Nokia N900

“It's early days for the Maemo 5 operating system, and the Nokia N900 isn't the most straightforward phone out there. Its app store is just getting started, and it's designed to be a two-handed typing machine, rather than a handset for single-fisted use on the move. But it packs a fresh user interface, a decent keyboard, heaps of memory and great connectivity into a stylish, if slightly chunky, body. Getting in the N900 elevator on the ground floor may mean a bumpy ride as new features and apps come your way, but we think that Maemo's already so good that it has the potential to go all the way to the top.”

“We came into this review wanting to know as much about Maemo as a platform as we did about the N900 itself, after all, the N900's just a single phone that'll be dead and forgotten from store shelves within a year. That's just reality, the hustle-and-bustle pace of the modern handset release cycle. Maemo, however, will live on -- but in what capacity? Where does it fit (or could it fit) in Nokia's grand plan? After having dug in, we're seeing glimmers of brilliance here that give us hope. Maemo 5 isn't the polished, consumer-friendly, all-encompassing solution that Palm, Google, and Apple are all selling today, but it's fairly evident that Nokia has built itself a stable, extensible platform that can reach those levels with a little tender loving care. The company's commitment to open source and the Maemo development community is commendable -- it's something that should absolutely continue -- but going forward, we'd love to see what kinds of magical things could happen if it took development to 100 percent feature completion internally with a full round of usability testing before handing it off to the eager geeks in the field. The mere thought sends shivers down our spine.”

“We are not going to beat about the bush, because we guess you must be exhausted from the long reading. The Nokia N900 is definitely an exceptional device that lends color to the cell phone market. With its incredible internet browser, ability to deliver phone call functionality over cellular networks, almost impeccable in-call quality, handy multitasking and proper multimedia capabilities, the N900 has what it takes to become a fearsome rival to even the cream of the crop smartphone range. The N900 has, however, certain disadvantages that may dissuade some people from getting it. The major, most significant shortcoming at this time is the extremely limited number of applications. The other negative aspects of the internet tablet include the inability of its interface to run in portrait mode, its sizeable weight and dimensions, hardware QWERTY keyboard that could have been better and limited organizer functionality.All told, we think the N900 is worth its price and will probably become a really popular internet tablet that offers rich functionality, quite close to what smartphones deliver, although we still find it hard to believe the device will actually manage to replace smartphones entirely. Not just yet. If Nokia improves the interface so that it´s fully functional in portrait mode, finds enough developers willing to put efforts into applications for Maemo 5 and adds proper organizer app, then the N900 and all future devices with running the mentioned operating system would definitely stand a fair chance of taking over the cell phone world.”

“The N900 is an impressive, well-thought out phone aimed at the power user crowd. What’s sad is that, with a couple of minor changes to the operating system, Nokia could’ve had a serious consumer hit on their hands. Instead, the N900 is destined to play second banana to the iPhone and the slew of new Android phones. It’s really too bad – for the price (roughly around $500 USD), you get a powerful smartphone that’s not only capable of everything (minus the fart apps), it’s capable of doing everything at the same time with ease. Multi-tasking at its best. Random pet peeve: Nokia put a new kind of stock display protector on the N900, one that completely obscures everything beneath it. So if you’re buying a N900, make sure you get a screen protector too. I recommend Brando’s Ultra-Clear line.”