Nokia N8 vs N900
Nokia’s N8 and N900 are the most notable phones that featured a different OS; Nokia’s attempt at establishing a successor to the antiquated Symbian S60. While the N8 used Symbian^3, the S60’s supposed successor, the N900 uses Maemo. Maemo is a total departure from Symbian as it is based on Linux and makes the N900 function more like a computer than a phone. One thing that both operating systems have in common, though, is the absence of native apps which is quite understandable given that they are quite new.
Because of this, it was essential to provide the N900 with a slide-out keyboard aside from the touch-screen interface which the N8 has. Although the keyboard certainly has its advantages, it also has disadvantages; including the added bulk as the N900 is roughly 50% thicker and heavier than the N8, making it cumbersome to hold and use.
To say that the camera of the N8 is better than that of the N900 is probably the biggest understatement that can be made. The camera is the focal point of the N8 while the N900’s camera is more of an afterthought. The N8 has a 12 megapixel sensor with specialized optics that result in pictures rivaling many digital cameras while the 5 megapixel camera of the N900 is, at best, just at par with what other smartphones have. The Xenon flash of the N8 can also produce more light than the LED flashes of the N900; allowing it to produce significantly better pictures when there is no light available. Lastly, the N8 is capable of shooting 720p video while the N900 can only manage WVGA video resolution.
One prime advantage of the N900 is its massive amount of memory; it has 32GB of flash memory and a microSD slot for additional storage. The N8’s memory, even though it’s just half at 16GB, isn’t too shabby and is still more than what you would typically find on most other smartphones.
Despite being totally different from each other, the two phones of Nokia seem to share the same fate as the Finish phone giant leaps into the Microsoft wagon and adopts the Windows Phone 7 OS. It is highly unlikely that development of the two would continue at the given rate, and it is more likely that their successors would also be using Windows Phone 7 OS.
Summary:
The N8 uses Symbian^3 while the N900 uses Maemo.
The N900 has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard while the N8 doesn’t.
The N900 is considerably thicker and heavier than the N8.
The N8 has a better camera than the N900.
The N900 has more memory than the N8.