Pros

Superb camera

Excellent browsing experience

Cons

No MMS support

Interface can be tricky to navigate

Bottom Line

The Nokia N900 is ideal for techies who want a lot of customization and power; anyone looking for apps and aesthetics may want to go with a more mainstream smartphone.

Nokia N900: Powerful, but Missing Some Key Features

Nokia fans disappointed by last summer’s N97 smartphone, get excited: The Nokia N900 ($570, unlocked; price as of December 18, 2009) delivers on its promises of fast performance and excellent Web browsing. It also offers solid multimedia features, as well as one of the best cameras I’ve used on a smartphone. But the N900 isn’t for everyone: Some people might find the Linux-based Maemo(MAY-mo) platform confusing and not as user-friendly as other platforms. The handset is also missing some crucial features, such as app-store support and MMS messaging, as well as full Exchange support.