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Sleeper

7:49 AM on 16 December, 2009

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Nice review. The N900 reeks of being a prototype to test the waters. I suspect we'll be seeing slimmer, cap screen models in late 2010 early 2011.

Quite tempted by this - it's a bit big but I get the feeling that the development community are going to do big things with it in terms of software.

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SebastianMason

9:36 AM on 16 December, 2009

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Couldn't agree more, I was convinced on getting this device. I'm sick and tired of being treated like a Beta tester with Nokia, and now they release this, I feel like an Alpha tester now

Don't get me wrong, this devise is brilliant. But it's just not quite the finished product it should be. No excuse for a resistive screen (Not multi-Touch) and the shoddy video recording.

With Symbian 3 and 4 just around the corner, and only one other Maemo 5 device coming out in 2010, I just don't know if it's an OS I want to warm to. They could scrap the project all together. It's too confusing for my liking; they should have just stuck with Symbian.

Nokia’s Cogs are just too big, and turn too slow. But hopefully by 2012, they should be back to the former glory they once had, they need to slim down and streamline their products.

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Mattj

10:14 AM on 16 December, 2009

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One major issue that you didn't mention is that it does not currently support SIM cards from 3 that a newer than a couple of years old. The issue has been fixed internally, but we are just waiting for it to be released. I have had mine for a couple of weeks, and it is an excellent device. The UI is really fluid, the browser is excellent. With youtube videos I have found that the first few seconds are a bit jerky, but after that it is perfectly watchable.

The maps application is terrible compared to Wayfinder on the previous Maemo Devices, there isn't an option to purchase Voice guidance as it is an older version, and getting maps on it is currently a pretty manual process. There is a good selection of applications being developed and ported from earlier Maemo versions. The Ovi store is still 'Coming soon' but the Maemo 5 repositories are starting to fill out. Personally I prefer the resistive screen, as you can use a fingernail to click a link instead of zooming in all the time, which with the high dpi screen is common. It gives you the feeling of using the whole web, instead of through a little window with masses of scrolling.

The camera isn't brilliant, but it's OK. I do like having the lens cover, which was something I was worried about with my previous phone. It's fine for quick photos, although they can get a bit grainy. The front facing camera is pretty terrible, but it's something that most people never use.

Overall, it's good, and Maemo is showing real promise. For non geeky users, it's probably best to give it a couple of months to wait for the infrastructure to be there, and some bugfixes to be released.

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hoisin

10:50 AM on 16 December, 2009

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i own a N900 (in fact am making this post with it) and am very happy with it. Having moved from a Palm Pre which admittidly had to most user friendly o/s i have ever used... I have no issues with the screen no being resistive... infact i probably prefer its accuracy when selecting specific links on the web.

The review failed to note that portrait mode is coming in an update before the end of Dec (according to Nokia) & neglected to mention that the screen resolution is the highest of any mobile phone available.

speed wise the devise is fine, is not lighteningly fast buts its not painfully slow either. speed increases are liekly to come in time... have not tried the video recording... so cannot comment on that.

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csencil

11:05 AM on 16 December, 2009

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This is sad. I am not used at seeing TR "reviewing" products they have not had in hand... An advice: if you want to keep having people browsing your website, please do not copy paste other reviews again, this is blatant here. Thanks.

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Ed

11:20 AM on 16 December, 2009

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@Hoisin: The screen resolution is the same as many other models that have been out for a good deal of time. Also, I'd say it's fair to criticise it for not having portrait mode, even if it is coming soon - it should be there in the first place.

@csencil: On what do you base this ascertion that Niall hasn't actually reviewed the product? Or more importantly that he has copied and pasted it?

Also, please don't email us directly AND comment at the same time. Choose one or the other and give us a moment to respond.

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Niall

12:14 PM on 16 December, 2009

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@Hoisin: As Ed says, the display res is relatively common now on other high-end handsets. As for portrait mode, I can only really review the phone on the basis of what it has now, as promised updates/new features don't always actually appear.

@csencil: I can assure you I have the N900 sitting right here on my desk and there's no copy and pasting going on. Frankly, I find your comment offensive. The review is from my experience with the handset, and most who own it and have posted here seem to agree with all the main points I made.

