Just the other day, the Nokia N9 smartphone went on sale, one of the most interesting and attractive devices of this year. But the launch of the new product was somewhat overshadowed - even before sales began, it became known that there would be no continuation in this line, since Nokia refuses to further use the MeeGo OS, and other companies will not develop this type of “mobile Linux”. What does it mean? Yes, the number of users of the platform and, accordingly, the number of applications for it, most likely, will be quite modest. And yet, despite this, the N9 will certainly have its own loyal audience, since, in addition to very attractive technical characteristics, the smartphone is equipped with a simply monstrous charge of the notorious wow factor, which is so lacking in many other modern mobile phones. True, as befits a new product, in addition to technological advantages and a unique interface, the N9 has a lot of problems. At the exit we have a real explosive mixture, the components of which we will now analyze.
The Nokia N9 box is so reminiscent of its counterpart from another gadget that it gives rise to vague doubts...
The N9's body is made from a single piece of polycarbonate and, of course, cannot creak or play. Plus it gives a small gain in the size of the device. For the sake of such integrity, the creators took unpopular measures: the battery is non-removable, buttons and connectors are kept to a minimum. In addition to the standard headphone jack, you will also have to look for connectors - the slot for a micro-SIM card (oops!) and the microUSB socket are hidden behind caps on the top end. The design of the caps is convenient and ingenious, but not every microUSB cable can be connected in the end. However, the standard wire included in the kit is, of course, suitable (although polycarbonate is essentially just a high-quality and impact-resistant plastic, its use in a phone case is more than justified, especially if the case is load-bearing (unibody). In addition to increased survivability in case of falls, it will differ in increased resistance to operational wear. In other words, it will not wear out. Moreover, unlike a metal case, there are no problems with antennas and the passage of radio signals).
We look into the box and the resemblance to the iPhone seems absolutely absolute. It feels like Nokia bought famous designers from Samsung. All two: the one that holds and the one that circles
Unlike Symbian smartphones, N9 has a solid screen resolution of 480x854. The 3.9″ display is made using AMOLED technology, with the use of additional tricks: a polarizing filter, no air gap in the screen, convex glass. The latter not only makes it easier to slide your finger across the screen, but also, together with a polarizing filter, significantly improves the visibility of the image in the sun. The brightness adjustment range is moderate, comfortable; As usual with Nokia, you cannot completely turn off auto-adjustment, but only adjust its action to your liking. Color reproduction is a little electric but not annoying, and image clarity is simply very good. Some people criticize the screen because it is made using Pentile technology. This reduces the clarity of contrasting lines, such as small black text on a white background, somewhat. But I did not experience the slightest discomfort either on the Samsung Galaxy S, which also uses Pentile SAMOLED, or on the Nokia N9.
Nokia N9 next to the E7 business smartphone. Both screens are good, but, of course, the advantage of N9 is obvious
Unlike its competitors, Nokia takes full advantage of the main advantage of AMOLED displays - low power consumption when displaying mostly black images. All standard screens and interface elements are made on a black background, and in lock mode, large clocks and icons remain on the screen, notifying about upcoming events. This is very convenient, and energy consumption remains minimal (however, we will talk about the autonomy of the device a little lower).
The capacitive sensor of the display is perfectly calibrated - sensitivity to pressing and sliding is high, but not excessive, pressure points are determined very accurately. A good illustration of this thesis is the virtual keyboard: the percentage of errors when typing on it is extremely low. By the way, I would like to note a very well-thought-out layout of on-screen keys and good ergonomics when typing in both landscape and portrait display modes. In both cases, the keyboard doesn't take up much screen real estate. Switching languages is done with a wide horizontal stroke directly on the on-screen keys (hello to Symbian and switching the alphabet “in just three clicks.” - editor’s note)
Despite the respectable number of megapixels on the matrix (eight) and the Carl Zeiss inscription, the device’s camera is not a flagship one. It is worse than, for example, in the Nokia N8 a year ago. There are no miracles - good modules have large dimensions (primarily depth), and they wanted to make the device thin, without a protrusion on the back side, like the N8. As a result, the camera does not boast record light sensitivity and is noticeably “noisy” in difficult lighting, despite the high-aperture F2.2 optics. But it is very “rapid-firing” - launching, focusing, and recording frames happen very quickly. Touch focus, a convenient settings panel, a tag cloud and other relevant functions are available. I note that the camera is stated to have eight megapixels, but with standard settings it offers a maximum of seven. There is no error here - the resolution depends on the selected frame aspect ratio - 4:3 or 16:9. The matrix actually has a resolution of 8.5 megapixels, with a small “margin” at the edges to optimally use the sensor area in both modes. The declared eight megapixels are obtained in the 4:3 mode, but the 16:9 mode allows you to fit more “spacious” panoramas into the frame, fortunately the optics are wide-angle (28 mm equivalent).
Video shooting is carried out in 720p, and with stereo sound. In the dark, frames can be illuminated with dual LED flash. There is also a front camera for video chats, however, its location in the lower right corner of the body cannot be called anything other than a controversial joke (they say that with this location it looks more like the user is looking at the interlocutor rather than at the heavens. - editor's note).
Although in the previous couple of paragraphs I grumbled a lot about the shortcomings of the camera, don’t let that fool you - the camera is quite decent, few smartphones can take better pictures. But they exist, and I know them.
⇡#Wireless minced meat
The package of “all-weather” Wi-Fi (from a to n), Bluetooth 2.1, quad-band GSM and even five-band WCDMA (HSPA support up to 14.4 Mbit/s) is certainly relevant, but does not cause much excitement. I will only note that, following the new trend, the device is initially able to “distribute” 3G Internet via Wi-Fi, that is, perform the functions of a hotspot.
What's more interesting is the NFC support. If you are not aware, this is a standard for communication over ultra-short distances, used in contactless office passes, metro tickets, and now also in payment cards and smartphones. After many years of niche use and various tests, NFC seems to be getting ready to take off next year, so having a smartphone with NFC will be very useful. So far, the N9 can do the following with NFC: instantly “pair” via Bluetooth with another similar smartphone, connect wireless accessories (such as the Nokia Play 360 speaker system), and also open new levels in Angry Birds Magic, which is pre-installed on this device initially .
Although NFC is used only for mutual registration of Bluetooth devices, in practical application the technology is similar to magic: you display a picture in the gallery, touch the body of another N9 - and after a couple of seconds it appears on his screen! It’s the same with a speaker: one touch and the music starts flowing not from the smartphone’s speaker, but from external acoustics (it’s scary to imagine how fans will squeal from this function at the presentation of the next iPhone, about a year from now. - editor’s note)
Installing a microSIM is possible without the use of a paper clip (TM), but is still quite non-trivial. Few people manage to understand the principle of operation of the mechanism the first time.
