Review: Nokia Lumia 800

When Nokia announced their intention to form a commercial relationship with Microsoft, planning a range of smartphones running the Windows Phone 7 operating system, a great deal of interest and comment was generated within the mobile community. Nokia's intention was to time the release of their first models with the release of Microsoft's 'Mango' Windows Phone 7.5 update. This OS version was due to address a number of issues with the initial release, and allow some evolution of it's core features. Late last year, Nokia announced the release of the Lumia 710, and the more up-market Lumia 800 models. Smartphonegurus were kindly offered the opportunity of using a Lumia 800 for a few weeks and publishing our views on it.

Thanks to Nokia UK, and to Ruvina Uppal of Next15 who organised our review phone.

Product:
Nokia Lumia 800

Colours:
Available in Cyan, Black and Magenta

Price:
Around £400 SIM Free or available from all major UK mobile operators

OS:
Microsoft Windows Phone 7.5

The Nokia Lumia 800 combines a new hardware platform with a significantly revised version of Windows Phone 7. As such this review will be the subject of some comment regarding both the hardware and software as the relationship goes deep into the workings of the device though I will try and relate comments specifically to the Lumia 800 where possible.

Device main specification

• 3.7" curved AMOLED screen with Corning Gorilla Glass
• 480*800 screen resolution with PenTile RGBG layout and anti-glare polarising filter layer.
• 8Mp camera with Carl Zeiss lens and dual LED flash and 720p video recording
• 1.4GHz Qualcomm MSM8255 CPU
• 512MB RAM
• 16GB ROM (13.9GB available)
• 1450mAH fixed battery
• FM Radio
• 142g weight
• MicroSIM card format

Full specifications available from Nokia.

In the Box

• Nokia Lumia 800 phone
• Soft cover in same colour as phone
• Nokia stereo headset
• Mains plug and USB charger
• User guide and documentation

Unpacking and setting up

I collected the Lumia 800 from Nokia House in London just before Christmas, and was impressed with the service offered by Emma who led me through the basics of the Lumia itself and Windows Phone in general. Although familiar with the software myself, this was a useful introduction. One thing I had forgotten was that the Lumia 800 uses a micro SIM card, and I only had my full sized SIM to hand, so I did not go through the full setup at the time.

The phone comes in a 'Nokia Blue' box in a blue outer carton and is well packed. Apart from the phone and the usual charger, USB cable and headset, Nokia include a silicone case which covers the phone apart from the screen. This is apparently the same colour as the phone itself- in my case black. Cyan and Magenta phone/case combinations are also available.



On picking the phone up for the first time, initial impressions are very positive. It feels sturdy in the hand and at 142g for a 3.7" device is quite weighty. This is not in any way a criticism- the feeling is of solidity and quality. The body is made of Polycarbonate which is apparently well resistant to scratches and is self coloured meaning small daily use abrasions are unlikely to show much. The Gorilla Glass screen has a gentle curve at the top and bottom and it fits seamlessly into the body on all its edges. The two sides of the body are gently radiused but the top and bottom are flat and square.

If required, the rubber skin case can be fitted and removed quite easily, though there is a knack to it! A colleague suggests locating the bottom of the phone first, then the top right corner, followed by the top left. With the robustness of the body, and the sleek design I wonder how necessary this is? It adds bulk and makes the phone less 'wieldy' in the hand. Fitting it or not is of course up to the owner and Nokia are to be commended for at least supplying it. Personally I don't like them so have left mine 'bare' !


Configuring for use

When I got home I installed the micro SIM from my secondary phone account, which I used for most of the remainder of this review. It was with this that I encountered my first annoyance. This secondary phone account is PAYG Vodafone; although the SIM was recognised and SMS and phone features worked immediately, the GPRS services would not connect. Essentially, this Nokia does not recognise and configure the Vodafone PAYG service and I had to go online to look up the APN to use, then enter it manually. This is in contrast to my previous HTC phones which have all correctly sensed the SIM card type and configured the connections accordingly. The result of this could be that a new user would be unable to access any online services until they had use of another device for looking up the necessary connection parameters, or they had a valid WiFi connection available.