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mb2251

12:15 PM on 16 December, 2009

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Perhaps adding to the review then that pervasive portrait mode is coming in a near future firmware update would be fair?

I am looking forward to trying this phone out, the multitasking looks seriously impressive and having a usable flash implementation in the browser is a real boon.

I think that the built in Gtalk and Skype implementations look on paper to be a great chance to use my data allowance on 3 that little bit more.... ;-)

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hoisin

12:25 PM on 16 December, 2009

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@ Ed

You are right in some ways re screen resolution. However when you compare it to many of its closest rivals.... Pre, IPhone 3gs, HTC Hero etc then there is a huge difference.

Portrait mode - there is a valid arguement to have included it, however it is due out relatively soon after release and perhaps worth a mention in the article.

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Ed

12:51 PM on 16 December, 2009

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@hoisin: That's not really the point. I wouldn't call this a rival to any of those devices you mention. It's, frankly, a brick so competes with the likes of the HTC HD2, HTC Touch Pro, and Motorola Dext. And, as I say, that resolution really is nothing special. It's been on devices for well over a year and hasn't really added much to the overall user experience. There's much more that defines the quality of a device than its screen resolution.

As for portrait mode, I take your point that it's out soon and I'll add a note to say as much but, as I say, it should've been there already. Also, just as csencil points out, we should be reviewing a real device and what was real at the time was a phone that didn't support portrait for many of its functions.

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drdark

1:19 PM on 16 December, 2009

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@Ed and @Niall: Don't get too worked up about trolls. We can spot them a mile off by now, so please just ignore them :).

As for the review, it seemed a bit short for such an anticipated handset, but I think you made valid points.

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rav

2:43 PM on 16 December, 2009

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My Hero only has a HVGA screen but to be honest I'm totally happy with it. I used to have a Diamond before which was VGA and wasn't happy about the downgrade but to be honest I've never really noticed. The phone is just so much better in every other way and I've never though the image wasn't sharp enough.

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farki80

3:43 PM on 16 December, 2009

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No offence, but the review was kinda disappointing.

For a high end device, Neill did not go into it as much as I think he should have. Where is the gallery for camera? If the LG Bl20 can have a gallery, I think the N900 deserve a bit better than a so-so comment. Also with 32GB of on board storage a paragraph or two about audio and video playback capabilities is to be expected. While I do not doubt that Niall has the actual device in hand, the review just came out more like an impression than an actual review. Nothing wrong with that, but I expected something a bit more than a Tracy & Matt review. And for a site with access to plenty of cameras, live pictures of the devices would have been great.

TR gave the iPhone 3G a 8 page review (not including the video review), and more for the 3GS (which is more or less the same device with a newer OS and processor). And here we have a Nokia flagship - the first Nokia smartphone with Maemo, as well as a new version of Maemo OS - which is quite a departure from previous versions. What gives?

I hope you take the critism to heart. Some of us genuinely like TR and want to see it improves.

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Chris

4:31 PM on 16 December, 2009

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It seems to me that one issue is at the root of the flaws that Niall pointed out, which is that this device isn't really a 'phone' per se. It's an internet tablet with some phone bits bolted on. This explains its penchant for landscape viewing, its initial lack of onscreen keyboard, the resistive touchscreen, the unusual choice of operating system and its chunky form factor. Nokia themselves don't refer to the N900 as a phone, but they use the term 'mobile computer' instead.

It just seems that if you really want a 'mobile computer' that also makes calls, you have to be willing to sacrifice some of the refinement that we've come to expect from our mobile phones.

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Aidey

4:37 PM on 16 December, 2009

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I agree with farki80..

This review is very disappointing, a four page review, it's almost an extended preview that have been done. This is Nokia's first Maemo OS phone for goodness sake!

It is also the first Nokia which allows playback of Divx and Xvid codec files without needing to be converted. Also even though it does not have a radio, Nokia have already posted up on the Maemo site whereby you can install a radio no problem

The camera is not the best 5mp one, it is not as good as my N85; it certainly does not have as many settings.