In the future, it will be possible to implement payment services based on NFC, and the smartphone is ready for this. For example, where there are NFC terminals for payment cards such as MasterCard PayPass, you can also make payments using the N9 smartphone. The main thing is that services similar to Google Wallet appear on the Russian market. In the meantime, using NFC you can only ride the metro in St. Petersburg, and even then only with a Beeline SIM card.
During testing of the N9, one problem emerged that is difficult to definitively classify. We're talking about Wi-Fi sensitivity in problem areas. For example, where another smartphone sees five Wi-Fi networks with a weak signal, N9 sees two or three. Or a network whose signal other devices classify as average, the N9 shows as very weak.
We responsibly declare that in fact the signal level of editorial hotspots is maximum
One could attribute this problem to poor placement of the antenna in the device, but there is a significant nuance - even with minimal signal strength, communication with the network is stable and at high speed. Uncharacteristic picture. Therefore, there is a suspicion that the problem is of a software nature, which means that it will be eliminated in the future. By the way, Nokia promises not to give up support for the device and to actively release updates and patches for it until 2020. It sounds promising, especially against the backdrop of Google’s great victory over its partners - it managed to wrest out of them “as much as” 18 months of software support in released Android devices.
Another ambiguity with the N9 concerns the FM radio. According to official information, it is not in the device. However, equipment experts claim that the hardware contains not only a receiver, but also an FM transmitter; you just need to write a software package and a client application for it. For me, an additional issue is whether the FM receiver has an antenna connected or an output to the headset, which is traditionally used as an antenna.
Nokia 9 PureView: specifications and price
This is how it lies in your hand
| OS | Android; |
| Screen | 5.99 inches; 18:9 |
| Permission | 1440 x 2880; P-OLED; |
| Camera | 5x12 MP; |
| Frontal | 20 MP; |
| CPU | Snapdragon 845 8 cores; |
| Built-in memory | 128 GB; |
| RAM | 6 GB; |
| battery | 3320 mAh |
| Price | 48,000 rubles |
Nokia 9 PureView: advantages and disadvantages
Not the biggest chin
- The main features of the smartphone can be considered the presence of a rear camera with five sensors and a fingerprint scanner under the screen;
— The appearance remains in the best traditions of the brand - the absence of bangs or teardrop-shaped cutouts (on flagships), which only adds to the charm of the device. There are practically no frames on the sides of the matrix, but a small “chin” remains at the bottom;
— The screen is 5.99 inches in size with an 18:9 aspect ratio. It is worth noting that this ratio is already considered outdated, but the device, despite this, will fit comfortably in one hand. On such a screen it is convenient to surf the Internet, watch videos or read;
— The matrix is made using P-OLED technology with a resolution of 1440 x 2880. Color rendition is realistic with large viewing angles and brightness margin. The pixel density per inch is around 400ppi, so the user is unlikely to be able to see screen grain;
Great matrix
— Configuration. The hardware of the smartphone is a combination of a Snapdragon 845 processor with 8 cores and 6 GB of LPDDR4 RAM. Note that the Nokia 9 PureView has enough power to run both power-hungry applications and most games. The chipset was specially designed to interact with an artificial intelligence system. The built-in memory is only 128 GB, but support for SD cards up to 512 GB is stated;
— The cameras are represented by a 12 MP quadruple unit and a ToF depth sensor. Note that two sensors are color, the rest are black and white. The picture is obtained by combining photos from five sensors, and you can see the current result in 10 seconds in the gallery. There is no wide-angle shooting, as well as optical zoom, but the photo quality is highly detailed, even at night. The AI system advocates for image improvement. Support for the post bokeh function, as well as the ability to make some elements black and white or, on the contrary, color. Front camera 20MP;
— The battery capacity is 3300 mAh and this is enough to operate the smartphone for 24 hours. Supports fast Quick Charge 3.0 and wireless charging;
- Additionally. There is no Jack 3.5 connector. USB type-C charging port. Protection against moisture and dust according to IP67 standard. Unlock using a fingerprint sensor under the screen. NFC support. Simultaneous work with two SIM cards. Dual-band Wi-Fi. Bluetooth 5. Always on Display;
- Size. 155x75x8 mm with a weight of 170 grams;
⇡#About MeeGo 1.2, or a memorial service for an excellent platform
Between you and me, the operating system means very little to the user. In fact, only consumer qualities are important: functionality, stability, speed, reliability, aesthetics, and most importantly - the number of applications. The latter, in turn, depends on how simple and convenient it is to create these same applications and how profitable it is in an economic sense. With the exception of the last point, MeeGo is doing great. On the one hand, the OS is quite complete, with its own recognizable and pleasant user experience, very stable and well suited for smartphones. On the other hand, those who want to “pick it apart” have such an opportunity, fortunately, under the beautiful wrapper are hidden tools familiar to the Linux world. This, by the way, makes MeeGo similar to Apple operating systems, only the degree of freedom for the developer here is an order of magnitude higher.
Everything is so understandable and somehow familiar...
The only sad situation is with the economy, and the reason for this is the small number of devices (to say the least - editor's note) and the unclear prospects of the OS itself. This is what the rest of the subsection is about, long and overloaded with complex words.
Large players in the IT market, who are making another OS for their needs, this year especially want to shout: “WELL, STOP RUNNING ALREADY, IT’S INfuriating!” To understand my feelings, you need to know a brief history of the issue. So, Nokia began its migration from Symbian using Maemo, a Linux-based tablet OS. By the time the first smartphone based on Maemo, Nokia N900, was released, the operating system remained very “tablet-like” - in particular, it did not support portrait mode for the screen and had a number of problems with “call” services, unable to even handle USSD requests. Meanwhile, Intel began overseeing the development of a “light” OS for Moblin netbooks. The announcement that Intel and Nokia would join forces and use Moblin and Maemo to release MeeGo OS, capable of running on a wide range of devices, was met with enthusiasm. However, the change of the management team and the subsequent change of the “main” OS in the Finnish frame in favor of WP7 put an end to Napoleonic plans. Intel did not sit alone on MeeGo for long and joined an alliance developing the next “mobile Linux” - Tizen. Theoretically, it will include the fruits of the labors of two alliances - MeeGo and LiMo. But there will still be plenty of time before the OS and products based on it appear, and it’s hard to say what the level of compatibility with the current MeeGo 1.2 will be. More low than high – Tizen puts HTML5 at the forefront.
The result of the above is this: “mobile Linux” of varying degrees of openness has been developed by dozens of companies over the past five years. At the same time, there is still no clear result accepted by the market, unless, of course, you count Android, which has moved quite far from its Unix roots. In my opinion, MeeGo 1.2 in N9 could well become such an “intermediate result”, since the OS combines a lot of advantages. I will list some:
- Classic preemptive multitasking without breaking the bank in terms of CPU load and power consumption.
- Full integration of functions relevant to a smartphone, such as working with sensors, cameras, GPS, and network access through dynamically changing connections.