Once a WiFi or GPRS service is accessible, the Lumia 800 follows the normal Windows Phone setup process. This requires a Windows Live ID, or an XBox Gamertag to validate any Marketplace purchases, and set up Hotmail etc. Any associated services are automatically configured from there, so in my case my Twitter and Linkedin accounts were there from the outset. The same is true of Facebook, though I don't have a FB account to test this with. My Microsoft Exchange email, calendar and contacts were configured as expected and within a very short space of time I was up and running with a full and valid set of PIM data.




Initial impressions

As mentioned above, the Lumia 800 has a high quality feel in use and handling. This is reinforced when turning it on- the screen is beautifully clear with the usual AMOLED attributes of deep colours and 'proper' blacks. White screens are not quite so impressive, as they tend to have a mild yellowy tinge rather than the pure whites of S-LCD screens but unless you are comparing side by side this is unlikely to be very noticeable. Nokia have advised that this is a generic issue with their AMOLED screen and that it becomes less apparent when the screen brightness is turned up, which i can confirm. This type of AMOLED screen uses the PenTile RedGreen-BlueGreen configuration rather than true Red-Green-Blue which can introduce a little colour variance though it's pretty imperceptible on smaller screens. Interestingly Nokia have opted for a true RGB AMOLED screen on the forthcoming Lumia 900.

As Microsoft are explicit in how the physical operation of Windows Phones is conducted, the Lumia has the requisite buttons below the screen for Back, Home and Search. In this case they are all capacitive buttons with high sensitivity. The only other buttons are on the right side of the phone, and are volume up and down, power and camera. These are physical buttons as expected and the camera has a two stage button action. Personally, as a left hander I do find the power button placement to be an annoyance- it is too easy to press when you are just picking the phone up, even after four weeks use. I'd prefer a traditional top edge button, but I'm sure most users are happy as it is.




The left hand edge is completely bare and the bottom edge houses the internal speaker. The top edge has a 3.5mm headset socket, a flip-up cover concealing the microUSB port and a slot-in carrier for the microSIM card. The SIM carrier is released by sliding it to the left once the USB cover is opened, from where it pops up on a spring.



When the SIM card is inserted or changed, it is necessary to perform a soft reset, following which the new SIM will be operative. As I said previously though, it may be necessary to enter the GPRS settings manually.



The Lumia 800 has no notification LEDs for battery charge or messaging.


Software and Apps

As this is a Windows Phone device, there is a certain homogeneity to the available software- essentially Microsoft dictate the software available to the end user to ensure a consistent 'user experience'. This does not preclude a device builder from installing a set of default Apps, but Nokia have taken their agreement a stage further with the provision of some unique Apps not available to other users.

Default Build:
In addition to the core set of WP7 Apps, Nokia have pre installed a few Apps into their default build. These are Apps that are available to all, generally free of charge, from the Windows Phone Marketplace. These are British Airways, Tripadvisor, Ministry of Sound, Ebay and Sky News. The purpose of having these specific programs pre installed escapes me somewhat, as they could be considered of specialist interest. Many would be less generous and call it Bloatware! Thankfully they can all be removed and their storage space recovered.

Nokia Specific Apps:
Nokia have a set of four unique Apps available to their customers. These are Nokia Music, Nokia Maps, Nokia Drive and App Highlights.

Nokia Music
This is an alternative to the built-in Zune music player though I think it still uses the same playback engine. It has the addition of some useful features though these require registration with the Nokia Music service to get the most out of. This is free but needs to be done via a PC. It would be nice if Nokia could include a Nokia Music account sign up from within the mobile device.



The enhancements Nokia Music provide over the default Zune app are:

MP3 store: This is vastly superior to the Zune offering being comparable in scope to the iTunes Store, and can be used to purchase individual tracks or albums

Gig Guide: Seeks out local gigs using your location as the focus. Not particularly comprehensive at this stage, but can be useful nevertheless, and hopefully will improve in scope with time.



Mix Radio: This is a fantastic facility which allows you to listen to all manner of music free of charge. This can be via a stream if you have an unlimited data feed, or a limited number of mixes can be downloaded to the Lumia for listening offline.



