Nokia Booklet 3G - Review

The Nokia Booklet 3G was Nokia’s first and only true netbook, combining premium hardware design with built-in mobile connectivity at a time when netbooks were becoming extremely popular. Unlike most competing devices in the category, the Booklet 3G aimed to feel more like a premium ultraportable than a cheap secondary computer.

It featured an aluminum chassis, integrated 3G connectivity, HDMI output, GPS support, and unusually long battery life for its size. The review unit used here was provided by WOMWorld Nokia.

A premium netbook before premium netbooks existed

Most netbooks at the time focused almost entirely on affordability. Cheap plastic bodies, low-resolution displays, cramped keyboards, and basic connectivity were common across the category.

The Nokia Booklet 3G immediately felt different.

Its aluminum body gave it a premium feel that was far closer to Apple’s MacBook lineup than the average netbook of its era. The device looked sleek, modern, and unusually polished for such a compact machine.

Even years later, the industrial design still holds up surprisingly well.

Design and construction

The Booklet 3G used an aircraft-grade aluminum frame paired with glossy plastic accents available in multiple colors. While the top surface attracted fingerprints easily, the overall build quality felt significantly better than most competing netbooks.

At under an inch thick, the device also remained impressively slim considering its large integrated battery.

• 10.1-inch LED-backlit display
• 1280 x 720 resolution
• Aluminum chassis
• Integrated 3G connectivity
• HDMI output

The port selection was particularly strong for the category. Nokia included three USB ports, HDMI, a SIM slot, SD card support, and a headphone jack.

Built-in 3G connectivity also made the Booklet feel unusually forward-thinking at a time when many laptops still relied entirely on Wi-Fi.

Keyboard and trackpad

The keyboard was comfortable overall, though the smaller key spacing could make long typing sessions difficult for users with larger hands.

The multitouch trackpad support was welcome and allowed gestures like pinch-to-zoom, though it lacked the fluidity and polish of Apple’s trackpads at the time.

The physical buttons beneath the trackpad also felt somewhat clunky compared to the otherwise premium feel of the device.

Battery life was genuinely impressive

Battery life was one of the Booklet’s biggest selling points.

Nokia advertised up to 12 hours of battery life, which sounded almost unbelievable for a netbook at the time. Real-world usage generally landed lower than Nokia’s claims, but the Booklet still delivered significantly better endurance than many competing ultraportables.

Even achieving 6 to 8 hours of practical use during heavy workloads was impressive in that era.

The downside was charging speed. Recharging the large integrated battery could take several hours, especially while the device remained powered on.

Performance and Windows 7 Starter

The Nokia Booklet 3G used an Intel Atom Z530 processor paired with 1GB of RAM and a slow 4200RPM hard drive.

That hardware combination prioritized battery life over raw speed, and the compromise was obvious during daily use.

Basic tasks like web browsing, email, office work, and media playback worked reasonably well, but multitasking and heavier workloads exposed the limitations of the hardware quickly.

Windows 7 Starter also felt like an awkward fit for the device. While it was lighter than Windows Vista, it still demanded more resources than the hardware comfortably provided.

Looking back, it is easy to imagine how much more interesting the Booklet could have been running Nokia’s Maemo or MeeGo platforms instead.

Connectivity and Nokia services

The Booklet 3G included Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, integrated 3G, and GPS support. Wi-Fi reception was strong overall, though the integrated 3G modem felt weaker than some dedicated USB-based mobile broadband solutions available at the time.

Nokia also included its Ovi services and Social Hub software for syncing Facebook, Twitter, and SMS messaging. While the integration was interesting conceptually, it often felt rough around the edges compared to modern cloud ecosystems.

The GPS experience also proved inconsistent in some locations, and Nokia’s Ovi Maps widget lacked the refinement and polish users would later expect from mapping software.

A glimpse of Nokia’s future that never happened

The Nokia Booklet 3G feels especially interesting in hindsight because it hinted at a future Nokia never fully explored.

There were clear signs that Nokia understood premium industrial design, connected computing, cloud services, and mobile-first portability long before many competitors embraced those ideas fully.

The problem was software.

Windows 7 Starter never truly matched the hardware vision Nokia was aiming for, and Nokia’s own MeeGo ambitions ultimately arrived too late to reshape the market.

Final thoughts

The Nokia Booklet 3G was one of the most ambitious netbooks of its time. It delivered premium hardware, excellent portability, strong battery life, and integrated mobile connectivity in a category usually defined by compromise.

Unfortunately, its Atom hardware and Windows 7 Starter software prevented it from feeling as smooth or powerful as its design deserved.

Even so, the Booklet 3G remains one of Nokia’s most fascinating experiments — a premium ultraportable that arrived just before tablets and ultrabooks began reshaping mobile computing entirely.