Review: Nokia N900

QUESTION: When is a smartphone not a smartphone?

Answer: When it's a Nokia N900.

Think of the new N900 not so much as a smartphone, but as a mini-netbook with smartphone capabilities.

I say mini, but the N900 is chunky in the way the N95 was chunky, but I like that – it feels solid and sturdy in the hand, even if it does create unseemly bulges in your pocket.

The N900 uses a new operating system, based on Linux, called Maemo 5. And right there that tells you that the N900 is aimed at a niche market – the tinkerers.

Sure, the N900 lets you make phone calls, but where it excels is as a mobile internet device. The N900 is all about surfing, multitasking and installing applications.

It has an internet browser based on Firefox's engine, and it does a cracking job of rendering web pages just as you see them on your desktop PC.

Unfortunately, even if you use the Wi-Fi connection, Flash isn't that smooth – but at least the N900 is Flash-capable, unlike the iPhone.

You'll have to use the browser in landscape mode, though, because like many of the apps on the N900 it doesn't work in portrait mode.

This has a practical repurcussion which means you have to use the N900 two-handed – the only exception I could find being the phone dialler, which displays in portrait mode once the rather good slide-out QWERTY keypad is closed.

Nokia say they plan to use Maemo on all their N-Series smartphones in the future, but before they do they need to address the current lack of apps for the platform.

I know it's early days for Maemo, but relying on the generally poor Ovi store and a handful of geeky apps from the Open Source community isn't going to cut it against Apple and Android.

That said, I think opening up the N900 to the community is a smart move by Nokia.

Whether it's Maemo or the N900's powerful ARM Cortex processor, the N900 rips along nicely. Moving between the five home screens with the flick of a finger is slick, while apps open and close crisply.

The 5MP camera shoots decent stills and it's easy to send photos to Facebook, Flickr or email.

And with 32GB of on-board memory (plus room for 16GB more via a microSD card) there's no shortage of space for music and photos.

The included music player is very good, and there's a standard 3.5mm headphone jack, excellent video support and a bright, clear screen, all making the N900 a terrific multimedia device.

I was, however, disappointed with the N900's resistive touchscreen, which often failed to register my swipes, requiring a precise fingernail tap to register commands.

It's early days for Maemo 5, and because the N900 isn't the most straightforward phone out there I can't recommend it for ordinary users.

But the fresh user interface, QWERTY keyboard, huge storage space and great connectivity make it an exciting new platform for tech savvy, adventurous types.

You can pick up an N900 SIM-free for around £470.

(This article first appeared in my Daily Record technology column)