The Nokia N9 is surely a candidate for one of the most pleasant, fast and thoughtfully designed phones you are going to see around. There’s a lot of things to like about the N9: (bullet) the quality and responsiveness of the touch screen, the nifty ‘swiping’ features, the general look and feel of the (unibody) hardware, the navigation and ‘Drive’ applications, the curved glass, the camera quality, the way notifications work, the incoming updates river view, the lack of buttons, built-in NFC capabilities, and so on. Thumbs up Nokia!
So why would I – and probably you – never buy it? Two main reasons.
First, the phone is too expensive. The N9 costs 480 euros (roughly $650) for the 16 GB version, and 560 euros (~$755) for the 64 GB version, before taxes or subsidies. I understand the reasoning. It’s a high-end phone, and Nokia wants its price to match the way it feels about the device. Unfortunately, we now live in a world where you can pick up a decent iPhone or Android handset for roughly the same price or cheaper, so the N9 simply can’t compete on price.
The second reason is less objective and more obvious: the staggering lack of apps in the marketplace (called Nokia Store these days). It’s not disastrous; the phone comes preloaded with apps like Maps, Drive, Skype, Facebook, Twitter, Angry Birds (lite), AccuWeather, YouTube etc. and you can easily install apps like Foursquare and some nice games from the store, free of charge.
But that’s pretty much all about it, and it’s a problem. You can pick up any Android phone or iPhone, install the Yammer app and collaborate with your fellow office mates instantly. You can install Amazon’s Kindle app and start reading your most recently downloaded ebook on any page you were when you last signed off. You can install the NYT and WSJ apps to keep on top of world news, and download Pulse to read the feeds you’ve subscribed to. You can install Shazam and identify and buy tunes wherever you are. You can download Viber and call and text your friends for free.
It’s a sad, strange paradox: the phone is so beautiful and works so smoothly that you'll actually have a hard time putting the N9 down, but does not qualify for a phone that can be recommended to anyone to go out and purchase in a world so chock-full of better choices, especially at that price.
So why would I – and probably you – never buy it? Two main reasons.
First, the phone is too expensive. The N9 costs 480 euros (roughly $650) for the 16 GB version, and 560 euros (~$755) for the 64 GB version, before taxes or subsidies. I understand the reasoning. It’s a high-end phone, and Nokia wants its price to match the way it feels about the device. Unfortunately, we now live in a world where you can pick up a decent iPhone or Android handset for roughly the same price or cheaper, so the N9 simply can’t compete on price.
The second reason is less objective and more obvious: the staggering lack of apps in the marketplace (called Nokia Store these days). It’s not disastrous; the phone comes preloaded with apps like Maps, Drive, Skype, Facebook, Twitter, Angry Birds (lite), AccuWeather, YouTube etc. and you can easily install apps like Foursquare and some nice games from the store, free of charge.
But that’s pretty much all about it, and it’s a problem. You can pick up any Android phone or iPhone, install the Yammer app and collaborate with your fellow office mates instantly. You can install Amazon’s Kindle app and start reading your most recently downloaded ebook on any page you were when you last signed off. You can install the NYT and WSJ apps to keep on top of world news, and download Pulse to read the feeds you’ve subscribed to. You can install Shazam and identify and buy tunes wherever you are. You can download Viber and call and text your friends for free.
It’s a sad, strange paradox: the phone is so beautiful and works so smoothly that you'll actually have a hard time putting the N9 down, but does not qualify for a phone that can be recommended to anyone to go out and purchase in a world so chock-full of better choices, especially at that price.
About AKINGBEHIN, Olabam'Ji Olufemi
1 comments:
wow! lovely phone. that price is f**kin too much
Post a Comment