Having a large phone allows one to have a huge battery in it. Android is totally in need of huge batteries. Those phones are getting bigger and bigger.

The N9 OTOH is a very good compromise between CPU power, size and battery life. Nokia got it right this time IMHO.

Yeah, well a dual core processor is actually more efficient.... so i'm not sure your theory holds
As for newer generation processors, they use less power than older ones

Having said that though, the OS is fantastic on the 'old' processor, so it doesn't matter if it is/isn't dual core

Why you did that?
How's that SGSII overall? Any drawbacks?

Bigger phone means bigger screen so it's not as easy as that. The screen and GSM are the biggest power draw in a phone.

Also those who think a newer and faster CPU does not have any advantages are overlooking the advantages that newer phones have because of this extra power; for example screen resolution, Flash, etc, etc.

I love the N900 and the N9 but as tech savvy people lets not kid ourselves, faster newer processors are a good thing. I also didn't really see much of a battery advantage when I compared an N9 to a Galaxy Nexus so I'm not sure where this is coming from.

One of the main reasons why i dumped mine...

I didn't like a lot of things about it. The screen was too big & uncomfortable. I like one handed use, so the hardware & on-screen back buttons were just out of reach with one hand. Didn't like the overall lag & stuttering on Android. I mean, i couldn't even unlock the screen or scroll through my contacts without stutter. I couldn't find the right "spot" to place my ear to hear my callers clearly, it was also too thin, & let's not talk about the battery drain. I don't know if it was the fact that i've been following the N9 for as long as i've had, & expected something similar, but it was a let down. All in all i'm loving my N9. It provides a very unique experience unlike no other, not to mention it's sleek, sexy design. Yes it has it's quirks & bugs, but it handles basic functionality very well. Here's to PR1.2.

RAM is the easy key to balance. Luckily they decided not to save on ram this time (against good old Nokia tradition)

I'd rather have a slower processor with enough RAM than slow processing due to lack of RAM

While on my iPhone4 change* foray - I was also looking @ the SGSIIX, G/Nexus & Droid Razr, besides the N9. To my liking all the 4 were very competitive [in price & features]...

I was turned-off with the twin Samsungs 'coz of their drab designs... the same-old black/gray/matt plasticky feel! Nice devices but so very 'plain-jane'... and looked immensely fragile.

While I sure was pretty drawn to the Razr - 'coz of it's 'newness' [in design], the sleekness, the strong appeal... and I did admire it's good looks as well. But chose otherwise due to one main concern -- it's not Pentaband; and I had to migrate to the AWS networks this time, due to the stupefying 'plan costs' of the Canadian "big 4s".

Then, while toying with the N9 - I knew instantly that this was for me! Let me be candid -- I fell for its 'looks' -- I'd have purchased it anyway, even it was a damp squid... even if it was just a 'phone' - sans the 'smart'. As luck'd have it - it is a 'smartphone' & pretty good @ it too! And let me be clear too - this 'unibody' is a STAR. U'd know what I mean if u get to hold the Samsungs & the N9 in your hands - face down... this one feels robust to the core! And it's form-factor? Amazing!

Qorax
*I'm thru with the iPhone4 for one main reason [besides the 'plan costs']... it's 4S version didn't offer much w.r.t. the form-factor - that was a deal-breaker, for me.

Yes it's quite old CPU tech ("almost" exactly same as the N900 cept for higher clock), but the die-shrink is not insignificant.
The GPU/DSPs for video/gaming is what disappointed me the most, when looking only at the core components of the SoC.

I consider that FUD.

My first Android phone was a HTC Desire amoled with about the same specs as the N9 (ARM7 instead of 8 though), and it was swift and responsive, generally just a pleasure to work with in terms of performance.

The dualcore HTC Sensation i bought after that runs circles around the N9, especially in browser / rendering performance. With the GPU offloading that later Android versions brought it's battery lasted about as long as the N9's (about 2 days with moderate use).

I consider the OMAP 3630 of the N9 'just decent enough' for most non-intensive tasks, but it certainly doesn't have any headroom or impress in any way.