but overall it was fine. The N900’s battery was disappointing especially with the Wi-Fi turned on and it just about managed to last a day.
Bottom Line
The Nokia N900 costs around Rs. 24,500 making it (to my surprise) a relatively inexpensive high-end smartphone. It serves up good performance on almost all fronts but the new OS’s issues such as the omnipresent landscape mode could serve as deal breakers. The N900’s strongest competition comes from the Nokia N97mini priced exactly at the Rs. 20K mark. In my opinion, the older Nokia edges out the new one thanks to its price-tag, dependable OS and good multimedia capabilities. Another great smartphone option with a full QWERTY keyboard is the Motorola Milestone, which, irrespective of sporting a more expensive price-tag, is a better smartphone. Overall, the Nokia N900 is a brave attempt by Nokia to make the perfect touch-based, super-powered phone and the N900, on its part, impresses in spite of its issues.
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