Another in

Wow this must be the longest phone preview I’ve read in a while. Michal over at My-Symbian took an in-depth look at Nokia’s latest and greatest a slapped a 4 pages long preview of the device and the Maemo 5 OS filled with screenshots, video samples, picutres etc. There’s so much info in there I don’t even know what to say. Just read it! Here’s his pros and cons:

What’s hot:

– VERY high performance: powerful OMAP3430 processor, hardware gfx and video acceleration, lots of operating memory
– rock stable
– great, high quality WVGA screen (I wouldn’t mind it being capacitive, but it’s responsive enough for it not to be an issue)
– fully functional as a mobile phone, well integrated with the rest of the system
– all connectivity options one could think of
– fast and stable 3G/HSDPA connectivity
– great, fully integrated support for VoIP, e.g. Skype
– BEAUTIFUL user interface, powerful, intuitive, easy to use
– advanced home screen: four separate desktops, support for widgets, fully customizable
– both stylus and finger friendly control
– Calendar, Contacts, Office suite finally present on Maemo (compared to previous Tablets) and more advanced than on S60 phones
– GPS receiver is very fast and sensitive, much faster than on S60 phones (except for the Omnia HD)
– high quality camera and video recording
– hardware keyboard
– good and fast web browser, compatible with virtually all websites I tested it with, fully supporting Flash (and all kinds of Flash videos), Ajax, Javascript, etc.
– fantastic video playback, crisp and smooth.

What’s not: (maybe just on the tested prototype?)

– no handwriting recognition
– storage memory for installable applications limited to ridiculous 256 MB, all the remaining gigabytes available for documents and data files only WTH??
– lack of d-pad (it’s an Nseries device, so some people would like to play games on it!)
– the keyboard is nice, but could be even better (to attract Communicator users)
– the display seems to be easily scratchable; screen protector or carrying case are recommended to protect it
– lens cover does not scratch the lens (like on the N97) but it does scratch the part of the casing it slides over
– since the memory card is hot swappable, why there’s no access to it from the outside?
– some sort of hardware “Home” button quickly switching to the Desktop would be really useful
– no audio equalizer
– Nokia, PLEASE, add voice dialing!
– no Java support, even just Java MIDP
– very limited support for Profiles, only “General” and “Silent”, no possibility to create own profiles, no timed Profiles, etc.
– the touch display “de-calibrating” from time to time on the tested unit, probably due to early, pre-release firmware.
– no MMS support.

What hasn’t been tested on the current proto and will be updated when I get hold of a newer firmware:

-synchronization
– voice navigation
– Bluetooth
– FM transmitter
– power consumption / battery life
– FM radio (if it’s there, which is unclear).

Source: My-Symbian thanks for the tip ceroberts75