- Based on the popular Linux distribution Debian and using its package manager.
- For development, the rather convenient Qt toolkit is recommended, but you can also use Clutter and GTK+, which are well known to a wide range of programmers, plus there is a “wraparound” for HTML5.
The advantages can be listed for quite a long time, but I don’t want to go deeper into the jungle. The short conclusion is this: MeeGo is a modern operating system with a foundation for the future, while it is understandable and quite convenient for developers.
It is important to know that MeeGo in N9/N950 has the middle name Harmattan for a reason. At the time of the creation of the MeeGo alliance, the development of Maemo 6 was already in full swing, and you will not see some of the solutions used in the N9 in other devices based on MeeGo 1.2. In particular, this is the aforementioned Debian package manager. There was simply no time to completely transfer the N9 to the new rails, and this reduces its level of compatibility with other MeeGo products. True, the problem cannot be called very acute either - thanks to the common development tools and the general similarity of the execution environment, porting an application from Maemo, Debian and other related Linux environments is not very difficult. For example, the Fbreader reader and VLC media player have already been released for the N9.
Launching Android Applications
Myriad is developing an interesting Alien Dalvik toolkit for MeeGo. Thanks to it, almost any Android application, except the most hardware-dependent ones, can be turned into a MeeGo application completely automatically, by simply repackaging the APK file. The release is promised this year, and this is the main hope of MeeGo users that they will soon have thousands and tens of thousands of high-quality applications instead of the current, um, thousands. After all, the developer will not need to make any effort at all, and enthusiasts will certainly join the process of converting programs on their own.
To be clear, I don't know how many apps there actually are for the N9. A quick analysis of the OVI store shows that we are talking about many thousands. But if we cross out from the list primitive crafts for reading news from certain websites (the Young Writers Community, Mexico City Real Estate Bulletin, Ewell Company News and others, no less exciting) and “online guides” for cities wrapped in separate applications ( Have you been to Ettelbrück? And to Düren? Here I am), it seems to me that there will be just about a thousand and a half left. By the way, I would not refuse such a filter in the store - “do not show crafts made in the App Wizard.”
Detailed review of the Nokia N9 smartphone based on MeeGo 1.2 OS
Today we are testing a new product from Nokia - the top-end smartphone Nokia N9. You could already read the impressions from our first acquaintance with it (it took place at the Russian presentation of the N9), but now it’s time to closely study the new product - first of all, in terms of software.
Nokia N9 was one of the most anticipated, but at the same time, the most unlucky new products from the Finnish company. Rumors about this model have been circulating since last year, but due to the constant uncertainty with Nokia's future course, the fate of the N9 hung in the balance. And yet, in October of this year, the smartphone still went on sale - including on the Russian market. And today it is already clear that this device will be, to some extent, unique. It’s just a plus or a minus, that’s the big question.
The uniqueness of the N9 smartphone lies in its operating system. This is the first and almost certainly the last Nokia device powered by MeeGo. To understand how this could happen, we need to remember the history of Nokia’s “relationship” with this OS (and at the same time the history of the N9 itself).
Nokia and MeeGo
For a long time, Nokia's main and only OS was Symbian. However, at some point, the company's developers and managers realized that Symbian was no longer promising and relevant. It is difficult to say how justified this opinion is, since even today (when it is already known for certain that the system will not be actively developed) there are many Symbian fans who use it and do not experience much suffering. Nevertheless, Nokia began to look for an alternative to Symbian.
As such an alternative, Maemo was developed, a Linux-based OS (the history of the system’s evolution can be read here). The first full-fledged Maemo smartphone was the Nokia N900, around which a small but devoted fan community has developed, mainly consisting of Linux developers.
The smartphone had many complaints from “ordinary” users, and even N900 fans admitted that this product was hardly suitable for ordinary users who were not used to doing magic on the command line and did not know the principles of the functioning of Linux systems. Nevertheless, this experience looked promising, and Nokia promised to continue development in the direction of Maemo. But history decided otherwise: Nokia N900 became the last Maemo device, and the operating system itself soon “merged” with Moblin developed by Intel, another mobile Linux distribution. The symbiosis of Moblin and Maemo is called MeeGo.
The union of Intel and Nokia aroused great enthusiasm among the Linux community, and although the first version of the new OS was intended for netbooks and, moreover, suffered from a number of shortcomings (you can read more about the netbook version here), many Nokia fans had hope that In the future, MeeGo will help the Finnish company strengthen its position in the smartphone segment, which was shaken after the appearance of the Apple iPhone.
However, Nokia was still slow to announce specific plans for the release of devices based on MeeGo, and constant changes in the company's management clearly indicated that not everything was going well for Nokia, and the strategic course could still change.
And so it happened: in February of this year it became known that Nokia was abandoning the development of its own OS, and instead was opting for Windows Phone 7, a relatively young (and with very vague prospects) Microsoft operating system. It was stated that Symbian would soon end its existence, but, formally speaking, Nokia did not abandon MeeGo. And yet, the company's enthusiasm for its joint brainchild with Intel has diminished considerably. This is probably just the case when it’s hard to drag and it’s a shame to throw it away. The question of whether (and if so, when) a MeeGo device will be released has become particularly intriguing. Conflicting reports on this matter appeared one after another. In particular, there was information that Nokia plans to release a MeeGo tablet instead of a smartphone. Then it turned out that the smartphone would still appear, but it would be intended for developers and would be called N950 (thus continuity with the N900 would be emphasized).
Finally, in June, the intrigue began to be resolved. Preliminary information about the Nokia N950 turned out to be correct, but incomplete. A developer device with this name will indeed be released, but it will not go to stores. But the top model Nokia N9, running on MeeGo 1.2, will go on sale. The official announcement of N9 took place on June 21. As for the N950, this model is needed precisely so that developers can write applications for the N9.
Let's take a closer look at the new Nokia flagship and talk about the prospects for MeeGo.
Equipment
The smartphone comes in a box that is quite compact in width, but high, which, in addition to the device itself, contains a case, a charger, a micro-USB-USB cable, two booklets with basic information about the Nokia N9, as well as a completely useless sheet with information about product certification.
The equipment pleased me, first of all, with the presence of a rubber cover. It sits quite well on the phone and does not interfere with its use. The only caveat is that it covers the slot for the MicroSIM card, so if you need to frequently remove and insert the SIM card, you will have to remove the cover. But I think there are few people who like to change SIM cards frequently, so we don’t even consider this nuance a disadvantage. But what really deserves criticism is the quality of the headphones. It is not clear why even such self-respecting companies as Nokia do not hesitate to equip their flagship smartphones for 24-27 thousand rubles with headphones that are completely unusable.
