Sunday 25 March 2012

Nokia 770 Internet Tablet Review-Simply Flawless


Nokia 770 Internet Tablet Review

Introduction

The Nokia 770 Internet Tablet is a new brand device, aimed at putting the Internet and an excellent web browsing experience in the palm of your hand. Larger than a PDA and sharing the same touch screen experience, the Nokia 770 doesn't aim to replace the PDA nor your mobile phone. In fact the device has no mobile phone radio, a first for a Nokia device. Instead it relies on its Wi-Fi 802.11g connectivity or you may use a Bluetooth-enabled phone as a wireless modem for the Nokia when you're not in range of a Wi-Fi network. A device that's intended to access the web anywhere in your wireless-enabled home or business but lacks the power of a full-blown computer. Nokia has smartly evaded the web pad's shortcomings: a high price, Windows' high maintenance requirements and large size (bigger and heavier than a medium format book).

Description

Rather than saying what the Nokia 770 is not, let's start with what it is: an extremely compact handheld device designed for Internet addicts and everyday folks who wish to access the web instantly and easily from places other than their desk in front of a PC. It has a bright and sharp 800 x 480 pixel four inch display reminiscent of the Samsung Nexio S160. The device measures 5.5" wide by 3" high by .75" thick with its metal slip cover on. It weighs 8.1 ounces, is pretty easy on the hands, and the included easel stand, similar to that included with the short-lived Nokia 7710 smart phone means you can sit it on the table if you prefer. The device has Wi-Fi 802.11b/g and Bluetooth 1.2 (you can use your Bluetooth enabled-phone as a modem for the Nokia 770 when Wi-Fi isn't available). The unit has a touch screen like a PDA and two styli are included. The device is geared toward those who don't want to sit with a laptop on the couch or wait for a PC to boot up just too quickly check something online. It's geared to those who want to listen to streaming radio anywhere a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection is available. It's geared to those who live for RSS news feeds and email.
it is not a phone or PDA. It doesn't come pre-loaded with standalone PIM apps such as contacts and calendar nor does it sync to desktops. It has no mobile phone radio inside, just Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It's a new kind of lifestyle device or techno-appliance: a portable Internet machine. Is it useful? Yes! Why do you need one if you already own a PDA? That's a harder sell, but Nokia believes that the much higher resolution display which allows you to see more of a web page on screen (without horizontal scrolling in many cases) and the superior browser (Opera 8) which offers a more desktop-like browsing experience will sell you. The 770 runs Linux, though you need not know a hair about Linux to use the device. Given the active open source Linux developer community and early interest from developers, Nokia hopes that we'll see lots and lots of free and shareware apps for the 770 in the coming year. Nokia hosts a developer web site to aid in that development and to spotlight some of the software currently available for the device.

Design and Ergonomics

The Internet tablet comes with a silver hard cover that slips onto the handheld. Slide it on to completely cover the display for safe transit. When you do so, the Nokia automatically goes to sleep, so there's no need to turn it off before covering it. When you're using the 770, you can slide the cover on so it covers the back of the unit, adding just a bit to the device's in-hand dimensions; or you can stick it in your bag, pocket or wherever you wish. The cover blocks the stylus silo in both front and rear covering positions, so you won't lose it. Slide the 770 a half inch up to remove the stylus.
All front facing controls are located on the left side. The speaker, 5-way directional pad, back button, menu activator and home buttons. Buttons to turn full screen mode on and off as well as zoom in and out are located on the top edge. The power button is also up top, and you can use that to fully power off the device when you know you won't be using it for a day or more. The device uses little power in sleep mode and no power when turned completely off using the power button. You'll have to wait about 20 seconds for it to boot up from complete power off, and it turns on instantly when waking from sleep. The mini USB sync port (cable included), charger port and standard 3.5mm stereo headphone jack are located on the bottom edge. The user replaceable battery lives under a door on the back, and the hot-swappable RS-MMC memory card slot is under a door on the bottom edge of the 770.

