I've owned 4 Nokia smartphones & a couple of others. Right off the bat, it's a great phone that's fun to use, but I would suggest waiting a while before purchasing this phone. Very few apps available for it, the touchscreen is moody, it comes w/only 1 ringtone. In short, it was taken off the assembly line too soon, but it's remotely upgradable & has great potential.
There's an exhaustive list of features. Itemizing them would take a while. Just know that it's packed & does more than most. The stand-outs: Mozilla web browser, 4 active desktops, touch screen & hardware QWERTY & stylus & handwriting recognition, FM transmitter, 32gb, build quality. Unfortunately, there aren't as many apps for Maemo as there are for Symbian or Apple. With only one major phone using Maemo, I'm not sure how many are coming.
The N900 is a *very* solid phone. For a unit w/a sliding mechanism, it's built like a bank vault - no squeaks or rattles. Understated matte black, tightly fitted, bright screen. It's incredibly fun to use and the large screen is a winner.
If you've never used a smartphone before, you'll probably be dazzled by the multi-tasking & configurability. If you've never had a high-end phone, you'll fall in love w/ the camera, video, web & the host of features. There's lots to love (Compare this to any other phone at gsmarena.) As a seasoned smartphone user, I'll itemize my cons below.
To be fair, the N-Series models are made to have their own specialties. The N82 is the camera, hence the Xenon and editing. The N900 is all about the web and that it does exceptionally well. However, the browser does crash more often than any other smartphone I've used. Then again, it loads every page just as it would on a desktop, so the browser is doing more. (Again, not quite ready for production). The web and social networking is top of the line. Unlike Symbian phones, the N900 is very simple to configure.
CALENDAR/ALARM: Unlike previous N-Series units, calendar alarms do not ring if the phone is off.
PHOTO/VIDEO: The N900 has no photo editor, only a crop & flip program. It's a shame for a camera that shoots such quality videos. 5mp & Zeiss lens... but no editor? The N900 offers no video editor either. This is par for the course for iPhones and Blackberrys, but N-Series have always had video editing features. You can no longer cut/merge video and overlay text.
KEYBOARD: The N900's wide keyboard makes it difficult to type quickly. As there are no spaces between the keys, serious attention must be paid when entering text. Entering numbers/symbols sometimes requires holding one key whilst typing the number. I'm actually able to enter text much faster on the N82, than with the N900s sprawling layout & jammed keys. In spite of numerous text entry mechanisms, entering text on the N900 is awkward. The virtual keyboard is actually better than the hardware keyboard, but requires greater attention. I wouldn't have guessed that a teachable T9 would be quicker than both QWERTYs.
TOUCH SCREEN: Touch screens take getting used to & aren't as exacting as a cursor, but they're blingy. The slightest bit of uneven pressure, jerking or inconsistency in your swipe and you're opening an application. 90% of the time, you'll be using the stylus as even the smallest fingers will misfire. You have this large, heavy phone, making long strokes on the screen, sliding out a QWERTY or juggling strokes w/ a stylus. Yet, it feels more computer like & it's fun to use. The large screen is worth the bulk... the QWERTY, not so much.
2nd CAMERA: The secondary camera does not work. Usually, these second lenses are used for video calls in parts of Europe. In The States, they can only be used for self photos or quick MMS vids of yourself. With the N900, it's simply window dressing. VERY disappointing, but I'm sure an update is on the way. Again, taken off the assembly line too soon.
SAVING IMAGES & BLUETOOTH: When transferring photos to the phone via Bluetooth, there is no setting to allow automatic acceptance as there is w/ other N-Series. Additionally, images transferred to the N900 via Bluetooth, are saved in the document folder, sometimes the videos folder, rarely the images folder. Videos may appear in a camera folder. ...Who knows?
OPERATION: You cannot back out of many applications. If you close a program in a file or program from the menu, you must start all over finding that spot. Annoying.
The phone comes loaded with only one ringer, Nokia's, unless you add others. I just expect a phone of this price and caliber to have a working front camera and ringtones already, call me crazy.
The camera flash is good, but this flagship's flash isn't on par w/ the older, cheaper N82's Xenon. Again, every phone has it's purpose. E-Series are for business, N-Series for multimedia - some camera, others Internet. Fair enough... but at this price?
If a message comes in while using the device, a small bubble pops up w/ the person's name & first few words of message... then disappears. Nice touch.
OVERALL: The N900 is features-packed, solid and quite fun to use. It's focus is being an Internet tablet... but one that comes w/ a high end camera. To this end, it surely delivers. For the price, however, I expected the N900 to include photo/video editing software, working front camera & document *editor*. If you want a features-packed, high end phone w/a better hardware QWERTY & a touch screen, check out HTC's. However, Nokia's smartphones are the only ones (to my knowledge) that don't require monthly PDA fees of $25 to access the net (like BlackBerry, Palm, Apple do). So, the N900 paired with T-Mobile's flat fee for Internet usage means you can have unlimited Internet for only $7 extra per month. Everything is a trade-off.
iPHONE: The iPhone 3Gs isn't really in the same league as this phone. This is what the N900 offers that the iPhone 3Gs does not: 5 megapixels to iPhone's 3, dual flash to iPhones no flash, FM radio, FM transmitter (so you can play you music in your car wirelessly even if it doesn't have Bluetooth), takes a 16gb memory card, plays DivX videos, PDF viewer, Flash 9.4, hardware QWERTY, stylus... Get the picture?
If the web is the most important thing to you... you really want a large screen... you prefer QWERTYs... want a great camera/video recorder... you leave a lot of applications open & need lots of memory... and you don't wish to be saddled w/ $25 Apple/BlackBery/HTC/Palm fees - the N900 is for you... but I'd wait a few months for more apps and upgrades. Get more detail about Nokia N900 Unlocked Phone/Mobile Computer with 3.5-Inch Touchscreen, QWERTY, 5 MP Camera, Maemo Browser, 32 GB--U.S. Version with Full Warranty.
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