First off, let me be clear by saying that I extensively use Apple Products. I bought the first iPhone, the first iPad and have been a Mac user for many years. I also use a Nexus One from Google(runs Gingerbread), which as of today isn't that an old phone, so I can safely assume that I use the two major mobile operating systems daily. I have never used a Nokia device since early 2000s. I've little experience with Symbian from my dads phone.
Why did I buy this phone?
I never buy my phones without testing them in person(in a store/friends mobile). The only phone I have bought without testing is the original iPhone, which was an exceptional device. I saw a demo of Nokia N9 back in June 2011 and I was really excited about how the 'swipe' worked. If you don't know, 'Swipes' are a great way to do many things on the N9, like switch between apps, close apps,task switcher etc., I suggest you watch a video demo on youtube, since its difficult to write it down. They are a bit like multi-touch gestures on the iPhone, but totally next-gen and much more functional. I thought 'cool phone' but didn't bother to know more about it. But when the phone is released I was kinda interested to test it out, but to my disappointment the phone is nowhere sold in the United States. So, I took a risk and purchased this phone on Amazon, a bit reluctant and skeptical since this is imported from Europe. Another reason, the phone is Pentaband & Unlocked so it works on both AT&T /T-Mobile (including 3G and HSDPA), so I don't have to worry about carrier lock-ins.
Package Opening/First Impressions:
When the package arrived, I eagerly opened the box and the Phone is just *GORGEOUS*. I didn't expect it to be that beautiful and well designed. I haven't seen any other phone in recent years with such a great design. Well, I love the design of Apple's iPhone, but the Nokia N9 is truly stunning. I've switched on the phone and the display is very nice. Very bright and clear. The phone's charging port is on the top instead of the bottom, with a push open slot. It supports Micro-USB port which is awesome. (I wish Apple supported Micro-USB). There is a Quick Intro on the whole Swipe Gestures, which is really nice. And It'll take you straight to the Apps screen. To unlock the phone, you can double tap the home screen or swipe up the home screen, which you get so used to. After using the N9 for a while, whenever I use my Nexus One/iPhone I automatically try to swipe the applications and home screen. Thats how much you get used to the whole Swiping gestures.
Micro Sim:
Like the iPhone, N9 sports a Micro-Sim instead of a regular SIM. You can just cut it out from an existing sim with an xacto, but I recommend getting this cutter which worked flawlessly for me.
Micro SIM Cutter, Converter with 2 SIM adapters You can also go to your carrier and get a new micro-sim for like 10 bucks.
Accounts/Contacts:
Then I went to the accounts app, which is a centralized location to store all your accounts information (like Keychain on the Mac). I entered my Google Accounts and it automatically setup a Gmail Inbox and imported all my contacts and calendars. But, it did have trouble pulling up all the contact numbers from my contacts. Luckily, the N9 has the ability to import contacts from a different phone via bluetooth, so I paired it up with my Nexus one and it automagically imported all the contacts with all the phone numbers and emails. Then I entered my Skype account and voila, I can use Skype to make all outgoing calls from my contacts which is a delight. No app or anything, its just built right in. Next, Twitter and Facebook and it pulled all my streams from the interwebs, no issues. You can also sync all the email/contacts/calendar with your Google/Exchange account. Now, all of this is now trivial in every smartphone. But the way N9 handles all of your accounts and personalized news feed from Facebook/Twitter/RSS feeds is a beauty. Just swipe across your screen and it takes you to you there. (Again, none of the swiping makes sense unless you watch a demo video).
Phone/SMS/MMS/Battery:
The call quality is really good, although the reception isn't Nokia level. I remember the old Nokia phones always have the strongest reception, no matter where you are. The Nexus One has the best reception in my apartment, whereas the iPhone has the least reception. I'm on T-Mobile which is pretty good in my area. I use the iPhone with AT&T, which at times is flaky. But once I get out of my apartment, all the phones have the strongest signal. So, its safe to say that the N9 reception is same as every other smartphone. The Texting app is really nice and I don't really use the MMS features, so I dont have much to say. I like the Swipe up to receive a call feature. The batter life is a bit better than other smartphones, but not Symbian level long battery life. Its still better than iPhone/Nexus One.