Horsepower and Performance

The Nokia 770 has a 250 MHz Texas Instruments OMAP 1710 ARM compatible CPU with 64 megs of available internal flash memory and an RS-MMC slot (same as used on recent Nokia phones) with a 64 meg card included. Both 3v and dual voltage 1.8/3v RS-MMC cards are supported. The CPU does bog down if you've got several browser windows open and low memory warnings pop up if you've got the MP3 player going along with a few browser windows or if you're visiting a site with some honking Macromedia Flash action going on. Since Opera supports multiple windows and many sites open links in new windows, you'd be surprised how easy it is to get 5 windows going. Keep an eye on those and close down windows you no longer need or the 770 will slow down markedly.

Operating system and user interface

Nokia created their own operating system and user interface for the 770, and named it Internet Tablet 2005 edition software. The OS is Linux and it's based on Debian (Kernel 2.6, Debian for ARM). The desktop is intuitive with the RSS reader, Internet radio player and a clock showing by default. It has elements of Nokia's Series 80 and 90 GUI with drop down menus embedded in the top window tabs and a quick launch icon bar on the left side. On the left you'll see shortcuts to the web browser, email and a third for other applications. When you tap on the other applications icon, you'll see a cascading menu listing all available programs, similar to the graphical start menus under Linux and the Windows Start Menu.
The toolbar up top has icons to show you battery and volume status among other things, a screen shot utility shortcut and a shortcut to your mobile phone connection (should you use one as a wireless modem for the 770). The device is intuitive and stylus-centric. While you can accomplish several tasks using the front buttons, most are best done using the touch screen and stylus. When you need to enter web site URLs or other text, you'll use an on-screen keyboard or handwriting recognition which gives mixed results. The Nokia 770 Control Panel is where you'll install new applications, backup and restore the device, work with secure certificates, calibrate the display, view available memory, customize the desktop, set a password if desired and more.
The RSS reader does a good job of rendering feed items, though we wish it were a little peppier. It's easy enough to copy an RSS feed URL from the browser and paste it into the reader. Internet radio plays streaming stations and you can create a list of your favorite stations. Audio quality through a set of stereo headphones is very good and the device makes a great portable Internet radio. Other apps include a PDF viewer, image viewer, video player, audio player, file manager, notes, sketching (draw using colors), calculator, clock, chess, Mahjong and Marbles. The video player supports locally stored and streaming media in MPEG1, MPEG4, Real Video, H.263, AVI and 3GP formats. The image viewer displays JPEG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, PNG, Animated GIF format,SVG-tiny and ICO files. The audio player can handle MP3, MPEG4-AAC, WAV, AMR and MP2 music.

Web Browsing

The 770 comes with a customized version of the excellent Opera browser which supports multiple windows and some plug-in such as Flash 6 which is included. The browser does a great job of rendering web sites and is much closer to the desktop experience than PDAs or phones. Opera handles JavaScript, dHTML, SSL, cookies, bookmarks, caching, zooming and has regular, optimized and full screen viewing modes. The many sites we visited looked great and worked well, even JavaScript menus that generally baffle PDA browsers. The display is wide enough that side-to-side scrolling is kept to a minimum. Excellent! Our one complaint is Flash support: yes it's there, but visiting a page with Flash really slowed the browser down.

 Email

Like the email client on some Nokia phones, the 770's email application supports multiple accounts, referred to as "mailboxes". The app supports both POP3 and IMAP email, along with SSL, signatures, HTML and plain text emails, SMTP authentication, user-specified incoming and outgoing mail ports, email encryption and more. You can tell the app to leave email on the server and you can specify the maximum downloaded message size and whether it should download headers only. This is a strong email client for those using POP3 and IMAP mail. Though there's no standalone contacts application, the email client has its own address book with a few preset fields.