Mix Radio has additional capabilities for those who have a free subscription to the online Nokia Music system. Once registered, the user can ask Nokia Music to interrogate a PC with music content, uploading a profile to the Nokia Music servers. Once this is done, Nokia Music on the Lumia has the facility to listen to a personalised mix based on your musical tastes. The Personalise screen lists the genres your music falls into, showing its percentage of your total library above which is a Play button to access music based on that genre, and your personal content. This is for streaming only and these mixes cannot be downloaded, but they are very nice to have. I've found that this option plays me a mixture of tracks I already own, other material by the same artists or some similar ones from other artists.

The other screen within Mix Radio is 'Create'. This works the same way as Personalise, but your selections are entered manually as lists of favourite artists, which you can save for later access. The streamed mix is then based on those artists and their genres.



One small anomaly within the music system, is that if you leave the Nokia Music app and want to adjust the volume, or pause or skip tracks, you access the music controls as general in Windows Phone by pressing one of the volume buttons. Tapping the track details takes you back to Nokia Music as long as the track is a Mix Radio track. If it is already in your own local library however, tapping the track details opens Zune Music rather than Nokia Music. If you want to ensure returning to Nokia Music, use the task switch facility instead by a long press the 'back' button.

The supplied headset is pretty average, with a very small and fiddly button for play/pause. It does not have a microphone for telephone use and pressing the button does not accept an incoming call, nor redial an outgoing call. Essentially if you wish to make a phone call, you need to unplug the headset or use a Bluetooth device.

Nokia Maps
This is an alternative to the Windows Phone Bing powered Maps app, though for some reason the Microsoft version is on the home screen not the Nokia version. The similarities between the two are marked though they do differ in features.



For everyday use, at least in my part of West Essex, the Microsoft version is far superior, in that it's list of 'Places' far exceeds the Nokia Maps version. Both can locate me quickly using GPS and cell triangulation, but my two test 'Searches' give very different results. For no particular reason, I choose 'Pizza' as one search term, and also my own profession of an Osteopath as another one.

Bing Maps pulls up many more local 'Pizza' places than Nokia, which has its nearest hit six miles away, when Bing shows at least ten within three miles. More worryingly, my 'Osteopath' search with Nokia fails to find either my own, or five other practices in the vicinity, citing one eleven miles away as the nearest. Again, Bing finds me as the nearest and all the other ones in the region, with Nokia's offering not even making it to the page of results.



Once a search is successful, both offer the ability to select an entry from the list and contact by phone or email, or get directions to the result. Nokia Maps usefully includes a public transport option as well as walking and driving where Bing only has walking or driving. Bing has the advantage in being able to scroll the list of directions, which results in the location on the map showing the actual map detail for that turn. Tapping the screen goes back to the current location.

As both apps are included, it is a matter of personal taste which one to use for any given situation. I would, however, like to know how Nokia derives its search results- it's obviously not from Bing or Google.

Nokia Drive
This is one of Nokia's flagship Windows Phone apps and is a full turn by turn navigation system with spoken commands. A degree of internet connectivity is needed when planning a route, because the location selection and initial route planning are done on Nokia's servers then delivered back to the phone. The maps however are stored locally so once progress is underway there is no need of an online connection, even when rerouting is required.

The interface is excellent with directions and information clearly set out. The actual routing is another matter however; I have found that on a number of journeys the route taken is far longer than necessary in both time and distance. Slightly modifying the destination can give a more representative route, but that is hardly the point of a navigation program if you are unfamiliar with the destination itself. As a matter of example, I can set a route to my home postcode, which Nokia Drive selects as 27 miles and 50 minutes. This is 6 miles and 15 minutes longer than the actual journey should be. Moving the destination to a junction just 400 yards up the road sees pretty much the correct route being selected.



Facilities are limited, as may be expected with a free program. There is no multiple destination setup nor any traffic or safety camera information.



For a fuller assessment of the capabilities of Nokia Drive, please see my specific review of a comparison of this and two other current Windows Phone navigation apps. This is my overall summary in that review: "For a free program, Nokia does the job, and it has a very easy interface. Its maps and graphics are clean and modern. It can be forgiven its lack of features though the routing issues are more cause for concern. As some of this is done online I'm sure Nokia will be able to adjust some of the parameters. Fast app switching is instant, which suggests Nokia integrates well with the WP7 OS."

