Goodeye18 provides a comprehensive review of the Nokia N-Gage.

Other Media Features

Much has been made of the fact the device is also an MP3 player and has a built in Radio. Yes they work. MP3 player is fine (especially if you have a large memory card), but with MMC only readily available at 128MB you are not going to be using this regularly as your main MP3 player I'd have thought. Still it's nice that it's built in from the beginning. The radio on the other hand is really rather nice. It is not something you need, but as an extra it is nice.

Series 60 Device

It is easy to overlook the fact that you've got a full Series 60 device with the N-Gage. After all the glamour is in the games and the media function. What it means though is you've got a full set of PIM applications. You've also got an XHTML browser which is good for accessing information on the move. If you want full web browsing you can get Opera which works without problems on the N-Gage (some people have had memory issues on other Series 60 handsets but this is less apparent on the N-Gage).

Of course you can add 3rd party programs too. Given this is a gaming device emulators of other gaming machines are bound the popular. Commodore 64, Spectrum and Gameboy are among those available. This opens up 100's of other games even if the legal position is not entirely clear. Other things that might be added are Instant Messaging,  IRC client, PDF Viewer. There are already plentiful supply of Series 60 applications that will work fine with the N-Gage.

In general usage the control pad means that moving around is better than any other Series 60 device. The problems are given its shape you need to use it two handed. That said given its pocketable nature and the ease of moving around, the standard keypad, and the media extras I would say that this is a serious contender as a smartphone, as a pure Series 60 device, even completely ignoring the gaming side of things.

As a Phone

In order to use the device as a phone you have to hold the phone to your head on its side. You look slightly silly doing this (though not really that much more than those big boom things). You can always use the supplied headset. Tapping out SMS is easy and with the traditional grid pattern on the phone keypad people aren't going to have the same problems as the 3650 with its circular layout. As a phone it works well.

Conclusion

The N-Gage is an impressive device. As a gaming device I was impressed. Its takes games on a mobile phone to a different level. Compared to the Gameboy I think the hardware is about equal, on the games front the N-Gage need to gain more titles to match the huge back catalog of the Gameboy. Whether that happens remains to be seen. The launch games are good although there is nothing outstanding.

Although this is meant to be primarily a gaming device the fact you've got Series 60 as well means this device is so much more. With 3rd party software it has even more potential.

The N-Gage is a converged device. Combining game deck with smartphone, and media functions this device is exceedingly good value. Whether you want to combine them is up to you, but for me it couldn't be any better.

Rating: 9/10 (Not a perfect 10 because you have to hold it like a taco to talk on it if your not using a hands free deivce.)