Nokia N900 Review

Rating: 4

The Nokia N900 is a new breed of device for the Finnish company as it’s the first device to use the Maemo 5 operating system. The Nokia N900 is intended to be seen as an internet tablet but as we’ve seen from the hype around this device, it could well be the first of a new breed of Nokia phones. So, does it live up to the hype? Check out our Nokia N900 review and judge for yourself…

On the surface of it the Nokia N900 takes a lot from the Nokia N97 smartphone. So, you’ll find a 3.5-inch touchscreen, albeit with a beefed-up resolution of 800 x 480 pixels, there is a QWERTY keyboard and then there is 32GB of internal memory.

Check out the Nokia N97 full review

Then there is the connectivity, with the Nokia N900 delivering HSDPA, Wi-Fi and GPS. Furthermore, the Nokia N900 also offers up a 5-Megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics the same as the Nokia N97. In terms of similarities that is pretty much where the two devices part ways.

The screen may have a better resolution, making it perfect for using as an internet tablet but we also found it highly responsive and moving from screen to screen is smooth and lag free.

When it comes to the QWERTY keyboard, you’ll find that Nokia has done away with the hinge arrangement of the Nokia N97 Mini in favour of the more traditional slider. Once the screen is popped open, the Nokia N900 keyboard is revealed as having more in common with the Nokia E72 than any other device.

We found the keyboard on the Nokia N900 incredibly easy and pleasing to use, making it perfect or texting as well as social networking. The large sized keys being flush together and having a rubber feel to them make for a pleasing experience.

What really makes the Nokia N900, however, is the Maemo 5 operating system that is simply a pleasure to use. The multiple Homescreens and use of widgets to populate them is nothing new but it feels highly intuitive on the Nokia N900. It’s also possible to have multiple apps open at the same time and switch between them with no signs of lag or delay.

Verdict
The Nokia N900 isn’t without its problems – the OS isn’t as rock solid as we’d hoped but a firmware update or two will solve that and the handset itself is on the chunky and thick side. However, slight niggles aside, the Nokia N900 is a fantastic first-stab at a whole new class of device and one we simply love using!

Best features
Great screen resolution
Fantastic OS
Nice QWERTY keyboard

Not so good
Chunky design
Screen can be slow

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