Nokia N9 review: Once in a lifetime

14 October 2011
When the first touch-only OS debuts on one of the hottest pieces of hardware this year, you can bet we want a piece of the action. Windows Phone is where Nokia want your attention, but it might turn out that MeeGo is the place you want to be. Not shown much love by its own maker...

Sort by:

  • D
  • AnonD-22393
  • utH
  • 15 Oct 2011

For all N9 fans.Great news.first update coming with tons of features and is coming very soon.

http://mynokiablog.com/2011/10/15/3500-improvements-coming-to-nokia-n9-update-windows-8-so-easy-for-a-2-year-old-to-use/

    • ?
    • Anonymous
    • SfG
    • 15 Oct 2011

    I have one, and it's amazing. Of course it have some missing features, some of them will come later, others never, but with open community applications will come later.

      • c
      • cozmo
      • J9P
      • 15 Oct 2011

      am still going for that N9 regardless..its going to be anoher uniqe device from nokia,just as my N900..so i am just going to wait for few weeks until the price drop and add it to my collection!!!

      Am sure am not the only one who thought about doing just that!

        • D
        • AnonD-26371
        • gxD
        • 15 Oct 2011

        AnonD-252, 15 Oct 2011I was very intrested in N9, and even considerd the problems... moreThis is obviously not the phone for you. However, some of us have the money and like the phone! The important thing is that it covers the basics out of the box. It has support from Nokia at least until 2015 and I suppose a better phone is available by that time. The choice of processor is in my opinion the most disappointing feature of the phone. Memory, storage, features out of the box and design are excellent. Of course if your main interest is playing games on the phone Meego is not the OS of choice.

          • D
          • AnonD-26371
          • gxD
          • 15 Oct 2011

          AnonD-26355, 15 Oct 2011I want my push email in real time or at least 5 minutes int... moreYou need to set up the e-mail account as an exchange server account.

            • D
            • AnonD-252
            • 39i
            • 15 Oct 2011

            AnonD-13986, 15 Oct 2011That part everyone already knew long ago. You are not inter... moreI was very intrested in N9, and even considerd the problems of cutting my standard sim into a micro-sim, but it is unfortunatly very much too expensive, if it cost 300 euro less then it would be more reasonable considering its actual specs, but no text-reflow in the browser is simply very bad making webbrowsing impossible for me. Why is it so hard to provide software for the fm-radio hardware on MeeGo, why does it need so much extra time that it needs a later, still only a rumor, update?
            N9 could have been good, but there are simply too many things missing in the list of specs, and I hoped atleast any of all romurs about all the "fixes" that was promised would be true when N9 was finally released, but still no text-reflow or Flash 11 or FM-radio or document editor or good 720p video recording or ability use regular Android apps and not only those that have been "repacked" or... The N9 romors was great, but unfortunatly the released facts are from as good as the rumors were! And even the swiping gesture to move to the homescreen have all the potential problems i did fear it would have where browsing in the gallery or playing a game this swiping gesture unintentionally can move you to the homescreen!
            I know die-hard Nokia-fans can not stand hearing anyone say anything bad about Nokia N9, but the sad truth is that N9 is far from as good as the rumors said it would be!

              • A
              • ADB Symbian gr
              • 3AH
              • 15 Oct 2011

              It's the smartphone of the year..!!
              I don't understand why micro-sim is bad..,
              and i don't understand why you want microSd slot when the phone offers you 64MB.. I think that 16MB is nice too..

              Ok,the price is high but this don't make it bad phone..
              Stop trolling N9 and Belle phones and go play with your 'i want battery'toys..

                • J
                • Jon (Swe)
                • mhB
                • 15 Oct 2011

                In the connectivity section, I didnt see the mentioning of the ablility to use external USB-memory.
                It said so on Nokias page, haven checked if they updated it, and removed that... but I sure want to know if its possible.
                They didnt say USB-on the go support, so either the hardware or the software does not support it fully, but external USB was mentioned.

