Few years back, Nokia started its journey from being a mobile manufacturer to an Internet services company and the company will go through certain iteration before they ‘get it’.
Nokia earlier launched N97, then N97 Mini and then the big change, i.e. adoption of Maemo over Symbian.
N900 is Nokia’s first product based on Maemo OS and if you compare N900 with N97s of the world, you surely have a winner in N900. As always, we do a review from user perspective and not so much from gadget freak context.
N900 - Nokia's Linux (Maemo) Based Phone
So here goes the part 1 of the review – based purely on first impressions (of using the phone for few days).
N900 – Form Factor
If you eat a lot of Apples (pun intended), N900 will look a bit odd! 
. It’s a bit bloated and flat – big and bulky are the right words to describe it.
My first impressions of the phone was that its too bloated to be called a smartphone (remember those brick phones?), but once you start using the phone, you will find that its more comfortable that ways only. The phone is easy to hold and the form factor goes well with the slide-out QWERTY keypad.
N900 – Boot Time
Like a PC, boot time is important for smartphones and while one can always measure it to the nearest second, the experience lies in ‘how slow is too slow’. As compared to a few other Nokia phones (N97), N900 worked better (Iwith installed apps). Technically speaking, N900 uses upstart to reduce the boot time.
N900 – Navigation
Navigation is quite a big deal with this phone. It beats me to understand why Nokia designers made it so difficult to use this phone. For instance, importing SIM contact isn’t so intuitive, making a call again ain’t so intuitive (where is the dialpad?).
Nokia understands this issue very well and when you buy a N900, you get custom demo/support (from the services team) as part of the buying process.
Battery
Smartphones are an alternative to PCs and while there are technical explanation of better battery power in these phones, the simple analogy is that if you use smartphone like a PC (i.e. play games, browse, create docs etc), you better charge it like a PC. Rather, keep it charged like a PC. As simple as that.
Do I have to say more?
Display
A major confusion between landscape vs. portrait mode – the phone works primarily in landscape mode. The portrait mode is active only while making calls. This, I believe is driven by usability research (especially when the phone is optimized for playing games/browsing etc), but it takes a while to get used to this change.
There are a few interesting features in the phone like notification light, which toggles between different colors (blue, white, yellow, orange)– Blue light means that you have received a SMS, email, missed call or IM. When the battery is charging the light turns Orange and when full it turns Green.
There is no button to make a call/cancel call – its all touch driven. And again, it will take some time to get adjusted to this, as we all are trained to have the green/red buttons on the phone.
Having said that, UI is an eye candy. It actually is unique to N900 and notifications (of missed calls/sms/IM) etc is super cool.
Touch(y)
And now the most important part, i.e. Touch experience.
Compared to N97, there is a major improvement on N900 touch experience, but if you actually compare this with an iPhone, you would still cry for 100X improvement. Most of the times, touch is not responsive (hey! makes me feel if I have fat fingers?) and lack of keyboard support dampens the experience.
N900 Price?
The good news is that Nokia has slashed the price by 5K/ and the N900 price in India is INR 25,000 (MRP), so you might get that at INR 24,500. Not too expensive for a phone like this which offers 32GB of storage (specs below).
In the next part, I will share a detailed review of the phone, especially on the UI front where Nokia has actually done a great job. Stay Pluggd.in.
Disclosure: Review done using a sample device from Nokia.
N900 Specs
- 32 GB internal storage
- Up to 16 GB of additional storage with an external microSD card
- Full QWERTY tactile keyboard
- Full QWERTY onscreen keyboard
- Quad-band GSM EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
- WCDMA 900/1700/2100 MHz
- Maemo browser powered by Mozilla technology
- Adobe Flash™ 9.4 support
- Full screen browsing
- 3.5mm AV connector
- TV out (PAL/NTSC) with Nokia Video
I have no idea why Nokia doesn’t let go of resistive displays.
And I think the phone calling is a secondary “feature” of this device so maybe they didn’t focus much on that
“And I think the phone calling is a secondary “feature” of this device so maybe they didn’t focus much on that ” – Well said!
