UPDATED: We've now updated the software on our review device to match that available at release for consumers, so take a look at our updated findings, complete with star rating.
The Nokia Lumia 800 is the first Windows Phone handset to spring from the Microsoft / Nokia tie-up announced in February, and we've got our hands on an early sample to check it out.
The Nokia Lumia 800 shares its exterior styling with the previously substantially less hyped Nokia N9, a Meego-based smartphone, although the screen size is reduced from 3.9" (854x480 pixels) to 3.7" (800x480 pixels) to conform to the Windows Phone spec list.
The CPU, however, increases from the 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 to the 1.4GHz MSM8255 Snapdragon/Scorpion which certainly helps add snap to the Windows Phone Mango OS.
The Nokia Lumia 800, although being the more expensive of the two Nokia Windows Phone offerings (the other being the budget Nokia Lumia 710) shares the Nokia N9's 16-bit AMOLED ClearBlack display whereas the Nokia Lumia 710 sports a 24-bit ClearBlack TFT.
This being said, even though the colour depth is theoretically deeper than in the Nokia Lumia 710, AMOLED screens are seen as better than the older TFT technology due to the more vivid colours and better contrast ratios.
Moving away from Nokia comparisons, the Lumia 800 also has to compete with the likes of the HTC Titan and HTC Radar Windows Mango phones. When we compare screen size we find the Nokia Lumia 800 feeling a little small with the HTC Radar and HTC Titan entering the fray with 3.8" and 4.7" screens respectively although all competitors are limited to the same 800x480 pixel resolution.
Obviously the iPhone has managed to be a success with a smaller screen at 3.5-inches, but the trend towards bigger displays is increasing all the time, and we have to say we're fans of those over four inches thanks to the improved internet and media experience.
This means that the pixel density on the Lumia 800 is a little sharper, but in our side by side comparisons we noted very little difference between the three, and even the Lumia 800 displaying text with a little less clarity.
When it comes to internal storage the Nokia Lumia 800 and HTC Titan are equal with 16GB of fixed internal storage, with the Nokia Lumia 710 and HTC Radar weighing in with 8GB a piece.
Based on the two manufacturer's product specs it soon becomes apparent that the Nokia Lumia 800 is intended to compete against the HTC Titan and the Nokia Lumia 710 with the HTC Radar.
When compared dimensionally with the HTC Titan (131.5mm x 70.7mm x 9.9mm and 160g) we note that the Nokia Lumia 800 (116.5mm x 61.2mm x 12.1mm and 142g) cuts a very slim profile, with a lighter yet reassuring weight.
The physical appearance of the Nokia Lumia 800 is a dream to observe and handle, with its smooth curves fitting snugly to the hand both with and without the protective case provided in the purchase packaging.
First impressions of the phone are mixed. If you're used to handling the current crop of super slim handsets doing the rounds in today's phone shops, you can't help but feel the Lumia 800 is a little on the chunky side, even compared to the iPhone 4S thanks to it being around 10% thicker.
However, that's not to say it isn't an attractive device, with its large 3.7-inch OLED screen pushed to the sides of the chassis and a cool curved polycarbonate shell gives the phone a very premium feel indeed.
Nokia has worked very hard on the unibody design here, making the battery inaccessible and using top-mounted flaps to cover the charging port and SIM slot - intriguingly, we're seeing a microSIM here, which seems to be the fashion for the next wave of smartphones.
It's a slightly odd system, and one that some will find a little bit difficult to get used to - but it does lend a certain sleekness to the design.
One area we can see getting consumers annoyed is on the back panel - as you can see the demo sample we tried was already scratched up, and the same thing has already begun happening on our review model.
The Nokia Lumia 800 is quite reasonably priced, costing nothing on as little as a £26 Orange or Vodafone contract with Carphone Warehouse compared with HTC Titan starting at £31 pm with Vodafone and £36 pm with Orange.
Your comments (34) Click to add a new comment
allergy1
Tuesday at 14:42 UTC
34. Think twice before you buy Lumia 800, check the detailed stats
http://bizcovering.com/business/nokia-lumia-800/
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phonerev
January 16th
33. What a pity! Nokia sales marketeers are busy posing as customers again. So obvious and so blatantly. Carry On Nokia
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mountjl
December 29th 2011
32. @CalumBlair
Oh, good God. I actually registered with the forum, just to highlight what a numpty you are. I have NEVER done that before in my life.
1) Nokia did not restrict the use of Flash on the phone. Microsoft have not engaged Adobe to build the plugin for the platform, as it is a dying standard.
2) Clearly Steve Jobs is now turning in his grave, as iOS DOES support Flash suddenly. Wow. And there were those who thought that Tim Cook wouldn't have an impact... Sigh.
To address your more appropriate points, Tango will undoubtedbly be available to the Lumia 800, as will Apollo (probably) when it arrives in the second half of 2012. The original batch of handsets released over a year ago are free to upgreed to Mango, so it's difficult to see why a new handset wouldn't get 2012's equivalent to NoDo.
