Ever since I started using Nokia Internet Tablets (the 770, N800, N810), my biggest dream has always been the addition of GSM radio and packet data transmission, which would make them fully functional, always connected mobile devices, rather than just "tablets", relying on access to WiFi hotspot or requiring the use of mobile phone for remote Internet access and for phone calls. I've loved the flexibility and performance of the Linux (Debian) based Maemo operating system and, especially, the Hildon user interface, providing PDA (or even computer) like experience rather than dumb smartphone UI. I missed such an advanced PDA-phone since the Series 80 platform was killed and the N900 seems to be my dream finally come true. Is it? In this preview, I'll try to express my initial impressions and share with you some introductory information about the N900. I am currently using a pre-sales "proto" device with early software build, so many things aren't finished or fully optimized yet, making it impossible to go into each and every detail and judge on things like performance or power consumption. However, this preview will be seriously expanded or replaced with a full, detailed review as soon as I get hold of a final unit, which shouldn't last longer than just a couple of weeks.The look and feel
Right after being announced, I've seen many comments from people calling the N900 a "brick". Sure, there are smaller mobile phones out there, but I think it's silly to even try to compare them. Small phones with QVGA (or even nHD) screens just serve different purpose. It's like comparing a truck to a small coupe. Trucks aren't bigger because they are "worse" - they just serve different purpose and their size is actually their advantage. And so it looks with the N900. If you prefer small phones and you do not need advanced functionality offered by PDA-phone devices, it simply means that they're not for you, but surely for someone else. Just ignore their existence, just like you ignore the existence of trucks while looking for a new car.
Having said that, let's see if the N900 (110.9 x 59.8 x 18 mm, 113 cc, 181 g) is really that big compared to other devices of similar specs and purpose. The most natural comparison is probably the Nokia N97. Put both side by side and it turns out that the N900 is actually.... a little bit SMALLER, and only slightly thicker (just by 1-2 mm and even that only on one side; the upper part of the N97 where the protruding camera is located is of the same thickness). The N900 is also by about 1 cm shorter than the Omnia HD, while sharing with it the same width. It's obviously about 0.5 cm thicker than the Omnia, but hey, the keyboard has to take some space. Finally, it is also (by over 2.5 cm) shorter than the E90 Communicator, while sharing almost the same thickness and width with it, and while noticeably heavier than the iPhone 3Gs (115.5 x 62.1 x 12.3 mm, 130 g), the dimensions of the N900 do not really justify calling it considerably larger, either, and the difference only results from the N900 having a hardware keyboard.
So is it really a "brick" compared to other devices of its type? It is not; in many cases it is actually smaller.
My subjective impression when it comes to its size and weight is entirely positive. That's what I like. When holding it, I feel that I'm holding something that won't break just because of squeezing it a little bit too tightly. It seems to be just tailored for the size of my hand. While I loved the huge screens of Internet Tablets, I find the reduction of screen size from N810's 4.1" to 3.5" fully justified to keep the size of the device on a level acceptable for a mobile phone. 4.1" display of the N810 is fantastic for an Internet Tablet, but would have to boost the dimensions to a slightly cumbersome level for a mobile phone. The iPhone also has a 3.5" screen and so many people love it so much :-), so it seems to be a good choice. At this point it is also worth noticing that despite smaller size, the N900 retained the display resolution of Internet Tablets (800x480 pixels), which is not only 2.5 times bigger than iPhone's 320x480 (hence it fits 2.5 times more content at once), 1.7 times bigger than nHD of the N97/5800/Omnia HD, but also slightly bigger than E90's internal screen.
The touch screen is resistive, so it is not as responsive/sensitive as capacitive screens of e.g. the Omnia HD and requires pressing it a little bit harder. But not to a point that would make it an issue. Actually, the display being too sensitive on its edges (resulting in accidental touches when I just want to grab the device) on the Omnia HD annoys me much more than that additional small pressure I have to apply to the screen of the N900. To compare, the responsiveness of the N900 display is considerably better than of the 5800 XpressMusic and probably on par with the N97, if not a little bit better.
While resistive LCD screens appear slighly less crisp/vidiv indoors (which I am not so sure in case of the N900, as when set to max brightness it's actually of the same quality as Omnia HD's AMOLED, or maybe even better thanks to its higher resolution, i.e. smaller pixel size, resulting in better "sharpness"), their performance is considerably better outdoors. The screen of the N900 retains clarity and visibility even in bright sunlight.
You can set the N900 to vibrate when you touch the screen, which provides nice tactile feedback. Additionally, you can also enable audible feedback, a "click" tone.
