Nokia Lumia 800 is one phone that needs no introduction. It is one phone that has singularly rescued Nokia from the brink of failure and catapulted it to the position of world’s No. 3 smartphone company. But those rudimentary facts aside, we love the Nokia Lumia 800; primarily because it has those lovely ads that just make you want it like anything.
The Nokia Lumia 800 is undoubtedly one of the most glamorous phones out there. In fact, it is the best Windows Phone available in the market currently, without a doubt.
But is this phone really worth its weight? Will it stand a real world pressure test?
Those are the questions that really matter. And the most fitting answer to them is a full review of the handset. So, here we are at your service with the full review of the Nokia 800.
The Nokia Lumia is equipped with a 3.7-inch capacitive touchscreen, has an 8-megapixel snapper at the back, runs Windows Phone 7.5 – Mango OS on a 1.4 GHz Scorpion processor and 512 MB RAM. It offers 16 GB memory on board with no external MicroSD slot. It is Wi-Fi, 3G capable and runs on a 1450 mAh battery. The Bluetooth is a whole different story, but lets get to that later.
Look and Feel
But as you switch on the handset, the colors start feeling a bit drab. Unlike your usual Android, the Nokia Lumia 800 features either black or white backgrounds rather than wallpaper.
The look and feel is, well, different. The handset is pretty suave.
Features and Interface
The Lumia 800 comes with 3 physical and 3 touch-sensitive buttons, which were pretty easy to use. The USB/charging port at the top was the part we found a bit tweaky. You don’t pull it out. You need to press an (o) shaped button at the top and it stands up. The MicroSIM tray was even more fancy. To take out the MicroSIM, you will need to open the USB/ charging port first and then hold and press the tray towards the left, upon which it slides out. It is both amusing and irritating at the same time.
The touch-sensitive search, menu and back buttons located the bottom of the screen were pretty easy to us. Unlike Android, you don’t have multiple homescreens here. You just have one main screen that informs you of the charge, Wi-Fi access and signal, the usual date and time and how many unread mails and messages you have. The screen also informed us of American holidays such as Groundhog Day, which we hardly found relevant in Indian context. Wallpapers though, were pretty attractive and the Windows icons look pretty good, they gave us a respite from the usual row x column Android/iOS icons.
If we were talking about beauty, you wouldn’t want to miss the Bing homepage that turns up when you press the search button. It just takes your heart away.
Apps and Services
Well, Nokia has put in hard work, when it comes to apps. The proprietary Nokia apps actually amazed us. The App highlights, Nokia Drive or Nokia Maps hardly left room for complaints.
It’s the Windows side that needs to improve though. When we get to Windows apps, the appstore is quite limited, without a doubt in comparison to Android or iOS. The most average games like Angry Birds are actually quite expensive while the free ones are hardly worth much.
The set comes loaded with MS-Office, but it hardly read any other Word documents, except the ones we loaded on the handset itself. The Xbox Live is just their as a fancy feature. You can hardly even compare it to the normal Android games let alone a real Xbox.
Connectivity
In terms of connectivity, the Lumia 800 is a no slugger. Its Internet connection was pretty smooth on both Wi-Fi and 3G. But the Bluetooth is where the catch comes in.
Even though you have a Bluetooth option in the menu, the only device you can connect via Bluetooth is a proprietary Bluetooth headset. This left us grinding our teeth as in case you don’t have access to net, which is not uncommon in India, the only way you can transfer any content is through the USB which leaves quite a rotten taste in the mouth.
Even if you connect the USB, you cannot directly transfer stuff, you will have to download the Zune software first.
Performance
The music quality of the phone is mediocre at the best. The maximum volume left us waning as you could hardly hear you music in a packed room or in the Metro. Even the earphones were pretty low on sound. The FM radio is easy to use and pretty good. The TuneIn Radio and the Zune music player are good, but don’t expect fireworks of them.
The 8-megapixel camera is a mix of good and bad. It actually gave good images in the room, but when it came to taking pictures in daylight, it fell flat. The Pinch and zoom is one feature we fell in love with. Add to that, the camera roll randomly picks up images and displays them as a background.
One of the disappointments with the Lumia 800 was the lack of a MicroSD slot. The 14 GB available memory will fill up soon in case you love your music or take a lot of pictures. The least we would have recommended would have been at least 32 GB considering the price tag.
There is no sign of multi-tasking on the Lumia 800. Music is the only application that plays in the background while you access other apps.
The Battery life is currently despicable to be honest. Consider yourself lucky if it lasts more than 3 hours of regular use. Add to that, it is a pain to switch on once you switch it off. The problem we believe is not with the 1450 mAh battery as such, but with the software. Nokia has assured us that an update will be rolling in soon. We will review it and get back to you as soon as we receive it.
Bundled accessories
The Nokia Lumia comes in a petit rectangular box, which consists of a USB cord, a pair of headsets, circular USB charger and a user manual in many languages.
Price
The handset is available for Rs. 28,499 at Flipkart.
Nokia Lumia info
Typical price: Rs. 32,999
Pros:
Suave form factor
Nokia apps
Refreshing Layout
Cons:
No external MicroSD slot
No Bluetooth connectivity
Windows marketplace expensive lacks apps
Camera dysfunctional outside
Skyrocketing price tag
Verdict:
Well, if you buy a handset for the style factor, the Nokia Lumia 800 will definitely charm you. But since Windows is just warming up, the OS has a lot of room to cover. Also, the price range the Nokia Lumia 800 targets is a bit high. At that price tag, one could get an S2 or even an iPad. You can completely love the handset or completely hate it. There is no middle ground for the Nokia Lumia 800.
Rating: