Hey,
I'm deciding between the N9 and an Android device, probably the SGS2. Development support is really important to me. For example, I really wanted to get the N900 if it had At&t 3G bands because of its strong development. I would prefer something unique (in the US) like the N9 compared to an Android device, which is why I'm even considering the N9. Do you guys think the N9 will have strong dev, similar to the N900? The SGS2 has this to some extent, but, again, I would like something more "out there."

A short list I made...

N9 Pros:

• amazing hardware design
• awesome OS
• semifunctional ICS port, although if I used this then I'm essentially getting a $400 Captivate
• NFC, kinda useless
• really unique
• powerful enough for Meego (as shown in a stress test I saw on YouTube, it could handle playing a video and updating 12 other apps before Angry Birds crashed it)
• pentaband 3G (huge because I'm probably going to keep it until late 2013, when I'll almost for sure switch on T-mobile)

N9 Cons:

• apps (a lack of them, although more are coming)
• media codecs (can't play most 720p and almost all 1080p files because of a graphics chip issue)
• 3G only up to a theoretical 14.4Mbps

I realize that "development" is a bit vague, but I guess I mean the creation of hardware-specific things like USB OTG, BT 4.0 (heard the N9 has the necessary hardware but not the software), and possibly other OSs like Tizen whenever that comes out.

Are there any N9 users here that switched from Android and that used to switch ROMs a lot on their Android devices? I would especially love to hear from that crowd.

Thanks for all the help,
vinay427

You would be better off with a Google Nexus S or Galaxy Nexus IMHO. Even a Motorola. Android works on the N9, but is far from usable for an everyday phone. If you want Android, get an Android phone. If you want Tizen, get a Tizen phone (if a Tizen phone ever should be produced). If you want Harmattan, get the N9.

You never stated what kind of developer you are. That would help.

But will say, to be honest I'd go Android instead unless you're married to Qt.

I realize now how vague my question was. So, here goes.

I guess I meant that I would prefer an N9 if everything (specs) were equal, but they're not, thanks to the SGS2.

By development, I meant that I'd like to see active development for the device. I don't normally develop, outside of small Bash scripts anyway. For example, I'm a huge ROM-addict on Android devices. Does this phone have that type of development for it?

In other words, I can live with way fewer apps, because I really do think I would like Harmattan. But, when it's up against the SGS2 and all its ROMs, etc., the choice becomes tougher. To simplify things, I guess what I'm asking is whether this phone will have similar mods and other development as with the N900. That's essentially what I'm looking for in a phone.

Thanks again,
vinay427

Well, I got the N9 mainly for the looks since I knew it would never be able to compete with the N900 in terms of "development". I also think having many phones is more fun than having one phone. I probably don't make much sense, but I wouldn't get the N9 just because there is a remote theoretical possibility it will be able to run Tizen, or because it is able to run (boot is more correct) Android.

Application development is somewhat active, however ROM type of development is not happening at all on the N9. There's Inception, which grants you unbridled access to the machine. But no custom kernels outside of the open-mode kernel. No ROMS, no optimized OS versions - just tweaks and manipulations of the existing settings and the like.

If you're looking for CyanogenMod level activity, it's not on the N9. If you're an app developer that wishes to be active in a community that has a lot of need(s) in a lot of areas, that would mean the N9.

I'd look at the SGS2 if not newer then. That's my opinion. Because in the long run, you're not going to find a level of activity here that is easily found over at XDA and the like.

Besides Nemo being based on MeeGo/Maemo and the like, it's yet to be an easy install onto say the N9.

And that's coming from a person with a N9, that's owned a Samsung Captivate, Motorola Atrix, (currently) owns a Motorola Xoom, a Kindle Fire, a HP TouchPad and has owned a Nook Color as well.

Android has a lot more encouraged activity than Harmattan, hands down.

I'm actually an owner of both devices, N9 and SGS2 so I'll see if my experiences can help you.

