Right from the outset, Nirave thought he would like the N9 as he states in his review. Little did he know that Nokia had created what he calls an ‘absolute peach’ until he tested it for himself. Even his current mobile (a competitor handset) is now subject to change!
The design of the N9 seems to have blown Nirave’s socks off. Too often he says that handset manufacturers fall short in matching their build quality with the internal specifications of their phones.
The N9 is a different story and put simply, Nirave says it’s ‘definitely the best smartphone device I’ve ever held, the N9 is fantastic’. Needless to say he holds the one piece polycarbonate shell in high regard and its lack of exterior buttons, which leads us neatly into his thoughts on the UI.
At first he was a little sceptical about the lack of a home button but having used it for a little while it’s described as ‘swipetastic’ and his reservations have evaporated like water on a hot stove. The ease of being able to swipe yourself in and out of apps is found to be fast, smooth and intuitive.
Furthermore into the software side of things, we hear about the N9’s social media integration, maps and apps. He feels having all of your feeds (twitter, facebook, email, etc) centred onto one screen really sets its UI apart from the competition. As for Nokia Maps it’s probably best if we quote the man himself…
“The N9 also comes with Nokia’s own Maps navigation solution. I’ve always said and will quite possibly say it for time to come that Nokia Maps is the best mapping solution available on any mobile device. It supports offline maps, POI information, live turn-by-turn navigation and the GPS performance on the N9 is pretty spot on. It managed to keep up with me at both 30 miles per hour and 70 miles per hour which is a great feat for a mobile device”
Next in the review comes connectivity and NFC, which Nirave thinks, although wet behind the ears, will play a big part in the future of mobile. The Carl Zeiss 8MP camera is covered too, of course, with a gallery of sample shots for you to consider. And finally we see his conclusion, which explains the truth behind the title. We will leave this for your eyes and your thoughts.
Do you agree with any of the above or have you had a different experience with an N9? Please do feedback to us with your own experiences or observations in the comments section or on Twitter.