Design
The design of Nokia N9 is one of the main features of the device. In a sense, he is even unique. Nokia engineers and designers decided to go further than Apple and release a smartphone without control buttons at all. Almost the entire front panel of the device is occupied by glass, under which the screen is located. True, it is not entirely correct to say that here the screen occupies the entire surface, since about a centimeter of glass above and below the screen is non-working. However, when the smartphone screen is turned off, this is not visible, so it seems that the entire front surface is actually a screen. Looks very cool.
The only auxiliary buttons present on the Nokia N9 are located on the right side. This is an on/off button, as well as a volume rocker.
The top edge is occupied by a Micro-USB connector and a slot for a MicroSIM card. Both are covered with lids.
An important design feature is the rounded side edges and narrowed top and bottom edges. This gives the smartphone a special charm. However, as a price for beauty, you will have to sacrifice capabilities: there is neither a memory card slot nor an HDMI connector here. All this is present, for example, in the Nokia N8, which now costs 14,990 rubles. But in the flagship N9 it is missing.
In general, the design of the N9 has a certain continuity with the N8 and, in part, with the E7: the body is made of a single piece of polycarbonate, similar shapes... But the N9 is even more minimalistic and uncompromising than the N8 and E7.
When sales start, Nokia N9 is available in three colors: black, turquoise and purple. The last two are obviously aimed at women and youth audiences. But the black version (this is what we tested) is also suitable for a man. In my opinion, the black N9 is especially attractive for its versatility: it will suit both a formal suit and some party attire. The N9 can be used in a business environment, but it doesn't look as heavy or cluttered as most business communicators.
By the way, just the other day there was news that the Nokia N9 will also be released in a white version.
Nokia is clearly following in the footsteps of Apple, which at one time released a white iPhone 4 to follow the original black version. Nevertheless, this news is encouraging. White color is almost as universal as black, but less strict and gloomy.
Screen
The Nokia N9 screen deserves special attention. For two reasons. The first reason is prosaic: of all Nokia smartphones, the N9 has the highest screen resolution. Previous top Nokia models, not without reason, were criticized for the insufficient number of dots per inch for the selected diagonal. While the iPhone 4 had 960x640, and other manufacturers had 800x480 as the norm, owners of the N8 and E7 had to be content with a resolution of 640x360 pixels. Now this shortcoming has been corrected. The N9 display resolution is 854x480 (with a diagonal of 3.9 inches). Matrix type - AMOLED. The screen, of course, is a capacitive touch screen. So, decent (though not outstanding, by the standards of the second half of 2011) resolution is the first feature.
The second feature is even more interesting. The screen is placed on the body in such a way that it rises slightly, its edges rise above the sides. Therefore, it seems that the image is closer to you - as if it were printed directly on the surface itself. There is probably nothing special here technologically, but from a design point of view the solution is very interesting and original.
Overall, the Nokia N9 screen leaves a very good impression. Perhaps, from the point of view of technical parameters, this is not a record holder - Samsung, for example, has smartphones with such display characteristics that belong to the middle price segment (15-17 thousand rubles). However, in the end, what is important to us is not the numbers on paper, but the direct perception. And here everything is very cool about the N9 screen: the picture is bright, quite clear (if you don’t look for pixels with a magnifying glass), and most importantly, it looks very impressive thanks to the “trick” with a convex screen.
Hardware configuration
The SoC based on ARM Cortex-A8 with a frequency of 1 GHz and the PowerVR SGX530 GPU does not break performance records (dual-core processors are already relevant today), but it copes with all the tasks that an N9 user can set. The OS interface works quickly and smoothly, no slowdowns were noticed. Even with multiple apps running in the background, the system ran smoothly. All the games we tried on the N9 (including the pre-installed Need for Speed: Shift) ran without problems, as did standard definition videos. But the N9 refused to play high-definition video. Moreover, it’s not a matter of codecs, but rather the resolution itself, which is what the smartphone reported when trying to play HD video. In fact, the solution is quite reasonable, because the Nokia N9 does not have an HDMI output, therefore, it will not be possible to display an HD image on an external screen. And the screen of the smartphone itself simply will not display a number of pixels greater than 854x480.
Thus, the performance of the Nokia N9 is absolutely sufficient for the tasks that this smartphone is supposed to perform. We also note a decent amount of RAM - 1 GB. This is likely why the N9 multitasks so well. As for flash memory, the situation here is quite interesting: models with 16 GB and 64 GB are available. There is no intermediate option (32 GB) available. I think this is a cunning marketing decision: the price difference between models with 16 and 64 GB of memory is only three thousand rubles. For comparison, for the iPhone 4S in America this difference is $200. From which we can conclude that the price for the 16 GB version of the N9 is somewhat overpriced. This was done so that a person for whom, in principle, 16 GB is enough, would estimate that for an extra three thousand he would get 48 GB of flash memory and ultimately choose a 64 GB model.
MeeGo 1.2 Harmattan operating system interface
Now we come to the most interesting part - the Nokia N9 operating system. As already mentioned, this is MeeGo 1.2. Its smartphone version, called Harmattan, was created specifically for the N9. And its interface is significantly different from the preliminary smartphone version of MeeGo, which developers and enthusiasts were invited to try on the Nokia N900. In terms of appearance, the OS on N9 is closer to Symbian Anna. It was from “Anna” that Harmattan borrowed the square-rounded icons. In the illustration below you see a screenshot of Nokia N9 (on the left) and a photo of Nokia 500 (on Symbian Anna). Find ten differences!
However, the similarity is really only external. Because in terms of functionality and user experience, these two operating systems differ radically. The main feature of the N9 is the so-called Swype interface. Its essence is that the user performs all transitions from one screen to another using swipe gestures. You need to see a list of running applications - quickly swipe your finger across the screen from right to left. To return to the main menu, swipe from left to right. We saw something similar in BlackBerry PlayBook OS, but there you had to swipe from the edge of the screen, but here you can swipe from anywhere.
All applications that you open remain hanging in the background (as in Android 3.x; although the Nokia N900 also had multitasking, so it’s fairer to compare the N9 with the N900). To exit an application, you must either return to the main menu, or open the list of running applications and select another one. But in this case, the application that you launched before will not stop working. If you still want to close the application completely, then on the screen with thumbnails of running applications you need to hold your finger for a couple of seconds, after which crosses will appear on the thumbnails, by clicking on which we will get the expected result. You can also close all applications at once by clicking “Close All”.
In addition to the “Main Menu” and “Open Applications” screens, there is also a notification screen (it displays unanswered calls, new messages from SMS, e-mail and network accounts, which you can configure through “Accounts”) and a lock screen (on it You can put different wallpapers; on the main menu - no, alas).
The description of the N9 interface looks a little scary, but in fact it is intuitive, and after a while you don’t even think about what you need to do to close some applications, go to the main menu, etc. The Nokia N9 interface is very addictive! After several days of using the Nokia N9, you still strive to do something with a swipe gesture in other smartphones.
