Nokia Booklet 3G

The basics

We've been waiting for almost a year since its initial announcement to see this premium netbook in the flesh. There's a 10.1-inch screen, a pared-down Z530 Intel Atom processor, and, of course, as you'd expect from a netbook release from the Finnish mobile phone giant, built-in 3G.

The good

The 720p HD screen is a joy for watching TV shows and short clips on the go – it’s good to see Nokia’s first effort already packing hi-def skills. The isolated keys are as good as any we’ve used on a netbook, although they did take some getting used to owing to their small size.
The Z530 Atom does keep things nice and cool, as there's no onboard fan – meaning that it runs almost silently, perfect when you’re trying to watch a movie.
The Nokia Booklet 3G also comes loaded with Windows 7 Home Premium, letting you get stuck into a beefed-up version of Microsoft’s all new OS on a dinky machine.
We found the embedded 3G worked nice and zippy too, but perhaps the Nokia Booklet 3G’s biggest draw though is its battery life. Nokia’s 12-hour battery claims was remarkably close to the truth. Just make sure you keep the screen brightness down. Push it up to full tilt and you’re looking at seven hours max before you’re out of juice.

The bad

The fact that it comes packing Windows 7 did present some issues. When we fired it up, the Intel Atom Z530 took an age to open Microsoft's new OS. And once launched, opening more than two programmes proved a tad taxing. If you like having your mail client, web browser and media player all going at the same time, you’re going to need to keep an eye on speed.

The bottom line

The Nokia Booklet 3G is a great little netbook. Build is great, but it could have a little more grunt for running apps. Still, if you love Nokia and want a netbook, it’s well worth a look.