Nokia – the part that remained in Finland after dumping its failing phone money pit at Microsoft – has just unveiled its first new hardware product: an Android tablet.
And the N1 is an impressive tablet to say the least. It follows in the Nexus 9’s footsteps with a 4:3 aspect ratio display, though with a wee-bit smaller size at 7.9″ and a resolution of 2048×1536. Under the hood is an Intel 64-bit Atom Processor Z3580, with 4 cores clocked at 2.3 GHz, a PowerVR G6430 graphics chip, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and a 5300 mAh battery. Two stereo speakers sit at the bottom of the tablet, with a Type-C reversible Micro-USB connector in the middle.
It runs what looks like stock Android Lollipop (yes! Yes! Yes!), with the only change being that it includes Nokia’s own launcher. It’s made out of aluminium, has a fully laminated display, and will supposedly cost a mere $249 – which is insanely cheap for a tablet with these kinds of specifications.
Nokia should have done this years ago, but it’s great to see them do it now.
“Nokia should have done this years ago”
my guess:
without elop they would have done it years ago
Quite right!
they did have a tablet in the form of the Nokia Lumia 2520 under Elop (WinRT for those that dont know).
It is slightly rose tinted view of the past to assume Nokia would have released this “without Elop”. Do remember he was brought in expressly because Nokia were lagging behind Apple and co trying to push symbian well past its life and the continually unfinished MeeGo.
I’m glad that they have gone Android now, but we will see if they can compete against the big asian countries hammering out high quality devices on the cheap (Samsung and co) which is exactly what they were trying to avoid when they made the switch to Windows…
Yeah, competition it tough, and I don’t know how many workers from the pre-Microsoft era are still in this Nokia, but if there’s still any they are the ones who taught how to build mobile devices to the rest of the world.
Edited 2014-11-18 12:47 UTC
Probably not true. As discussed ad nauseum here, there have been many companies that have contributed to our current day devices. Really tough to point to one and say “That’s them, the ones who did it all!”.
Yeah I admit that was some bold European patriotism from myself…
Technically, the version of the iPad mini, of which this is a complete and unabashed and shameless copy of has not been around very long.
So it could not have been done years ago.
Nokia’s unabashed version of Apple’s shameless version of Android unshamed small-screen version of Apple’s bashless version of Nokia’s bashful version of an Internet Connected Tablet?
I could go on along the trail, but I have run out of synonyms, and why bother anyway.
Oh please, Nokia is the grand-daddy of mobile devices and has been using thin metal design with rounded edges for ages.
For example, the Nokia 6700 Classic.
http://static.trustedreviews.com/94/76e80d/bf00/11573-nokia6700clas…
Remove the keypad and what do you have? A screen with a thin metal casing with rounded edges and corners.
Just because Apple put out a _tablet_ with a similar design language before Nokia did, does not mean Nokia is the one who copied Apple, since Nokia have been using a similar design language for mobile devices since before Apple even made mobile devices.
Yes it has alot of smilarities to the iPad mini, but it is _not_ a clone, as it looks more like a mix of the HTC One, iPad mini and iPhone 6, while still retaining a very similar design language as their age old premium feature phones.
Which begs the question, who copied who initially?
No, it doesn’t beg the question
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begging_the_question
Without Elop they could use Meego.
Let it go, shmerl.
I’m surprised that this isn’t in a non-compete clause of the takeover agreement… but don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled Nokia still has some life.
So many questions though. Has this been around for years but only now being released? Has there been brain drain to Microsoft that might mean this is a one off?
Yeah, I’m quite confused too… I thought the Nokia I knew was gone, and here they are with this device.
This seems to be from the Technology group which remained behind as more of an R&D arm of Nokia post-MSFT deal.
Still, surprising that they want to get into this game again.
There is, they are not allowed to make mobile phones until at least 2016 or something. Apparently it doesn’t forbid tablets, or the way this is not-Nokia but a licensed Nokia technology and brand might be the work around.
