Nokia N900 Unlocked Phone/Mobile Computer with 3.5-Inch Touchscreen, QWERTY, 5 MP Camera, Maemo Browser, 32 GB - U.S. Version with Full Warranty

by Nokia

Product Details

User's Manual/Troubleshooting Guide [PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 7.7 x 2.1 inches ; 1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B002OB49SW
• Item model number: N900
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (348 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,467 in Cell Phones & Accessories (See Top 100 in Cell Phones & Accessories)

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Update your Nokia N900 with the latest software.

Combining a mobile computer, cell phone, high-quality camera, and portable media player into a single device, the Nokia N900 unlocked cell phone offers fast 3G connectivity, global roaming capabilities, and a wealth of messaging capabilities to keep you in touch with family, friends, and business associates wherever you roam. It runs the new Linux-based Maemo operating system, which brings the benefits of your PC to your mobile world. Enjoy fast application processing and multitasking on the N900's live dashboard--a panoramic home screen that can be fully personalized with favorite shortcuts, widgets, and applications--and experience the full web with the Maemo browser and high-speed wireless broadband connectivity. It's all accessed via the N900's 3.5-inch high-resolution touchscreen as well as the device's slide-out full QWERTY keyboard.

The Nokia N900 mobile computer/cell phone features a 3.5-inch touchscreen as well as slide-out full QWERTY keyboard. Learn about all the N900's features in this Nokia Demo Guide PDF.

Take high-quality photos and widescreen videos using the 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics. You'll also be able to tag photos with keywords and browse them using the tag cloud, geotag images with the location data of where they were shot, share online via Ovi Share or Flickr, or store for mobile viewing on the N900's 32 GB internal memory--which can also be expanded via optional microSD memory cards.

The quad-band Nokia N900 GSM/EDGE phone makes it easy to roam globally and stay in touch with voice and text messaging, and this model is also ready to run on 3G networks both in the US and internationally (900/1700/2100 MHz HSPA), enabling fast downloads and streaming multimedia while on the go. It also includes integrated Wi-Fi connectivity (802.11b/g) for accessing open networks at work, home, and on the road from a variety of wireless hotspots. You'll also be able to connect to a wide variety of peripherals--including stereo headphones--with the Bluetooth 2.1 + Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) capabilities.

With the integrated A-GPS sensor, the device intuitively understands where it is, giving you the ability to search maps for addresses and points of interest using the Ovi Maps application and route a path to your destination.

Learn about all the N900's features in this Nokia Demo Guide PDF.

Unlocked Phone
This unlocked cell phone can be used with a GSM network service provider. It does not come with a SIM card, and it requires that you provide a SIM card for usage with your selected service provider. This phone comes with a full manufacturer's warranty.

When paired with a compatible 3G network, you'll enjoy a high-speed connection offering a variety of feature-rich wireless services--from data connectivity to your office to multimedia streaming--and be able to take advantage of simultaneous voice and data services. In areas not served by a 3G network, you'll continue to receive data service via EDGE network (depending on network compatibility).

Note that the downloading of maps, games, music and videos, and uploading of images and videos involves transferring large amounts of data. Your service provider may charge for the data transmission, and the availability of particular services and features may vary by carrier.

Taking its cues from the world of desktop computing, the open source, Linux-based Maemo software delivers a PC-like experience on a handset-sized device.

