Happy new year everyone! I hope this year will be happy for Nokia as well since it's pretty much the make-or-break year for the Windows Phone platform that Nokia is now relying on. The first flagship of this new era, the Lumia 800, has been out for a couple of months now already and I got my own early December, SIM-free/unlocked from Amazon Germany. Here's some of my thoughts on the device.
Design and screen
The reason why I wanted exactly this WP7 phone was the design. The phone is shaped out of single piece of polycarbonate and this approach makes it look simply elegant. The phone has sharp edges on top and bottom, but has rounding in the depth-axis and edges so it feels good in hand. Also the polycarbonate as a material feels surprisingly solid, and in cool temperatures it doesn't turn cold like metal bodies would. There's just a couple of buttons visible: volume, power and camera.
You can see some
unboxing pictures to see what's in the retail package of Lumia 800.
One major part of the beautiful design of the device is the curved glass 3.7" AMOLED screen that unites into the body of the device seamlessly. The screen is strong Gorilla Glass so it shouldn't get scratches very easily. The screen is very responsive and the curving makes it pleasant to use. The ClearBlack technology on the AMOLED screen means that the black colors truly are black, unlike on backlit screen technologies. The screen also produces more vibrant and brighter colors than regular LCD displays. In bright sunlight, the screen is still very readable, unlike many other phones I've seen that tend to reflect the bright environment on their screen surface. When using the black theme on Windows Phone, it all looks absolutely brilliant.
But the screen has some lacks too. Despite otherwise excellent viewing angle the screen has a green/blue tint that is most visible when there's plenty of white background, like webpages and email app. The other downside is the pen tile technology used on the screen. It makes the WP7 standard 480x800 resolution look less than that. In fact, text is more readable and sharper on my HTC Radar that has lower pixel density due to slightly larger screen.
The greenish tint is visible in when viewed in different angles (Lumia 800 on the background, HTC Radar in front)
Camera
One main reason for me to get a Lumia 800 was the camera. The specs are good - an 8M pixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and HD video (720p). I wanted the phone to replace my old point-and-shoot camera.
Knowing Nokia's history with good camera phones the quality of the photos turned out disappointing. On mixed artificial light conditions the photos have an odd green tint and even on some day time photos the photos turn somewhat greenish. In some conditions there's even more odd, deep green or red square color spot in the middle. I have no idea how it can result such results since before pressing down the camera button, it looks good on the screen. From what I've read on the net, it is a software bug that Nokia has promised to fix. I hope this is the case.
Otherwise the photos are good quality. Maybe slightly blurry but ok in general. The 720p HD video looks very sharp and correct in colors. The auto focus just has some hard time finding the right focus which makes annoying focusing moments on otherwise solid video. I recommend taking focus on your target once and then quickly change the auto focus setting off (this works well in long distance landscape videos).
You can see some sample HD video samples at my
YouTube channel (The Dubai videos are all shot with Lumia 800). You can also view some
Lumia 800 sample photos.
Software
One of the advantages of a Nokia device over other Windows Phone devices is the software. Microsoft and Nokia reportedly have a unique agreement that gives Nokia more freedom to do stuff with their phones.
Most important Nokia-only built-in software is the Drive application that is a fully functional, voice guided GPS Navigator. From what I have tested, it works well and the interface is very simple. It lacks in features though, but for basic use it's all you need. You can also download maps to your phone so that cellular data usage will be minimal. I hope that they will make the Drive application support full offline mode which could be useful abroad where you don't have a cellular data plan on use. There is also Nokia Maps, which is a pleasant mapping feature for pedestrian use. It features point-by-point walking navigation, search for popular places and satellite and public transport map views.
Other major Nokia software is the Nokia Music app, but I haven't unfortunately used it much. It features a streaming Mix radio with different channels, mp3 store and a gigs near me finder. Music lovers probably will like it.
My favorite apps on Lumia 800, Foursquare and Sportstracker, utilize the neat metro style user interface of Windows Phone 7.5. Lockscreen and home view on the second row.
Performance an other
Lumia 800 works seamlessly and swiftly throughout. The processor is 1.4 Ghz which is high-end among WP7 devices. The other major specs are good too - 512 MB RAM and 16 GB storage that are enough for most of the people's needs. On some occasions the physical Windows buttons on the bottom of the device seem to be too close to the actual screen and cause unintentional presses.
The Lumia 800 comes with a plastic cover for the phone with the original packaging which is a nice move by Nokia.
The battery power seems quite weak. In active use the phone needs to be re-charged in less than 24 hours. In regular use it still manages just something like 1,5 days. It feels odlly short time and I hope this is also some of the bugs Nokia will fix with an software update.
Some people might find it disappointing too that there is no front-facing camera nor NFC. Both of those features are present in the Meego N9 that initially introduced us to the magnificent polycarbonate design that Lumia 800 also has. For full technical specs, you can check out
GSM Arena's Nokia Lumia 800 page.
Final notes
I can tell you, I waited for this phone for months very eagerly. I had something like 4 different pre-orders from websites in various Lumia 800 launch countries because Nokia decided not to release it in Finland in first wave.
The phone met most of my expectations but unlike the usual Nokia quality it had some lacks and bugs. This might be because of the amazingly fast schedule Nokia pushed a phone with a Windows Phone ecosystem - less than a year from the announcement to move into a totally new mobile environment.
After using the phone for about a month, I am, despite the bugs very pleased with the phone. It is pleasant to use, and the overall user experience couldn't be much better. If Nokia manages to fix the camera and battery oddities, great. Despite the lack in some hardware specs, it still is a very good phone. But you should try it before buying. I can imagine, for example, that the display isn't optimal for reading experience if that's what you mostly use your phone for. On the other hand, it's great for games and other media stuff.
Despite being named as the current flagship phone, Nokia probably has plans to introduce something even better in the near future. After all, the "800" in Nokias new naming method clearly leaves room for even more powerful flagship phones. The rumors talk about Lumia 900. We'll have to wait and see.