Display and Multimedia

The Nokia 770 has an 800 x 480 touch screen that's capable of displaying 65,536 colors. While not super-saturated, the display is very bright and its anti-glare coating reduces eye-fatigue. Given the high resolution and small screen size, text is small, though sharp. Use the zoom feature if your eyes become tired.
The Nokia 770 has a speaker and a 3.5mm stereo headphone jack which pumps out good quality music. Though the device has a mic at the bottom, no application currently makes use of it. However, it should come in handy when the next version of the OS is released with support for VoIP.

Photo viewing

Photo viewing is a pleasure thanks to the sharp, high resolution display and the included image viewer supports a wealth of formats. Color saturation could be higher for a better wow effect, but most folks will be pleased. Likewise video playback is great on the large screen, though given the device's horsepower, keep encodings under 600 kbps for smooth playback.

Battery

The 1500 mAh Lithium Ion battery is good for 4 hours of service when online via Wi-Fi. That's very good for a device with a large display and wireless. Should you need to plug in, the 770's small charger is unobtrusive (it looks just like Nokia's standard phone charger but the connector is smaller in diameter). The device has three power modes: on, off and sleep. The Nokia will automatically sleep after a period of inactivity and a tap on the screen will wake it up with no delay. Sleep uses little power but it does use some power. If you plan on using the 770 throughout the day here and there, let it go to sleep. If you won't be using it for a day or more, turn it off using the power button. We found that the 770 lasted about 4 days when in sleep mode and indefinitely when turned off. The Nokia will automatically go to sleep if you slide the protective cover on to protect the display.

Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi is the Nokia 770's preferred means of connecting to the Net given its high speed and 802.11g connection that's backwards compatible with 802.11b. The device supports WEP (40 and 128 bit), WPA, DHCP, proxies and has very good range. You can also use a Bluetooth enabled phone as a modem, but be prepared for slow page loads unless you're lucky enough to be in a 3G coverage area. The connection manager is one of the least friendly pieces of software on the 770, but it gets the job done once you've spent a few minutes to master it.

Bluetooth

The Nokia 770's Bluetooth 1.2 radio is intended primarily for using DUN (dial up networking) with a Bluetooth enabled mobile phone. As you'd expect, Nokia phones are supported, along with most other phones. Windows Mobile phones aren't compatible out of the box, but with a bit of geeking, you can fix that. If you're not a Linux geek who's happy with a command line action, you can wait for the next OS update which will include support for Windows Mobile phones as BT modems. The 770 doesn't ship with a Bluetooth keyboard driver, which worked well with our Think outside Bluetooth Keyboard. The 770 supports the following profiles out of the box: Dial-Up Networking, File Transfer/Object Exchange, Generic Access, SIM Access and Serial Port.

Comparing the Nokia 770 to another Linux Handheld

When using the Nokia 770, the Sharp Zaurus SL-C devices come to mind, current ones being the SL-C3100 / SL-C3000 and the C-1000. I have an older model, the SL-C860 which is very similar to the current C-1000. Now, there are some major differences: brand new Zaurus handhelds cost more than the Nokia 770 ($459 for a C-1000 and $700 for an SL-C3100 with internal hard drive), though older ones can be hand for less. They have integrated keyboards, PIM and office applications and syncing software. Clearly the Zaurus is more than an Internet appliance; it's a mini-computer and a PDA too. But there are a few striking similarities: the Linux OS with a friendly GUI on top, open source software community support, a great browsing experience (the Zaurus comes with a version of Net Front that's much more capable than PDA and phone versions of that browser, and you can install Opera), and a sharp screen with tiny fonts (but a similar hardware zoom feature). The Zaurus models have superb 3.7" VGA 640 x 480 CG color displays for a high res browsing experience, though less than the Nokia's in dimensions and resolution. The Zaurus' display is more striking in terms of brightness, color saturation and contrast which is important for photo and video but less so for web browsing and text. The Nokia has built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth while you must use Wi-Fi and Bluetooth CF cards with the Zaurus. The Nokia is more turnkey while the Zaurus sometimes requires some geeking around. In the end, the browsing similarities are strong but the Nokia remains a very strong single purpose device with great ease of use while the Zaurus appeals to those who need a mini-computer/PDA and want to spend more money for the added features.
The Pepper was released Jan. 2006 and also runs Linux with a user-friendly graphical user interface. While it wants to be your best buddy in the couch-surfing department as does the Nokia, it also aims to do more. Like the Zaurus, it's not a targeted single purpose device but rather a jack of several trades including video and MP3 playback (it has a 20 gig hard drive), AV remote control and more. Unlike the Nokia, the Pepper is large (12" x 6.6"), heavy (2.3lbs) and costs $800.

