Nokia Lumia 800 Reviewed: Good Mix of Modern Smartphone OS & High Build Quality

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Early reviews of the Nokia Lumia 800 Windows Phone handset are coming out. At this point, the verdict is that Nokia’s first foray into Windows Phone resulted in solid hardware, good software, but an unexciting experience.

Vlad Savov of the Verge has had the chance of getting an early review of Nokia’s upcoming Lumia 800 handset, running Microsoft’s latest Windows Phone 7.5 Mango. The initial opinion is that it evokes deja vu over Nokia’s N9, which represented a benchmark in terms of industrial design, although a dead-end in terms of platform. The Lumia 800, meanwhile, is the start of something new for Nokia. It’s their first-ever Windows Phone 7.5 smartphone, which means they have to impress, but they still have a lot to learn.

Savov highlights the following main points in his review:

• Hardware: The Lumia 800‘s construction is impressive, and users who have encountered the N9 will not complain about Nokia’s “recycling” of its design. The expertly-engineered soft-touch plastic and curved screen is pleasant to the touch. Some of the side buttons and rockers stick too close to each other, though, making for hard presses, but are a minor setback amid the well-designed case.
• Display: The N9′s 3.9-inch AMOLED display was reduced to 3.7 inches to accommodate the Windows Phone keys, although the display features rich colors and very deep blacks. Nokia’s ClearBlack Display results in a non-reflective display that creates an illusion that the images are suspended on top of the very black screen.
• Batter life, reception, audio: Battery life is significantly less than the Lumia’s Symbian counterpart, since Windows Phone focuses more on performance compared to Symbian’s focus on stretching battery endurance. Reception is good, although the speakerphone tends to be muffled in certain positions due to the placement of the speakers. Missing are an NFC transceiver (available on the N9) and Internet Sharing.
• Camera: The Lumia 800′s camera was found to be decent, taking detailed shots, although lacking color fidelity when auto white-balance fails. However, the 720p-capable video capture suffers from motion blur. Also missing is a front-facing camera, which might be a deal-breaker for folks wanting to do video-chatting and videoconferencing on this Windows Phone.
• Software: The Lumia 800′s software is still basically standard Windows Phone 7.5 Mango fare, although with some Nokia enhancements. Nokia promises to implement UI elements in the N9, such as double tap-to-wake and swipe gestures, although these are not yet in the Lumia.

In terms of the software ecosystem, both Nokia and Microsoft are hopeful that the launch of Nokia’s first Windows Phone handset will encourage developers into building more apps for the platform. Sure, Windows Marketplace has not yet reached critical mass, but Nokia and Microsoft believe they’re getting there.

In conclusion, the Nokia Lumia 800 was found to be in stark contrast to the N9 in terms of novelty. While the N9 was a wildly imaginative smartphone, the Lumia 800 is a straight-laced Windows Phone that “simply isn’t as thrilling.” In the end, “the Lumia 800 has the potential to be great, but today it’s merely good.” But it’s still an obvious upgrade for Nokia users still running Symbian – it’s a great mix of a modern, attractive smartphone UI and Nokia’s reputation for great hardware build quality.