I originally owned the N900 for about a year and a half until eventually I had to send it off to repair and Nokia replaced it with an N8. Which I immediately sold and got a Galaxy S2, May 2011.

At first I hated the SGS2, I was just overly critical of it having lost my N900. I just wanted it to be an N900 really and never gave the phone a chance for the first few weeks. I even came close to returning it a few times.

However, I eventually stopped trying to make it fit into the N900's shoes and saw the phone for what it really was.

Now in terms of hardware, there is no comparison, there are no if's or but's, some may make excuses or act ignorant, but the SGS2's hardware components rival even recently released phones, despite the S2 being almost a year old. The N9 cannot compete in any way from a hardware point of view and neither can many other smarphones in the market today. The S2 experience is unique in every respect and currently unmatched. Even the Galaxy Nexus, which some consider better, others consider worse, is marginally different and it is also a Samsung.

Therefore if you do ever go for an Android, make sure it is a Samsung phone, they are light years ahead of the rest. The HTC One X may look good on paper and the new Sony Xperia range seems to be hitting the right spot but they are still far behind what Samsung has achieved and you will see this trend continue at least for now, with the upcoming announcement of the S3.

2013 may be entirely different, but for now Samsung maintains the Android crown.

That cover's hardware in which the N9 is destroyed in every respect by the S2.

However, the N9 has a premium design and feel, the unibody is amazing. I own the White N9 and to be honest it does not feel like plastic at all. I've only had it for a couple of weeks but despite the advantages of the S2 mentioned above, I am absolutely in love with this phone. It's design is so visually attractive and overshadows the cheap plasticy feel of the S2 in every way. The S2 looks not only cheap, but dirty and degraded, fat and blocky, typical and boring when you lay it on the table next to the N9. There is no imagination in the design of the S2, the screen is amazing but the design around it just seems like a cheap iPhone knock off. The back is hideous and looks like even worse quality material was used.

Now for the design of the N9, I think words are not needed and it is one of the most uniquely attractive and well designed phones available in the world today. It's a shame that other manufacturers are not taking a leaf out of Nokia's book. I'd much rather have this N9 based on its design alone, instead of seeing 37 different iPhone variations.

So in terms of visual appeal, the N9 wins hands down, again no if's or but's, in reality the S2 cannot compete with the N9's design. In fact this is the sole reason I bought the N9 and I am looking for an excuse to make it my main phone over the S2 and just get rid of the S2. However the software limitations are what hold me back.

Meego Harmattan is very attractive, I like the way its fully swipe without needing a hardware button and it has some unique functionality and features. However, it is also very basic, there are not a lot of customizable features and it is not a properly supported OS and has no future with Nokia, so it will not be attractive to the majority of developers. It's developer community will always be small and minute compared to Android.

Now this is not a dig at the N9 developers or their talents, I am not trying to offend anyone, but realistically speaking, there are equally talented developers available on Android and in a much larger number, so developement is rapid and is current.

You have to remember that the N9 is not the N900. The N900 was not completely open, but was much more open than the N9 is. But even on the N900 developement was really slow. Yes there were some fairly unique applications on there and it could do things back then that many phones can just recently do, but any real or signifcant changes in software, such as Open Media Player, took significant amounts of time, much more than they should, not due to lack of talent, but simply due to not enough developers willing to work on the phone. But again, that was the N900, not the N9.

The N9 being more closed than the N900 leads to an even difficult task of developing being done, that coupled with no support from Nokia makes it a dead platform in the eyes of 99% of developers. Regardless of talent, you need to have several developers working on an OS, Androids number is just far far greater and the talent exists there as well.

And the Galaxy S2 is the most developed Android phone available today, a trend that will be passed onto the S3. There is no other Android device out there that can compete with the amount of development being done on the S2.

Currently there are over 15 different fully stable and working ROMs available for the S2 each allowing various features, customizable options, tweaks to hardware settings to improve performances/battery, improvements/tweaks to software and much much more.