What I Like

1) As close to a desktop browser experience as you can get on a mobile device.
2) High resolution display that's sharp and doesn't glare.
3) The email client is quite good and the RSS reader useful for feed junkies.
4) Good battery life, all things considered.
5) Wi-Fi and Bluetooth both behave well and you can use Bluetooth to connect to keyboards and other goodies, not just a phone (depending on available drivers).

What I Don’t Like

The Nokia 770 easily bogs down under moderate loads: running a few apps at once, having several web pages open at once or even updating and rendering in the RSS news reader.

The Future

An OS upgrade forthcoming in 2006 will be free to all who purchase the current 2005 OS model and it will add VoIP and an IM client. In the meantime you can download GAIM for instant messaging. No office suite is included but you can download some open source apps at maemo.org/maemowiki/Application Catalog (Maemo is the name of the Nokia 770's development platform, which you can also download). And yes, there's a free Doom port available there, along with Sudoku, the AbiWord word processor and a Bluetooth keyboard driver.

Lastly I Would Say…

An interesting new kind of device that's great for Internet users. It's very attractive, reasonably priced and well made. If you want pocketable instant-on access to the web, email, Internet radio and more nothing beats the 770 for the price. Unlike a notebook, it fits in your pocket, is inexpensive and requires virtually no maintenance. However, it can't replace a PDA or notebook given its lack of PIM and office software.

Specifications

General Information

Brand
Nokia
Model
770 Internet Tablet
Weight
230 G
Form Factor
Tablet
Dimensions
141x79x19 MM
Operating Frequency
GSM 900 / 1800 Mhz
Touch Screen
Yes, Full Touch Screen

Display Details

Display Color
4.13 inches, Wide Touch Screen, 65K Colors
Display Size
Nokia 770 Internet Tablet has a display size of 800 x 480 px

Camera

Camera
N/A
Zoom
N/A
Video
N/A
Video Recording
N/A
Video Player
Yes, Video Formats : 3GP, AVI, H.263, MPEG-1, MPEG-4, RV (Real Video)

Software

Games
Yes, Chess, Mahjong, Marbles
Java
N/A
Browser
Yes, Web Browser (Opera 8) with Flash player
Operating System
Internet Tablet OS 2006 edition (Maemo (operating system) 2.2)

Call Records

Phone Book
Yes
Missed Calls
Yes
Received Calls
Yes
Dialed Calls
Yes

Battery

Stand By Time
Up to 7 days
Talk Time
Up to 3 hours
Li-PO
1500 mAH

Memory

Internal Memory
Yes, Internal Memory : 64MB Random Access Memory, 128MB Flash
External Memory
Yes, Up to 1 GB
Memory Slot
Yes, MMC Card

Message

SMS
Yes
MMS
Yes
Email
Yes
Instant Messaging
Yes

Music

Ring Tone
Vibration, Polyphonic, MP3
FM
Yes, Internet Radio Playlists: M3U, PLS
Music
Yes, Music Formats : AAC, AMR, MP2, MP3, RA (Real Audio), WAV, WMA with 3.5mm Stereo Audio Jack
Speaker
Yes
Headset
Yes