Applications for MeeGo 1.2 Harmattan
Like users of other OSes, the owner of MeeGo 1.2 receives a certain set of pre-installed applications, as well as the ability to install applications from the Store (in this case, the Ovi Store). In addition, you can install applications from third-party sources on the Nokia N9. The package format is .deb (and not .rpm, like the netbook MeeGo). However, it is clear that not any application with the .deb extension will do, but only one written for the Nokia N9.
Nowadays, many applications written by enthusiasts have appeared on the Internet. Although it is not a fact that you will need them. It is possible that all your needs will be satisfied by the pre-installed programs and assortment of the Store.
You will almost certainly have to look into the Store, since, for example, Nokia N9 does not have a file manager. File Manager Beta helps you manage your files on your N9. However, the number of applications in the Store is still very modest. At the time of testing, there was not even such an obvious thing as an office suite that allows you to edit text files, tables and presentations. But now there are such fun things as the PhoneTorch application, which turns the N9 into a flashlight.
We click on the image of a light bulb on the screen - and the smartphone’s flash turns on, which can easily replace a medium-brightness flashlight.
However, this is all self-indulgence. And for serious people, N9 has ample opportunities for developing and managing software and OS. As befits a real Linux device, Nokia N9 provides the user with the ability to work in the Terminal. But by default this feature (as well as the USB debugging function) is disabled. To enable it, you need to do the following: in Settings, go to the Protection menu. There we click on Developer Mode.
Once in the Developer Mode menu, move the lever to the On position and accept all warnings. After which the smartphone will download and install some additional tools, reboot - and the Terminal and SDK Connection icons will appear in the menu among other applications.
The terminal “understands” standard Linux commands, through it it is quite possible to obtain superuser rights, install third-party applications, etc. Of course, you will have to type commands on a virtual keyboard, which is very unusual. If I'm not mistaken, the N9 is actually the first touchphone without a physical keyboard on which the Terminal works (the N900 and N950 have a sliding QWERTY keyboard).
You can work with the Terminal in both landscape and portrait orientation.
Applications for Nokia must be written using the Qt SDK (it is available here). Thanks to the use of Qt libraries, it is quite easy to port applications written for Maemo and Symbian to the N9. The only question is how large an audience will be able to appreciate these efforts. But, one way or another, there is a convenient development environment, and it’s up to each programmer to decide whether to use these features or not.
Among the pre-installed applications on the Nokia N9 there is everything you need: a browser, an e-mail client, a calendar, contacts, audio and video players, Ovi navigation services (maps for Russia can be downloaded for free from Nokia servers directly to a smartphone via Wi-Fi), stores Ovi programs and music, Facebook, Twitter and Skype clients. Some of the applications pleasantly surprise you with their original interface. For example, Alarm clock. The email client is no less attractive (and most importantly, functional).
The music player has a very nice and “fresh” design.
The browser works quite smoothly, but does not support Flash.
Pre-installed games include Need for Speed: Shift, Galaxy on Fire 2 and even an exclusive version of Andgry Birds with birch trees 
True, only five levels are available in Angry Birds; the rest must be purchased in the Store.
There were also more serious “flies in the ointment”. For example, the N9 lacks the ability to sync with Outlook. And when we try to import contacts from a Gmail account (this can be done through the Accounts application), we get this picture (see screenshot on the right):
But in general, the set of pre-installed software, in our opinion, will be able to satisfy the basic needs of the owner of a smartphone. Although we still strongly recommend installing the file manager from the Store. And, of course, you need to be prepared for the fact that there are incomparably fewer applications for MeeGo 1.2 Harmattan than for iOS, Android and even BlackBerry OS and Windows Phone 7.
Camera
Top Nokia smartphones are traditionally equipped with good cameras. Nokia N8 was one of the leaders in this regard last year. Therefore, we decided to compare the shooting quality of the N9 with the N8. We also advise you to read the article about the iPhone 4S, where the Nokia N9 camera is compared with the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4. Let us recall that the comparison showed that the Nokia N9 camera is close in photo quality to the iPhone 4S camera and significantly better than the iPhone 4. But how beneficial will the new product be compared with the Nokia N8? Even though the N8 is last year's flagship and the N9 is this year's, the N8's camera shoots at a higher resolution. Widescreen photos of the N8 are produced with a resolution of 4000x2248 pixels, while the N9 has a resolution of 3552x2000. However, as you know, higher resolution in itself does not mean better quality. We decided to check it out.
We took two pictures (on automatic settings): one was a general plan of the parking lot (top view), the other was foliage of trees. First, let's look at a fragment of the photo of the parking lot (the full version is available by clicking).
Nokia N8
Nokia N9
Thanks to the higher resolution of the N8 camera, the cars in the photo taken with last year's smartphone can be seen closer, and even the license plate of one of the cars is quite clearly visible. In addition, the N8 has more saturated colors (although it’s not worth comparing color reproduction from these frames, since the slightest change in sunlight changes the colors in the photo).
In the second image, the difficulty lies in adequately displaying small objects (leaves) in a mass of similar objects. From the photographs presented below, it is difficult to definitely choose a better one: the leaves in the fragment of the N9 frame are clearer, but in the N8 they turned out to be larger. Therefore, the N8 frame looks like a digital zoom of the N9 frame.
Nokia N8
Nokia N9
In addition, to be fair, we note that we did three takes for each smartphone; of the N8 takes, only one turned out successful (this one), and on the rest the foliage looked blurry. Whereas with Nokia N9 all takes were normal. And this is also an important result.
The last step in comparing the N8 and N9 cameras is shooting video. Both smartphones support 720p resolution (1280x720). This is less than the iPhone 4S, but on the same level as the iPhone 4. So, the resulting videos can be downloaded here (Nokia N8, volume 46.4 MB) and here (Nokia N9, volume 30.9 MB), but we state that their quality is approximately at the same level. At the same time, N9 has a higher number of frames per second (30 versus 25), and N8 has a higher bitrate.
In general, I would put an equal sign between the two cameras, perhaps with a slight “plus” to last year’s smartphone. In some ways the N8 is superior to the N9 (photo resolution), in others it is inferior (the shooting speed of the N9 is higher, and the percentage of low-quality frames is lower, although it is not a fact that with a small number of pictures one can draw such conclusions). But if such a result is quite good for N8, then N9 can hardly be proud of it, since there is no step forward here. And with such strong competitors as the iPhone 4S (which shoots video much better than both Nokia smartphones), this is an unaffordable luxury.
However, it’s also impossible to say that the N9 as a camera phone is seriously outdated. There are plenty of settings (including choosing between full-screen and widescreen shooting modes), flash, autofocus, and the ability to manually focus (by touching the screen, like on the iPhone). Plus - the increased shooting speed is a big plus. But it’s a pity that the N9 does not have a hardware key, like the N8, to turn on the camera. So if you are looking for a camera phone, but not an iPhone 4S, I would still recommend the N8, not the N9. But we can’t write down the N9 camera as a disadvantage of this device.
