Well the lovely folks at WOMWorld/Nokia have sent me a cracker of a phone to trial this time – the Nokia N900, which I can only describe as an absolute powerhouse of a machine, it does everything, it’s more like a pocket computer in fact!
At first glance the N900 is considerably smaller than I expected it to be and it looks in photos, it does feel quite chunky but not overly so and feels good to hold and to use, the slide-out full QWERTY keyboard slides open with a reassuring click and is a pleasure to use but as with previous Nokia QWERTY keyboards and number keys along the top are a little tricky to access but aside from that for texting, e-mailing, tweeting etc., it’s great!
The screen is a bright and sharp touchscreen which is pretty responsive, in most cases only medium pressure is required, the screen looks considerably different from that on other Nokia phones, the N900 uses the Maemo operating system and the screen on this is designed to be more like a computer desktop than a phone. It can be used to display shortcuts to websites, contacts, and also widgets, some of which are pre-installed (for example desktops, see the photos at the top of this review). The pre-installed widgets are Amazon.com, Facebook (displays your friend’s recent status updates), Foreca Weather and AP News. I really like this ability to add shortcuts to your phone, it makes accessing websites, etc. a heck of a lot quicker and more convenient and the pre-installed widgets are both useful and very attractive especially the Foreca Weather widget. Up to 4 separate customisable desktops are available so plenty of space for all those shortcuts and widgets, and switching between them is simply a matter of sliding a finger across the screen.
The N900 is incredibly fast, there is clearly a very powerful processor at the heart of the phone, loading applications and web browsing is lightning quick, internet on the supplied web browser is the fastest I’ve yet seen on a Nokia or any phone for that matter and it’s capable of displaying not just mobile versions of websites but full websites too, zooming in on a section is done simply by double tapping the screen and double tapping again to zoom out. The Firefox web browser is now also available for the N900 and I took the opportunity to download and try this as well, this is also a very impressive browser capable of displaying full websites as well as mobile but I think most people, like me, would be quite happy with the supplied N900 browser.
Text messaging on the N900 is really cool, on this phone it is called ‘Conversations’ and any texts you send to someone and any replies you receive are grouped together on the one screen, I love this feature, it’s something I’ve not seen on any other mobile – other manufacturers take note. You can also use Instant Messaging and Skype, Google Talk, Jabber and SIP are all supported.
Multi-tasking is something the N900 does brilliantly – it is possible to keep one thing open such as an application or website, go and do something else and then return to that application or website with no slowdown in the phone’s performance whatsoever.
Also supplied on the back of the N900 is a small kickstand for desktop use, very handy.
The N900’s camera is a 5MP Carl Zeiss affair and a nice touch I’ve not seen on too many other phones is a slideable lens cover, an excellent feature for protecting the lens. As you’d expect, the camera produces pretty much flawless images exactly as they should be – crisp, clear, colourful and vibrant. Photos can also be cropped and tagged from the phone.
And yes, the N900 does also make phone calls! This is done by either selecting a contact from the Contacts list or using the onscreen keyboard which is accessed by selecting the ‘Phone’ icon from the menu, the keys are big and responsive so no problems making a call here.
Also pre-installed on the N900 is Ovi Maps, an excellent and attractive Calendar, Media player, Ovi Store, Calculator, PDF reader, RSS reader, a sketchpad, and four games – Blocks, Chess, Mahjong and Marbles.
Battery life on the N900 is also pretty good – I was using it fairly frequently and by the end of each day still had about a quarter’s battery life remaining – impressive. I still found it a good idea to charge it overnight each night though. A brownie point deducted to WOMWorld/Nokia for not including a three-pin UK charger with my handset, all I had was a 2-pin Euro charger. Fortunately I had an old Nokia charger kicking around with a small round connector which can be plugged into the N900 via an included adapter so much to my relief I was still able to charge it nightly! Phew!
I’ve barely scratched the surface of what this frankly incredible phone can do, as I said at the start it’s an absolute powerhouse of a machine, I only wish with my upgrade due on my contract at the end of June that it was available on the 3 network! If you’re looking for a smartphone that’s lightning quick, can multi-task brilliantly, with an excellent keyboard and camera, then the N900 is most definitely for you! I am so grateful to WOMWorld/Nokia for giving me the chance to trial this and I know I’ve said this before in other reviews, but this time I really will be genuinely sorry to send this back!
Rating : 5/5