Edited 2014-11-18 14:58 UTC
That PowerVR GPU is horrible from a driver standpoint, IIRC there has never been so much as an open source framebuffer driver for it. If they’d just used one of the many Atoms with an Intel iGPU they would have been fine.
The Intel graphics in the atoms is worse than PowerVR, from a driver point-of-view, and any other point-of-view. Intel might have GPUs that could compete but they only put those in high-end chips, and put useless crap in the low end that could never hope to drive a hires screen.
Assuming Intel is not idiots.. Maybe their own GPUs use too much power to compete?
Wait, what? You must be thinking of very old Atoms with either GMA950 or Pineview GPUs (both gen3). Current Atoms with Intel’s own GPU – Baytrail platform – are a whole different league, they use a gen7 GPU, same as the one in Ivy Bridge. It has 4 execution units (Ivy Bridge has 6 or 16), so performance-wise it’s somewhere around the Sandy Bridge HD 2000 GPU. There’s fully functional open-source drivers for it, offering OpenGL 3.3 (Mesa isn’t capable of more currently), and hardware decoding of mpeg2, vc-1 and h264 video. Some code was recently released to enable the VP8 hardware decoder that’s also on the thing.
Right, I was, I have had bad experience with last-gen Atom (why did they keep that name associated with shit?) Driverwise Silvermonts should be great, but they are still not very powerfull. A low end sandy bridge shouldn’t be used on a full HD screen either, and this is much most than full HD.
They didn’t. Well, not fully. Tablets containing Baytrail are still Atom, but netbooks and laptops are Celeron N and Pentium N. For example, my Baytrail netbook has a Celeron N2806.
Oh, I don’t know, what kind of graphics-intensive stuff will you be doing on a tablet anyway? Are current PowerVR GPUs any faster?
And I must say, I find this uber-resolution thing going on currently to be quite ridiculous. My netbook’s screen is 10.1” 1366×768, I don’t see the need for more, I seriously doubt I’d notice it.
My 13″ laptop is 1366×768, and that is sufficient, but only barely. Not only it looks blurry and pixelated compared with my cheap 7″ tablet, but many web pages do not fit that well.
And maybe Intel graphics are enough for a fluid GUI on a 1.5xHD screen (maybe), but they are already very inadequate for games at 1/3 that resolution.
I can’t really understand how a genuine Nokia lover could ever praise this outcome. Really. In Europe, we’ve all been Nokia fans, more or less, in the past but today we need to understand that old Nokia is no more. Was it Microsoft fault ? Ridicolous.
First of all, Nokia board decided to turn from a manufacturer to a speculator. They sold their factories to be able to turn themselves into a PR company, much like Apple is but with lots of way to go. Nokia WAS a manufacturer and now they outsourced new N1 to Foxcomm. Is it a move forward? Hardly.
Especially when you consider that, while Apple always outsourced their stuff (and by the way, they’re not selling them in scores because people got wiser), both Microsoft (which BOUGHT factories from Nokia) and Samsung (which just announced a HUGE investment – about 1.7 billion dollars – to BUILD new factories) are doing the opposite. Who’s right ? If you don’t want to consider Microsoft, you should however consider Samsung. It was hardly a bold move for Nokia as a company but it might be a bold move for its board.
Second, is that a very good offering ? Let’s not consider the feeling of the UI as showed in hands-on videos for a moment, but the specs are far from being impressive, operating looks sluggish and it will cost 249 dollars to run Android.
Microsoft is just running a promotion with an HP slate for euros 129. You could discuss about CPU and memory of that tablet, but it runs Windows, can run Office and all Windows software (not Windows Phone, actual Windows).
Is that N1 impressive at all ? And considering that Nokia sold its factories, how do they plan to differentiate from tons of other machines like theirs? Oh, a pearl: one of Nokia main business is its HERE division and guess what? N1 has no GPS module… wtf?!?!?
I’m anticipating that they have only a way to force themselves into Android market : their huge IP portfolio. Another speculative thing that will make Nokia board happy and rich and customers angry.
Not impressed at all. Old Nokia could do way better but I really don’t know how NEW Nokia could win that battle.