Key Features

• Fast 3G connectivity with broadband-like speeds via 900/1700/2100 MHz UMTS/HSPA.
• Integrated assisted GPS (A-GPS) receiver for navigation using the Ovi Maps application as well as for geotagging photos and accessing location services used by popular social networking sites. Switch between rich 3D, satellite and hybrid map views.
• 3.5-inch touchscreen display with built-in accelerometer and 800 x 480-pixel resolution. (Learn more)
• Slide-out full QWERTY keyboard as well as virtual onscreen keyboard. Speed your typing up further with smart on-screen features and word completion.
• Maemo 5 software and user interface with direct touch logic, 3D accelerated graphics, and multi-window multitasking menu logic. (Learn more)
• 5-megapixel Carl Zeiss autofocus camera with dual LED flash and sliding lens cover for protection and camera activation. (Learn more)
• Capture WVGA 16:9 video in higher than DVD resolution.
• Digital audio and video playback with multi-format compatibilities plus TV output (cable included) and FM radio.
• Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity with stereo music streaming (A2DP) capabilities as well as hands-free headsets and car kits. (Learn more)
• Wi-Fi networking for accessing the Internet from home, corporate and hotspot networks (802.11b/g); includes WEP, WPA, WPA2 security protocols.
• 32 GB internal memory expandable up to 48 GB via optional microSD cards (up to 16 GB in size).
• Full messaging capabilities including SMS, mobile instant messaging (with presence-enhanced contacts), personal and corporate email (with support for Exchange and viewing attachments).
• Easily set up multiple email accounts with support for popular email providers.
• Keep multiple SMS & IM conversations going and move easily between them.
• Mozilla-powered full HTML browser with support for Adobe Flash player and ability to keep multiple web windows open.
• Organizer tools including calendar, clock, notes, calculator, and sketch
• Full range of applications including Ovi Maps, PDF reader, and RSS reader
• Airplane mode allows you to listen to music while the cellular connectivity is turned off.

Vital Statistics
The Nokia N900 weighs 6.38 ounces (with 1320 mAh lithium-ion battery) and measures 4.37 x 2.35 x 0.77 inches. It runs on the 850/900/1800/1900 MHz GSM/GPRS/EDGE frequencies as well as the 900/1700/2100 MHz HSPA 3G frequencies.

Learn More

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Touchscreen and Full QWERTY Keyboard

Large and gorgeously colorful, the Nokia N900's 3.5-inch touch display offers an 800 x 480-pixel resolution. The resistive touch screen includes haptic feedback so you know when you've pressed a key or onscreen menu, brightness control, an ambient light detector, and an orientation sensor that effortlessly switches from portrait to landscape viewing. The desktop can be personalized with up to four different views. You can also use a stylus for onscreen input.

When you're ready to start typing email or text/instant messages, just flip the N900 on its left side and slide the face up to reveal the full QWERTY keyboard with predictive typing capabilities. The display pivots to an angle that makes it easy to read the screen while you're typing. The N900 also includes a kickstand that enables you to place the device on a desk or airplane's seatback table to watch videos.

The Nokia N900 has 32 GB of internal storage, which is expandable up to 48 GB via optional microSD cards (up to 16 GB in size).

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Powerful Computing

Running on the new Maemo 5 software, the Nokia N900 enables you to have dozens of application windows open and running simultaneously while taking full advantage of the cellular features, touch screen, and QWERTY keyboard. Designed for computer-grade performance in a compact size, Maemo complements Nokia's other software platforms, such as Symbian, which powers Nokia's smartphones.

The Nokia N900 packs a powerful ARM Cortex-A8 processor, with up to 1GB of application memory and OpenGL ES 2.0 graphics acceleration. The result is PC-like multitasking, allowing many applications to run simultaneously. Switching between applications is simple, as all running content is constantly available through the dashboard. The panoramic home screen can be fully personalized with favorite shortcuts, widgets, and applications. Thanks to the browser powered by Mozilla technology, web sites look the way they would on any computer. Online videos and interactive applications are vivid with full Adobe Flash 9.4 support. Maemo software updates happen automatically over the Internet.

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Powerful 5-Megapixel Carl Zeiss Optics

With the Carl Zeiss optics on the 5-megapixel camera, you can capture print quality photos and DVD-like quality video clips. Carl Zeiss, a world leader in high quality camera lenses, brings an award-winning legacy to the Nokia N900 with state-of-the-art optics for mobile photography and mobile video. The Zeiss name has been associated with cameras from Hasselblad, Rollei, Yashica, Sony, and Nikon.

Tag photos with keywords to easily find them later on with a keyword cloud display, and see where your images were taken with the automatic geotagging. The camera offers an auto-focus Carl Zeiss lens with two-stage capture key, dual LED flash, and JPEG/EXIF still image file format. Other features include a full-screen viewfinder, dedicated camera key, sliding lens cover for protection and camera activation, and a photo editor. Upload your photos and videos to Ovi Share and share them online with friends and family.

