The Nokia N9 introduces an innovative new design where the home key is replaced by a simple gesture: a swipe. Whenever you're in an application, swiping from the edge of the display takes you home. The three home views of the user interface are designed to give fast access to the most important things people do with a phone: using apps, staying up to date with notifications and social networks, and switching between activities.
The industrial design of the Nokia N9 is an example of extreme product making and craft. The body is precision-machined from a single piece of polycarbonate and flows seamlessly into beautiful curved glass. The laminated deep black display means that the user interface just floats on the surface of the product.
The Nokia N9 also packs the latest in camera, navigation and audio technology for a great all-round experience.
"With the Nokia N9, we wanted to design a better way to use a phone. To do this we innovated in the design of the hardware and software together. We reinvented the home key with a simple gesture: a swipe from the edge of the screen. The experience sets a new bar for how natural technology can feel," said Marko Ahtisaari, Nokia's head of Design. "And this is just the beginning. The details that make the Nokia N9 unique - the industrial design, the all-screen user experience, and the expressive Qt framework for developers - will evolve in future Nokia products."
The Nokia N9 will be available in three colors - black, cyan, and magenta with storage options to accommodate plenty of content: 16GB and 64GB. The Nokia N9 is scheduled to be in stores later this year, with availability and local pricing to be announced closer to the sales start.
At a glance:
Spec And Review
+ Attractive one-piece design
+ Responsive UI
+ Meego OS is a refreshing change from Symbian
- Camera needs some work
- microSIM and microUSB port are difficult to open
14 October 2011 – Our office is buzzing with excitement over the new Nokia N9. As promised, it is a very interesting looking phone loaded with a brand new operating system. There is plenty of hype attached to this smartphone, so let’s take a look and see what the N9 is all about.
In the box:
- Nokia N9
- Power Plug
- Charger
- Micro-USB cable
- 3.5mm Headset
- Protective cover
Exterior, Controls and Screen
Our first impression of the phone is that it is a very, very attractive device. The Nokia N9 is a one piece polycarbonate slate, and it has a minimalist design. There are no front-facing buttons, just a volume rocker and a lock/unlock button on the right side of the phone. Its 12.1mm thick chassis tapers off at the edges, giving the edges a sharper look.
First thing you’ll notice is the 3.9-inch AMOLED touchscreen which takes up the front of the N9, and we are pleased how little bezel space there is left. The AMOLED touchscreen displays 480 x 854 pixels. The AMOLED screen display is clear and bright, it also handles colours very well too. With Nokia’s anti-glare technology, we could see clearly under sunlight too, and the screen is protected by damage resistant Gorilla Glass.
Tucked neatly away on top of the phone is the slide out micro-SIM slot located at the top of the phone, and right beside it there is the micro-USB port. The 3.5mm headphone jack is located here as well.
Its eight-megapixel camera and the LED flash are embedded in the back of the phone, so there are no protruding lenses. The speaker grille is barely noticeable at the bottom of the phone. We did experienced difficulty to removing the micro-SIM slot or opening the micro-USB slot which is essential for charging the phone.
Inside the chassis, the device is powered by a 1GHz processor, 1GHz of RAM, and the Nokia N9 comes with 16GB or 64GB internal storage.
Software, Applications and Games
Aside from its exciting design, the Nokia N9 is loaded with the Meego v1.2 (Harmattan) operating system, which Nokia claims, it will only use once on the N9 before discontinuing it. Meego is designed with the N9’s buttonless chassis in mind, meaning it will rely on finger gestures to operate. Nokia has given Meego a distinct look when compared to Symbian. The apps are given that uniform, rounded aesthetic, and basic functions like the phone and clock application are spruced up to increase its visual appeal.
Double tapping the lock screen (or pressing the physical standby button) and the phone will activate, you will then have to swipe end to end (from left to right or vice versa) to unlock the phone. To exit an app, you merely swipe from the top of the screen to the bottom. Once the phone is unlocked you can start swiping to find three screens - social feeds, home screen and finally the multitasking page.
Social feeds combines all your social network into a continuously updated wall, all you have to do is sign in to your favourite social networks either through the app itself or the Accounts app. The home screen is self-explanatory - it has all your applications, which you can reposition with a long press. Then the multitasking view has all your running apps appear as little condensed windows, you can then permanently turn them off by holding down an app and tapping the X button. You can also opt to turn them all off with the close all button.
There is also a notification bar tucked away at the top of the screen, which is accessible with a tap. It shows the classic Nokia profile albeit simplified - there is only silent, beep and ringing. There is also volume control here, connectivity options as well as quick social media management.
As for apps, Nokia promises to keep updating the Meego platform with applications ported from the Symbian platform. The phone itself is preloaded with social media apps like Twitter and Facebook, and there are gaming apps as well including Angry Birds, Galaxy on Fire 2, Need for Speed Shift and Real Golf 2011.
You can download apps and music from the Nokia store and Ovi Music respectively. The onboard web browser only supports one page, so multitaskers need not apply.