(Oh, and N1 UI is simply… boring and outdated…)
It’s Lollipop… Released only a few days ago…
…I… wat
Yes, I didn’t want to dig into UI since it’s mostly a matter of preference and taste… but the launcher UI is very outdated and boring. I hope that Lollipop does a better job in other parts (saw a few hands-on videos) of the OS.
And I was very unimpressed by the monitor. In some videos, visibility is very limited when you turn the device. Might be just me or the video I saw.
“Outdated and boring”, can you elaborate that a bit more? What alternatives do you recommend? I’m curious as I think ‘outdated and boring’ does a great job here but perhaps it’s simply because I haven’t seen/tried anything fundamentally different.
Android 4 missed a lot of features that were implemented in Cyanogen (like the tethering/flashlight tiles on the quick settings panel, and the quiet hours). I’m glad that Lollipop finally implemented that.
As I stated, only my last sentence was for the UI because I acknowledge that could be just a matter of my taste. I like Lollipop more than I like other Android versions. Lollipop looks much more “Metro-esque”, the same way new iOS does.
However, the video I saw about N1 showed a very outdated and very boring start screen (that Z launcher) and a few more details which looked bad to me.
I’m sure it’s more a matter of taste, hence I didn’t mention that until my very last line 🙂
Z Launcher is pretty cool (I have used the beta) it was just rather buggy. Basically you can draw letters on your screen and it’ll show a list of apps that match. Much quicker to find things when you have a lot installed. But then, as I said, it was buggy, so you’d try to write an ‘a’ and it’d pick it up as a 9. either that, or my writing sucks
I hope so. To be honest, I was not impressed by it but I can say that I only saw it in videos: I didn’t use that myself.
However, I’m very used (and happy to be) to Windows (Phone) Start screen which looks WAY better to me and it is much more useful, other than fancier.
Might be my taste so let’s wait and see 🙂
Yeah, on an 8″ screen without a keyboard and a mouse, I am sure Office for Windows runs like a charm
I have the feeling that Microsoft’s own Office for Android will look much better (and faster, and cheaper) on a Nokia N1 than Office for Windows will in a small Windows 8.1 tablet.
Whatever your preference might be, at that price level, which is the bigger eco-system? 😉
By the way, it’s hard that Office could be better on Android in term of performance. You might debate about touch-optimization (which however is being taking care on Windows as well) but on performance…
Err, performance is Metro’s biggest problem.
You think so ? I own many Metro-based devices and not a single one had Metro performance problems. Windows Phone, BTW, is know to run snappier with less resources.
> Windows Phone, BTW, is know to run snappier with less resources.
Only by people who cannot measure performance and otherwise mistake having fluid animation with being faster, without regarding, how long time a given task actually takes.
That’s what the word “snappier” is meant to… mean. Unfortunately, Windows (and especially its Mobile version) has been accused not to be snappy for a very long time, compared to fancy and fluid animation that were part of iOS or Android.
Many users, blogs, technology websites etc used that as a performance meter and everybody was happy to bash Evil Redmond. That’s the primary reason why Microsoft focused on being “snappier” with less resources. Now, all of sudden, being snappier is not important anymore. Interesting indeed…
By the way, performances and how long it takes to perform a task aren’t directly related. Performances are quite objective and Windows Phone is known to have better raw performances to a point that a single-core Windows Phone device was quite on par with dual- and sometimes quad-core devices for most everyday tasks.
Usability, on the other side, is probably what you were referring to when you said that we should measure how long it takes to complete a task. I’m not sure that, at current state, iOS and Android are more usable than WP but anyway that’s a very subjective topic.
LMAO Fanbois say the darnest things…
Nokia has basically Philips’ed itself.
Philips has reinvented itself as a lighting company, where will Nokia go?
Anyway, the tablet is a big step up from their previous Android offerings.
Having released lollipop device that fast means:
– either they do have some contact with Google anyway and got the sources access
– or (which is not unimaginable) they have skipped testing
I think Nokia, like many other companies including TLC ones, would like to mostly sell services. However, that’s a hard nut to crack.