The N900 can also capture videos in a widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio at 800 x 480 pixels and 30 frames per second (fps). Additionally, the N900 includes a VGA camera on the front for use of video calling services (dependent upon carrier; additional charges applicable).

After shooting photos and videos, you can connect the N900 to an external monitor or TV (NTSC/PAL) using the included cable, and control playback via UPNP (WLAN supported).

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Stay Connected via email

The Nokia N900 supports email accounts from more than a thousand internet service providers (ISPs) around the world (SMTP, IMAP4, POP3), as well as Gmail, Yahoo! mail, and Hotmail. People who use Microsoft Exchange at work can access their email using the Mail for Exchange mobile email client, which comes pre-loaded (an Exchange email account is required and your Exchange Administrator must have enabled your account for synchronization). You'll enjoy reliable real-time access to your email, calendar, contacts, and tasks, as well as be able to download attachments like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or PDF files directly to the device.

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Wireless Freedom with Bluetooth

In addition to the integrated hands-free speakerphone, this phone provides the latest version of Bluetooth connectivity--version 2.1 + EDR--which makes pairing with an optional headset, as well as other Bluetooth-enabled devices, a snap. It includes profiles for communication headset, hands-free car kits, and phonebook access. And with the A2DP Bluetooth profile, you can stream your music to a pair of compatible Bluetooth stereo headphones or speaker dock.

Bluetooth profiles include: A2DP (stereo music streaming), AVRC (remote control), HFP (hands-free car kits), HSP (communication headsets), FTP (file transfer), OPP (object push for business cards, calendar items, and pictures)

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Technical Specifications

• Up to 32 GB internal storage
• Total available application memory up to 1 GB (256 MB RAM, 768 MB virtual memory)
• Supported protocols: Mail for Exchange, IMAP, POP3, SMTP
• SMS and instant messages organized as conversations
• Support for Nokia Messaging service
• Instant messaging and Presence-enhanced contacts
• Multiple number, email, and Instant Messaging details per contact, and contacts with images
• Integrated hands-free stereo speakers
• Logging of dialed, received, and missed calls
• Speed dialing via contact widget
• Ring tones: .wav, .mp3, .AAC, .eAAC, .wma
• Wi-Fi networking (802.11b/g) with WEP, WPA, WPA2 security; designed for continuous TCP/IP connectivity
• Capability to serve as data modem via USB connection
• Music playback file formats: .mp3, .wma, .aac, .m4a, .wav
• Video playback file formats: .mp4, .avi, .wmv, .3gp; codecs: H.264, MPEG-4, Xvid, WMV, H.263
• Video streaming: H.264, MPEG-4, Xvid, WMV, H.263 in .avi, .mp4, .wmv, .asf, and .3gp containers
• TV out (NTSC/PAL) with Nokia Video Connectivity Cable (CA-75U, included)
• FM radio (requires headset to be attached) and FM transmitter

Product Description

Enjoy fast application processing and multitasking on a live Dashboard. ARM Cortex-A8 600MHz and total available application memory up to 1GB (256MB RAM + 768 MB virtual memory) Experience the full web with Maemo browser. Browser powered by Mozilla technology, full flash 9.4 and AJAX support. Personalize your own panorama desktop on the 3.5 Inch 800x480 pixel touch screen. Fast wireless broadband. WiFi and HSPA data 10/2.0 Mbps. Chat with voice calls, internet calls, instant messages and SMS. Merge your phone book, Skype contacts and other contacts into an all-in-one address book. Share your status, location and mood with your friends. Keep multiple IM and SMS conversations going and move easily between them. Email on the go with rich HTML and full QWERTY keyboard, Pre-installed Nokia Messaging that mobilizes up to 10 personal email accounts. Take high quality photos and wide screen videos using the 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics. Tag photos with keyword cloud to best describe the moment and find them easily later on. See where photos were taken with the automatic geotagging. Share to Ovi Share & Flickr or store in the massive 32 GB internal storage.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

