The Nokia N9 is with me for a week now. Many of my friends have seen and tried the phone. Most of them have this “Symbianphobia” and the moment they see the word Nokia, they give me an impression like, “uh oh, another Symbian phone?”.

However, the Nokia N9′s outlook (the bright Cyan colour) still caught their attention. Some of them tried the phone and they felt that it very much better than the Symbian OS.

Now, what do I think about this phone? Before that, this post is not my full review about this phone. I’ve never done a review of a phone without fully trying it out. So, I will just share my initial impression about this phone for now.

Now, let’s briefly go through some of  the features.

1) Scratch resistant display – when I met the people from Nokia last week, I was told that the display screen is made of material used for Helicopter’s windscreen. I don’t know what is the difference between a helicpoter’s windscreen and Gorilla Glass display but after finding out more about N9′s display, I got to know that…….it is actually a Gorilla Glass display. Anyway, that doesn’t mean that you can take a knife and try scratching the screen. After all, it is scratch resistant and not scratch proof. I had some phones with Gorilla glass displays that still got scratched (Motorola Charm) because I put it in my pocket together with keys. So, anything can happen.

2) Polycarbonate unibody design – According to the people from Nokia, the N9′s body is made of the same material which used as wall in ice hockey ground. I don’t know how tough it is but at least it gives me an impression that Nokia’s engineers are very serious with the quality of this phone.

The phone is very solid and heavy when you hold it. You can already feel the build quality. By the way, the phone is using micro sim (small sim like the one used in iPhone 4). So, you might need to change your sim card to micro sim or cut your existing sim if you are planning to buy this phone.

The Meego OS is a totally different experience. It is all related to swipe. You will swipe to switch app. You will swipe to close app. You will swipe for almost everything. I got so used to the swipe to the extend where I always swipe my iPad’s screen and then realise how silly I am . Not only that, the OS is also capable of multitasking (I mean true multitasking). It can open even up to 25 to 30 apps and let them run in the background at the same time.

Another thing I like about the device is the integration. Apps like Skype, Facebook and Twitter are built in and you can merge them with your contact. So each time you want to chat via Facebook, you can just get to the device’s messaging app (not Facebook but the one where you will use to SMS) and chat from there. You can also go to your phone book and check if any of your contact is online in Facebook or Skype. That is how the contact and messaging is integrated with social networking and chat app. It also supports Google Chat but unfortunately you can’t use MSN Messenger (Live Messenger) or Yahoo! IM yet.

There are some games preinstalled such as Angry Bird and NFS Shift. They work very well and smooth. I’ve also installed some other apps like The Star newspaper and Phone Torch which comes handy when I am working in the dark (e.g. when there is an electricity failure) or when I am travelling in LRT and want to get a quick update on what is happening in the world. By the way, no biggie about those apps. You can even find them in Android/iOS phones too. All I am saying here is, there are some useful apps for this phone too (but not as much as the other OSes).

Now, this is what I love the most on the Nokia N9. The battery . I am a light user actually. My phone is mainly used to access emails (push email), web surfing, accessing Facebook and checking out on Twitter. I hardly play games or use any power hungry app. My usage pattern is same with BlackBerry, Android phones (to be specific, on HTC Desire Z, Samsung Galaxy Tab and Motorola Charm) and even Symbian phones.

So far BlackBerry is the best in terms of battery life where it can last for 2 days ++ with 24/7 access to internet (it is a BlackBerry Curve 9300 by the way). No other touch screen smart phones were anywhere near there. Each time I use a Symbian phone or Android phone, I need to do a lot of sacrifices e.g. reduce brightness, don’t use the phone unnecessarily etc to preserve battery standby time. The smartphone which lasted more than a day was Samsung Galaxy Tab but it is a tablet with 4200mAh battery. Yet, it didn’t go beyond 1.5 days. Other phones lasted for less than 22 hours.

As for Symbian phones, the battery life was unpredictable. When I used my Nokia N8, the phone’s battery was down within 6 hours (from 100% to 0%). The max I can go is 1 day but I need to do a lot of sacrifices to preserve the battery standby time. Even the Nokia E6 can only last for maximum 1.5 days (and that was unpredictable too). At times, I can get maximum standby time and after the next full charge, it can only last for half day. All I can conclude is, Symbian is not for 24/7 internet e.g. push email etc.

Surprisingly, the Nokia N9 lasted for nearly 2.5 days (short of 1 hour) with similar usage pattern. I tried it twice, and both times, it was near 2.5 days. The best part is, I don’t really sacrifice my usage. Yes, I have done some ‘tweaking’ such as reducing the display brightness but the phone is still connected to the internet 24/7. I receive calls and smses as usual. I surf net as usual. I use the N9 happily without worrying about the battery life. That is the reason I love the Nokia N9 sp much because for me, battery life is very important. I am always outdoor and don’t have the convenience to charge my phone as and when I like. So far, only the BlackBerry can satisfy me and now, the Nokia  N9 has some potential .

By the way, if you are a heavy user, then you can’t expect it to last for 2.5 days. The most it can last is for about a day (if you play games, watch videos etc).

To be frank, I am very much impressed with the Nokia N9. Erm, please don’t mistaken me. I am not saying that it is better than Android phones and iPhones out there. Hey, but you have to take note that the Meego OS in Nokia N9 is very new. It is at a stage where Android was once upon a time. So, only time can say whether this OS will be successful or not. All I can say it, Meego OS has a lot of potential and hopefully Nokia don’t stop the development of the OS.

Alright, that is all for my 1st impression. I will explain everything in detail in my full review about this phone. If you have any questions, feel free to post it here. I will be pleased to answer your question .