As TLC companies found out, users won’t buy music from TLC when they have Apple, they won’t buy books from Nokia or Google when they have Amazon and they won’t buy services from Samsung.
Not an easy path.
First of all, mr. TBPrince, let me correct you on a lot of points.
The fact that Nokia is no more a manufacturer is not a problem. What is making Nokia different from others, just like Apple in fact, is their Product Quality Test, which those cheap Chinese products you are talking about is not at all following.
Nokia have many many years of experience in their device. Intel, and other big manufacturers even Apple are following the same path about outsourcing.
Let me precise to you some points. First of all, you are more geeky that the rest of the world, so its normal you talk about this, but 99% of other people who buys this tablet don’t give importance (to say a kind word) to this fact.
Nokia used to outsource a lot of their hardware parts to ST Microelectronics for example, or the no longer Texas Instruments (at least for SOCs).
So what you say is non sense, excuse us to tell you.
This is an excellent product with a high quality hardware and high quality options, do the HP Slate have a QHD screen ? Not at all, why do you compare a Ferrari with a Smart ?
The same reason why this HP is so cheap, and its not even its normal price but a promotion, is the same reason why this Nokia is far better than this HP. The quality of the HP is a joke.
Its better to have a High End Android Device more expensive, you will be far more productive than a Ultra Low End Windows x86 device that breaks in one month.
Remember why the Netbooks stopped selling ? Its because of Microsoft that imposed Shameful Low End Hardware like the CPU, Memory. And imagine what, Microsoft is making the same error here.
You talk about GPS but your HP doesn’t even have either.
You will be far more productive with the latest GPU, CPU, RAM and most important the Ultra High Resolution screen compared to the low end resolution screen of the HP and low system and hardware quality of this hardware at 129€.
And last point, those tablets are not aiming for the same public. The HP is more like a fast chrismast gift you give to your grandmother that doesn’t need technology as much as younger, and also the youngest people between us.
When you talk about all the latest apps, the trending apps, the trending games, this HP is out of game because of the lack of power and comfortable hardware.
Let me first say that I don’t hate Nokia at all. I’ve been customer for Nokia for a long time, either for cheap dumb phones (like 3310, 3210 etc) and other devices like N7x. I’m using a Lumia 1020 for everyday life, I own a 1520 for business and I dropped my Lumia 900 to my sister.
At the same time, I don’t love HP either. Except for printers, I bought my last HP device about 7-8 years ago. It was a notebook and I don’t remember when I bought another HP device before that (probably never) nor I bought any HP device later than that until today. So I’m no HP fanboy. Having said that :
This might be the weakest explanation I heard lately. The quality control advantage ? Come on…
Actually, (and thank to a friend who pointed me that out) it looks like Nokia activated a brand licensing program, where it will basically license its brand to manufacturers that wouldn’t be able to sell by using their names in some markets, the same way Motorola does for Lenovo and Alcatel for TCL. N1 has been described as the first Foxconn attempt to sell devices on its own, renting the shiny Nokia name.
Now that makes more sense to me. It won’t help Nokia become a manufacturer of any kind but it will fill some pockets.
I can concede that. Yet we have a full-fledged Windows tablet at $99 and an Android tablet at $249. Which eco-system is bigger, since you want to talk about things users would care ?
There’s a big difference between outsourcing SOME parts (for whatever reason) and to stop producing anything and becoming a PR company. Look at Apple – Samsung battle for an example of what happens between a manufacturer and a PR company.
No problem. 😉
We’re also talking about a $99 tablet against a $249 one. Yet the quality of N1 has to proved. Videos I saw were less than impressive, especially regarding video quality. However, you just said that we need to talk about what users would notice. Apart for the screen (N1 has a better one), do you really think users would notice such a big difference ? Oh, and I didn’t mention software licenses included in the deal since my goal was not to promote that HP product.
Again, you’re underestimating the value of the eco-system. We’re not talking here about a Windows Phone/ARM device against an Android one. What we are comparing here is a device which runs basically all available software (including legacy applications) against a nice tablet which runs… what… 1-2-10k real valuable apps ? Believe me when I say that I saw many people completely uninterested in running a mobile OS when they could run full Windows at that price tag.