446 of 457 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Rough Around the Edges but Huge Potential, December 3, 2009

By 

N. Singleton - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nokia N900 Unlocked Phone/Mobile Computer with 3.5-Inch Touchscreen, QWERTY, 5 MP Camera, Maemo Browser, 32 GB - U.S. Version with Full Warranty (Wireless Phone Accessory)

Review Updated June 1, 2010

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Design & Hardware
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[CONSTRUCTION]: The surface of the N900 is a smooth black matte finish. The build material is aluminum, steel and rubber/plastic. The N900 easily fits in a pocket, being smaller than the N810 but noticeably thicker than most phones. The four front components are the status light, proximity sensor, ambient light sensor, and VGA camera. There is a consumer infrared port (universal remote), wrist strap option, stylus and kickstand. The removable back contains the main camera, SIM, battery and microSDHC slot. Removal requires some strength but it's reassuring knowing it won't fall off.

[KEYBOARD]: The keyboard is side-sliding with a smooth, springless mechanism providing a solid feel. The keyboard is three-row, localized and backlit with rubberized key surfaces. The keys are more difficult to use than devices with rounded keys but are still easier than virtual keyboards. While reaching speeds of 35-40 WPM is realistic, extended use is rather tiring. It is possible connect a USB or Bluetooth keyboard, gamepad, mouse and even a Wii Remote.

[TV-OUT]: There is 480i resolution TV-out which uses an included 3.5mm jack with 4 rings. These are ground, audio left and right, and composite video. Useful for watching movies, playing games or doing work that requires a big screen.

[SCREEN]: The 16 million color, 800x480 pixel display is incredible. It is pressure-sensitive, 15:9 aspect and transflective, making the screen easier to see in direct light. It uses a surprisingly responsive resistive touch screen allowing use with gloves, fingernails or a stylus. The ambient light sensor adjusts the brightness automatically. Lack of multi-touch means cumbersome "swirling" gestures in some software but is generally not a huge issue.

[CAMERAS]: The main camera is a 5MP Carl Zeiss, the same as the Nokia N97. It comes with a sliding shutter to protect the recessed lens. There is also a front-facing 640x480 webcam. The camera interface is the same as the S60. The image quality is sharp, skin tones are vivid and there is very little, if any, chromatic aberration at the edges. The camera uses the accelerometer when photographing so the photo viewer can show the picture "up" however the N900 is held. Take a portrait picture and view it landscape and it'll be small. Turn the device and it'll fill the screen. There are the following modes: Automatic, Macro, Portrait, Landscape, Action, and Auto video. The camera can take 848×480 resolution video at 25 fps. The video quality is crisp, recording at an impressive 3000 kb/s but the framerate usually drops to 20fps and the audio has a noticeable metallic tone. The camera also works with Adobe Flash.

[CPU]: The CPU is an ARM-based TI OMAP 3430 600MHz clocked at 500MHz but can be overclocked. Some users of the Maemo forums have managed to push it up to 1.2GHz. This allows improved performance with high resolution media, gaming/emulators and web browsing among many others. Overclocking requires downloading a modified kernel with the desired speed. They are generally made available in 50Mhz steps such as 800MHz and 850MHz. Then simply run fiasco-image-update on the download. While overclocking would normally reduce battery life, most kernels also provide underclocks for idle which allows the N900 to use significantly less power when not in use, the net result often being EXTENDED battery life. According to Nokia, overclocking does void the warranty. Since the N900 does not have any active cooling the heat created by overclocking could significantly shorten the N900's life if pushed too much. N900 units are unique, each will overclock differently. So far though the series does seem to overclock extremely well.

[BATTERY]: The battery is a 1320mAh Nokia BL-5J, 22% smaller than the BP-4L. A full battery with unoptimized settings allows about 5-9 hours of continuous talk time, 5 hours of music or a few hours of 3G. 3G/3.5G drains the battery faster than Wi-Fi. Lowering brightness, removing desktop widgets and disabling GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 3G easily triples battery life. Charging is through microUSB which takes about 4-5 hours for an empty battery. An issue with the USB port breaking off has been acknowledged by Nokia as a design oversight, they advise care should be taken while plugging/unplugging devices to mitigate this problem. The "complete cycle" method some people use is for calibrating multicell laptop batteries, but the N900 only has a single cell battery so it's pointless and marginally harmful to do complete discharge cycles as there's nothing to calibrate.