There is not even one custom ROM for the N9, and by the time a fully stable release comes out (if ever) it will be severely outdated. Again due to the lack of numbers of developers on the N9 compared to the S2.

Furthermore, you can download multiple different ROMs and take/combine tweaks, mods, apps, software etc.from them into one ROM to customize the features that you yourself want.

For example, recently I flashed the Batista Foxhound ROM, however I hate the AOSP Contacts and Messaging app, I think the standard ones are much better. I also like the other Samsung apps such as IM, Vlingo, Social Hub etc. which Foxhound ROM does not have. However, the Fox Hound ROM (as well as others) contains MIUI Music Player, Quickpanel Settings, DSP Manager, Beats Audio Enhancement and many others apps, mods and tweaks that I wanted on my S2.

So I simply downloaded the Foxhound ROM, extracted those apk's and mods. I then added them to the stock deodexed ICS DXLP7 ROM and flashed it throguh CWM. That way I got all of the tweaks, mods and custom options I wanted, yet also got to keep the stock settings I wanted. I never had to make a trade off.

Compare that with the CSSU for the N900 (which the N9 doesn't even have). Fair enough the CSSU brought a lot of new things to the N900, but at points it became a trade off for me where it replaced stock features that I wanted to keep. It wasn't always possible to have both, and in cases where it was, it was a complicated procedure.

With the S2 you do not ever have to make that choice.

Furthermore, all popular ROMs, mods, UI tweaks, apps and other software/hardware tweaks or improvements are updated regularly. They pass the alpha and beta stages very very soon and stable releases are then put out.

Those stable releases are then also further improved and updated on regular intervals, some within a couple of weeks at most, others within a few days. In fact there are even some that are updated/tweaked on a daily/nightly basis.

So not only do you have a lot more developement options available on the S2, they are current and updated when they are still relevant.

The N9 doesn't even have an equalizer for its stock media player, the only option is to download another media player, which in my case is no good as I love the N9's stock player. There is no equalizer that is currently under realistic developement to be released any time soon.

I also love the S2's stock player, it comes not only with a 5.1 setting, but a customizable manual equalizer with presets as well as sound enhancement options such as studio, theatre etc. built straight into the stock player.


However, I also have Voodoo Louder, Beats Audio Enhancement and DSP manager to further tweak my music and these all work with the stock player to further improve the sound I get. I do not need to replace my stock player at all. This is just one example of where if stock is not good enough you can tweak it further in many ways, you're not just forced to replace it. (You can if you wish though)

I organize my files into folders, such as my music, videos and audio. I do not create playlists as I find it repetitive and it is tedious organizing thousands of photos. So I prefer to put them in folders and have folder support straight out the box. The S2 fully supports this in its stock gallery, music player and video player. For me this is an essential requirement, I am not sure how others will feel.

The N900 was easily themeable and had many customizable widgets however had the same home screen framework even if you could change the layout of widgets and icons. The N9 has no widgets and no real themes.

The S2 not only allows you to them the phone entirely and easily, but allows you to modify its framework with custom launchers, each giving you different desktop experience to the other. You can actually have multiple launchers customized and active at the same time and switch between them if your current desktop gets boring. These launchers can be fully customized to look uniquely different to one another so it will not just rearranged the widgets/icons/layout but actually give it a whole different look.

There are also mods, such as quickpanel settings that allow you to take the standard 4 quick toggles in the status bar, and rearranged them, remove them and instead of 4, have 16 of them active.

Widgetlocker and other similar apps can allow you 100s of different customizable lockscreens, ICS, HTC Sense, iOS are just some of the popular examples.

One thing I loved (more than anything else) about the N900 is its ability to control my PS3 via Bluemaemo. The N9 currently has no app in existance or development that can do this.

The S2 can, using Blueputdroid. For me that is pretty much a compulsory requirement. I used the N900 to control my PS3 when watching movies/tv shows, I can do so with my S2.