Now that Vodafone appear to be the first network (in the UK) to take this up, hopefully this will get Nokia to hurry and get the N900 ovi store up and running as VF are also carrying the iPhone from next month....

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Ed

4:48 PM on 16 December, 2009

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@farki80: Essentially, Niall is a freelancer that gets paid a set amount to write a review of a certain length. Photos from and of the device are not stipulated as part of this deal. In fact, this review is longer than he was comissioned for. That's pretty much the long and short of it.

Also, within the remit of writing a review of a set length it's important to pick out the salient points and gloss over the less important ones to save words. So whether this phone plays audio or divx video particularly well is given less emphasis than pointing out the fundamental failings of the device which is what most people want to know, i.e. should I buy this device or not? The answer is no, no matter how well it plays video or how new the operating system is.

Us in-house writers do, as you say, have access to cameras and (as we're not getting paid by the word) can have a bit more freedom to go to town on those products that we feel are more important or interesting. But, as I say, this simply isn't a device to get excited about unless you're a hopelessly rabid fan of Nokia.

All this said, we do appreciate your points in general and will endeavour to get pictures where and when possible. For a start, I will be getting in one of these to do a video review of it.

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drdark

5:02 PM on 16 December, 2009

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@Ed: I'm sorry to say your latest post didn't do TR any favours. Though I think I'll leave it to farki80 to point out why.

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Ataripower

5:22 PM on 16 December, 2009

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I don't wish to labour on the points previously raised regarding the quality and depth of this review, I only wish to agree with them at this point and can only hope that a 'proper' full length review that gives this phone the attention it deserves will be provided (perhaps after the first firmware update). What Nokia have achieved with this phone is to set the foundations for what could and in my opinion will be one of the most impressive mobile operating systems for a long time.

The key selling point for this phone is the 'desktop' like web browsing experience and this was only glossed over in the review. Its a truly fantsatic experience for a device this small.

Also why is this not being reviewed constructivly?? When the first Andriod phone was released it was nowhere near perfect, jeez when the first iPhone was released in 2007 I could provide a list as long as my arm of the features it was missing (basic features that other os had for ages)!!

It should have been made fundamentally clear that this phone / os is effectivly the first iteration and the first update will fix most of the key issues rendering all your negative points irrelevant. I must say i'm left feeling quite dissapointed with this, and hope readers will not be put off buying this!!

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olee

8:19 PM on 16 December, 2009

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I was looking for these info, but didn't find in the review:

- photos taken with the camera

- self-made screenshots of key applicaitons: calendar, contact list, home screen, web browser

- video recording of phone playing video from youtube (if speed is an issue for playback?)

- battery life with 3G and GPS enabled all time - why would I buy a table-phone device, if I switch those off; max talk time

- photos of the device in hand

I would be very happy for an update.

I see it uses the same battery as the Nokia 5700/5800 (BL 5J), this can be bought for a quite good prices in amazon etc. Why not charge an extra battery and swap - works great for my camera, mp3 player, bicycle lamp, laptop.

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Jawad Mateen

8:24 PM on 16 December, 2009

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Hi there everyone....

just to throw my own two 'paisas' on this, to everyone who's saying this review of the Nokia N900 is not 'constructive'... Is this an Android device or a new iPhone review? NO!! So, there you have it... I mean... I love TR but sometimes their scores just baffle me. a 6 for design? Now I know it's a brick and weighs 181g but it never was competing with the LG BL40 on the design front... The way this device looks and feels, it just screams 'NO NONSENSE FUNCTIONALITY AND PERFORMANCE'. And that's half the battle won right there kids...

Then again a 6 for value? It's not a 1st gen. iPhone or the G1 so shouldn't have been priced higher than a couple hundred bucks really! Despite sporting some of THE highest end features... I don't know why it doesn't deserve to be in the same price bracket as the N97, HD2 or the Moto Milestone...

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions though... there are some guys who'll take one look at this and they'll be like, "I can't fit this thing in my 'Man Purse'" and many will think of it as a beta device and wonder why they were not handed one for free testing.

No more change...