Data

GPRS
Yes
Bluetooth
Yes, v1.2
Wireless Protocol
Yes, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g
Port
Yes, USB 2.0 device mode for PC connectivity (with speeds up to 12Mbps)
Edge
No
Infra Red
No
CPU
Yes, 252 MHz Texas Instruments OMAP 1710
Sales pack
Nokia 770 Internet Tablet, 2 stylus pens, Pouch, Battery (BP-5L), Travel charger (AC-4), 64 MB RS-MMC memory card, Connectivity cable DKE-2 (USB), Headphones (HS-61), Desk stand DT-7, User guide, Quick start guide

Others
Special Features :
Multiple Languages, Image Viewer

Colors
Black and Matte Silver

For Video Review Go To-

Friday 23 March 2012

Nokia N9 Review-8MP+16GB=So Close Still So Far


Nokia N9 Review

Introduction

The Nokia N9 was hottly anticipated and yet, sadly, this illusive handset won't be widely available to the majority of readers. Simply put, when we hold the Nokia N9 in our hands, we're holding a piece of history. MeeGo, the culmination of decades of Nokia mobile software development, is now officially canceled so why are we reviewing the Nokia N9?  The hardware, both an evolution of the critically acclaimed Nokia N8 and an insight into what we might expect with the next chapter of Nokias. With its edgy plastic build, 1GHz processor, 3.9" AMOLED screen, 8MP camera and not least of all, MeeGo, the enigmatic Nokia N9 is both a proud tribute to yesterday and an optimistic insight into Nokia's tomorrow.

Design

Undoubtedly, Nokia has churned out some fantastic hardware in recent years. Take the N8 and E7, respectively at the top of their game when it comes to product design with beautiful annodised alluminum chasis' and confident, bold shapes that just work in the hand, in the pocket and to the eye. We therefore have high expectations from the Nokia N9's AMOLED bevelled glass display, high-grade coloured plastic encasing, not to mention the slab's abundance of personality. Beginning with the display, even before you set a finger upon the Gorilla Glass, as the light bounces off the beveled edges, the Nokia N9 begins to come into its own. With the phone locked, the convex beveling accentuates the natural curves of the device, while the deep, AMOLED black screen gives way to a light, typographic time display.
Double tap the screen to reveal the wallpaper, our chosen being a beautiful bokehing of light against a dark backdrop. At WVGA resolution, this 3.9" Clear Black AMOLED display delivers a crisp, vibrant image and accurate color with the wallpaper looking every bit as evocative as you might hope. Interacting with the curved glass is a sensory treat, slick, smooth and contoured for an edge to edge recess with every swipe. All in all, a definite highpoint of the Nokia N9. The one criticism we would have relates to viewing angles. Tilt the device a few degrees and a blue hue takes hold, so while detail retains its integrity, color unfortunately doesn’t. The Nokia N9 can be rested flat or stood up in portrait thanks to its dramatic flat top and bottom sides. Pick up the handset and there's no cold, steely reception. Instead, the Nokia N9 greets with nostalgic, reassuring room temperature warmth. In the face of the plastic casing, the phone feels thoroughly modern and solid. Maser fully crafted, curvaceous, laden with flush elements and a minimalistic, button less fascia, the Nokia N9's design comes together harmoniously and with intent.

Other Features

The front facing camera (strange, isn't it). On the right side is the volume rocker and lock/power button, at the base, the loudspeaker and on the top-side, the micro SIM card slot, the hinged micro USB cover and 3.5mm headphone jack. On the back of the Nokia N9 lies the 8MP camera with dual LED flash. There is no removable battery or expandable memory which is unfortunate, though given the strong design; we can see why Nokia made this decision. Simple, engaging and playful. Nokia have played to their strengths with their N9's design. Available in three colors, black, cyan and magenta all finished to the highest degree, if you care about how what you pull out of your pocket looks, then you'll revel in revealing your Nokia N9. From an ergonomic point of view, the handset also feels rich, and sits well in the hand. The bottom right hand corner may be a tad edgy for prolonged comfort against a palm, however for standard use; this handset is at the top of its game.