Battery
Nokia smartphones based on Symbian demonstrated very good battery life. Nokia N9 was also pleased with this. It can work quietly for a couple of days in normal use, in economy mode - and even more (while Android smartphones still suffer from the fact that they have to be charged every day). As for some resource-intensive operations - for example, video playback, our test series of the series discharged the smartphone by only 5 percent. By the way, during testing we noticed that the battery charge indicator does not want to admit that the battery is 100% charged. So, even when everything indicated that the smartphone was fully charged, the indicator “claimed” that only 98% were available to it.
N9 positioning and MeeGo prospects
After the N9 goes on sale, the main question that arises for a potential buyer is the prospects for a particular smartphone and the operating system as a whole. Considering the fact that Nokia has already changed its chosen course several times, we cannot say anything for sure. But if the movement continues in the given direction, then most likely the N9 will be the last Nokia device to use MeeGo. Nokia's next flagship will be a Windows Phone 7 smartphone - the Nokia Lumia 800. Moreover, its hardware will be very similar to the N9.
If this is confirmed, it will become more clear why Nokia would release the N9. The company probably had some obligations to Intel related to the release of devices based on MeeGo. Therefore, Nokia decided to kill two birds with one stone: both release the promised MeeGo smartphone and create the hardware basis for the subsequent WP7 device. Less clear is the release of the Nokia N950, which is simply distributed free of charge to developers. This attraction of unprecedented generosity would be more understandable if Nokia were really serious about MeeGo and planned to release several more devices. Then it would really be necessary to provide developers with the tools to develop applications for these smartphones. But to release a special model, whose characteristics are quite related to the top segment, and give it away for free so that developers write applications for the only Nokia N9 is, to say the least, strange.
“Well, maybe they’re not going to give up MeeGo after all?” - you ask. And this question will be very natural. But then the positioning of N9 looks strange. When presenting a device whose main feature is the new operating system, it would be logical to focus on this. While Nokia representatives, on the contrary, try to avoid this issue. They talk about design, about the Swype interface, in general - about anything, but not about the OS.
The most interesting thing is that at the end of September (that is, three months after the announcement of the N9 and N950), Intel announced that it was abandoning MeeGo, or rather, integrating it into the new development of The Linux Foundation - Tizen. It is assumed that Tizen will remain partially compatible with the netbook MeeGo, but will not be compatible with the smartphone MeeGo.
But the surprises don't end there either. Almost simultaneously with the news about Tizen, another news arrived: Nokia is developing its own Meltemi operating system based on Linux. But, unlike MeeGo, it is initially positioned in the segment of cheaper devices. Thus, Nokia decided to apply the concept of Samsung, which, recall, has Android/WP7 for smartphones in the upper price category and bada OS for more affordable models.
If we believe that Meltemi will actually be seriously developed, and this strategy will come to fruition, then the positioning of the N9 becomes clearer. You need to understand that for the N9 Nokia, in fact, developed the interface from scratch, taking something from Symbian, something from Maemo, but almost nothing from the preliminary test build that was available for installation on Nokia at the end of last year N900. The new interface, as we have already found out, turned out to be very successful. So why not transfer it to the new OS? Thus, I do not exclude that in a year and a half we will see the N9 Swype interface on cheaper models, and it will be called Meltemi, not MeeGo. The N9 itself will move to the mid-price segment, and the top-end devices will be Windows Phone 7 devices.
We emphasize that all this is nothing more than our speculation, based on the contradictory information that is currently available. And in the case of Nokia, it is quite difficult to predict anything at all. But I don’t see any other logical way out of this situation.
conclusions
The Nokia N9 can be viewed from two perspectives: as a device for geeks, fans of Linux and the command line, or as just a good smartphone for ordinary users. If we take the second option, then we should note a bright, memorable design, an impressive screen, a good camera and a pleasant OS interface (which can even be called intuitive if you get used to Swype gestures). The disadvantages include a small number of applications in the store, the inability to synchronize with Outlook, and the lack of an HDMI output. I repeat: from the point of view of the average user, this is a good smartphone. But its reasonable price is 17, well, maximum 18 thousand rubles (we are talking about the version with 16 GB of flash memory). Because the same Nokia N8, sold today for 15 thousand rubles, is no worse, or even better, than the N9 in a number of parameters (camera, number of applications, availability of HDMI). And I have almost no doubt that in six months (or even earlier) the junior model Nokia N9 will cost exactly 17-18 thousand. But will it be relevant for ordinary users if the Nokia Lumia 800 appears by then? An interesting question... But who should definitely wait a little, but in the end get the N9 - it's the geeks and Linux lovers. And then they will get an ideal platform for experiments at a reasonable price. Here you have the Terminal, USB debugging using the SDK, and a loyal community that pays great attention to the N9 and is ready to announce any small program for it. For those who love their Nokia N900 with tender love, but want to replace it with something more modern, it makes sense to take a closer look at the Nokia N9. True, when the N900 came out, everyone was sure that this was the beginning of a long journey. Now N9 is perceived, on the contrary, as the end of the road. But if our assumptions turn out to be correct, Nokia will find some use in the future for the developments and really interesting innovations that appeared in the N9. Therefore, for developers this device may not be so hopeless. Although the status of the first and last smartphone on MeeGo even adds a certain charm to the N9. It’s nice to know that what you have in your hand (or pocket) is not a stamped, pass-through model, but a unique device - even if this uniqueness limits functionality and promises unnecessary difficulties.
⇡#Control without buttons
The N9 has only three buttons, they are located on the right side. One turns the device on and off, the other two adjust the volume. To unlock the display, you need to press the power button or simply tap the screen twice. All other manipulations with the interface do not require “physical” clicks. Instead, swipe movements are used from the edge of the screen to its center. You can swipe an app off the edge of the display and pull out one of three control screens: application manager, program shortcuts, and alerts.
Three buttons Nokia N9. No more. At all
If you think that on Nokia touchscreen smartphones, menus, lists, etc. are slow and animated jerkily, then the N9 will quickly dissuade you. The iPhone was clearly taken as the standard for external effects: fast and very smooth “kinetic” scrolling of long lists (a bookmarks bar appears on the right side of the screen for super-fast navigation), minimalistic and rarely used submenus (usually all control actions are placed on buttons in the bottom toolbar ), visual switches, etc.
There are also some fun moments: for example, setting the time and alarm is done on the dial of an analog clock in the style of Danish design. In general, no miracles of science, but everything is thought out, smooth, pleasing to the eye - at a modern level.
The browser and email client reminded me sharply of the iPhone 4 - convenient, functional enough for 95% of users, but with a minimum of settings and functions for picky users. The speed of rendering web pages and the correctness of the process are beyond praise, support for Javascript and HTML5 is at a high level. True, IE9 in WP 7.5 “handles” heavy scripts much faster, but apart from Microsoft’s proprietary benchmarks this is hardly noticeable.
