In the beginning, KA wasn’t sceptical about the N9 not having a menu button but he didn’t go crazy about it either. He reserved his judgements until a proper hands-on opportunity presented itself.
When that time came, like clockwork, we heard his first impressions and saw the unboxing. That said and done, we move onto the design.
Display
“AMOLED display and 3.9″ screen with FWVGA resolution of 854 x 480 pixels look awesome under 2.5D curved glass. It’s the scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass with Anti-glare polariser”
The ‘vivid’ 3.9″ screen impressed both indoors and outdoors and came out on top in comparison to other smartphones. Additionally, co-workers in KA’s office were charmed by the handsome N9 and even offered to take it off his hands for 24 hours! That kind of magnetism really only comes from something special.
Camera
“While using it for a few days I can say the imaging capability of N9 was still impressive but we’ll talk about it later in detail where there are some objections as well”
When you look at the back of the phone you’ll notice the camera (Carl Zeiss, 8MP, duel LED flash) surface is flush with the body. KA thinks it’s possible that the lack of Xenon flash is due to its design, but still, he was impressed with the images it produced on the whole, even though he has a few reservations that will be detailed in another post later on.
Ports & Slots
“It’s awesome that Nokia has put labels with the direction to open things up”
Mixed feelings for the micro-SIM tray and USB port cover. According to KA they work well in terms of mechanics, but as the USB cover is always open when you’re connected to a PC or charging, there could be a possible risk of damage to it. The labels on each that tell you how to operate them is a welcome detail though, because it squashes the need to flick through user manuals (which we all know we should do), but let’s face it, when you have a new toy you just want to get on with it!
Securing case
“I usually do not use such rubber or silicon cases but this one didn’t let me feel any bad with it”
Last we get onto another detail that surprised KA, and myself actually. This is the thin rubber case that comes inside the N9 box. On Tech Prolonged it’s described as ‘quality’ and it doesn’t disrupt the thin and sleek feel of the handset. Not usually one to use such cases, KA admits he’s a sucker for this one!
Join the discussion
There are more great photos of the N9 and comparison shots with other phones in KA’s Flickr set and more details of the phone in his full post. Be sure to leave any questions or comments you might have there, and do let us know your thoughts in the comments section here or @Nokia_Connects