Nokia N900: First Impressions – Love at first sight

Yes folks, finally, the N900 has landed on my desk, made its way to my pocket, and took my mind off the dozen phones I had been playing with earlier…

This is not the first time I mess around with one these babies; we had a first encounter some while ago which ended in tears (from my end) when we had to part. Back then, the device was still an early proto with an unstable FW and missing features so it wouldn’t have been wise to rate the device at that time. It was, nonetheless, love at first sight.



However, following the recent super-positive and surprising decision of shipping the N900 to Lebanon made by the Nokia Levant team – the N900 was not going to sell officially in my country – I was able to get my hands on a retail unit just as the official retail packages made their way into the outlets. Kudos to the local Nokia team for reconsidering the decision and listening to their fans and bringing the N900 to this small tech-loving country, and of course a big thanks goes out to them for guaranteeing I was among the first to get a full hands-on experience with an genuine retail unit.

Traditionally, the first post is always the “First Impressions” piece. Nothing will change here so buckle up and let’s get going:

Unboxing:
(Skip to “Physical Aspects” if you don’t care)

The same size and shape of the classic N97 box, opening it along with the extra layer of carton reveals a black brick: the N900 with nothing else surrounding it. It’s right in the middle of the box. The screen is covered with a black screen protector which is meant to be peeled off because, well, it’s black!






Below the plastic container that holds the handset, in different compartments, are the goodies that come along:

- Nokia BL-5J (1320mAh) Battery
- Nokia CA-101 USB cable
- Nokia AC-10E USB charger
- Nokia WH-205 audio headset (may differ in some countries)
- Nokia CA-75U (TV-out cable)
- Nokia CA-146C: normal charger to USB converter
- Black Nseries-branded Cleaning cloth
- Catalogs

Strangely enough, there was no software provided with the N900; Ovi Suite DVD was nowhere to be seen but that’s not an issue. I guess retail units at the shops will have those.

Physical aspects:

The N900 is nothing like you expect it to be. It is a different “phone” and truly feels more like a micro-computer. Size and weight surely remind me of UMPCs with added phone functionalities (but just because I knew that). Nothing tells you it’s a phone: there’s no “red” and “green” buttons on the fascia, the front camera and light/proximity sensor are barely noticeable, there’s a tiny LED light at the bottom left (holding the device in landscape mode) and the earpiece is very small. There’s a “NOKIA” branding at one end and “N900” at the other, similar to the original N97.
Here are some random notes:

- It is heavy
- It is thick (I’m sure you haven’t held a phone that’s as bulky in a while now)
- Sliding mechanism is robust, not supported by springs (you have to do the work of sliding it up and down to the end)
- The front has a dark glossy black finish
- Holding it in portrait mode like a normal phone doesn’t really feel like you’re holding a phone. The thickness doesn’t help.
- The keyboard is amazing: keys give great feedback
- Very solid build quality overall
- The speakers are on either side of the phone
- A stylus is supplied and a kickstand hangs at the back around the camera lens and cover

More on the physical aspects to come in the next review.

As a whole, lying there on my desk, the device looks really mysterious. The glossy black surely adds to that.

The "Black Pearl"

Turning it on reveals the following:

- The Nokia Connecting People animation is awesome, looks more realistic than I have ever seen.

- A “getting started” wizard guides you through the entire customization process and helps you get acquainted with the device. Naturally, I have skipped that; I don’t like being told what to look for in a device and how to use it. That’s something I’d like to explore, thank you very much.

- The 4 homescreens are a treat to navigate

- Some really cool animations are injected within the UI

- Funny (in a good way) sounds can be heard as warnings/notifications once a task is done (like plugging the charger, deleting something, etc.)

- The UI is intuitive. Makes you want to find out more.

- It is nothing like Symbian but will not get you confused. It is easy to master, just needs a couple of hours first.

- Portrait mode is only supported while using phone functions (more on this soon)

- Two themes are pre-loaded, nice wallpapers are supplied (mostly loopable meaning you can use them successively on the 4 screens and they look like their attached to each other)

- The screen is RESISTIVE. No confusions here. It does NOT support multi-touch. It is more responsive than the N97 and N97 mini’s. Please do not ask me to compare it to the iPhone’s: it’s a different technology.

- OS is swift. Multi-tasking is awesome. It feels like I’m using a computer.


That’s about enough for a “first impressions” piece. As a brief conclusion and first impressions do matter, I’d like to say that I am surprised how responsive and capable the device is. However, and this is what I will keep saying till I complete all parts of the review, this is NOT a phone. If you are looking for a phone to make voice calls, this can do so much more so look elsewhere. It is true that the N97 can do almost everything that the N900 does (play music, shoot video, access the web, send emails, navigate, etc…) but the N900 remains different. If you are still hesitating between an N97 (or mini) or any other phone and this device, then you’ve gone astray. Keep this in mind: everything in the N97 is designed for it to work like a phone i.e. do whatever a phone does, but it’s the contrary when it comes to the N900. It’s a mobile computer so it would be a shame comparing it to any other device out there. Maybe as I go through with the in-depth testing process, I’ll be able to come up with a better explanation for this. Stay tuned!


Shots have been taken with a digital camera as well as a Nokia E72/N97. For any requests/inquiries, please feel free to get in touch with me on Twitter (@_ant1_) or by leaving a comment here. I will be glad to help.