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farki80

11:35 PM on 16 December, 2009

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Hmm, I think all Ed did is confirmed that not all reviews here should not be taken seriously. Please mark future reviews done by freelancers so we can decide. Many of us are disappointed because this review is something many would expect to read in something like The Times, and not a dedicated gadget site like TR.

"So whether this phone plays audio or divx video particularly well is given less emphasis than pointing out the fundamental failings of the device which is what most people want to know, i.e. should I buy this device or not? The answer is no, no matter how well it plays video or how new the operating system is."

For a device marketed as a multimedia tablet, I do think that audio and video playback feature is incredibly important - and it is sad that no mention about video playback and audio quality is mentioned. Not everyone cares about the other aspect that you personally think is important. A good review on the other hand is supposed to cover everything and allows the reader to make up their own mind as to whether the supposed flaw is indeed a flaw.

Remember that Maemo and the N900 are desktop-like OS that is competing in a different market than traditional smartphone OS like Symbian. I am personally sticking to Symbian because I rather like my phone to perform as a phone first, but no doubt many (and I have friends who has the N900 for a couple of weeks - press kit) has agreed that the N900 offers a great mobile computing experience.

As for value, I paid £400 sim-free for an imate JAM (hardly cutting edge even in those days), so I personally think with 32GB of storage it offers incredible value. Hell, you can't even buy 32GB microSD cards yet and I am sure the first of these cards will retail above £100 when it appears next year.

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farki80

11:41 PM on 16 December, 2009

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"Us in-house writers do, as you say, have access to cameras and (as we're not getting paid by the word) can have a bit more freedom to go to town on those products that we feel are more important or interesting. But, as I say, this simply isn't a device to get excited about unless you're a hopelessly rabid fan of Nokia."

I would like to add that this statement is pretty insulting. Plenty of none-Nokia owners have seen and played with the N900 (yes I have had access to it) and are pretty darn excited about it. Not everyone cares about Google Android.

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CaptainHardcore

11:47 PM on 16 December, 2009

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What a waste of time it was waiting for and finally reading that review. I had been genuinely looking forward to the N900 being reviewed here and finding out whether my choice to opt for the E72 had been a wise one. I think I would have rather no review that what I just read.

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Gav66

8:11 AM on 17 December, 2009

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Nice to see the Nokia fanboys all came out to play today.

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Ed

9:59 AM on 17 December, 2009

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Okay, I'm not going to say anything else on this until I've had one in myself and shot a video review. Incidentally, I'll add pictures of the device and pictures taken with the device at this point as well. I would like to apologise for the 'rabid' comment, though, that was unnecessary.

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dev

10:58 AM on 17 December, 2009

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@Ed

But I'm hopelessly in love with Nokia and got bitten by a dog a couple of days ago...could I not be classed as a "hopelessly rabid fan of Nokia"? ;)

So the review wasn't up to the standards some of the readers of this website have. I think that is more a reflection on the high overall quality of the other reviews than any perceived lack of quality of this one. Fine it wasn't as detailed as others, if you are interested in the N900 (as I was) there are other places you can read up about it with much more in depth and involved reviews.

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sonisoe

11:58 AM on 17 December, 2009

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i think its a stunning device from OS point of view with superb multitasking capability and a quiet beautiful user interface... dont know where nokia is going whether maemo or symbian, if symbian is the choice, that OS needs a major overhaul, just bought an e72 and the user interface is just complicated (itll be a long comment to tell you how confusing it is.... and apps are not as polished as the iphone and android, that i beieve is the OS core limitations)

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csencil

4:05 PM on 17 December, 2009

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My original statement was too harsh. Sorry for that.

As "dev" says, your site generally provides very good articles and I am sure everybody here agrees with me on that.

This expectation of quality versus the level of detail of this article made me (and apparently I am not alone) pretty disapointed (maybe too much than it should have)

First, I am not trying to blame Niall or Ed: the order given was that a freelancer wrote a short piece. Everybody did its job here, but maybe the order given was misguided: as good or as bad you might think the n900 is, there can be no denying that it brings tons of new technologies. Whether you like Nokia or not, Maemo is an achievement in itself, just as Android and the Iphone sofware are.