[INTERNAL MEMORY]: The N900 has two memory chips. The first is a 32GB eMMC: 768MB of 'virtual memory' (swap), 2GB for settings and software (ext3 /home), the last ~26GB (MyDocs) is for your files only (software not allowed). The second chip is 256MB of NAND memory (RAM) used for bootloader, kernel and rootfs, twice that of the N810. Optionally, several gigabytes are used for the localized offline Ovi Maps, useful in areas without data coverage.

[EXPANDABLE MEMORY]: The N900 has a hot-swappable microSDHC slot under the rear panel. It supports microSDHC cards up to 32GB of any class. The included cable can connect the N900 to a computer for easy transfer of files by allowing the N900 to act as a hard drive, though only "MyDocs" is accessible.

[GPS & MAPS]: The GPS is a real GPS and has the addition of assisted GPS. The cold fix time with data is about 10-40 seconds with accuracy as good as the Nokia N97. Pre-loaded Ovi Maps are available so a data connection is not required. GPS usually works fine offline, if slow, but due to a bug can fail as the map engine may ask for a connection even when the maptiles are loaded. Ovi Maps uses the GPS to show local weather information. Navigation and mapping with Ovi Maps is free but there is no turn-by-turn voice navigation. The low 1.0 version is due to it being the first Maemo release of Ovi maps explaining the lack of features it has compared to the 3.0 version available on Symbian. Some omissions being the inability to save routes, and inability to look up a contact's address.

[FM TRANSMITTER]: The integrated FM transmitter puts audio from the device into radio frequency so you can tune a radio to that frequency and play N900 media wirelessly. It works as advertised but must be very close to the receiving radio.

[RADIOS]: The signal strength of the N900's 3G radio is weak. It is possible to turn off the cellular radio without disabling Wi-Fi/Bluetooth by going into offline mode and then manually enabling either. The N900 can use another phone as a 3G modem over Bluetooth but setup is complicated. Bluetooth DUN and PAN modes are supported via community software. Advanced WLAN security, like different kinds of EAP (EAP-PEAP, EAP-MSCHAPv2, etc.), different ciphers (RSA, 3DES, SHA, etc.) and "authority certificates" (algorithms like X.509, SHA1RSA) are all supported. With Bluetooth DUN, tethering is supported.

[AUDIO]: The built-in stereo speakers are loud but lacking in bass. They make an acceptable portable radio. Bluetooth headphones work great. The audio quality of the 3.5mm jack is loud and slightly more "forward" sounding than the more "laid back" or "polite" sound of other smartphones but without the response peaks, valleys or ripples that so often mar the critical 1,000 Hz. region. Audio sounds more "present" than with similar devices. The included earphones have a somewhat dirty signal. Higher frequencies hiss, losing details and the brightness and dynamic volume are shallow, lacking weight and depth. The earphone wires feel like they will become loose over time.

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Application Software
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[SCREEN ORIENTATION]: Most software and the main N900 interface only work in landscape mode. The only time it can be switched to portrait mode is when making or receive a phone call. Rotating the phone into portrait mode opens the keypad automatically after a delay. As of PR 1.2, portrait mode is available for the web browser by default. Emails, Contacts, App and File mangers and PDF reader now all support portrait mode but you must press Ctrl+Shift+R every time to enable it. Third party software orientation is at the discretion of the software developer.

