Hands on with the Nokia Lumia 800

Connect to all your favorite soical networks and email on the go

Then again, going with Microsoft and the simple and nimble interface didn’t really give the Finnish company too much room for customization. The overall experience with the Lumia 800 felt very similar to the HTC Radar or the Samsung Omina W, and again, it is simply the slick design that will truly capture your attention.

Media
In the media department, Nokia Music and Mix radio have been added onto the device au gratis. Mix Radio is a very well-designed app that will cater to your online radio needs and allows you to personalize the system quite smartly. Nokia Music also adds the Gigfinder update to the system making it easy to know what’s going on in your area, in terms of music events etc. It’s also a space for users to get downloaded music, of course. What’s truly agonizing about the whole WP7 experience, to which the Lumia 800 is no exception, is Zune interfacing. It’s worse than using iTunes. So far, developers have to still create an app to support multiple video codecs, which will make it easier to transfer files to the device. That’s one of the areas iOS beats WP7 to a pulp.

For work and Play

The 8 megapixel camera strapped onto the rear of the handset is capable of capturing video at 720p, which is quite commonplace, nowadays. The lack of HDMI out or even NFC for that matter (which Nokia is quite gung-ho about these days) also proves to be a bit of a downer. I tried the camera, while at the meet and found that indoor pictures with the LED flash were a bit on the darker side, but I’ll wait till I can fully test it in all conditions before “passing judgment.”

First Impressions
While the Nokia Lumia 800 is surely going to make loyalists quite happy thanks to the superb design, WP7 still has to find its place in the popular mobile OS list. It’s going to be big, I still maintain that sentiment, but there’s definitely more room for improvement. The Lumia 800 is expected to hit Indian shelves come mid-December, just in time for the Christmas rush. Pre-orders will commence in the first week of December, maybe even sooner. Although the price has yet to be officially announced, I estimate the price to be in the Rs.24,000-26,000 range, as WP7 handsets don’t usually feature heavy price tags.

Viewing 1 of 14