Camera, Video and Audio
Nokia devices are usually attached with high-powered cameras with Carl-Zeiss optics, and the Nokia N9 is no different, it comes with an 8-megapixel imager that shoots 3264 x 2448 pixels, it has autofocus and dual LED flash.
Despite all the megapixels, the N9’s camera is a bit of a let down, it has plenty of noise when we left it on auto mode and will require a few tweaks to clean up our photos significantly. Speaking of tweaks, there are plenty of them in the N9 – flash, scene, face detection and much more. The N9 will be able to record 720p video.
Multimedia playback on this device is enjoyable - the N9’s audio is improved by Dolby Digital Plus, so playing music on the N9 is a good experience. Watching videos on the 3.9-inch screen is a great viewing experience too.
Connectivity
The N9 supports HSDPA 14.4Mbps, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 and GPS. The Nokia N9 also comes with a Near Field Communications (NFC) reader. NFC allows you to transfer data by bringing the phone physically close to a reader. But since NFC is a relatively new in Malaysia, the only practical usage is to use the N9’s NFC as a control for Nokia’s wireless speakers and headphones. A standard micro-USB port allows data transfers. Plus, the N9 can also turn itself into a WiFi hotspot and allow five devices to connect simultaneously.
Verdict
There is a minor worry about the Meego platform. As Nokia focuses on its Windows Phone 7 hardware, will we still get firmware updates or continued app support? This may deter users who keep their smartphone for extended periods of time. Photo-enthusiasts may also be put off from this device, as the camera performance could be better.
Maybe its a bit to early to call it Nokia’s return to form, but the N9 gets a lot of things right which including its great design, a good screen powered by a surprisingly good operating system. It ties in well together for an intuitive, enjoyable experience. Will Meego win Android and iOS fans over? Perhaps not, but it will give Symbian users an OS to jump onboard before Windows Phone 7 comes along
The Nokia N9 is now retailing RM1799 for the 16GB and RM2088 for the 64GB variant, and the phone is recommended to anyone looking for an attractive, easy to use smartphone.
Network Technology GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100
Hardware/Processor CPU 1GHz Cortex A8 CPU, PowerVR SGX530 GPU
Dimensions (mm) 116.5 x 61.2 x 12.1
Weight (g) 135
SAR Rating -
Available colours Black, Cian, Magenta
Screen Size 3.9 inches, 480 x 854 pixels
Screen Color AMOLED touchscreen, 16M colors
Line of Text -
Menu Type -
Type Candybar
QWERTY-Keyboard No
Navigation Key Accelerometer & Proximity sensor
Soft Keys -
Other Keys -
Keypad Lighting -
Antenna Fixed Internal
Phonebook Unlimited
Internal(MB) 16/64 GB storage, 1 GB RAM
Memory Slot No
Battery Type Li-Ion 1450 mAh
Stand-by (hrs) Up to 380 h (2G) / Up to 450 h (3G)
TalkTime(min) Up to 11 h (2G) / Up to 7 h (3G)
Entertainment Polyphonic Yes
Customization -
MP3 Yes
FM Radio No
TV Receiver TV-out (720p video) via HDMI and composite
Video Record Yes, 720p@30fps
Video Support MP4/H.264/H.263/WMV player
Audio Support MP3/WAV/eAAC+/WMA/FLAC player
Voice Support -
Games Angry Birds Magic (NFC), Galaxy on Fire 2, Real Golf 2011; downloadable
Messaging SMS Yes
Total SMS -
MMS Yes
EMS No
Email Yes
Instant Messenging Yes
Push-To-Talk -
Connectivity HSDPA HSDPA, 14.4 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.7 Mbps
WIFI/WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n
3G Yes
GPS Yes
EDGE Class 33
GPRS Class 33
Bluetooth Yes, v2.1 with A2DP, EDR (A2DP)
USB Port Yes
Infrared (IrDA) No
Data Cable microUSB v2.0
Data Modem -
Software Platform / OS MeeGo OS, v1.2 Harmattan
Java (J2ME) Yes ,MIDP 2.1
WAP Yes Ver 2.0
Browser WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML, RSS feeds
Predictive Text Entry Swype
Speech Codecs -
PIM Application -
Other Applications Document editor (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), PDF viewer, Video/photo editor,
Personals Themes Yes
Caller ID Photocall
Profile ID Yes
Camera Specifications Lens Type CMOS, 8.0 Megapixel
Digital zoom -
Max. Resolution 3264x2448 (Secondary Camera)
Flash Yes
Night Mode Yes
Multi Shot -
Frame - Types
Extra Features Geo-tagging, face detection, touch-focus, Autofocus,Carl Zeiss optics
Photo Format -
Video Yes, 720p@30fps
Video Format -
Disclaimer :
The Nokia N9 specifications is just for reference only.We can not guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct. If you see any mistake in Nokia N9 specifications, please do LET US KNOW.
Conclusion: A great device, too bad there’s only one of them
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