As for "wait for 900 or iPhone 4?", that's really a personal question you alone can answer based on your experiences with each system. Asking what others would do shows a distinct lack of maturity, self-awareness and identity. Make your own decision, for the love of God. You find yourself in a relatively rare position of having tried both systems under consideration. Why would someone else know what you need better than you do.
Yea Gads...
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calumblair
December 27th 2011
31. Need some help here.
I like my 800, but I might take it back because Nokia for some reason dont allow there systems to run with Abode Flash Player.. which considerably limits what I want to do. So now considering go back to an iPhone4 as it also has a front camera and supports Flash
I also wanted to know what you think.. get an iPhone4 or even wait for the 900? And also I wanted to know.. will Tango be an available upgrade like IOS4, or will it not run on a Mango handset?
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technopro
December 24th 2011
30. Very good phone! The pink one looks very pleasant.
1.Very good quality
2.Feels super good holding it (Smooth cover)
3.Facebook, twitter, etc. all in one stream!!
4.Response is fast
5.Not laggy at all
6.Picture quality not bad. Tons better than Samsung Galaxy Ace
7.Internet is real fast
8.Won't crack/get damaged easily
9.Apps are wonderful, especially the map
10.Battery life is okay.
I will strongly recommend this phone to everyone. Makes the iPhone look like a dinosaur phone. I feel that it's soooo much better than Samsung Galaxy Ace, iPhone 4, HTC, whatever. Well done, nokia! :)
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efusive
December 21st 2011
29. Oh one more thing, you can actually sync multiple calendars with WP7 but because Google prevent you accessing the screen through WP7 (conspiracy maybe lol) you either have to emulate an iOS/Android browser on your desktop or go complete the following steps using an iOS/Android device.
1. Make sure you have set-up your Google account (including calendar sync) on your WP7 device first
2. Log in to your Google account on an iOS/Android device browser or a desktop browser using emulation (you can do this in IE9 by just hitting F12, click "Tools" -> "Change user agent string" -> "Custom" and use the following string: "Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_0 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8A293 Safari/6531.22.7"
3. Once you've logged in go to this page m.google.com/sync. You should see your Windows Phone device, click on it and then choose which calendars you want synced, click Save then Resync your Google account on your WP7 device (usually a long press on your account in the email+accounts setting). I know it seems long but its a limitation that Google has implemented as the IE9 WP7 browser cannot access the m.google.com/sync page. Enjoy!
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efusive
December 21st 2011
28. I bought my Lumia 800 3 days ago because I wanted to check out WP 7.5 as well as see what Nokia has done with it...I was impressed from the moment I opened the box! The old Nokia attention to detail was in effect - from including a case in the box to the way the micro usb slot is magnetised shut. The phone exudes class. Then you get to switch it on and use it...what a joy. I honestly don't know why WP 7 isn't more lauded. I've been an Android user since launch and also an iOS user via my iPad (again since launch) and I can say WP 7 combined with Nokia hardware makes them both look and feel old. Every touch is greeted with a quick response , as well as beautiful transition into another screen where you just want to touch something else. It may be single core hardware but its quad-core smooth. If this is just the first iteration, I personally feel there is a bright future ahead. Granted it lacks the customization of Android and the vast Apps library of iOS but my goodness but the user experience is second to none and that is why all reviewers have a hard time putting it down.
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marybranscombe
December 5th 2011
27. @blackcat - what I've found from using the Lumia is that you can pick holes in the spec on paper but that the experience of using it is great; the screen is really impressive, the case feels good in your hand and in use I've never complained of it being slow or underpowered - but that's just half of it. The real experience is the interface, the user experience and the way it all feels seamless, modern and empowering. It's a little bit addictive ;-)
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mikegt3000
December 2nd 2011
26. Interesting comment about no expandible storage from @blackbetty. If you want to store irreplaceble things like pictures, why not set your storage to Skydrive and dump them online automatically. I would prefer to have a SD slot but I think the Skydrive integration is a brilliant idea and along with the xbox live integration is making WP7.5 more interesting for my next phone - will probably still get an Android for now, but in 6 months time, might be time for a windows phone
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pmw2011
November 25th 2011
25. have just taken receipt of a black lumia 800 and im very impressed!! its a small N9 but as i'm in the uk we aint getting it- its a pity but there we are!
i have had a wp7 in the past (when they first came out and it was impressive then.
Nokia may not have done alot apart from putting a decent processor in and a good battery but so far ints faultless, very happy i got one and took the plunge again having had numerous iPhone's, androids.
its screen is crystal clear, good reception, no call hangs- so far,
i just hope MS and Nokia can keep this up!! 5*****'s
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nicolasmerritt
November 21st 2011
24. @blackbetty
Sigh. The last resort of the tedious fanboi.
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sonisoe
November 20th 2011
23. techradar, looks like htc radar has a better battery life ?
