IT Pro Verdict

Taking into account the Nokia N900 we were using was a pre-production sample, the handset looks like it could certainly be a strong contender for the smartphone OS crown. The screen may be a little unreliable, but if Nokia can upgrade this to a capacitive one on future Maemo handsets, we would certainly see the platform as Nokia’s saviour.

By Clare Hopping

published 18 December 2009

in Reviews

Nokia's recent news that it may make the move from Symbian to Maemo for all its smartphones won't come as a disappointment to those who have been tut tutting over Symbian's antiquated S60 OS.

Symbian doesn't seem to have changed for the past five years, and it finally seems Nokia has taken notice, throwing the Linux-based Maemo platform out there. And it comes to us first in the form of the N900.

Quite simply, it's a breath of fresh air.

The hardware probably wouldn't win any design awards. It's chunky and not the best looking out there.

The bulk (59.8mmx18mmx110.9mm WDH and 181g) is due to the sliding QWERTY keyboard, which we found to be a little disappointing.

In comparison to the screen, it's pretty small and while we do appreciate this is due to having such a large screen, it feels supremely cramped. As a result, keys are small. There aren't gaps between them either and the keys themselves are too spongy to make typing comfortably.

Although we were disappointed by the Nokia N97 and N97 Mini, the keyboard was one redeeming factor, which is why the N900 is all the more disappointing.

The Widget-based interface is much more like the iPhone or Android's home screens rather than Symbian. It's effortless to put your widgets where you want them to be simply touch and hold an icon and an x' will appear in the corner drag the icon when it's in this state to the orange border on the screen and you'll move onto the next page. To delete a widget, tap the x'.

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Clare is the founder of Blue Cactus Digital, a digital marketing company that helps ethical and sustainability-focused businesses grow their customer base.

Prior to becoming a marketer, Clare was a journalist, working at a range of mobile device-focused outlets including Know Your Mobile before moving into freelance life.

As a freelance writer, she drew on her expertise in mobility to write features and guides for ITPro, as well as regularly writing news stories on a wide range of topics.