Of course, I’m not so dumb to say that HP slate specs are better than N1. Never said that.
Strictly speaking, I can’t even understand why they put an Intel CPU into that device when they could probably get more using ARM. It smells like a very specific experiment to let Foxconn / Intel gain traction in China.
Breaks in one month ? I don’t know… I will tell you. But trust me when I say Android could easily win with Windows Phone for a lack of experience/maturity of the latter. It can’t win against Windows, especially on the business side.
Actually netbooks died when notebooks started to be priced mostly at the same pricing level. Once you have a full (Windows) notebook at 399 euros, why would you on earth buy a limited netbook for 250, especially when it runs a custom OS? And once you have smartphones doing mostly the same job plus being a phone ? Netbooks died because they were born to die fast.
No, I’m talking about a company having just three divisions, one of them being the mapping one, and selling its devices without a GPS. One of the reasons why Lumia 900, though WP 7 was limited, was a good deal is because you had a free GPS navigator included and supported.
Selling a device with a GPS is like Google selling Android with Bing preinstalled. Mind you.
No, that’s not true. Mostly wishful thinking. You will be more productive with Windows + Word + Excel + Outlook.com + Outlook + PowerPoint + Access + Publisher + OneNote + OneDrive + millions of apps + your legacy apps you always liked to use + sharing your settings and data across your home / office desktops and tablets + games + all the apps you never found on Android / iOS + a desktop (if you really really need it).
While yes, video playback will be nicer on N1 and its QHD display…
So you mean the trending games runs Android or… Xbox maybe ? PS4 maybe ? I bet you can play Candy Crush on that HP slate, or those cheap Facebook games.
Care to tell me what are the trending apps that will run on N1 and that will not run on that HP slate because of its limited H/W specs ?
You mean Photoshop ? Definitely…! 😉
In the end I know that Nokia could do better. I think it had lots of experience and a great R&D department (hell, I bought my Lumia 1020 only for that wonderful, unmatched camera). But THAT was Nokia.
Wanted to chime in, Nokia used Compal as an ODM for its Lumia devices in the past. This isn’t as controversial as some are making it seem.
In fact, its more cost effective than spinning up a shitload of a factories and being stuck with all of that real estate / human capital when/if demand falls.
True. But Nokia used Compal mostly for low-cost models like Lumia 610, 710, 800 and probably just as a jump start since, for example, they started with Compal for 710 but brought that in-house very quickly.
Factories are a key element for success. As I stated in my post, outsourcing helps to fill pockets in the short term but hurt in the long term. And that’s what Nokia board would like to do: having their pockets filled in the short term.
The 800 is a low cost model now.
It was the top of the line when Compal was doing it.
They are releasing their launcher on Google play, but will this tablet have Google Play? Has Nokia joined the OHA?
It means no open GPU drivers and no Wayland. I’d wait for a tablet with a proper Intel GPU.
Mostly off-topic, I know, but because Nokia: http://blogs.opera.com/news/2014/11/nokia-store-become-opera-mobile…
Opera has a store?? And Nokia’s now using it?
Microsoft owns Nokia’s devices unit and they’re switching to Opera on their feature phones.
It’s Nokia designed tablet that Foxconn is manufacturing, marketing and selling.
Nokias main beef is making prototypes and licensing them to OEMs now.
Don’t get too excited. It’s just a fairly generic Foxconn Android tablet with Nokia branding. Expect a lot more electronics to appear with the Nokia branding.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/jolla-tablet-world-s-first-crowds…
The indiegogo page compares the Jolla Tablet to iPad mini, Nexus 9 and Nokia N1 which is slightly misleading.
iPad mini 3: available now
Nexus 9: available now
Nokia N1: available February 2015
Jolla Tablet: available May 2015
So they will be up to 6 months late. While it is unlikely that a new Nexus tablet or iPad mini will be launched in that timeframe, Android vendors will certainly not stop pumping out tablets with ever better specs and a lower price.