I guess mobile phone are becoming more of a PC and you dont use PC to make calls..
Nice math!!! “Nokia has slashed the price by 5K/ and the N900 price in India is INR 25,00 (MRP), so you might get that at INR 24,500″
The earlier price was 30K, FYI
I got my Google NexusOne for 26k and the Android platform is super cool.
I am not sure why Nokia cannot learn from the trend or give up by just adopting Android. If they dont come up with some super cool platform startegy, they are in for a toss. For instance, Motorola just raised from their ashes with the help of Android.
From the news I hear that Google is gng to push Android big time in India/China and then would Nokia bleed to its death in the smart phone market.
Nokia, time to re-invent yourself.
Nokia –> Timbers –>Rubber Tyres –> Electrical Wires –> Legacy telephony –> Mobile phones –> ?? Next diversification, that is the question.
They will not be able to fix their mobile phone strategy because of the “hardened old generation” layer of executives who would normally fight amongst themselves adding to the confusion inside the corporate. Age old phenomenon this is.
cheers,
Arvind
i personally liked this phone even though its bulky .. the features are awesome .. as its nokia you dont have to worry about the user friendliness.
Hey Ashish! Please correct one fact in your review. The N900 has a physical keyboard and a virtual keyboard. it’s not correct when you say that “lack of keyboard” Here’s a video . do check it out.
Look forward to your next review..
physical keyboard
http://www.clickbd.com/item.pictures/large/141192.jpg
virtual keyboard
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/w8f3uhIrqWE/2.jpg
cheers
You can go to the N900 menu and click on the call button.. it gives you an option of dialpad to make calls.. you can also set a short cut on your homescreen. so you can click on it to make a straight call .. hope this helps
Despite some exceptional reviews written across domains, n900 is a pathetic machine from user’s perspective. Technically, it’s very good in terms of a fast processor, 32GB RAM etc, but realistically, because it uses MAEMO Operating System (All other Nokia phones are on Nokia owned Symbian Operating System), and due to the fact that everything on this device is run by software, issue is that for most things software are NOT available from a trusted resource!
Consider this:
1. You CANNOT use “Push eMail” service on n900 (can use it for any other Nokia device and configure up to 10 accounts for free);
2. You CANNOT use Voice navigation system (voice guidance for turn-by-turn navigation across the globe) – though a limited version of OVI maps can be used – the software available for this from other resources are just not worth – I tried 3 of them;
3. Though FM radio is a built in feature, you will have to struggle to download a software from an untrustworthy source – then you realise that the radio “hangs” every 10-15 minutes requiring you to reboot the device;
4. Theoretically there are many applications (over 300) available at Maemo.org and maemo.Nokia.com but nearly all are not tested ones, so you are prone to hacking etc of your device;
5. Skype plug-in is available for most Nokia devices (meaning that you can make Internet calls using WiFi or 3g), but though Skype’s website claims that n900 has Skype integrated in it, you will find that firmware version 10.2010.19-1.004 with which this device sells in India does NOT has it – call Nokia Customer care at 30303838 in your city in India and you will find that they will confirm that there is a “SMALL’ bug so you will have to wait till next update – mind you, India is the second most important and biggest market for Nokia;
6. Finally (not the least of course), here is an extract from nokia-asia . com (http://www.nokia-asia.com/support/product-support/nokia-n900/faq#08) reproduced as such:
“Why does the N900 not offer Navigation?
Unfortunately, the current version of Maemo, the software that powers the N900, does not support navigation. With Maemo 5 we prioritized development of those areas that we felt would be the most important for the target audience of this device. This means that Maemo does not yet feature support for the full range of services that our other Symbian-powered Nseries devices might have. However, naturally, we’ll be working to increase support for all Nokia services, including navigation, as we go forward with Maemo.”
—-Straight from Horse’s mouth, it clearly means that there is a long road ahead for users of n900 and till then, users will be treated as step kids!