Readers are interested in more than a material good here, not just in the n900 itself. They want to see was potential these technologies have and what they can bring to future products. There are tons of original concepts developped in this machine.

Anyway you gave us the ultimate answer: you are going to give a second look at it.

I am sure that this time we will see the great TR perspective.

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drdark

4:54 PM on 17 December, 2009

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@Ed: Thank you.

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DowntownBoy

6:47 PM on 17 December, 2009

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I am no Nokia fanboy. But I was surprised that the review of the N900 was so brief. The N900 is a major bit of kit. For all the reasons that others have mentioned. For goodnessake contrast the review with the space given to the recent review of the Apple Airport Express that has been around for ages

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Vince

10:39 PM on 17 December, 2009

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I must admit I am pretty disappointed by the N900 itself just because of the obvious shortcomings it has. I've bought every nokia communicator, the E90, and the N97 - all of which I paid full whack for on day one of the release.

This is the first pre-order I've ever cancelled. My N97 will be staying - it isn't perfect (but miles better with recent software compared to release), but the N900 isn't good enough, or even close enough to warrant another 500 quid of my hard earned.

Nokia has a funeral coming...

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Misael

3:22 AM on 18 December, 2009

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To make the long story short, this review is clearly an example of iPhone fan failing to trying to look unbiased, a good proof.

#1 they gave the device 8/10 to one of the top feature rich devices anybody can find right now.

#2 6/10 in design to a device that mayor part of owner find very comfortable, sure is not as slim s iPhone but have you figure out that the Nokia is not trying to copy the iphone? instead to make a better device, ok is more bulkie but does the iphone have phisical keybord?, have you considere the camera in N900 is stronger and have flash? and the micro SDHC card slot? the integrated stand to make it easy to watch content on a desk? there is maybe more but it may be enaugh with this by now.

#3 the price I see the N900 on a price on par with competition considering unlock prices, maybe the review compare the price of an iphone under contract wich is not fair.

#4 Then the value, I've been watching the mobil industri from long ago, i'm motorola user from years (now ROKR E6 if it matter) but looking to my next investment I refuse the iPhone close politics (you may know wich close politics I'm talking about and will obiate), the android is semi-close, motorola is bad supporting their devices and spetialist in packaging beautiful but weak devices, then the only true freedom is ofered by Nokia righ now and before too, the the future may be the same. I'm tired of compromises, yes app library is not mega big but it will change very soon so I'm not programmer but read somewhere maemo implements an practicaly extremely easy language to program.

So over all if you are spetialist in iphones just review iphones and let the people that may appreciate the diferent things to do this kind of hard work of having to handle other that that.

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olee

9:27 PM on 18 December, 2009

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I am very disappinted that after positng this article, which misses a lot of information, I posted a comment with a few links to other articles on the web, you moderate out my comment. If you post such an article, which misses for me so many information, at least take the courage not to censor out links to other sites.

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Ed

10:09 AM on 20 December, 2009

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Hi olee, I'm not sure who declined your comment but I'm sure it wasn't intentional. Sometimes when we're approving a lot of comments and we see one that's just a lot of links we go into auto pilot and decline it thinking it's someone spamming/self promoting. Feel free to post the links again, if you like. Though bare in mind, if people do want other info, they can just google it.

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Rickysio

7:16 AM on 22 December, 2009

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It might be the heaviest phone on the market now, but that's because there's quite a lot of metal inside it. Probably to help cool off the Cortex A8 processor, what with it having to deal with REAL desktop Flash, instead of Flash Lite the other phones sport.

And about the screen - it is the 2nd smartphone (not tablet) with a WVGA 16.7mil colour screen, and the first (LiMo mobiles from Samsung for Vodaphone) is a very niche product.

And for one of the game changing products on the market, it SURE is amusing to deem it as a minor release.

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RichardFitzpatrick

10:16 AM on 23 December, 2009

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Hi

Enjoyed the review of the N900. I actually went out and bought one, and although I haven't tried all aspects of it yet, I am very happy with it.