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overdue
November 19th 2011
22. I've had the lumia 800 for 24 hours and I have to say, WP 7.5 is amazing. Even my wife, a hardcore Mac addict who has the iPhone 4, said my phone makes her phone and iOS look "old" LOL. The whole social integration thing, browsing photos and music and facebook and texting and emailing...is so much more intutive and fun than on my HTC Android.
But my first reaction when taking a call yesterday, was "OUCH!!" The stylish flat top and bottom make for a hard, uncomfy edge of plastic jabbing into your earlobe. I took my powered off HTC Desire and put on my other ear, and said, "ahhhh." Maybe there's a reason for having soft edges?
But the screen is impressive. Outdoors in the sun, it's as easy to read as indoors.
Something else rarely mentioned is when in landscape mode, polarized sunglasses make LCD screens go black, as in black and blank. Can't read. Whereas AMOLED screens are just as viewable at any angle while wearing polarized sunglasses.
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blackbetty
November 18th 2011
21. LOL, get real 4 stars for a phone that has virtually no customisation, no expandible storage, more locked down than an iPhone and Android 1.5 feature-set.
I wonder how much each of those stars cost Microsoft/Nokia to buy...
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wdorey
November 17th 2011
20. So now that the final phone has been released when will the final rating be done for this phone?
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blackcat28
November 16th 2011
19. @jayjaytg I was being ironic. I think the WP7 OS is great and with Nokia it will be even better in fact I will be geting the Lumia 800 in cyan. I was wondering if the reviewer thought the WP7 was missing so much stuff why he would find it hard to give the handset back it does not make sense. What I am geting at as a super powered Android user I am noticing for me personally that dual or quad mean nothing if the user experience is laggy I have not had a single app that at some point thrown up a force closer sign or have an handset restart on me.
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jayjaytg
November 15th 2011
18. @ericsitulo
"i dont know why android is not better than win7 phone for nokia"
Nokia had the opportunity to go with Android but decided to turn it down with good reason. If Nokia went with Android they would be just another manufacturer in the sea of manufacturers that already supply Android phone that would show no differentiation to them being unique. Nokia's partnership with Microsoft is more than Nokia making Windows Phones is about sharing technologies, services and business. Nokia excels Microsoft where they are weak and Microsoft excel Nokia where they are weak, this will shine more over the next year! Nokia also wanted a platform that could offer a clear eco-system, something Android hasnt got. There are so many Android phones with many various UI's from different companies it just is a bit of a mess to Nokia and would require them to put everything they have just to get noticed over the high Android rollers (HTC and Samsung). Taking an upcoming OS that is slow but surely rising is the best bet to start a new era (as Nokia want), something that isnt the same as what you get with the other two competitors.
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jayjaytg
November 15th 2011
17. @blackcat28
"I mean it dosent have dual core, front facing camera or a SD card slot it does not beat Android on speed tests nor does it have 500,000 apps. The screen size is not 4.6 and according to you its a little bit chunky 3mm more than the iphone."
Dual core is not needed in Windows Phone due to the fact that hardware is optimised with the software allowing it to run as faster or faster than any dual core Android phone. Even with dual core chips, Android based phones still have issue will lag and stutter in various areas of its own OS such as, pinch to zoom, in some case web browsing stutters, even scrolling lag. You have to look at it in the way that Android hasnt really been optimised for any SoC it is on so many and so many are released every month which suggest minimal time goes into optisming the hardware with the software.
A front facing camera is a good feature to have sitting on your phone though in most cases that is all it does. You cannot tell me that you have seen a major shift where video calling is big. You will probably find only 1-2% of the smartphone population that have FFCs use them. Its really user preference and if you dont video call or like taking pictures of yourself then people might want this phone. Plus to let you understand the reason behind their not being a FFC, it was a decision Nokia made to allow their first WPs get on the market this year and in their study and surveys a FFC was the least of peoples worries. It was an amazing achievement for them to bring out a mobile phone like this in around 7 months!
Yep it doesnt have a SD card slot, deal break for some others not really. It more of a iPhone user thing. The positive side to it is fast flash NAND memory.
Of course you are going to find Android would beat a WP in a speed test, though I dont see how you can test that anyways (no cross platform app). Android has dual core chips and WP has single core chip. Doesnt mean a thing unless you have apps to take advantage of that dual core chip. Like i said before WP is fast on a single core chip, you would think its running a dual core when actually playing with one.
WP has nearly 40,000 apps in the marketplace and if you didnt know its the fastest growing mobile app store ever! iPhone and Android had to start somewhere as well and WP is showing how to go about it quickly. Developer interest is massive for WP and has already taken Blackberry to the cleaners. If your ever looking for a popular app you will most like find it amongst the 40,000 if not a temporary alternative will be available.
The screen size is completely user preference hense the many various screen sizes you will find across Android. So I dont really know what you getting at with this one.
Put the Lumia and and iPhone side by side and let your eyes decide on how big it is compared to the iPhone. Seeing numbers makes the brain thinks big/small differences in person it may end up surprising you... unless you like a cm high :/
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ericsitulo
November 13th 2011
16. i dont know why android is not better than win7 phone for nokia
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