Yes it’s true Nokia N900 impressed us in its First Impression and now its time to test its impression in our indept review.

Well, we all are much handy with Symbian OS and it impressed us through its all versions.  When the Nokia N900 was announced apart from its fact that its a Internet Tablet running Linux based Maemo 5 OS – Its hardware impressed us up to much extent. So let’s start N900 review from its Hardware :-

N900 Housing:-

• ARM Cortex – A8 Superscalar microprocessor core running at 600 MHz
• 3D graphics accelerator with OpenGL ES 2.0 support
• Quad band GSM/EDGE with 850/900/1800/1900 MHz & HSPA support
• Integrated A-GPS, Wi-Fi ( With UPnP ),IR and Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP stereo support
• Up to 1 GB of application memory ( 256MB RAM and 768 MB virtual memory)
• 3.5 inch WVGA 800×480 pixel resolution, TFT Resistive Touchscreen
• 32GB on board memory, Expandable to up to 48 GB with an external microSD card
• Integrated FM transmitter and FM radio
• Micro USB v2.0, (USB charging supported)
• 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss optics, Tessar lens camera with Dual LED flash (Widescreen picture mode in 3.5MP)
• WVGA Video at 848 x 480 resolution at @25fps
• 3.5mm headset jack with TV-out support (PAL/NTSC)
• BL-5J 1320 mAh Battery

Pretty impressive, packed with some serious hardware spec. what do you think ?

From our N900 first impression the first thing we noticed about the N900 is its size, measures about 110.9 x 59.8 x 18 mm and weighs about 181 grams, N900 is a bit large compared to other Nokia Nseries devices.

Being a bit larger in size N900 wasn’t designed for single hand use, you’ll still need two hands to use it properly. Well we tried using it with one hand – and we feel uncomfortable in using it properly. One more thing due to its large size we found problem keeping it in a tight Jeans, specially while driving.

For some impressive points about N900 we like you to read our First Impression of Nokia N900.

Front View:

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The first thing that differentiate N900 from other Nokia touch device is its large 3.5″ TFT resistive touchscreen & absence of Key on it. The screen sideings are of metal with “Nokia” branding on the top (or right side in portrait) & “N900″ tag to the right of it on screen.

If we look up closely to the top of N900, it  has inbulit Ambient light detector at left side of Earpiece & front facing VGA camera and Proximity sensor to either side.

The Ambient Light detector helps to adjust the keyboard lights and also acts as a notification to device alerts, Like in missed calls, text messages, emails, low battery, charging status, etc with different colors.  You can also choose how it will work in device settings.

And the proximity sensor shuts off the touch screen when you place the Nokia N900 near ear during a call, thus it also saves some energy.

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The N900 slides out parallel to bring the full Qwerty keyboard. Being built with high class material ensures the quality of N900, With metal lining around top slide, glossiness of the screen and use of matt black back panel gives device Dandy Look.

The keyboard on the N900 is okay okay, feel a bit cramped compared to the N97 Mini keyboard. But each individual key gives you the feel and softness compaired to N97 mini. So Keys has its own Positives & Negatives – But overall performance is Good.

N900 do support on screen keyboard both in portrait & Landscape mode, here comes the use of accelerometer-  N900 automatically adjust the orientation of screen depending on how you’re holding the device (portrait or landscape).

Back View :-

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The Back of the Nokia N900 is made of a hard high quality plastic, engraved “Nokia Nseries”. N900 also has  5 Megapixel Carl Zeiss Camera here with a Dual LED Flash covered with sliding camera lens protector with device Stand around it.

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The Back of the slider has “ARM Cortex-A8 | 32GB ”  & “Designed in Finland” engraved on.

Camera-

N900 also has  5 Megapixel Carl Zeiss Camera with a Dual LED Flash, The camera on the N900 is one of the best in Nokia’s family. We are not saying this because of  just camera spec, but its all play of the processing algorithms used in N900 camera software,  it support wide range of settings – different modes & different resolution including Widescreen.

The Dual LED Flash isnt too good, So say no to photos in low light condition and we do suggest Nokia to use Xenon Flash for better low light results.

Now come to camera lens protector – N900 uses a sensor to detect the lens protector, so it automatically starts the camera whenever slide opened & shut it down on closing.

On Stand-

N900 has Large Screen better for Internet browsing and watching movies too, here comes the use of  kickstand. You can enjoy your entertainment channels with ease.

Stylus-

N900 do has a stylus hidden in a corner at the back, we required it only while browsing the Internet.

Top View :-

Considering N900 in landscape mode, the top side has the Power button, IR port, Dedicated Camera key and Volume increase/decrease keys, which works differently in different mode ( Portrait & Landscape )

Bottom View:-

Device  bottom doesn’t have any ports or buttons.

Left View:-

The left side of the N900 is the top side when you use it in portrait mode. It contains the microUSB port (which is also used for charging ) , one of the two stereo speakers & whole for lanyard.

Right View:-

The right side of the N900 is the bottom side when you use it in portrait mode. It contains the microphone, 3.5mm jack ( also supports TV-out ), sliding screen-lock switch, Stylus and other of the two stereo speakers.

Retail Pack Contents:-

• Nokia N900 (with Nokia Battery BL-5J)
• Nokia Stereo Headset (WH-205) (with different sizes Ear Inlets)
• Nokia Connectivity Cable (CA-101)
• Video out cable (CA-75U)
• Nokia High Efficiency microUSB Charger (AC-10)
• Nokia N900 Manual
• Cleaning Cloth

The battery BL-5J 1320 mAh provided with N900 doesn’t seem to be enough. We tried it in 2.5 G network with some EGPRS browsing usage but it hardly gives a day. So in our conclusion  N900 atleast need 1500 mAh battery.