To sum up, this device is like Linux Operating System (incidentally this is supported by Linux based Maemo OS) – while all of us know that other dominant Operating System is pathetic to use and Linux is great, still we continue to use the other one simply because there is no support for Linux! Simply because this device is almost completely software governed and Nokia does NOT appear serious about developing stuff for this, the potential of this device is just NOT realised and it’s nothing but a piece of junk – it’s like a cute body WITHOUT a soul!
I have decided to discard this device and I seriously repent going for this….
This is so complex to use that Nokia India is organising calls to customers (I got one within 12 hours of buying the device from a Noida number 0120-4667100) to organise a doorstep demo. However, no one ever turned up for that ever!
Also, Nokia Care centres are completely ill-trained to handle this device and so are the Nokia Customer Care professionals available on email or call at 30303838.
GUYS: spend money on anything else but NOT on this piece of junk….this is Nokia’s step-child and they are really mistreating this otherwise high-potential device…
Shekhar
+91-9810228402
@Shekhar
Skype wont work in India (on mob) due to legal issue. Great review though.
The inputs can become a post. Seriously.
As an N900 user myself , i completely disagree with the reply posted above as my experience with the device has been wonderful. I would like to reply to your comment , one part at a time.
” Despite some exceptional reviews written across domains, n900 is a pathetic machine from user’s perspective. Technically, it’s very good in terms of a fast processor, 32GB RAM etc, but realistically, because it uses MAEMO Operating System (All other Nokia phones are on Nokia owned Symbian Operating System), and due to the fact that everything on this device is run by software, issue is that for most things software are NOT available from a trusted resource!”
First of all , Maemo is a MUCH faster and advanced operating system than Symbian. This is pure desktop linux on a mobile device. Also , what do you mean by “everything on this device is run by software” ? Everything on every phone IS run by software only.
“1. You CANNOT use “Push eMail” service on n900 (can use it for any other Nokia device and configure up to 10 accounts for free);”
Yes , you can. I am myself using it.
“2. You CANNOT use Voice navigation system (voice guidance for turn-by-turn navigation across the globe) – though a limited version of OVI maps can be used – the software available for this from other resources are just not worth – I tried 3 of them”
Ovi Maps for Nokia is in a BETA state and it is clearly stated. It doesnt have turn by turn voice navigation BUT you can use commercial software like Garmin which works great.
“3. Though FM radio is a built in feature, you will have to struggle to download a software from an untrustworthy source – then you realise that the radio “hangs” every 10-15 minutes requiring you to reboot the device”
Never happened with me. I have 3 N900s amongst us at home and this has never happened.
4. Theoretically there are many applications (over 300) available at Maemo.org and maemo.Nokia.com but nearly all are not tested ones, so you are prone to hacking etc of your device”
Adding a repository for applications does not mean that you are hacking it. All the applications are safe and perfectly alright to use.
“5. Skype plug-in is available for most Nokia devices (meaning that you can make Internet calls using WiFi or 3g), but though Skype’s website claims that n900 has Skype integrated in it, you will find that firmware version 10.2010.19-1.004 with which this device sells in India does NOT has it – call Nokia Customer care at 30303838 in your city in India and you will find that they will confirm that there is a “SMALL’ bug so you will have to wait till next update – mind you, India is the second most important and biggest market for Nokia;”
This is NOT Nokia’s fault. It is a legal problem and Indian government does not allow it. In anycase , there is nothing stopping you from flashing and installing a global ROM to your device.
“6. Finally (not the least of course), here is an extract from nokia-asia . com (http://www.nokia-asia.com/support/product-support/nokia-n900/faq#08) reproduced as such:”
And So ??? Nokia is being truthful about it. And nonetheless , third party developers like Garmin have already introduced Turn By Turn GPS Navigation.
Stop spreading crap about the device because it is an entirely amazing device. If you did not like / appreciate the power behind it , that does not mean that the device is not good.