[WEB BROWSER]: The overall web experience is amazing, perhaps the best available in a device this size. The web browser is MicroB and supports full Adobe Flash, video and applets providing a very fast, full web experience. Tapping zooms and centers where tapped. Making a circular motion zooms gradually. Moving a finger off the left of the screen produces a mouse arrow for websites requiring this operation. The Flash version is 9.4. Flash 10.1 was originally planned for Q1 2010 but the Head of Maemo Operations, Mountain View has stated that it is never coming to the N900, only to future MeeGo devices. Many Flash games play fine but the keyboard can be iffy. Unfortunately some Flash applets still run after closing the browser and drain the battery. The simplest fix is to reboot. MicroB is based on Firefox which uses Gecko, Webkit browsers are also freely available.

[COPY AND PASTE]: Copy and pasting text is allowed in all menus and textboxes.

[SOCIAL NETWORKING]: The N900 comes with utilities for using Twitter and Facebook. Social presence is a global service, once connected, the contact list is updated realtime, there's no need to launch 'Contacts'. IM support for MSN, ICQ, AIM, Yahoo, IRC and more is also available through Pidgin. Video calls can be made over IP using Google Talk. Email supports Mail for Exchange (including 2003) and IMAP/POP3... Read more ›

147 of 152 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome piece of technology!, December 3, 2009

By 

TrekGeek (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nokia N900 Unlocked Phone/Mobile Computer with 3.5-Inch Touchscreen, QWERTY, 5 MP Camera, Maemo Browser, 32 GB - U.S. Version with Full Warranty (Wireless Phone Accessory)

I received my n900 just a few days ago from Nokia USA. For the purposes of this review, I will compare it to my previous phone, the HTC G1. My opinions are solely based on the user experiences in the past days with the n900, and since I've never owned an iphone, I will not compare it to such.

Physical layout:
*The N900 is a pretty beefy phone, and rightfully so. While having some heft to it, the n900 is solid and well-built. The black metal rim is a nice touch without being too gaudy. The slide is not spring-assisted but gives a nice click upon opening and closing. I have not noticed any creaks or wobbles from the screen. Few have complained about the back being hard to open. Although true, I rather have that with the peace of mind that the battery won't pop out if I dropped it (God forbid)! the n900 is of comparable size to the G1, albeit being slightly thicker, and not a problem for me.
*I don't really understand all the fuss about resistive and capacitive screens. The n900's screen is gorgeous and is incredibly brilliant. There is a little 'give' to the screen, but I've yet to have problems with it. The screen is quite responsive and supports kinetic scrolling. I did have some difficulty clicking on small links in the browser, but that's because your index finger isn't exactly the most accurate pointing device. This was easily solved by zooming in (more on that later).
*The keyboard is pretty good. It is a different experience coming from the G1 (as you have to type with the 'chin' in the way on your right hand) so naturally, it felt better. The keys have a grippy rubberized texture feel to them, and although the buttons are smooshed next to each other, (like a real keyboard) they have good response. I do miss the 5-row keyboard on the G1, and I don't understand why the n900's screen doesn't open up a bit more. For those with large hands, it might be a little uncomfortable. However, one plus for the n900 is that my thumbs don't have to travel as far to type.
*I love that the placement of the speakers are on the sides of the phone, as opposed to the back on the G1. I do a lot of talking on speakerphone, and so I'm not forced to flip it upside down during a call. Sound quality is good and the speakers are decent.

Maemo 5/ Software
*This is the ultimate customization OS. When they meant open source, they really meant it. The 4 desktops make things a lot easier to navigate. For example, one page is devoted to my common phone contacts, another utility apps, the third has bookmarks to frequent sites (the homepages of those links are previewed on the desktop, fyi), and so forth.
*The way Maemo multitasks is ingenious. The "overview" page where you see all your actively running programs makes navigating between windows and programs very easy and efficient. One thing to note is that you have the ability to close out any of those windows upon your choosing, as opposed to the G1 where the 6 app limit neither allowed to you open more nor shut them down, making it very sluggish, especially during critical times (ie texting someone directions while running gps).
*SMS (called conversations in Maemo) is pretty similar to the G1, but has one added step - conversations either in text or IM by the same person are displayed in the same window. The ability to have the other person's contact image in the text box (that is if you set one up for that person) is a nice touch. I personally don't care about MMS, so no gripes there.
*The email client is pretty decent, I set up my gmail account with a few simple steps, but it isn't nearly as accessible as the gmail app on the G1. For example, I haven't found a way to delete an incoming email when it first comes in. I have to leave the letter, go into the inbox, back into the email, then delete it.
*Browsing experience is comparable to the pc, and is nothing short of awesome. Full flash means I can access full youtube pages, and among others. I think the "swirling zoom" gesture is pretty neat, and helps me to click on the smaller links. I figured out that using your index to swirl zoom produces the best results. Alternatively, you can double click the screen or use the volume rocker. Going to previous pages not only allows you to go to the last page, but scroll through the entire history of that window. Neat.
*Applications-wise, there are not many out there, but I'm certain many will be out soon. You can also access the Maemo repositories for more (google it) but be careful as many of them are still in development and are potentially dangerous to your phone. Noteworthy apps include Hermes (connects your social sites, like facebook to your contacts so you get contact phones, birthdates, etc) and Qik (live streaming recording).

