The solid Nokia N9 is the Finnish company's 'Swiss Army Knife' of smartphones, and could be its final chance to claw back into the highly competitive market.
The sophisticated and stylish N9 smartphone comes with the MeeGo operating system, and is the phone manufacturer's strongest foray into the app market. While it has already been released in Europe and the US, it is expected in SA in November.
Display
The device impresses with its super amoled screen. I would say it's the most intuitive and touch-friendly screen I've come across, and is definitely an iPhone challenger. However, the screen is a fingerprint magnet, and needs to be cleaned frequently.
It doesn't have back, forward or home keys, but rather relies on the user to finger-swipe in order to navigate between apps and calls. This felt strange and took some time to get used to, but it made it easy to switch between applications quickly.
The user interface is simple, clear and uncluttered, as it seems Nokia focused on a keep-it-simple design when creating the N9. The home-screen has a grid-like formation of apps - a similar design to Apple's iPhone.
Multimedia and apps
The media player is nothing less than exceptional, and I would rate it against some of the best MP3 players out there. The earphones were uncomfortable to wear after a while, and it's worth getting a decent pair of earphones to experience the full sound quality of the device. The loudspeaker, situated at the bottom of the phone, provided excellent sound quality, despite its size.
This lightweight smartphone is strictly for the consumer who wants to take his or her own music, videos and photographs on the go, and to be able to share media on social networks such as Facebook and Google+. It also enables consumers to download apps and browse the Web.
In summary:
Pros: Excellent design, great call quality, high-quality 8MP camera and superb sound, NFC capability
Cons: No memory card slot, slow to synchronise media files
OS: MeeGo
Weight: 135g
Dimesions: 116.5 x 61.2 x 12.1mm
Display: Amoled capacitive touch-screen, 16m colours
Sound: Dolby mobile sound and Dolby headphone support
Memory: Internal 16GB or 64GB storage, 1GB RAM
Camera: 8MP, Carl Zeiss optics, auto-focus, dual LED flash
CPU: 1GHz Cortex A8 CPU
Colours: Black, cyan or magenta
GPS: Nokia Maps
Price: Estimated retail price of R5 999
Rating: 9/10
The Nokia N9 comes preloaded with Ovi Music, Nokia Maps, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Documents, AP Mobile, Skype, Angry Birds and Need for Speed Shift.
The smartphone has an excellent battery life, and features a power-saving mode that lowers performance and screen brightness.
One of the biggest downsides to the phone is that it's very slow to synchronise music and videos. Interestingly, it doesn't take memory cards, but with 16GB to 64GB, one shouldn't need much more storage. The battery also cannot be removed from the device.
Inserting a microSIM card proved to be tricky; unlike other phones that require the SIM card to be inserted in the back of the device, the microSIM needs to be inserted on the top of the phone.
The 8MP camera produced excellent-quality photographs in high-definition. The Carl Zeiss optics and dual LED flash ensures photographs are created in crystal clarity.
Smart tech
The Nokia N9 also comes with near field communications (NFC) technology, which enables users to pay for goods using their mobile phones, similar to the Google Wallet. This is an interesting move by Nokia, as NFC payments begin to take off in the market.
Overall, I would say this is one of the best Nokia phones the company has produced to date, and it makes Nokia a worthy contender and strong competitor in the consumer smartphone category.
Where the N9 wins is in its ability to quickly multitask between applications, e-mail, music and Web browsing. Following Nokia's smart decision to ditch Symbian for MeeGo, time will tell whether the N9 will push the phone manufacturer up the smart device ranks.
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