I think that the reviewer was a bit harsh on judging the form factor and the landscape only mode for everything except the phone. I actually like the fact that it runs in landscape mode. I do admit that it would be better to have the choice, but I think that most of the time, I would use it in landscape mode even if the choice existed.

The phone is chunky, and that will turn some people off, but it's not excessively heavy. For me, it's not really an issue.

The battery life isn't great, but it's as good as the iphone roughly speaking - as the reviewer says, with most large touchscreen smartphones you're only going to get a day out of them.

The OS is, in my opinion, really great! It's head and shoulders above Symbian. The multi-tasking is smooth and seamless, and it is so easy to switch between applications. It's so much better in this respect than anything else I have used.

I really like the way that skype is integrated into the OS and the contacts. Sharing images etc on facebook is as easy as one or two clicks. It works really well.

Also installing programs is quick and easy. Another great aspect of the phone is that the OS will automatically let you know when updates for your apps and OS are available. It all works very smoothly.

Finally, the web browsing is great on this phone, and it is set to get better when Firefox mobile browser (Fennec) gets released in a few weeks.

There's no pinch to zoom function, which is a pity, but you get a proper web browser with proper flash support, and you can pretty much see the whole web page thanks to the high res screen.

To people who don't think that the web capabilities of this device are not important, you are missing the point. When you use your PC, you don't have different apps to access various internet services. And you don't need to use cut down, simplified web sites. You do it all through your web browser, and you get a full, feature rich experience.

As long as you have a decent browser, you can access anything you want, and do whatever you want. Nokia are bringing this functionality to a phone. That really is a game changing move.

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Rickysio

12:30 PM on 23 December, 2009

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@Richard Fitzpatrick

Ehh, the current browser on the phone IS, for all intents and purposes, mobile Firefox. The rendering engine behind it is the same - it might even turn out to be a skinbned Fennec (sort of like the OEM customized versions of Opera Mobile), for all I know - I lack the cash to get a N900 in Singapore (export sets run above SGD1100, which amusingly is higher than what the iPhone 3GS goes for.) and I can only rely on Google.

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RichardFitzpatrick

3:51 PM on 23 December, 2009

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@Rickysio

Eh Sorry, but the browser on the iphone is a sort of Safari webkit hybrid. It's not a full browser like your desktop one. And there won't be a Firefox for the iPhone because Apple's closed model means that Mozilla can't develop one.

If you don't believe me take a look at the this thread on the mozilla dev site:

http://groups.google.com/group/mozilla.dev.platforms.mobile/browse_thread/thread/ca8a7fe623451635/04b770306a55326b

Sad, but true.

The iPhone is great device and it's revolutionised the way we think about phones, but my guess is that in the long run Apple's approach will kill it's long term popularity.

Right now the mobile market is like the PC market in the 1980s. Apple was leagues ahead of everyone else back then but their closed approach meant that Microsoft was able to steal a march on them. Right now, it looks like they are going to make the same mistake on the mobile platform and in a couple of years Android or one of the other open systems will be the default phone OS.

Just my opinion.

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drdark

1:16 AM on 24 December, 2009

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@Richard: I believe @Rickysio was in fact talking about the N900's browser not the iPhone's Safari. I made the same mistake first time I read his first line; there seems to be some kind of visual trickery here!

In any case, I just wanted to clear that up before anyone got defensive and we had an argument :).

Also, thanks for your views on the N900, they were very informative :). I'm surprised till now no one's mentioned that it runs the exact same processor and GPU as the iPhone yet manages to multi-task effortlessly ;).

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olee

9:06 AM on 24 December, 2009

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The Definitive Nokia N900 guide

http://nokiaexperts.com/nokia-n900-starter-guide/

N900 preview from Sep 2009 with lot of screenshots and in-the-hand photos

http://my-symbian.com/other/preview_n900.php

Infosyncworld N900 US review

http://www.infosyncworld.com/reviews/cell-phones/nokia-n900/10697.html

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RichardFitzpatrick

5:26 PM on 24 December, 2009

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@drdark Thanks for your comment. Sorry if I got the wrong end of the stick. Interesting point about the multi-tasking. I wonder if it's anything to do with the amount of RAM that the device has available to the OS. Anyone got any thoughts on that?