App Highlights
This is a sort of spotlight facility showing a selection of Apps from the Windows Phone Marketplace. It is comprised of 'cool stuff', 'top apps', 'top games' and 'starter kit' which are all pretty self explanatory. Selecting any of the listed apps opens its page in the Marketplace from where all the usual details can be seen.

One small novelty is that there is a small icon at the bottom of most screens which turns on the 'Shake your phone to be surprised' feature. A quick shake of the phone moves one of the other apps in the list to the top spot under the 'Surprise Me' heading.

App Highlights has a live tile on the homescreen with a flip side showing a different app on each flip. Tapping the tile opens App Highlights with that app as the selected suggestion.


The Lumia 800 in use

Telephony
For many people their smartphones have become information centres combining media, social networking, organisation and entertainment. For many though, the main function continues to be making phone calls and texting. So, how does the Lumia 800 stack up in everyday use? Wherever possible I will ignore the limitations imposed by the Windows Phone platform, such as the lack of Quick Dials, the awkwardness of finding a contact to ring or text and such other matters.

As I mentioned at the start, I prefer not to use the supplied skin sleeve as it adds bulk and weight. The 'bare' device has an excellent feel. The curvy sides fit into the hand well and the squared off ends offer a more firm grip when holding the phone. The 3.7" screen form factor is pretty much perfect as a telephone. It is small enough to be discreet and easy to hold to the ear for an extended conversation, but not so small that it becomes difficult to find the buttons, or that the microphone and speaker become too far from the ear and mouth.

As there is no LED indicator, it is impossible to tell if one has a missed call or voicemail. It is necessary to get into the habit of checking the device by switching it on from time to time to see if the home screen has any alerts. For those that keep their phones in pockets or handbags this could be seen as a bit of a nuisance.

Call quality is excellent, as one may expect from Nokia. I have made and received a number of calls and have not had any adverse comments from callers about voice quality. The phone speaker has a good volume and appears to be very clear. If needed the main phone speaker can be turned on using the speaker phone facility, though I never needed to do this in everyday use. The proximity sensor for preventing unwanted screen taps when held to the ear works well. The Lumia lacks the enhancements we have seen on other devices such as 'pocket mode' where the ringer is louder when the device is in a pocket, or 'flip to silence' for an incoming call, but this is a relatively small point.

Battery Life
One of the results of the Lumia's sleek unibody design is that it has an inbuilt battery which is not accessible so a quick swap for a fully charged spare is not possible. A criticism of the Lumia 800 has been related to its battery life which was compounded in some models by the battery circuitry incorrectly reporting its full capacity, further diminishing battery life. This latter problem has now been fixed by Nokia with their recent online update.

Overall I've found battery life to be no more than adequate. Even with no usage at all during the day, apart from being left on standby, I've seen the battery charge drop from 100% in the morning to 30% by 8pm. Some phone calls, web surfing and a few texts in the course of a day plus use of an Exchange email account have seen it drop down to 15% by early evening. I would anticipate that any extended use of Nokia Music or location based services would see the battery expire before the end of a working day. For me, it's not really a problem as I have a mobile power pack which can charge it up by 50% within about one hour, but some will find it more of an issue.

Screen
The AMOLED screen on the Lumia 800 is very nice to look at. It may not go as bright as S-LCD equivalents, but the colours are deep and lustrous and blacks are truly black.

One area where this type of screen has a distinct advantage is when the phone is being used as an alarm clock using a third party app. One of the limitations of WP7 is that once the screen goes into standby, running apps can get shut down. The inbuilt alarm function is basic to say the least, and it uses a fixed volume the user cannot alter which can create difficulties. Therefore although a third party alarm app can have superior functionality, it needs the phone to remain switched on and attached to a power source to avoid running the battery down and to allow the app to access its full functions.

The Lumia's AMOLED screen is perfect for this as it does not have any backlighting causing 'glow'; my HTC Titan is poor in this respect as the screen emits a significant glow due to the backlighting even when turned right down. The lack of a charging LED also helps the ambient light situation at night!

