Nokia N900 Review

Introduction:

Cell phones have been an indispensable part of our daily lives for a long time. Their popularity and influence are enormous and growing rapidly. People use the global network for virtually anything, from watching videos, listening to music, chatting, social networks and information search to content publishing, email correspondence and what have you.

Trying to meet the needs of today´s even most exacting customers, Nokia announced their latest internet tablet, the Nokia N900 at the beginning of this fall. The most significant difference and advantage over previous generation tablets of the manufacturer is the presence of GSM module that allows phone calls over cellular networks. Another major weapon of the device is Maemo 5, the latest version of the Linux-based operating system. Moreover, the N900 sports QWERTY keyboard, 600MHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor (iPhone 3GS, Palm Pre), support for OpenGL ES 2.0, 32GB built-in memory, microSD card slot, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, FM radio transmitter, A-GPS and Xvid playback capabilities. Would all this be enough, however, to win over customers? Keep reading and you will find out

What´s in the box of the Nokia N900?

The Nokia N900
Piece of cloth
microUSB charger
Converter for previous Nokia chargers
microUSB cable
TV-Out cable
Stereo headset with two sets of eartips
User guide

Design:

The overall design of the Nokia N900 is austere and brand new alongside of the previous generations of internet tablets by the same manufacturer. It´s more compact and lightweight, although compared to an average cell phone the N900 feels solid and bulky and therefore, uncomfortable to carry around in the pocket of your trousers or jeans.



You can compare the Nokia N900 with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

There are no buttons on the front side and this is one of the facts that tip you off the N900 is an internet tablet and not a cell phone. The 3.5-inch display (4.13´´ on the N810) comes with native resolution of 800x480 pixels, 16mln color support and utilizes resistive technology. Its overall sensitivity is proper and the screen feels pleasing to use. The image quality is high as well, not last thanks to the transflective technology it incorporates which helps it to remain totally usable in direct sunlight, meaning you will be able to discern everything without a problem. The earpiece is above the screen, along with the video call camera, light-sensitivity and proximity sensors and the LED indicator.



The buttons of the QWERTY keyboard of the Nokia N900 are arranged in three rows (4 with the N810) and are relatively large, backlit and have proper travel. Unfortunately, they are cramped and the keyboard design gets in the way if you feel up to typing away fast, because you will often find yourself erroneously pressing two buttons at the same time. As a whole, the keyboard performs slightly above average and quite similarly to the one the N810 is equipped with. We did expect more.



On either side of the brand new internet tablet there are volume rocker that you can also use to zoom on things in the camera and browser interface, power on/off button (also used as a profile switcher), camera shutter, infrared port, stereo loudspeakers, screen lock/unlock slider, 3.5 mm. jack, stylus and microUSB port. All buttons have proper travel and are clearly felt when pressed, so we don’t have any gripes relating to any of them.





The 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss Tessar optics and double LED flash is on the back and covered with a small, sliding flap. The stand to prop up the device located next to the camera module (just like on the N86 8MP) makes for an interesting extra feature, although it’s of much smaller size than the jamb the N800 and N810 sport. It does come in handy if you feel up to a video, but the thing is the N900 is rather wobbly and unstable if you set it down on surface that´s not completely flat. Still, the stand is a welcome addition to the feature set.