N900 do have inbulit 32GB of internal memory & do support MicroSD, which we thing you don’t really need but any way its here in case if you need some extra space.

N900 comes with Nokia Stereo Headset (WH-205) gives you pleasant music experience and with Video out cable (CA-75U) you can enjoy your entertainment content with your family over TV.

Now let’s come to the OS Maemo 5 :-

In between our N900 review we received PR 1.2 update on Maemo 5 Firmware, So we tried our best to get glim’s on that. – We like you to take a closer look on N900 Firmware changelog here- Mameo 5 PR 1.2.

UI:

N900 comes with Linux based OS Maemo 5, We never have used a Maemo device before, so we were really excited in seeing what Hot in Mameo OS. The N900 homescreen consists of 4 customisable homescreens in which you can add different Widget , bookmark, shortcut, contacts etc. Housing 3D graphics accelerator with OpenGL ES 2.0 support – N900 do have lots of transition effect on Maemo 5 UI and that looks cool too.

IM & Email:

This holy crap if fully packed with everything you want to stay connected  - from IM (Facebook, Gtalk, Ovi & Skype) to Messaging Services supporting lots of services including Ovi,  Mail for Exchange, Nokia Messaging and more! all with full HTML support- N900 keeps you connected all the time.

Nokia N900 displays all incoming and outgoing SMS & IM as conversations under one roof,  supporting  Emotions in SMS  & IM services.

Images, Music & Video:

Now Come to Entertainment department :- N900 handles all the media on its 32 GB of onboard memory which is supported by extra microSD slot, so that, you’ll always have plenty of space for your Music, Videos and Photos.

Media Player on N900 is divided into 3 Main Categories-  Music, Video, Internet Radio along with a “Shuffle all Songs” section.

N900 handles Music and Video with ease. Supporting wide range of Audio and Video formats including DivX and Xvid videos straight out of the box. N900 Music Player do support “Microsoft Sync Center”

N900 Image gallery shows images from camera & downloaded section, Images look sharp and clear on the large 3.5″ screen.

N900 allows you to Edit Images and add effects and even filter by Tags. Being packed with GPS -N900 do supports Geo Tags on photos.

You can even share your media via Bluetooth,  Email or via  online service (like Ovi , Pixelpipe, Facebook, Twitter, etc).

Games:-

N900 has inbulit 3D graphics accelerator with OpenGL ES 2.0 support & Accelerometer, that means lots of transition effects and Smooth 3D game play with motion sensing. N900 thus easily handles 3D games – We enjoyed 3D Bounce & Angry Birds a lot.

You can double the enjoyment by playing these games on Big Screen TV via TV out.

GPS & Maps:

N900 have Nokia Ovi Maps but do lack some of the features present on Symbian version of Ovi Maps, like Turn-by-Turn Navigation etc. Although GPS works well once locked on.

Internet:

Nokia N900 Firefox browser uses Gecko version 1.9.2 with full Adobe Flash 9.4 support and full screen browsing – that  give smooth desktop like web experience to user, N900 easily handles almost any website, so their is no need for any mobile-version of sites.

Browser support both landscape and portrait mode -with automatically adjustment of browser orientation by accelerometer.

Calendar :

N900 has a very advance version of calender application that handles all the basics needs very well.  There’s Month View, Week Views & Agenda View. Tasks , Events & Notes all are in one place and  integrated in deep with lots of functionality -ensuring you never miss any thing.

Multitasking & Memory :

N900 running Linux based Maemo 5 OS on ARM Cortex A8 microprocessor at 600 MHz with 3D graphics accelerator OpenGL ES 2.0 support & Up on  1 GB of application memory – ensures smooth multitasking on device with some cool transition effect, you never need to actually close a application if you’d want. And with the open source power of Linux you can change or modify the functionality of OS.

With 32 GB of Internal Space, N900 is ready to handle almost all of your MP3 collection and if you still need more space their is extra support for micro SD-card.

App Installation:

Nokia N900 has three ways to install app One from Nokia Ovi Store other from Application manager Maemo App repositories & the last is Manually.

1- The Nokia N900 doesn’t actually have an Ovi Store Client yet, it’s based on web browser for now & works fine.

2-Nokia N900 OS Maemo also uses  its own Application manager to download apps from Maemo App repositories, The app catalog updates regularly ensuring to get you some cool app.

N900 Maemo App repository, works in smart way- it hides any applications you have already installed on your N900 and also alert you if any apps you have installed have any updates available. There’s a hundreds of stuffs floating over app repository for Maemo 5 in different section.

3- And the last way to install any App on N900 is to manually install them by connecting your N900 to PC, dropping the installation file which is in .deb format and installing them using an app called “Xterm” – A bit complicated but works.

Final Conclusion :

So, we are going to make it short – Go Buy it!

Wait wait wait..?

Ofcourse N900 stunned us – Device Powered on both sides- Hardware as well as in Software. N900 fulfill all of your  zest & satisfies all of your senses. N900 is dream device – with large screen, more space & Maemo 5 OS this thing rock-on.

And we cannot left- Full Web browsing experience, Photos by 5 Megapixel Carl Zeiss camera with smart imaging algorithm, IM integration , 3D motion sensing Gaming, Tons of Maemo 5 app over repository & Ovi Store, Multitasking, smart Calender app and their is many more! – we think it’s not Ok to have single review on N900 – Believe me, we need single Review post for each section of the N900, But unfortunately we don’t have that much Trial time for that – We like to thanks WomWorld/Nokia for helping us to put our views on Nokia N900.

“Nokia N900 is Truly Enjoyable device in every aspect whether its Work or Play”