                  • J
                  • Jon (Swe)
                  • mhB
                  • 15 Oct 2011

                  How about batterylife?
                  Ok, videoplayback... but people want other numbers, as well.

                    • D
                    • AnonD-26367
                    • v{u
                    • 15 Oct 2011

                    3500 more improvements coming on next update for Nokia N9. it includes all vid calls, fm radio and all. Says Kontorri , from meego Nokia team. http://mynokiablog.com/2011/10/15/3500-improvements-coming-to-nokia-n9-update-windows-8-so-easy-for-a-2-year-old-to-use/

                      • D
                      • AnonD-23828
                      • mNT
                      • 15 Oct 2011

                      The lack of the physical buttons from Android is no problem. You cut 54 pixels from the bottom of the screen for them and you're left with... 800x480 which is a standard resolution of an Android smartphone.

                        • D
                        • AnonD-616
                        • gx4
                        • 15 Oct 2011

                        to android fans just wait :-) the new update come to meego :-) . it's will bring more than 3500 new options . by the way thank you gsmarena for great review .

                          • D
                          • AnonD-13986
                          • tu6
                          • 15 Oct 2011

                          AnonD-252, 15 Oct 2011It is released in Sweden, micro-sim make it impossible for ... moreThat part everyone already knew long ago. You are not interested in it in the 1st place, just trolling in n9 thread, which already happen weeks bf N9 release. Instead of just 'reading', go to the shop & try it out, since you like hang out in N9 thread whenever there's news on it.

                          Android fans wouldnt be interested in N9 due to lack of apps. BUT surprisingly to me, there are S2 users who bought N9 & like it. They still keep the S2 of course.

                            • D
                            • AnonD-252
                            • 39i
                            • 15 Oct 2011

                            AnonD-13986, 15 Oct 2011You already decided long before the device is released not ... moreIt is released in Sweden, micro-sim make it impossible for me to buy, but after reading the short list of specs and reading this review I am far from impressed by N9, especially because it is very much too expensive!
                            There are very few apps, and only those Android apps that have been "repacked" can be used on N9-MeeGo!

                              • D
                              • AnonD-252
                              • 39i
                              • 15 Oct 2011

                              No document-editing app at all!

                                • D
                                • AnonD-13986
                                • tu6
                                • 15 Oct 2011

                                AnonD-252, 15 Oct 2011No memory card slot, ok 64 mb internal but that version is ... moreYou already decided long before the device is released not to buy it, regardless the price,lol. If its not available in your country, even more so.
                                If its cheap, then you all will say its cheap, defective,etc,etc.

                                Dont think I can buy 48GB of SD card with USD70(price difference between S2 & N9 64GB), cant even get 32GB SD card.

                                Go enjoy your S2 then, samsung fans should be more concerned abt competition from iphone. Heard they're even selling some at $2 in aust.

                                  • D
                                  • AnonD-252
                                  • 39i
                                  • 15 Oct 2011

                                  No hdmi-out or usb-on-the-go, and 720p video-recording is bad!

                                    • D
                                    • AnonD-252
                                    • 39i
                                    • 15 Oct 2011

                                    No text-reflow in the browser makes it unusable!

                                      • D
                                      • AnonD-26355
                                      • mI6
                                      • 15 Oct 2011

                                      I want my push email in real time or at least 5 minutes interval. is there anyway? help

                                        • D
                                        • AnonD-2663
                                        • tAJ
                                        • 15 Oct 2011

                                        I didn't expect anything less from the (android) fanboy reviewers here at gsm arena.

                                        Saying the phone has its fair share of issues is one thing; Implying that Nokia won't support or improve the user experience over the next few years is pure ignorance though.

                                        Considering this handset won't even be available for purchase in the US and the greater part of Central Europe, the concluding section of this review is pretty much insignificant, if not pointless.