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olee

9:02 PM on 24 December, 2009

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@Rickysio - "Right now the mobile market is like the PC market in the 1980s. Apple was leagues ahead of everyone else back then but their closed approach meant that Microsoft was able to steal a march on them."

I completely share your view. To me, the most important characteristic in the world of IT is compatibility. I have already used a Mac for 6 months, and in itself, my iBook was great. However, I had to review word documents a lot, and even MS Word on the Mac was not the same as on the PC (character encoding problems, embedded images worked differently), it was so much energy to somehow be compatible. So then I sold it after half a year. I still think it is a great system, just for me it is so much energy to be in the 7% camp.

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Aidey

2:05 PM on 6 January, 2010

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Any sign of the video review and additional pictures that Ed mentioned on 17th Dec?! As it is now available on contract with Vodafone.....

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Ed

2:22 PM on 6 January, 2010

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I've not been able to get one from nokia yet. I'm still working on it though.

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drdark

5:57 PM on 13 January, 2010

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Just got mine. Built-in browser's very nice. Youtube runs fine, but iPlayer and other flash video sites have slowdown. Tried the Firebox beta browser and it's rather slow.

I haven't really had time to play with it properly, but it's clearly a rather powerful system.

Oh, and the way Contacts and Conversations(TXT and IM) are integrated are amazing.

But yes, as has been mentioned over the internet, it's clearly still early days for the OS and the battery will die within the day.

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Aidey

10:39 PM on 14 January, 2010

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Well this phone has had two updates this week, the first one on the 11th Jan which meant access to the ovi store; the second one today which has the following fixes...

http://wiki.maemo.org/Maemo_5/PR1.1

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xenos

6:20 AM on 25 January, 2010

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So I just found this phone on offer and came here looking for a review..

I was away when this was written and never read it, however you guys DEFINITELY need to sit round a table when your doing these 'interviews' and the 'shake up' because this review and the following editor comments are pretty much the perfect example of what NOT to do.

You guys write the review, and WE make up our minds, the publisher said the review didn't matter because we just shouldnt buy it?

Just wow..

Other points, outsourcing reviews for major items clearly doesn't work well, the review compared to other similar spec hardware IS rushed, you didn't really describe the UI that well, I would still have no idea where to start should I sit down with it, a video as discussed would help greatly.. also the score is an oddity, you are suggesting the software is actually very good but the handset is so-so, yet just point blank saying we shouldn't buy it in comments section? The reviewer has been fairly kind but if its awful then the review needs to reflect that?

Think I'll just ask for a demo in store..

@drdark - Any more points? For me you conveyed more of interest in far less words than this review, I can find most of what it says on Nokia's site.

Boom goes my invitation to to be interviewed.. :)

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Ed

11:26 AM on 27 January, 2010

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I've now added in-house photos of the device as well as photos shot with its camera. I've also shot a video review of it, which is currently being edited but should be ready in the next day or so.

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Rohan

12:36 PM on 28 January, 2010

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Nokia N900 gets Store Beta is very good phone you read news headline...http://news.tolmol.com/Nokia%20N900%20gets%20Store%20Beta/news-detail/15570162

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drdark

1:28 AM on 20 February, 2010

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@xenos: whoops, stopped checking this thread some time ago; was there anything in particular you wanted to ask about? (if you're still out there...)

N900 just got another minor update, which improved battery life - was most welcome.

It's a nice device. Bit bulky, needs better map software, and Flash10.1 would make the browser perfect. Realistically it can multitask 6 apps comfortably, but will chug a big with 9, depending on intensity of the running apps of course.

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When it comes to producing a real competitor to the iPhone, Nokia has spent far too long scrabbling around in the dark. However, with the N900 it’s clear that the company is now moving in the right direction. This handset is far from perfect - it could still do with multi-touch and its design is excessively chunky - but it does provide a much more inviting multimedia experience than any other Nokia product so far. Read full review

Overall

7/10

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By Niall Magennis
Reviewed 16 December 2009
Updated 26 May 2011

Price as reviewed

£469.99

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