Interface

The beauty of MeeGo is its simplicity. The OS is comprised of 3 screens, a fixed notifications bar at the top and hardly any layers. Screen one is a four column view of your apps. Screen two, multi-tasking, providing thumbnails of open-apps. Finally, the third screen offers a dashboard of Twitter and Face book feeds while also indicating notifications and weather. Journeying between screens is achieved by a horizontal swipe, with all three screens cycling through a loop, so you always have somewhere to go whichever way you swipe.

Screen one

Screen one, the apps screen is single layered, so no folders in sight. It looks neat and clean while allowing for basic customization. With a long press, all the app icons gray out, with small crosses appear next to specific apps. This grayed out screen enables re-ordering or uninstalling of apps

The second screen

The second screen, multi-tasking displays a thumbnail of each open application. These can be scrolled through, tapped on for quick access or long-pressed for further options. These options allow you to close windows one by one, or close all.

The final screen

The final screen in MeeGo's minimalistic arsenal involves updates. These include both Twitter and Face book, with the option of including news articles from the pre-installed AP Mobile news app. There is the option to display 50, 100, 200 or 500 items with an update interval ranging from 10 minutes through to 24 hours.

The notification band

The notification band at the top of the display indicates battery, network, Wi-Fi, Face book chat / Gtalk status and time. This can be expanded by a tap, allowing you to select a profile, choose your chat status and your Wi-Fi connection. The locking mechanism on the Nokia N9 takes full advantage of the physical convex quality of the screen. It requires a two stage unlock, firstly, a double tap or press of the unlock button. Second, an edge to edge swipe across the sleek fascia, with the tapering edges indicating that at the end of your swipe, you have indeed reached your destination.

All this talk of swiping alludes to the final point to note about MeeGo's UI: managing windows. With any window other than a main screen open, a swipe from bottom edge to top edge or either horizontal edge across will send the application to the multi-tasking pane, and send you to a main screen. If you wish to close an app completely, simply swipe down. This step by step explanation goes to indicate the beautiful simplicity of MeeGo, at its heart, it's an operating system that's easy to get to grips with, looks charming and adopts gestures more fundamentally than any other major mobile OS before it, with the exception of perhaps HP WebOS. While it can jitter and slow down, and there are a few kinks to iron out in terms of functionality (swipe up won't close video player), had we not already known MeeGo's future, we would have anticipated it to be very promising.

Functionality

As far as key phone tools, the dialer and phone functionality works well. Every button, icon and drop down menu is touch optimized and looks charming. Adding a contact is a piece of cake and the Nokia N9 synchronized easily with our Google contacts. Unfortunately, the calendar wasn't so easy to sync, but still performs well, with a split panel view and attractive UI. Messaging on the Nokia N9 is a treat. The keyboard offers amongst the best haptic feedback you're going to experience, while the keyboard in landscape is well laid out and easy to get to grips with. The portrait QWERTY is a touch thin for comfortable thumb typing, though we got used to it pretty quickly.
There is support for a range of accounts, with the aforementioned Face book and Twitter integration also coming in the form of fully functioning apps. There is also support for Skype, Flicker, Picasa, YouTube, and other accounts such as mail for exchange. There are also a range of other useful applications on the N9, such as notes, document viewer, RSS feeds, AccuWeather and AP Mobile, not to mention some pre-installed games, including trials of Angry Birds, Galaxy on Fire 2, Need for Speed Shift and Real Golf 2011. Finally, MeeGo also sports a useful search function that enables you to trawl the entire phone for whatever it is you're after.
As far as the market experience goes, Ovi Store is surely lacking. We were able to find a screen hot app and some additional new apps; however this isn't the handset to buy if you're looking for an engaging app experience. In the Nokia N9's defense however, most of what you'll ever need is pre-installed on the device.