Hardware:
*Fast, fast, fast. Need I say more?
*No hang ups yet, since I can close apps at my own will.
*The camera is good, that is for a 5mp phone camera. It will never compare to a dedicated camera, but is more than effective for quick shots to upload on facebook.
*The FM transmitter is a great add-on. Now I can share songs without having to look for an aux cable.
*Battery life seems to last a little over a day with some text and internet. Wifi is on all the time when I'm at home. My G1 would be down to around 70% by noon.

Of course, no phone/mobile device is perfect. Here are some things that came to my attention:
*The volume rocker is on the right side (in portrait), meaning it is nearly impossible to use as a zoom when the screen is up. Same goes for the lock switch, which is on the bottom (in landscape). Would have been much better on the sides, as it would be easier to lock after a phone call, for example.
*Copy and paste is kinda sporadic. While you can copy all you want on webpages, I couldn't copy a phone number from one contact to another in the phonebook.
*The stand is nice, but it swings out way too deep and feels a bit too weak. I'm afraid I'll break it someday.
*Little portrait support as of now, but I think it'll be fixed soon.

So there you have it. My impressions of the n900. There is still a lot of exploration to be done, but I can honestly say this is the best phone/mobile device I've ever owned. In spite of a few shortcomings, its an amazing piece of technology. A lot of things I didn't mention probably will be fixed within a firmware or two so that isn't a problem. I hope this helps anyone who is on a fence on buying one, good luck!

198 of 226 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Incredible potential. Substandard execution., December 3, 2009

By 

Kevin Nicholls "jaded, aging hipster" (Milford, MI) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Nokia N900 Unlocked Phone/Mobile Computer with 3.5-Inch Touchscreen, QWERTY, 5 MP Camera, Maemo Browser, 32 GB - U.S. Version with Full Warranty (Wireless Phone Accessory)

I pre-ordered my N900 the moment I found out about it, back in September. And I patiently waited, and waited, while watching every demo, preview, and review I could find. With each passing day, I knew I was closer to mobile bliss. And one day, my N900 arrived.

Sadly, it didn't really deliver.

Having (briefly) owned an N97, I was incredibly disappointed to discover that Nokia has tried their hardest to port elements of Symbian phones to the Maemo platform. Once you're past the (admittedly awesome) desktop effects, the N900 feels disturbingly similar to the N97 in terms of use.

"Mail Not Responding. Quit?"
If you use e-mail, you're going to see this message. Using the included Mail application for Exchange and an IMAP account is painful, to say the least. If you're coming from another Symbian phone, you'll discover that the Mail application is every bit as slow and constrained as your old phone, but does a (marginally) better job of rendering HTML messages. If you're coming from something like an iPhone or BlackBerry, forget about it. Having an iPhone 3G and BlackBerry Bold as well, the messaging on the N900 is infuriating.

The screen is gorgeous, in terms of resolution. It's trash in terms of accuracy, if you aren't using the included stylus. I don't have huge fingers, and yet, nearly every tap is either interpreted wrong, or not registered at all. Using kinetic scrolling will inevitably open something you didn't intend to open, or do nothing at all. You'll find yourself asking "Did I tap once or twice?".