Now again these are just examples that have stood out for me and suit my personal preferances, you may feel differently.

But in reality Android is a fully supported platform and attracts infinitely more developers than we have working on the N9. The S2 has the largest crowd of developers and developement being done on it far exceeds any other Android device.

The N9 cannot even compete with this. Due to lack of developers, developement on the N9 will be far far slower than that of the S2 to the point where you cannot even compare the time difference as acceptible. Many features/apps/tweaks/mods/etc that are being worked on for the N9 will never be fully realized and may never even pass beyond alpha or beta stages. In other cases, by the time a stable release is ready, the feature being developed will be outdated.

Yes there is a lot of development that has been done very well and has been completed for the N9, I am not trying to disregard it or saying there is none. But you are asking for a comparison, and in comparitive terms, there is none to be made. The S2's developement is far far greater, faster, more advanced, current, flexible, offers more features, etc. etc. etc.

Not only that, there are multiple developers working on multiple versions of a large number of things. Such as 15+ custom ROMS.

So not only do you have stable releases much faster, but you also have a large variety to choose from, you never just have that one choice. And as mentioned before, in many cases you can mix and match, combine tweaks and modes and apps from various ROMs and flash it to your S2.

If this flexibility ever makes it to the N9, it will not be anytime soon or even this year.

Having said that, I love my N9 to bits simply due to its design alone. I wish Nokia had supported it instead of switching to Windows and we could have had a whole different ball game on our hands.

Android is far too advanced for Meego to ever even come close let alone compete without proper support from its Manufacturer. Our community of developers cannot compete with the support that Google provides its OS. Thats the reality of it.

I would love to have Android ported on to the N9, and I don't mean an alpha build, I mean a stable release fully working and able to actually make phone calls, because no matter how good that port gets, without phone calls it is useless as the phone cannot do the basic thing it was designed for.

Realistically, by the time ICS (Android 4.0) reaches a stable release for the N9 (if ever), Android 5.0 (Jellybean) will already be released by Google.

So again, it will render all of the effort and hardwork outdated. It is as simple as that.

Therefore if you are truly after a phone with the greatest developement available, I would say not only an Android, but specifically a Samsung Galaxy S2 is what you need to go for, as it has the largest development on any Android device.
This combined with its amazing hardware, such as camera, CPU, GPU, display etc. make it the ideal phone for any situation.

Better yet wait for the S3 as once it is released, all of the S2 devs will move straight onto the S3, they are eagerly awaiting to do this and of course the hardware will be significantly better than the S2. The phone should be released in the next few months.

However, if you prefer Meego Harmattan OS over Android and can live with very slow and limited development, that will in many cases be outdated upon release and you're not to bothered by the mediocre hardware (when compared to the S2) of the N9, then by all means stick to it. Just remember, the N9 is no N900 and it will not have the same or as many mods/tweaks or features available for it as the N900 originally did.

I for one plan to use the N9 as my business phone. It is the phone I am proud to pull out of my pocket and ideally it is the phone I want to keep in my hand every day at all times, I look for excuses to take it out of its case and leave my S2 hidden, simply due to its sheer beauty and design.

However practically not only for development purposes, but even for day to day use, the S2 is much more suitable in every and all scenarios, personal use, business use, audio device, social networking etc. Even as a mini tablet due to its much larger screen real estate and supports HSPA+ for insanely fast data browsing and downloading when compared to standard 3G. It allows infinitely more customization, mods and tweaks and is a much more simpler phone to use.

Simply put, no matter how many reasons I look for, or excuses I make to try and use my N9 as much as possible, it is only because of its visual design. The bottom line is, I always come back to the S2 for my daily, personal, bussines and developement needs as it is just infinitely more suited to them!

^That sums it up nicely

sgs2 beat every aspect of n9 except for design and multitasking(OS)
ICS also damn good

so I am the only one who can't fathom android as an OS? I'd rather have Symbian