8MP at the Back

With Huge shoes to fill, looking at specs alone and the Nokia N9 trails behind its older brother, the N8. The sensor's down from 12MP to 8MP while the Xenon flash has been dropped in favor of a dual LED flash. That said working in the Nokia N9's favor is the fixed minimum aperture of f2.2 in contrast to the N8's f2.8, and the slightly wider angled 26mm focal length.

Specs aside, and the performance of the Nokia N9 camera is very solid indeed. Detail levels are good, dynamic range is respectable and color is for the most part accurate, though at times the exposure and white balance needs a helping hand. Our only niggle is in relation to the auto-focus and the camera UI. The camera fires very quickly, sometimes before it even get a chance to focus. This is both a blessing and a curse; with quick capture but occasionally soft picture. Touch to focus also proved unreliable, not playing nice in macro and locking occasionally, while the UI is heavily menu driven. We would have liked shortcuts or HTC style corrections on the fly approach.

Video capture

Sadly, video capture doesn't deliver the quality we would have hoped for. With 720p recording, it's already slightly behind the competition; however, the artifacting, muted colors and shortage of clarity and detail are what stop the Nokia N9's video output from complementing some rather impressive optics. For casual video however, it is passable, and as you can see from the clip, the touch to focus during the video itself tends to work very well indeed. This firmly places the Nokia N9's camera in the game still photo snappers, however if video's your bag, watch our sample before committing your hard earned cash. After you've spent hours creating content, you'll want to consume it, and the Nokia N9 has everything you'll need to do just that.

Music player

Starting with the music player and Nokia has decided to lock everything into portrait orientation. This works perfectly for one handed usage and keeps in-line with the simplicity of the OS. The main screen offers you a 3x3 grid of recently played album artwork in the upper half, while in the lower half are standard playback options such as artist, album, songs, playlist and ovi music. Playback quality is definitely above average, with impressive volume and clarity. Tracks retained a good amount of bass as well; giving the N9's audio output a nice rounded quality.

Video support

In its native WVGA resolution, video support is good for H.263, MPEG4, H.264 BP/MP, WMV9 / VC-1 and Mkv formats. Sadly, at 720p, rvrn MP4 support wasn't reliable. While the Nokia N9 manages to play captured HD content well, MP4 video podcasts and YouTube rips fail to playback smoothly. Once your video is playing however, the Nokia N9 comes into its own. The Clear Black AMOLED display caresses your senses while the immersive audio quality is the icing on the cake, making the video playback a real treat.

Connectivity

The on board penta-band 3G and quad-band GSM makes the Nokia N9 an ideal phone for traveling – it is even usable in T-Mobile USA's 3G network. The pre-installed Nokia maps with GPS allow for free navigation. The handset also has your usual, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, not to mention NFC which is something we don't see all that often.

Web browsing

Web browsing is a very positive experience on the Nokia N9 thanks to a zippy browser and intuitive interaction. Multi-touch pinch to zoom works a treat while pages load quickly and are browsable while loading. The browser doesn't support Flash, and this probably has a lot to do with the smoothness of the experience, however you do get HTML 5 support. The Nokia N9 gives users the ability to easily tether Wi-Fi which we're delighted to see. The GPS also works well, locking on when outdoors in a matter of moments with the AGPS, and from cold in about 30 seconds.

Performance

The 1GHz TI OMAP 3630 chipset does a respectable job at making sure MeeGo keeps up with everything we throw at it. At times we opened in excess of 17 apps with little in the way of stuttering. At other times however, with 2 or 3 apps open the Nokia N9 hung, froze or took its sweet time to open a new application. Inconsistencies in behavior remind us that the MeeGo is still in its infancy. This doesn't kill the Nokia N9 experience, but does sully it somewhat, especially when considering the uncertainty behind support for this platform over the coming years.

