Hands On With The Nokia N810 Internet Tablet

Nokia's new $479 N810 Internet tablet occupies an odd place in the market; not quite a cell phone and not quite a laptop. So, after Palm's decision to kill their Foleo device, is there any space in the market for a device that falls between the two camps? Will it be useful for the cell phone user? Read on for our first impressions of the N810 from our hands-on tests with a pre-production model at the CTIA show.

Okay, let's get the obvious comparisons out the way first; here's a photo of the N810 next to an iPhone.


As  you can see the N810 is significantly larger, and has a much bigger screen; 4.13 inches on the diagonal against the 3.5 inches of the iPhone. That might not sound like much, but it makes a significant difference to the viewability of the screen; the larger screen makes watching movies or browsing the Web on the N810 much more comfortable.


The N810 does have one thing that the iPhone doesn't, though: a big, slide out keyboard. This is actually much larger than the keyboard on most cell phones, and perhaps it's too big; we found it a bit of a stretch to reach across the keyboard with our thumbs. But that's something you would get used to, and the keys are a good size. They don't have much travel, but there is enough positive feel there to know you've pressed them properly.


Despite having the keyboard, the N801 is a svelte little thing; just 0.55 inches thick. To continue the iPhone comparison, that's just a touch thicker than the iPhone. On the edge you can see (from the left) the kickstand, the power port, the headphone/headset port and one of the speakers.


The kickstand flips out so the N810 will be angled at about 45 degrees. That's ideal for frequent flyers; stick this on the tray table and you can watch movies without having to hold it.


The N810 runs a version of Linux, which means that there are a lot of third-party devices available. However, the built-in software is pretty good; there's a decent web browser, plus both Skype and Gizmo VOIP (voice over IP) software. There's also a small camera on the front that can be used to make video calls with both programs.

However, one thing the N810 is not is a cell phone; it has no GSM or CDMA radio built in. Instead, it relies on WiFi and Bluetooth for the data connection, and voice calls have to be made using one of the VOIP programs. If you are away from a WiFi hotspot, the Bluetooth means that you can tie it in with a Bluetooth cell phone and use that connection, but only if the cell phone and the carrier supports it. So this makes the N810 an accompaniment to a cell phone, not a replacement for it.

Our conclusions on the N810? Mixed. It looks like an interesting device, with a great screen and a good keyboard. But I'm not yet convinced that the pros outweigh the cons. It is a great choice for watching videos on the road, but the iPhone is only a little smaller, and has the added benefit of being a phone as well. If you write emails a lot on the road, there are devices like the HTC Titan that have a similar keyboard, but also have the advantage of being a phone. If you want to browse the web over WiFi, there are devices like the BlackBerry 8820 that have WiFi radios that can browse faster than cellular connections, but also have the advantage of being a phone.

Are you beginning to spot the pattern here? Yes, the N810 can do some cool stuff, and it is a small, svelte device that would make a kick-ass portable media player. But at $479 it's on the expensive side of things, and there are plenty of cell phones that can do most of what it can do. I'm not yet convinced that the cons of not having a cell phone, or carrying around two devices will be outweighed by the pros of what the N810 can do.