-Dhruv
just by means of clarification, it is NOT illegal in India to use Skype: if one can use Skype on a desktop or a laptop, there is no reason to believe that it is illegal! Also, if it were illegal, Government owned service providers like MTNL and BSNL would have banned it – which again is not the case. Further, it’s a tablet device implying that most of whatever I do with any laptop, should be more-or-less possible on this! Moreover, NOKIA has never replied to me sayoing that it’s illegal. In a recent mail to me, their official call center directed me to a webpage from where I was asked to download the Global release of firmware (which I did).
Please read the review carefully – I have categorically said that the hardware is great – it lacks because there is no suport from Nokia! This fact can be verified by the fact that Nokia’s official call center took over 10 days to revert to me on Skype issue with a suggestion to flush and download the firmware (TEN DAYS – it’s not a typo)!!! Also, except for applications available at maemo.nokia.com (just 100+ available there, many of which are “themes” so not applications in true sense), if you install any other application, there is a big disclaimer from Nokia which says that it could be malware…Just as another example, one can’t add a new “profile” in this device without downloading an application from a non-nokia site (implying that according to Nokia, it could possibly be malware)…you can’t even add a GPRS access point manually (you can only edit the service provider settings), can’t edit “profile”, can’t define “caller groups”, etc etc i this otherwise great device. i repeat – hardware is good, availability of services is pathetic and Nokia Care Centers are NOT AT ALL trained to handle complaints…as I said, it’s like Linux OS (great OS but no service support)…
i’m pretty happy with my n900. it’s a great unlocked world phones. email and gps are great for my business and my family loves the games and apps. camera and process or are much faster than nicer than my old unlocked blackberry phones. battery life is longer, recorder is better, and internet surfing seems much easier than i thought it would be. it’s a little thicker than i liked but that’s ok. i like the pull out keyboard it gives me the option to use both. got my last couple unlocked phones at gsmallover.com and we are very happy. 2 thumbs way up
im an n900 user. the only issue i find with it is the battery life. but besides that everything is just exceptional. for all those who feel that the softwares available on maemo.org are dangerous — wake up. u need to try them before u cry. i downloaded so much from the extras-devel repository and except fring, nothing really misbehaved. gps yes does lack voice guided navigation, but that will come soon. if Nokia neglects the maemo platform then it is the ultimate looser. the os is far better n functional than android, or symbian or even iphone os(which is not a os in the literal sense though). the touch screen could have been much better. but hey how many devices have u seen which work so well with both finder and stylus inputs. i havent atleast. the iphone touchscreen is only finger optimised. and those who have used devices with stylus would tell what a loss that is at times. the multitasking it offers and the way it offers is commendable. yes there are fewer applications, but hey, give the community some time. even Nokia is working towards building the ovi store for n900. they just need good response from the users (those who know how to use a device like this, n not the fashion conscious ones who just make calls but still buy gr8 phones n cry about their usability.)
one last comment
any body whose used this device for some time knows that its navigations is based on just one corner button on the screen. n all the rest just follows.
verdict
gr8 phone. but for the battery
one correction — finger (typed as finder) input
Just to keep you informed, the fact that applications don’t misbehave doesn’t mean that they are safe! I think I agree with Abasthy’s review: it’s a great machine (hardware wise) but due to bad support from Nokia, won’t lead to anywhere.
Also, it’s official now – this is the last Nokia machine on Maemo platform (was the first one as well) – Nokia will not work on this platform any more, meaning that you can’t really expect any support…
One more thing: Ovi music doesn’t work on this, Voice navigation system doesn’t work, Nokia messaging is problematic, Google Latitude doesn’t work – any one has a suggestion?
great phone. a little thicker than i’d like. processor is faster though than my old unlocked blackberry phones. simple to use, texting and web browsing is good. my partner loves it for the gps and the wifi and my family loves their unlocked mobile phones for the facebook and games. speaker is really loud and it hooks up to my computer simply. also the camera and recorder are great. got our last couple unlocked mobile phones at gsmauthority.com 2 thumbs way up