If I have one criticism of the screen, it is that it can be oversensitive to touch. Capacitive screens respond to a finger touch or drag for various responses, for instance when selecting a tile from the home screen, or scrolling the screen. With the Lumia, I often find I'm selecting things when I want to scroll. This can be annoying as it then needs the 'Back' button pressing to return to the previous screen. A specific instance of this is in the TV Guide app's settings, when selecting channels to display. This is done via a scrolling list of channels with check boxes; try as I might, I need a few attempts to scroll the list without selecting a check box by mistake.

While we're on the subject of capacitive response, I still dislike the capacitive function buttons. It is too easy to brush one by mistake and cause an unwanted action. This is most noticeable for me when using the camera; I find I can touch the 'Search' button by mistake, which opens the search screen and ruins the photo I was composing! Note this is NOT specific to the Nokia Lumia, but afflicts all the Windows Phone devices I've used.

Camera
I am not much of a mobile phone camera user, but with the advent of online photo synchronisation via Microsoft Skydrive, I've found occasions when it can be handy. The Lumia has a well specified camera with 8 megapixel resolution via a Carl Zeiss lens and dual LED flash. It is also capable of shooting 720p videos.

In the course of testing, I've noticed a few issues with the camera. Firstly the software defaults to Macro mode rather than normal shooting. A quick adjustment in the settings fixes this and Nokia have advised that there will be a fix in the next update. All the other settings are set for Normal or Auto by default so should not cause issues.

In my first round of tests I tried some indoor shots at home and in my office; taken without the flash in slightly less than optimal light conditions showed a distinct pink tinge in the centre of the shot. This was present on screen during composition and also in the exposed shot. A little background reading on the matter showed that I was not alone in seeing this. Indeed I had seen it previously in an older Windows Mobile device, the HTC HD2 which needed a ROM update to correct.



Click to view photo in native resolution

I must stress that this pink spot is only apparent in certain specific light conditions when shooting a light background subject. Nokia have been very helpful in trying to get to the bottom of it, but even a replacement review device showed the same characteristic. Colleagues in Smartphonegurus with Lumia 800's have seen the effect to a much lesser extent so it may be related to a particular hardware batch.

In decent light conditions the Lumia is capable of some very good photos for its resolution. The flash is a little under powered being LED, but is just about adequate. My old HTC Mozart with its Xenon flash was a lot better, but Xenon flashes seem to have disappeared from the current crop of phones!

Here are some daytime shots taken last week in good bright daylight. Please click the text under the photos to open them in full native resolution. To my eye, the colours are natural and resolution shows some good detail.



Click to view photo in native resolution



Click to view photo in native resolution



Click to view photo in native resolution

The autofocus works well, as can be seen by the shot through the railings into the courtyard. In common with other Windows Phone devices, the Lumia has a 'touch to focus and shoot' facility- tapping the subject on the screen can cause the focus to centre and then expose the shot automatically. Alternatively a half press on the camera button sets the focus and a full press takes the shot.


Pros and Cons

Form factor as a phone
Build quality
Nokia exclusive program additions
Sound quality
Camera quality in good light
Screen characteristics

Form factor for reading and web browsing
Camera performance in some light conditions
Touch screen can be over sensitive
Battery life
Lack of notification LED
Poor network setup for some providers


Conclusion - NeilM

The Lumia 800 is a very important phone for both Nokia and Microsoft. Nokia have placed a great emphasis on their transition from Symbian to Windows Phone in their smartphone sector and Microsoft needed a strong partner to push Windows Phone 7 to newer markets.

I'm sure both are happy with the start that's been made. The Lumia 800 is a classy phone which has excellent build quality. For the first time ever, I've had people see me using the phone and without prompting say 'That's a nice phone- what is it?' allowing me to show off the Nokia and Windows Phone 7 to them. It's actually happened to me twice and neither time was it a 'phone geek' making the comment!

As a phone the Lumia does everything asked of it. Call quality is good; general sound quality for music is very good, especially with decent earphones and as I've said in the review it feels really nice in the hand. There are some drawbacks- these relate to both the Windows Phone operating system, and some specific device characteristics.

For me, the biggest device related problems are the battery life and the camera issues. It is pretty certain that a hotfix will solve the camera problems but I'm not sure about the battery. I'll just keep a top up charger handy for heavy use days!.

As a smartphone, for me the Lumia 800 is just a little too small. The 3.7" screen is beautiful to look at, but I've come to like larger screens for their ease of reading web pages, ebooks and so forth.