Among the interesting features of the browser are a hybrid history/bookmarks in the form of a tag cloud, as well as the ability to add a link to a specific site to the list of applications as a separate icon.
All the mentioned browsers have one thing in common - they do not display Flash. Alas, Nokia is also in the club and has no plans to introduce Flash support into the standard browser. However, given the availability of Flash for the previous N900 model, you can count on fans attaching a Flash player to Firefox Mobile.
One of the most illogical aspects of the N9 interface, in my opinion, is the lack of a holistic approach to alerts. As a rule, you see the status of your smartphone in a narrow strip at the top of the screen. There are no surprises: here is the time, signal level and battery charge, icons to remind you of missed events. The first ambiguity is that in some applications the strip is visible, in others it disappears. And it would be nice if we were talking about a browser and a video player - the bar is hidden, for example, in the Clock program, where screen space is not so super valuable.
When you click on the strip, it extends to a third of the screen, giving access to sound control (in addition to the volume itself, you can turn on vibration and silent modes), Internet connection and status in Internet chat rooms Skype and others. And where can I see, for example, if there are any missed calls and what percentage of the file has been downloaded in the browser? In a completely different place - this information goes to one of the three main screens, the alerts screen. There you can also look for the current date, weather forecast and... updates from Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. Although the information is correctly sorted by importance, the juxtaposition of missed calls and Twitter jokes still seems somewhat inappropriate to me.
Further, among the clear icons on the indicator strip (“File is loading”, “Call missed” or “Alarm set”) there is a universal checkbox “There are missed events”. So, in order to get a decryption of information, sometimes you need to go to the notifications screen, and sometimes there is no notification even there.
Perhaps you need to get used to this ideology, but in a week and a half I couldn’t. I would like to see the notification screen unified and “cleared” of semi-entertaining information. However, “cleaning” can be done through the settings by disabling the broadcast of any news channels to the notification screen.
Design and appearance
As for the appearance, the Nokia 9 PureView does not surprise anything from the front. The screen fits into 2020 standards, and there are no cutouts or eyebrows. This will appeal to those who do not like relatively strange innovations from manufacturers. Instead, here, there are very small top and bottom panels. I like this design better.
The build quality is also impressive. The body of the 9 PureView is made of 600 series aluminum, and the front panel is protected by Gorilla Glass 5. The edges of the case are rounded to make the smartphone comfortable to hold without feeling large. But the phone turned out to be slippery, I was always wary of holding it in my hand. I recommend using a bumper or cover.
The power button and volume rocker are located close to each other. There can be no erroneous presses, since the power key is textured. Unfortunately, there is no 3.5mm jack, so you'll either have to use a USB-C adapter or Bluetooth headphones.
The most important element is the back panel of the Nokia 9, or rather, a whole set of cameras. There are five of them at once; you can compare the location of the lenses and the entire system with the spider gas. Not the most pleasant association, however, for some reason I like this option. The smartphone really doesn’t copy anyone, and the cameras don’t protrude above the body.
Didn't find a fingerprint scanner? Nokia PureView has joined the new wave. The scanner is now built into the display, although it uses ultrasonic technology. To unlock your smartphone, you need to press the screen quite hard. Maybe I did something wrong, but my Nokia did not always unlock the first time. Even saving the same fingerprint in different profiles did not help. The situation was corrected by the option with Face Unlock and face scanning.
As for the choice of body colors, there is only one; the device is offered only in blue.
⇡#Visual multitasking
The multitasking “capabilities” of Android, iOS and WP7 are far from being fully available to applications. The application must be written in a special way so that part of it continues to run even when the program is hidden from the screen. If the developer does not take care of this, the application, at best, is “paused”, or even loses its state, that is, it is rebooted. The N9 features full preemptive multitasking, where all aspects of switching are taken care of by the system, while applications continue to run peacefully in the background. The architectural magic lies in the fact that even when such monsters as the camera, navigation and Angry Birds are running in the background and “hanging out” in the memory, the battery does not drain dramatically quickly, and the main applications and system screens do not begin to “slow down”. Speaking of the battery, unlike Android, the N9 did not experience any unreasonably fast discharge in the “I didn’t do anything special” mode, but with an active load in the form of Wi-Fi, navigation, and other things, the phone only survives until the evening. On the other hand, two days with moderate use are guaranteed.
It’s easy to verify the N9’s “true” multitasking for yourself. The task manager screen does not display application icons, but miniature windows of each of them. The window shows what is happening in the application, for example, you can “peek” at the process of rendering a web page in the browser. The application can be switched to the desired window, manually unloaded, and you can also scale the thumbnails with the usual “pinch”, as in a browser. In general, the approach to the list of running applications as a web page or a list of pictures in a gallery has not been seen before and evokes a feeling of sincere admiration on a mobile device. We saw the forerunner of this technology in Maemo 5, the previous incarnation of MeeGo 1.2. To ensure that there are plenty of applications in memory, the system has a whole gigabyte of RAM.
I note that many things in the N9 have no analogues in other devices, and you may never guess about various useful tricks. Therefore, detailed help on all its functions is built directly into the device. It is divided into several subsections: the most important topics, detailed help, instructions on new technologies. Some, like NFC, even come with instructional videos! After looking at them, you begin to understand why the firmware for the N9 weighs more than a gigabyte.
So, cameras. As many as five pieces!
On the back, Nokia 9 has five cameras at once: two color and three monochrome modules - each 12 megapixels. All sensors are always involved in taking photos. That’s why you can’t quickly jump into the Gallery and see what happened. Each time you have to wait from 5 to 20 seconds to process one photo! This is quite annoying. However, this is the price of cool and creative photos that we get as a result. I'll explain now.
The 9 PureView cameras have several strengths:
- very wide dynamic range
- gorgeous depth
- natural colors
I’ll say right away that if you want something brighter and without any problems, then this is not for Nokia 9. For example, Samsung Galaxy S series smartphones have always been famous for their poisonous algorithms that set the grass on fire with a deep green color, make the sky bright blue, and so on. The end result is a kind of candy that looks better than life itself. Some people may like this.
The iPhone XS, however, like any other generation, always turns yellow. The camera shoots in a very warm color temperature by default. This is the feature of Apple smartphones, nothing can be done about it.
Nokia 9 is a camera phone in a completely different category. Natural colors and shades are at the forefront here, and the camera is always as honest as possible with the user.
Nokia
Since three additional black and white sensors are used, all images contain high contrast without loss of detail. Below are examples.
Nokia
iPhone XS Max
Nokia
Huawei
iPhone
Nokia
Huawei
iPhone
This approach adds additional volume to the photograph and makes the objects in the photograph literally come to life.
And of course, HDR. Nine is very good at drawing out complex stories. Her strong point is backlighting, which even Smart HDR from Apple often gives in to.
