# Nokia N900 58 Hacker News commenters recommended Nokia N900 and 9 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 10 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 16 years (3 owners). It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** Fans recall a pocket Linux computer with a great slide-out keyboard and desktop-level software. The most common caveat is its cheap, plastic build quality. ## Why people recommend it - Slide-out keyboard praised (5 comments): "The N900 was a great little device, it was like having a tiny computer with full keyboard in my pocket." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46240205)) "The best keyboard i have ever used on a phone was the N900 physical slide-out." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49193000)) "It had the best slide-out keyboard of all the phones, nice and rubbery keys." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46243355)) - Desktop-class Linux pocket computer (8 comments): "let's provide the user with desktop-level productivity tools, and shrink the desktop into their pocket" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49763390)) "A portable Linux computer that can also act as a phone and has Cyrillic letters on the keyboard?" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46243843)) "It was basically a Linux computer anyway so making it a server wasn't a massive undertaking." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49254431)) - Good touchscreen and rugged (2 comments): "The touchscreen on the N900 was good : high resolution, rigid, fast, accurate, sensitive enough for fingertip use." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48904411)) "I dropped my N900 from a meter height many, many times and it never cracked." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45891090)) - Fond memories from owners (6 comments): "My N900 was one of my favorite computing devices that I've owned." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46245785)) "The N900 was my peak “mobile computing is awesome” device." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46240916)) "I loved the n900 daily from mid-late 2010 to ~mid-2012." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48500518)) ## What people warn about - Buggy, half-baked software (3 comments): "Not everything works, but it appears to be a work in progress." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45990065)) "the N900 was all cheap plastic, no metal like the 810, the magnets fell out all the time, the software was janky" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46245301)) "The build quality was terrible and the software was half baked." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48495551)) - Cheap plastic, poor build quality (4 comments): "the N900 was all cheap plastic, no metal like the 810, the magnets fell out all the time, the software was janky" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46245301)) "It was a piece of junk, literally, like arrived with broken keyboard etc. A clear case of false advertising." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48495481)) "The build quality was terrible and the software was half baked." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48495551)) - Slow, uncompetitive hardware (2 comments): "this thing was slow as shit, I loved the design so much" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46260637)) "woefully uncompetitive hardware" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48904261)) - Arrived late, too little (2 comments): "The problem was it taking another two years until the (in theory) mass-market hardware was ready" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48904831)) "It was way too little, way too late." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48910475)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Apple iPhone](https://hackerapproved.com/p/iphone.md): 706 recommend - [Fairphone](https://hackerapproved.com/p/fairphone.md): 168 recommend - [Apple iPhone Pro](https://hackerapproved.com/p/iphone-17-pro.md): 144 recommend - [iPhone 13 mini](https://hackerapproved.com/p/iphone-13-mini.md): 141 recommend - [Jolla Phone](https://hackerapproved.com/p/jolla-phone.md): 88 recommend ## Where to get it - [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Nokia+N900+unlocked+used+phone&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Nokia N900", https://hackerapproved.com/p/nokia-n900/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).