The awe-inspiring N900

This review has been nearly two weeks in the making now. I’ve been playing with the handset for quite some time. Staying up late at nights watching TV series in it, fiddling with the handset in the office, social networking while on the move, and every single possible situation where I could do something with it.

I have been using Nokia handsets for over eight years now and the N900 was a breath of fresh air. It changed the way I now look at smart phones forever. All of us who have test-driven the Maemo OS don’t need to tell the world just how awesome it is. Hence, this review will primarily focus on how the N900 is way better than the N97 (my current handset).

The Desktop

The N900 has 4 desktops with enough space to add as many shortcuts as possible. In addition to that, you can add your favourite contacts and widgets too. Moving them around the screen or from one desktop to another is a piece of cake.

You have the menu on the top left of the screen at all times which compensates very well for the missing menu button (a standard in Nokia handsets). It very smartly changes to a switch tab button that can be effectively used to switch between different windows. This is one of the most impressive features of this handset. Switching between applications gives you the joy of using a computer. Multi-taskers will absolutely love this.

Alongside the menu button, you have the system tray (as I prefer calling it) which shows you the time, your battery power and your connectivity status. Clicking on the same brings down a panel with more detailed options. The entire system volume can also be controlled from here, apart from your Bluetooth, profiles, clocks & alarms and your chat status. Convenience redefined!

Contacts

When I received the N900, the first thing I obviously did was transfer all my contacts from the N97 to this one. Since I never store data on my SIM, I had to get all the contacts from the device via Bluetooth. And the N900 made this (typically lengthy process) a breeze by automatically asking me to retrieve contacts from another device. Within a minute, my entire contact list (along with complete details like address, date of birth, etc.) was now synchronized to be used. Nice!

I also came across this fantastic application called Hermes (more info here) which aggregates date from social networking websites Facebook and Twitter and embeds them within your address book contacts. Matching of entries is perfect and you will be astonished how your contact details are enriched complete with photographs.

Small things like merging duplicate entries and exporting contacts make your life very easy if you’re as organized as I am. However, there is no quick way to scroll down to the last contact beside using the keyboard or scrolling continuously until you reach the bottom. This becomes a pain if you have more than 100 contacts which was my case.

Conversations

Conversations is one more powerful asset of the N900. You have a thread-view of all your chats which makes life much more simpler as you can pick up a conversation from where you left. Entire contact details are merged in here with profile pictures, online / offline status, etc. Conversations clubs your SMSs as well as your IM chats into one single easy-to-access repository.

Web

Surfing the internet is so much fun in the N900. With the default browser now using Firefox’s Gecko engine, you see websites as they are meant to be seen. Scrolling and moving around in heavy pages is now easier than ever. Absence of lagging scrolls and a much better screen resolution / size makes it as good as using your computer to browse the internet. You also have a plethora of features like enabling / disabling pop-ups, JavaScript, add-ons and password saving which is really cool. And how could I forget the full-screen browsing experience. Super!

Media Player

Media player has been taken to the next level with DivX and Xvid videos playing flawlessly without the requirement of additional applications or having to convert them to a specific format. The stereo sound quality is superb. And of course, you have the standard FM transmitter, music player and internet radio applications which make your AV experience complete.

Camera & Photos

Camera here gives you the option to click wide-screen photographs which is an added benefit. Plus, we have two LED flash lights for a brighter images when dealing in low-light conditions. However, I think it’s about time Nokia implemented Xenon flash as a standard in all of its handsets. It’s a feature much required.

Downers

The first thing I noticed was the battery life. To be able to constantly use the phone to its full potential, you will need to charge it twice in a single day. In my experience, I would charge the handset once every morning (during office hours) and the other time at home (during the night when I’m about to sleep). However, please note that the battery isn’t completely dead when I put the phone for charging. But, it’s almost about to end. Nokia handsets are anyway known to last for a pretty long time once the battery is at its bare minimum.

The second thing would be the earphones that come along with the handset. Their output isn’t as great. You cannot feel the bass at all. It’s clear though, but lacking the lower frequencies doesn’t make it useful at all.

The third point would be the orientation. You can ONLY use the phone in landscape mode. I think this is something everyone in the Maemo community has been talking about. But I’m sure, this would be fixed in the upcoming firmware updates.

Verdict

Overall, Nokia’s first Maemo powered device is jam-packed with power and functionality. It definitely set a great first impression on me. Techie people will simply love what all this handset has to offer. My hands are pretty large, so I don’t really mind it’s bulky build. I’m sure that the N900 and Maemo together will be pretty much responsible for Nokia re-gaining its lost market share.