Facebook/Twitter/RSS Feeds
The Facebook & Twitter apps are basic but they are deeply integrated through out the OS. I tweet a lot, so I kinda find the Twitter app a bit underwhelming, but it should suffice the needs of a lot of users. The RSS Feeds app is awesome and very polished, although I strongly feel that Google Reader Integration would have been a huge plus. The browser has the ability to detect the RSS feeds from any page and you can automatically subscribe to them right from the phone's browser, which is really nice. But still, Google Reader integration would have made it much more functional. They have a Google Reader app in the store, but it's just alright.
Email:
Email app is also very polished with very good UI. They have partial threading support and you can have bookmarks/favorites to various folders, which is nice. It has a great range of syncing options like "Frequency of Email Checking", "Active Syncing during the day and turn off syncing after 5pm" and all sort of stuff. One feature I really wish they had was to have custom sounds for each Inbox/Folder, like the Gmail app on Android. Overall, I'm very satisfied with the Email client, although my Android phone has the best Gmail experience.
GPS and Navigation:
The N9 comes with two apps, Nokia Maps and Nokia Drive. They both at the very best are OK. Google Maps on the Android has the best navigation features and I really wish the N9 had Google Maps/Navigation. But there are some advantages with Nokia's navigation systems. *OFFLINE MAPS*. Yes, you can download Maps offline and use them without an active Internet connection. This is a huge benefit if you are travelling abroad or on data roaming and will save you a lot of money. The Maps application is very basic and the Drive application is sometimes glitchy. It has trouble finding my exact location when I turn it on while I am driving. But once it found your location, it works very well. Also, the Turn-by-Turn instructions are kinda , hmm.. weird since it doesn't tell you the street names/road numbers. It only gives instructions like "Make Left here, Make Right here, Drive for a mile on this road". Which won't be such a problem on regular roads, but sometimes on the freeways it might be a little more helpful if it spells out the names. Another cool thing is, it has various accents & languages. I have the European English accent and it feels like Mrs. Doubtfire is giving me instructions ;)
Browser:
The Web Browser on the N9 is WebKit based and it has many HTML5 & CSS features. It can also share the Geolocation. Although when I try to open Google, it gives me the dumbphone version instead of the smartphone version. But on other sites, the Web browser worked pretty good and like I said, you can subscribe directly to the RSS feeds in the page, right from the browser. The browser plays H264 videos from Youtube without any issues, but I had some hiccups on other sites like Engadget,The Verge etc., Nokia is aware of these issues and promised to fix them in the next software update. It doesn't have Flash, which isn't an issue for me at all. I wish the browser is bit better, like Mobile Safari. Still, Android has the worst browsing experience and the N9 browser feels much better than that. (Weird, Google has the best Desktop Browser, but the worst mobile browser).
Other Features:
It has a lot of other useful utilities like Google Talk support, AIM, Wi-Fi sharing, NFC capabilities, Bluetooth etc., For the Geekier ones, it supports SIP protocol right out of the box, so there are many VoIP possibilites, not to mention Skype support which serves most of my needs. But, I still feel like it would be better if Google Voice is supported. Google Voice is one of the best feature of my Android phone. But then again, this is from Europe and they don't have Google Voice there. There is a QGV Dialer from the store which is fairly minimal and basic in functionality.
Camera/Video/Music:
It has a great 8MP Camera with Carl-Zeiss lens. It takes beautiful pictures although the N8 has much better camera. Most importantly, the camera in N9 is really fast. Much faster than any other smartphone I've seen so far. The Music app is beautiful and it plays all the popular music formats. There is also a Spotify app in the Nokia Store, which is always great for music. There is an Ovi Music Store, which doesn't work in the states, due to licensing issues, but I always get my music from Amazon anyways. Transferring files is real easy, just drag and drop in the computer.
OS/Platform/Apps:
Now, this is where the sad news begins. N9 runs Meego 1.2 Harmattan, which is not MeeGo, but its actually Maemo Harmattan 1.2 with MeeGo API's on top of it.
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