Like most handheld electronic gear, the under-the-hood components are what distinguishes the device. Indeed, the N-Gage is a case-study in integration. The design is clean, and each component, such as memory devices from AMD and Samsung, has its slot.

The main processor uses ARM technology and runs at 104 MHz. A Texas Instruments DSP has been added for more generic tasks like desktop and multimedia applications, including address book, diary, running audio or video files. All the phone functions are controlled by a Hitachi component set and the device also has a Phillips TEA5767 digital tuner.