Nokia N9 is a strong sign of revival

Testing the new Nokia N9

Few days ago I visited the Helsinki Nokia store to try out the new Nokia N9, the long awaited Meego handset. As I had expected, the N9 was a smooth and pleasure experience, proving that Nokia can really deliver a world class smartphone with an operating system and user interface that not only compares well with the iPhone 4, but goes in certain areas over the benchmark and delivers a better user experience and more functionality than the model of the industry. However the N9 isn't the handset that is going to allow Nokia to make a comeback and put it back to being the leading smartphone vendor. What the N9 provides is a taste of future of what is coming from the company.

You probably have already figured out that I'm not talking about the operating system or the user interface of the device, as Nokia has aligned itself with Microsoft and committed to use only Windows Phone operating system in its upcoming smartphones. The thing that I'm talking about, and what sets the N9 apart from other handsets is the hardware. The hardware is the real star of the N9. When I first picked up the handset, I couldn't believe how good it felt in my hands. In the same time it feels both very light and very hardy, much thanks to the unibody construction of the device. The surface of the device also feels very smooth in hands, but in the same time not slippery at all, there is absolutely no feeling at all that the device would slip out of my hands. The display is also beautiful  with its curved glass that makes the icons and user interface to float over the handset. The design and hardware are very innovative.

The reason why I put so much importance to the design and hardware of the N9 is because these innovations are likely going to appear in the first Windows Phone  handset that the company is going to deliver to the market. In the leaked internal video of Nokia, Stephen Elop, the CEO of the company, demonstrated a Windows Phone handset that looked much like the N9. This is important because I believe that the reason why handsets with Windows Phone haven't sold well is because of two reasons: A) they haven't offered quality design and hardware; and B) their overall delivery of value to the customer has been at best average. In case of Nokia, from the get go of the Microsoft alliance, it was clear that Nokia could deliver more value to the customer, Nokia Maps with offline navigation being one of the best examples of unique selling points. With the introduction of the N9, Nokia has demonstrated that it can offer the best design and hardware, thus enabling the company to cover the two falling points that have plagued other manufacturers of Windows Phone devices. This why I think that the Nokia N9 is a strong sign of revival, it offers a glimpse of what is coming to storm the market.