Considering how many iconic handsets Nokia has in its back catalogue, it’s disconcerting how long it’s been since the Finnish manufacturer last had a must-have device than turned heads. The Nokia N9 could have been that phone, but it won’t be.

The biggest problem with the N9 is the fact that it’s not only the first phone to run the mobile operating system MeeGo, but quite possibly also one of the last. As users of Samsung’s Bada platform will tell you, backing an uncommon operating system is a risky bet if you’re hoping for a wide range of applications.

Still, the 135g N9 remains an interesting curiosity in Nokia’s line-up, not only because of its operating system but also because of its great design.

Like Apple’s iPhone, there is no way to get at the battery and it uses a micro Sim. Like the iPhone, the N9 also has a beautiful screen: a 3,9-inch, Amoled, capacitive touchscreen that offers a resolution of 480×854 pixels.

The screen is devoid of any physical or capacitive buttons, and interacting with the device is done exclusively by touching on-screen buttons and swiping between screens.

From a hardware perspective, the N9 is also impressive. With a 1GHz Cortex A8 processor, a PowerVR graphics processing unit and 1GB of RAM, the device is responsive, animations are fluid and it multitasks with ease. It includes integrated GPS and a 3G aerial capable of downloads of up to 14,4Mbit/s.

The N9 offers three home screens, the first of which displays the time, date, weather and notifications for messages, missed calls and social networks. A swipe to the right displays a grid of icons for accessing applications and settings, and another swipe to the right shows thumbnails of open applications.

It’s also possible to access notifications via a slider at the top of the screen, much like one does on Android devices, and the phone’s volume, connection settings and sound profile can also be set here.

Overall, using the N9 is intuitive and MeeGo really does look the part of a sleek and attractive smartphone platform. The device boasts the best haptic feedback we’ve experienced on a phone and the result is that typing messages or inputting search queries is effortless.

There are only three buttons on the side of the device, a lock/unlock button and a volume rocker. The volume rocker doubles as the zoom toggle for the 8-megapixel camera that includes a Carl Zeiss lens.

The inclusion of the lock button is a little odd as it’s also possible to unlock the screen by double-tapping it. Also, if there is a missed call or other notification it will be displayed on the lock screen and be accessed directly by swiping a finger over the alert in question.

Nokia pioneered the camera phone, but for a long time it lost ground to the likes of Sony-Ericsson in the optics arena. With the N9, we’re reminded just how good some Nokia phones were in the heady early days of camera phones. The autofocus and face detection on the N9 are speedy, and even its 720p, 30 frames a second HD video is pretty impressive.

The N9 includes support for near-field communications, or NFC, which could be used for mobile payments and other services in years to come. For now, though, it’s only really useful for transferring data to another NFC-enabled devices or for use with Nokia’s NFC accessories like its range of NFC Bluetooth headsets and the Nokia Play 360 wireless speaker.

Thoughtfully, Nokia includes a rubberised case with the N9, something we would love to see more manufacturers doing.

The model TechCentral reviewed offers 16GB of internal storage. Nokia also offers a 64GB model. Unfortunately there is no option to expand either via an SD card, which is a pity considering that the 16:9 Amoled screen is ideally suited to watching movies.

Though the inclusion of Nokia Maps and its navigation application Drive are great selling points, as are the inclusion of native Twitter, Facebook and Skype applications, the N9’s app store is missing popular software tools like WhatsApp, and that’s sure to put many people off.

Furthermore, one has to wonder how likely developers are to commit to the MeeGo platform, given its uncertain future. If you don’t need anything beyond the apps that come bundled with the N9, it’s a great device. However, we don’t imagine many people in the market for a phone of this calibre fall into that category.

It seems all rather tragic that it might well be the only MeeGo device to ever make it to market. Nevertheless, if the N9 is any indication of what the first Nokia Windows Phone handsets will be like, then the future is bright for the Finnish company. — Craig Wilson, TechCentral