The only thing that worries me when it comes to N900 display is its resistence to scratches and other damages. And it seems to be lower than expected. I got the device without any protective case and the display got some awful scratches in just one day, and that's only because some sand grains got into the pocket I kept it in. Maybe it is just a coincidence and the same would happen to any other device, but a good screen protector or soft carrying case are recommended, just in case. OK, now...
Keyboard, buttonsi.e. something really important for E90 Communicator users thinking of the N900 as of a possible replacement/upgrade. Well, most of you have already seen lots of pictures and videos of the N900 so it's not a secret that the N900 does not have a full QWERTY keyboard as we know it from Communicators. It is a 3-row keyboard similar to the N97 one. In that sense, it is obviously worse. While typing letters actually isn't much more difficult, it looks a little bit worse with digits, which require additionally pressing the blue "Fn" key (fortunately, double-pressing it "locks" its function so if you need to type more digits at once it'll free you from having to press "Fn" multiple times). As you can see on the following pictures, the keyboard of the N900 is actually the SMALLEST of all smartphones I currently have, not just the E90, but also the Xperia X1, or even the E75, which is actually quite surprising as the E75 is both shorter and narrower, yet apparently it was possible to fit a larger keyboard in it. N900's keyboard is also considerably smaller than that of the previous Internet Tablet, the N810, which additionally included a nice d-pad... Well, what can I say... even such a small keyboard is better than no keyboard at all, but I really wouldn't mind if it was slightly bigger...
However, layout and size certainly aren't all that determines whether a keyboard is good or bad. It is easier to compare the N900 keyboard to N97, so I'll start from that. N900's keyboard is simply a better one, period. While the keys aren't actually much larger and there's no space between them like on the N97, they provide considerably better tactile feedback in the means that they're more springy and with more perceptible click.
The tactile feedback seems to be better also compared to the E90 keyboard, which feels softer. The keys of the N900 are considerably smaller than on the Communicator, but what somehow partially compensates for this is that they're convex, which means that you only feel the central part of a key under your finger and there's enough space around it not to touch the surrounding keys.
Finally, unlike the E90 or the E75, the N900 is a touch screen device and additionally offers virtual, on-screen text input (only full screen QWERTY keyboard at the moment; I haven't found any trace of handwriting recognition or a small QWERTY keyboard for use with stylus in the tested proto unit, hopefully these input methods present in Internet Tablets' previous Maemo releases will be added in final SW builds) so you're not restricted to entering text with the hardware keyboard only. I find myself using the virtual keyboard quite often, especially for short texts like SMS, URL in the browser, short emails, chats, etc. The virtual keys are huge and predictive (T9) text input (two languages can be used at once) additionally accelerates typing. Again, this somehow compensates for the hardware keyboard being smaller and of less convenient 3-row layout, so it should be taken into consideration when thinking about the N900 as of a possible E90 upgrade.
The keyboard is backlit. Backlight is controlled by the ambient light sensor, which means that it is enabled only when needed and does not consume power when there's enough light to use the keyboard without backlight.
All in all, compared to E90, the keyboard is not as a challenging experience as it might initially look. The layout and size surely need getting used to and typing (especially digits) may be slower, but not to a degree of "unusability". The virtual full-screen keyboard also helps, and is actually quite a nice thing to have for "casual" text input, and in this regard it is more convenient and faster to use than E90's external phone keypad, also used for similar purposes. While the hardware keyboard alone definitely isn't half as good as on the E90, it is actually THE ONLY drawback; all the remaining funtions, features (including much more advanced, better looking and more intuitive UI) are so much better on the N900 that they're really worth sacrificing the keyboard for.
Besides the keyboard, there's only a few buttons located around the device. Unlike the N97, the N900 does not have hardware Call/End buttons, so accepting, ending and rejecting phone calls requires using the on-screen buttons. The only existing hardware buttons include (on the top of the device) Power On/Off button (which, when pressed shortly, also displays a menu to change profiles, (de)activate the GSM radio, switch to or from the Offline mode (WiFi, Bluetooth), lock the device with a security code, lock the screen and keyboard, and end/kill the currently running application (e.g. when it freezes)), Camera button, +/- button (to change loudness or zoom level), and a Screen Lock/Unlock slider (on the right side of the phone). That's it.
The N900 does not have any kind of d-pad, which is a pity, as it surely would be a very welcome addition for gamers (it's an Nseries device afterall, isn't it?). Unlike the N97, the N900 has a "slot" for stylus, located on the lower right side. The stylus is made of plastic, yet quite sturdy and hard, convenient to hold and long (its length is the same as the width of the device).
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