Web browsing? Brilliant. Seriously. The included web browser is every bit as good as everyone says. Pages render properly, Flash works, zooming in and out is excellent. If you just wanted a handheld web browser and nothing else, I'd recommend this ten times out of ten.

"But it runs Linux! Linux, Linux, Linux!"
Sure. I consider myself to be fairly platform agnostic when it comes to phones, and frankly, the "open" nature of Maemo is something of a red herring. Yes, getting applications on the N900 that aren't blessed by Nokia is relatively easy. Yes, you can compile OpenOffice to work on the N900. The question really is: "Will you?". In a lot of ways, I can see how the N900 would be an excellent tool if I was a Unix / Linux admin who wanted the flexibility to work anywhere without a laptop or netbook. And, there's a certain geek credibility that comes with doing something for the sake of doing it, especially when you have such a portable platform. The N900 is great for those things. And keep in mind, that's largely the audience that Nokia is targeting with the N900.

For well over a decade, Nokia's been known for rock-solid performance on signal and voice quality. With the N900, again, they've come short. 3G call quality is decent. If you're outside of a 3G area (which is likely, if you use this with T-Mobile, and a certainty if you're on AT&T), the N900 has a very difficult time maintaining a decent GPRS/EDGE signal, and dropped calls are frequent. Admittedly, the phone functionality is something of an afterthought from Nokia on this specific model -- but it really shows.

As for carrying it around, the N900 isn't quite the "brick" some have claimed it to be. It's definitely substantial, compared to other phones available, though not unreasonable to carry in a pocket. The multimedia functionality is above average, capable of playing just about every type of music and movie format I could throw at it. The camera, while decent, is not substantially better than what you'd find in most midrange to high-end phones in terms of picture quality.

Overall, the N900 is a huge series of tradeoffs. For many "it doesn't do..." there are workarounds, or will be workarounds, or might be workarounds. And that's really the crux of my rating. The hardware, in and of itself, is not very special for a phone that costs this much. And the shortcomings may well be addressed, but you have to question how much time and effort you're willing to put in to this device just to bring it at par with similarly priced alternatives. At the same time, there's a lot of wishful thinking, if you aren't prepared to roll up your sleeves and do some development work. "Maybe Nokia will address this in a firmware update..." or "Maybe someone will write a script or program that does this..." will be your mantras if you don't do the work yourself.

***January 2010 Update***
I'm now on my third N900 -- the previous two were defective.

I had considered completely re-writing this review, but too many aspects continue to hold true.

What's different:

The newer N900 is much more stable, and doesn't crash nearly as often as I had described previously. That's not to say that it doesn't crash, but with the newer hardware and firmware, it no longer crashes if you look at it the wrong way.

The developer community is reasonably active on the Maemo platform, and it didn't take very long for some great apps to come out. Installing them doesn't hold a candle to what you'd find on an Android phone or iPhone, but if you're familiar with CVS/SVN or can follow simple instructions, getting some repositories going is a snap, as is finding interesting software. I've been particularly happy with seeing open source projects like Pidgin and Keepass ported over so fast.

What's the same:

Mail is still pretty terrible, especially if you have a large inbox. Getting the number of messages down will help to make the application more responsive, however, it still is a far cry from what you'd see in competing smartphones on every major platform. It also inexplicably stops updating (yes, fanboys, even when it's not set for off-peak hours), and the "Last Updated" timestamp rarely correlates to reality.

The OS still needs refinement. Case in point: It simply doesn't do a good job of telling you that it's busy. Sure, nobody wants to build an hourglass (or spinning beachball) in to their OS, but there are times when the OS is just bogged down when you're positive the screen isn't registering taps.

All things being equal, I'm still going to hold to my original conclusion that the N900 isn't for the general consumer looking to out iPhone the iPhone. But for someone not afraid of rolling up their sleeves, the N900 can be an amazing device for Unix aficionados and hard-core gadget geeks.

Oh... and a quick tip: This car charger works perfectly with the N900, and is dirt cheap: Motorola P513 Vehicle Power Adapter MicroUSB Rapid Rate Charger