Call quality

Call quality on the Nokia N9 wasn't the crispest we've experienced, though is by no means poor. The active noise cancellation does its job and the person on the other end sounds audible, if ever so slightly soft. The feedback we received from the other end when talking on the N9 was that a good sound was produced, volume and clarity are all above average. With good reception, the Nokia N9 confidently offers both solid smarts and acommendable phone.

Battery Backup

With the non-removable 1450 mAh battery stated to last 11 hours while talking and 16 days standby, the Nokia N9 manages to put other smart phones to shame. While real-world results produced a full day to day with chat logged in, if you need to preserve juice, switching off connections can get the handset through two days - something most smart phones can only dream of.

What I Like

1) Good, unique design
2) Unique, simple UI
3) Solid camera performance

What I Don’t Like

1) No future for the OS
2) Occasionally buggy UI
3) Extremely limited app support
4) Not available to Indian Market

Lastly I Would Say...

Nokia N9 comes with MeeGo viable OSIs, the Nokia N9 design is awesome and you really going to like it a lot, talking about camera the new camera is good enough.  MeeGo ordains Nokia's impeccable hardware with a form fitted OS, one that could even challenge the major players on the usability stakes and before we can celebrate, we must commemorate. For any Nokia fans out there considering this, you get our recommendation. However, from a practical stance, for a day to day consumer who wants to buy into an ecosystem rich in apps and development, the grass may well be greener on the other side. If you, like us, have fallen in love with the Nokia hardware, but the N9 won't be available in Indian market, this can feel embarrassing to Indian users. You may want to consider an upcoming Nokia Windows Phone, which would eventually spor a similar chassis and Microsoft's better-supported OS. 

Specifications

General

2G Network
GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network
HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100
Announced
2011, June
Status
Available. Released 2011, September

Body

Dimensions
116.5 x 61.2 x 12.1 mm, 76 cc
Weight
135 g

Display

Type
AMOLED capacitive touch screen, 16M colors
Size
480 x 854 pixels, 3.9 inches (~251 ppi pixel density)
Multi touch
Yes
Protection
Corning Gorilla Glass

- Anti-glare polarizer

Sound

Alert types
Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
Loudspeaker
Yes
3.5mm jack
Yes, check quality

Dolby Mobile sound enhancement; Dolby Headphone support

Memory

Card slot
No
Internal
16/64 GB storage, 1 GB RAM

Data

GPRS
Class 33
EDGE
Class 33
Speed
HSDPA, 14.4 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.7 Mbps
WLAN
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot
Bluetooth
Yes, v2.1 with A2DP, EDR
NFC
Yes
USB
Yes, micro USB v2.0

Camera

Primary
8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, Carl Zeiss optics, auto focus, dual LED flash, check quality
Features
Geo-tagging, face detection, touch-focus
Video
Yes, 720p@30fps, check quality
Secondary
Yes

Features

OS
MeeGo OS, v1.2 Harmattan
Chipset
TI OMAP 3630
CPU
1 GHz Cortex A8
GPU
PowerVR SGX530
Sensors
Accelerometer, proximity, compass
Messaging
SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email, IM
Browser
WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML5, RSS feeds
Radio
Yes (Via third-party app)
GPS
Yes, with A-GPS support; Ovi Maps
Java
Yes, MIDP 2.1
Colors
Black, Cyan, Magenta, Glossy white

- Micro SIM card support only
- SNS integration
- Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
- TV-out
- Dolby Digital Plus
- MP3/WAV/eAAC+/WMA/FLAC player
- MP4/H.264/H.263/WMV player
- Document viewer (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF)
- Video/photo editor
- Voice memo/command/dial
- Predictive text input (Swype)

Battery


Standard battery, Li-Ion 1450 mAh (BV-5JW)
Stand-by
Up to 380 h (2G) / Up to 450 h (3G)
Talk time
Up to 11 h (2G) / Up to 7 h (3G)
Music play
Up to 50 h

Misc

SAR US
1.18 W/kg (head)     1.18 W/kg (body)    

SAR EU
1.16 W/kg (head)    


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