For a first generation device from a manufacturer new to a platform this is an excellent start. I'm looking forward eagerly to see what Nokia can come up with next!

 Section from 'The Guru'
 
O2 Specific branding

We've also been lucky enough to be provided with a Nokia 800 from O2 which exhibits a few special touches from O2 which include:



The O2 coloured theme - which interestingly enough if you choose to select it the Nokia 800 advises against being used. This is of course as the 800 has an AMOLED screen which means that any black pixels shown on the display are actually turned off and use no battery power. As the O2 theme is pale blue on white which uses more power the phone recommends that the dark colour scheme is used which will extend battery life.



O2 Also provide you with their two custom Applications; The O2 app and O2 Priority Moments.

The 'O2' app allows you to access:

• My O2 - Shortcut to the 'O2 Active' mobile web portal
• O2 Home - Erm right, this is yet another shortcut to the 'O2 Active' mobile web portal
• O2 Gurus - Access to the O2 Gurus whereby you can book an appointment with a Guru, access hints and tips via the 'O2 GuruTV' video system
• Priority Moments - Takes you to the 'O2 Priority Moments' app in the marketplace
• Priority Tickets - Gives you the opportunity to purchase concert and other tickets at subsidised rates
• More From O2 - Shortcut to the 'More from O2' mobile web portal. You can access O2 Broadband, O2 International, O2 Rewards, O2 Shop, O2 Think Big, or O2 Recycle
• News - Latest news from O2's UK business Blog

The 'O2 Priority Moments' app allows you to configure and access:

• Preferences - Access your location - On / Off
• Offer expiry reminders - On / Off
• Live Tiles enabled - On / Off

View all moments - The 'moment's or offers are split down into categories:

• Saved
• Shopping
• Entertainment
• Food and Drink
• Travel
• Health and Beauty

This allows you to access O2 specific deals and offers that are geographically close to you.

Conclusion - The Guru

Having used the Nokia 800 for over 5 weeks now I consider it my favourite WindowsPhone so far. When used 'naked' without the rubber skin it feels svelte and slight in the hand with the polycarbonate giving you a warm comfortable feeling when in use. Couple that with a stunningly bright AMOLED screen and you have a phone that you enjoy holding and looking at. For me the form factor is a little small, but as Windowsphones are relatively lo-res as to the screen it works. The Live Tiles appear clear and sharp and the whole phone oozes quality - it's gained quite a few 'wow' comments from colleagues at work - and we are taking regular folks here not uber geeks.

In operation the N800 is smooth and slick and at no time does the system lag or fail to perform. Voice quality is also good with no distortion or lack of volume. Music playback is good, both from music stored on the phone as well as streamed via the Nokia 'mix' service.

The added Nokia specific apps work very well indeed and on two occasions Nokia Drive has produced a route for a journey with more accuracy than Navigon. There is room for improvement with the apps, but as these are first generation I'm sure those improvements will come.

Personally I find the screen wonderful for eBook reading and viewing holiday photographs (even in bright sunlight), etc and the phone a positive pleasure to use. The only flaw for me in the design is a lack of a front facing camera and the somewhat flimsy hinged protective cover over the micro-USB port.

I can agree with Neil that I've seen the pink spot issue with the camera but on my machine it seems to be much less of an issue, occuring only in poorly lit indoor conditions.

The 800 serves me well as a stylish and pocketable phone that with or without the protective sleeve fitted feels robust and capable of surviving the rigors of modern life. Mine has been dropped accidently onto a concrete floor from a height of about three feet and survived without a blemish.

Pros and Cons

Form factor
Build quality / construction
Nokia exclusive program additions
Sound quality
Clear well lit screen

Camera performance in some light conditions
Battery life
Lack of notification LED

Reviewer's Edit
Since completing the review of the Lumia 800, there have been a number of fixes, app updates and additions and some ROM updates.

The last week of March saw some significant changes which I've tried to address as an addendum to the third post in this thread.

My conclusion is that the current changes give the Lumia 800 significant enhancements as well as addressing specific usability issues with the camera. These all go to enhance my recommendation that the Nokia Lumia 800 is a very good Windows Phone device indeed and is up there with the best of all smartphones whatever the OS!