Nokia
Huawei
iPhone
Nokia
Huawei
iPhone
By the way, there is no real optical zoom here - it is entirely digital.
All originals for self-study can be downloaded from this link.
Front-camera
A 20 megapixel sensor is installed on the front. It would seem that with this approach to photography, the front camera should not disappoint. Unfortunately, it is not.
The module cannot blur the background and has obvious problems with exposure. And the detail of the images leaves much to be desired.
Nokia
Huawei
iPhone
No, you can still shoot something useful. However, compared to its current competitors, the front camera of Nokia 9 is sad and sad.
Video recording
Another far from the strongest side of the smartphone. Video stabilization is not available in 4K resolution. The sharpness, quality and detail of the picture also leaves much to be desired. Sound? He wasn't impressed either. Look and listen for yourself...
⇡#Communication without interference
N9 has taken quite a step towards unified messaging. Contact databases from phone, Gmail, MS Exchange, Skype, Facebook, Twitter and so on are combined automatically. You can also manually combine contacts in an arbitrary manner, for example by combining entries from Gmail, Twitter and two different Skype contacts into a single whole. An almost unlimited number of telephone numbers, postal addresses and other details are added to each name. Having opened the desired contact, you can contact a person with one touch in any of the available ways - call by phone, write SMS, write on Skype, call on Skype, call via SIP, write an e-mail, and so on. You can also immediately go to the address indicated in the contact card. All these functions are integrated into the system; launching a separate application for Skype chat, for example, does not occur. Availability status in chat systems is also set centrally.
Despite the strength of the implementation, the system also has shortcomings. Twitter is not integrated well; correspondence with a contact outside the app of the same name is impossible. The search for information is carried out through the search window, which is not always convenient, and for some reason the “smart dial” that is familiar on many platforms (including Symbian Anna) is not implemented. Groups and assigning individual and group ringtones are supported, but groups are not imported from Gmail/Exchange; they must be created manually.
Conclusion
Based on the material described above, we can conclude that the Nokia 9 PureView is one of the first smartphones with such an arrangement and number of cameras, while the device is equipped with powerful hardware and a modern appearance. In general, we recommend the device for a more detailed and intimate acquaintance
Pros:
- Cameras;
- Iron power;
- NFC;
- IP67;
- High-quality matrix;
- Android One support;
- Appearance;
- Matrix;
⇡#Multimedia with comfort
The N9's media player is "omnivorous", and in combination with 16 or 64 GB of memory, which are available in USB drive mode, this is very pleasing. When I say “omnivorous”, you need to understand that in addition to ordinary files like MP3 and MP4 you need to add support for audiophile FLAC and everyone’s favorite MKV. Inside MKV there can be an h.264 video stream in any profile except High. Alas, you can’t handle the latter with the existing hardware (TI OMAP 3630, 1 GHz + PowerVR SGX530). This, however, applies even to dual-core monsters like Tegra 2.
There is one more limitation for watching videos: files larger than 4 GB cannot be uploaded to the N9, since the main partition is formatted in FAT. As a rule, this is not a problem, and is done for the convenience of connecting to a computer (the N9 storage is seen as a regular removable drive). The big “but” is the inability to transfer large archives or MKV files with HD movies into memory. The problem can be solved in developer mode, in which the storage can be reformatted into native Linux ext4. But connecting to a computer then will not be as problem-free; special drivers will be required.
I was pleasantly surprised by the durability of the media player - you can watch movies in DVD resolution for more than 8 hours. Music in the headphones also sounds very loud and detailed. But the speakerphone could have been louder.
⇡#Free cards
There are two navigation applications in the N9: “Maps” for pedestrians and “By Car” for drivers. The second completely replaces the navigator, while the first solves a wide range of issues - from laying out walking routes to finding nearby ATMs. Everything is based, of course, on Navteq maps (about 180 countries are covered) and allows pre-loading of maps with further off-line navigation. That is, you can download maps of the desired countries directly from your smartphone via Wi-Fi and then completely block access to the Internet, while maintaining navigation capabilities. This is very helpful on business trips abroad. Maps, navigation, 3D attractions and other additional services like traffic jams are free. If you have an Internet connection, of course, there are wider search options. I'm not a fan of the Nokia maps interface, but it's difficult to get lost in it. The only significant (for me) drawback of the maps is that they do not rotate according to the readings of the digital compass. This feature is available in maps for Symbian and is very helpful for a pedestrian when finding the right direction at a difficult intersection.
⇡#Other applications
In addition to what was described earlier, the N9 is equipped with simple text notes, a calculator, a simple RSS client (displays feeds on the alert screen), a weather forecast from AccuWeather, an application for viewing office and PDF documents - in general, nothing impressive. The application store has a user-friendly interface and a wide selection of payment options, but, as already mentioned, there are still few worthwhile programs. The document editor was never found.
A very pleasant exception to the “poor thing” was the pre-installed Track&Protect application. As the name implies, it allows you to find a phone using GPS, take a photo of the attacker and get his phone number (and SIM card), remotely erase information from the N9, and perform other useful actions when a smartphone is stolen.
All installed applications, as well as contacts, documents and other content from the phone can be searched through a general search system. If all else fails, the query can be sent to the Internet search engine of your choice
⇡#Be a developer
Although the N9 in its “boxed” state is a very complete and functional device that does not require any special knowledge and isolates the user as much as possible from its internals, it is a real paradise for programmers, Linux users and customization lovers. To get administrative access on smartphones with Android and iOS, as a rule, you need to dance with a tambourine for a long time; for a number of devices the problem is solved unreliably, not on all firmware or not solved at all. In N9 this is done fundamentally differently. There is no need to dance with a tambourine - just move a couple of sliders in the settings.
The first one is “allow installation of applications not from the OVI Store”. Having done this, you can directly download deb packages from websites, and they will install safely on your N9 (provided the packages are built for it).
But the most interesting thing is the “Developer Mode” slider in the security settings. One move, one confirmation, a few seconds of waiting, and you have: terminal client, openssh server, ssh client, syslog and of course (fanfare) devel-su! That is, obtaining root access and installing the necessary service applications are fully automated and take a couple of seconds. MeeGo software developers can then install additional tools from the same menu, also with one touch: debuggers, profilers, energy consumption monitors, network traffic monitors, and so on.
Why might non-programmers need these dances with a tambourine? First of all, for installing software from unofficial repositories (you cannot edit the list of repositories without development mode), as well as installing “non-native” packages and dependencies. A simple example: this is the only way to install Firefox mobile (Fennec), which has high functionality and integration with a flash player. You just need to remember that, unlike other MeeGo devices with their RPM repositories, Harmattan in N9 works with DEB. Developer mode also allows you to edit configuration files that are not available through the settings interface, achieving very interesting effects. What is it worth just redefining the functions of the Power button, which is usually a “sacred cow” and cannot be programmed!
