The sleekest Windows Phone handset yet
UPDATE: We've now published our full studio gallery of shots with the phone ahead of our full review coming very soon - check out page two to see our in-depth photos.
Nokia has unveiled its badly-kept secret at Nokia World 2011, with the Lumia 800 finally getting an official outing.
We were big fans of the Nokia N9 when it was shown off a few months ago, but after it was sadly canned for UK shores we thought we'd never see the design again.
But it turns out the N9 was shunted to make way for the Lumia 800, which is basically the same handset, but rebooted to run Windows Phone 7.5.
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.
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 microSIM slot.
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, so hopefully Nokia rectifies this for the final release version of the phone.
We've already covered the new and fancy features of Windows Phone 7.5 in-depth, so if you want to know what options you'll get with Microsoft's new OS, give that a gander.
The first up is Nokia Drive, the first free turn-by-turn navigation software for Windows Phone. It's a very simple system that borrows a lot from Nokia Maps on Symbian, but does so in a much simpler way.
There's not much more to it than being able to select a destination and then getting voice directions, but that's not to say it's a bad system, with the large OLED screen providing very clear routes.
We also like being able to store maps offline so you're not constantly hoovering down data on the go - while this is minimal on most handsets, it does bother some, so it's good Nokia has looked to rectify this.
Nokia Music is the next service the Finns have stuffed onto the phone, and one we were very interested to try out, as it promises access to new music with no logins or the like needed.
It's not a lot more than a pre-built list of songs Nokia thinks you'll enjoy grouped by genre... it's more Last.fm in terms of music discovery than Spotify, but it does seem to learn rather quickly what sort of music you're into.
We couldn't test the full quality of the service - you'll have to wait for our full Nokia Lumia 800 review for that one - but we do like being able to store the songs offline for when you're travelling without signal - it will be interesting to find out how Nokia managed to square that deal with the labels.
There's also an option to download songs from the MP3 store and these appear to range from 79p to 99p, which seems fairly reasonable.
The other extra on board is the ESPN application, which we couldn't get working in our test sample - but we're promised it will bring a new level of interactivity for following your favourite team, so we're looking forward to giving that one a try.
In our opinion, one of the main ways Nokia has managed to differentiate itself from the pack over the years is through the camera, and that seems to be the same again here with the Lumia 800.
The high quality 8MP camera with dual LED flash and Carl Zeiss optics certainly lives up to its reputation on the new phone, with photos looking sharp and crisp on the OLED screen.
It's also got a rather quick shutter speed for a camera that's not pulling from dual-core power, with the camera ready to snap again in under a second each time. We also like being told how to get better pics from the phone using the auto focus, something we can see many new users really enjoying should they be unfamiliar with high end camera phones.
The last thing we want to talk about is the OLED screen - it's top notch in our view thanks to the ClearBlack display. One of the things we like about OLED tech is the ability to still read the screen in direct sunlight, and although we only used a lamp in our tests, the overall visibility was still high.
While the display on offer here didn't reach the heady heights of Samsung Galaxy S2's Super AMOLED Plus quality, it's still more than good enough for watching movies and the like on the go.
Nokia Lumia 800 early verdict
It's hard to get an accurate feeling about Nokia's new partnership with Microsoft - on the one hand it feels like an admission of failure for its own ability to create a user experience, on the other, you have to hope it's cut its losses in enough time,
Windows Phone Mango is a step forward for both parties, but it's not a market leading OS just yet. However, will the combination of trust for the Nokia brand plus the slick and easy interface be a winner for consumers?
One thing's for certain: this is the best Nokia smartphone we've seen for a while (well, apart from the N9, but we're not allowed to mention that in the UK, remember?). It's got a great camera, really premium design and should come with a lower price tag to boot.
It's not the most advanced or cutting edge piece of technology on the market, and there are still a number of features we want to see, but if Nokia can start to exert some influence on Microsoft for the future of Windows Phone, this could become a very fruitful partnership indeed.
Nokia has unveiled its badly-kept secret at Nokia World 2011, with the Lumia 800 finally getting an official outing.
We were big fans of the Nokia N9 when it was shown off a few months ago, but after it was sadly canned for UK shores we thought we'd never see the design again.
But it turns out the N9 was shunted to make way for the Lumia 800, which is basically the same handset, but rebooted to run Windows Phone 7.5.
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.
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 microSIM slot.
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, so hopefully Nokia rectifies this for the final release version of the phone.
We've already covered the new and fancy features of Windows Phone 7.5 in-depth, so if you want to know what options you'll get with Microsoft's new OS, give that a gander.
- Windows Phone 7.5 Mango review
The first up is Nokia Drive, the first free turn-by-turn navigation software for Windows Phone. It's a very simple system that borrows a lot from Nokia Maps on Symbian, but does so in a much simpler way.
There's not much more to it than being able to select a destination and then getting voice directions, but that's not to say it's a bad system, with the large OLED screen providing very clear routes.
We also like being able to store maps offline so you're not constantly hoovering down data on the go - while this is minimal on most handsets, it does bother some, so it's good Nokia has looked to rectify this.
Nokia Music is the next service the Finns have stuffed onto the phone, and one we were very interested to try out, as it promises access to new music with no logins or the like needed.
It's not a lot more than a pre-built list of songs Nokia thinks you'll enjoy grouped by genre... it's more Last.fm in terms of music discovery than Spotify, but it does seem to learn rather quickly what sort of music you're into.
We couldn't test the full quality of the service - you'll have to wait for our full Nokia Lumia 800 review for that one - but we do like being able to store the songs offline for when you're travelling without signal - it will be interesting to find out how Nokia managed to square that deal with the labels.
There's also an option to download songs from the MP3 store and these appear to range from 79p to 99p, which seems fairly reasonable.
The other extra on board is the ESPN application, which we couldn't get working in our test sample - but we're promised it will bring a new level of interactivity for following your favourite team, so we're looking forward to giving that one a try.
In our opinion, one of the main ways Nokia has managed to differentiate itself from the pack over the years is through the camera, and that seems to be the same again here with the Lumia 800.
The high quality 8MP camera with dual LED flash and Carl Zeiss optics certainly lives up to its reputation on the new phone, with photos looking sharp and crisp on the OLED screen.
It's also got a rather quick shutter speed for a camera that's not pulling from dual-core power, with the camera ready to snap again in under a second each time. We also like being told how to get better pics from the phone using the auto focus, something we can see many new users really enjoying should they be unfamiliar with high end camera phones.
The last thing we want to talk about is the OLED screen - it's top notch in our view thanks to the ClearBlack display. One of the things we like about OLED tech is the ability to still read the screen in direct sunlight, and although we only used a lamp in our tests, the overall visibility was still high.
While the display on offer here didn't reach the heady heights of Samsung Galaxy S2's Super AMOLED Plus quality, it's still more than good enough for watching movies and the like on the go.
Nokia Lumia 800 early verdict
It's hard to get an accurate feeling about Nokia's new partnership with Microsoft - on the one hand it feels like an admission of failure for its own ability to create a user experience, on the other, you have to hope it's cut its losses in enough time,
Windows Phone Mango is a step forward for both parties, but it's not a market leading OS just yet. However, will the combination of trust for the Nokia brand plus the slick and easy interface be a winner for consumers?
One thing's for certain: this is the best Nokia smartphone we've seen for a while (well, apart from the N9, but we're not allowed to mention that in the UK, remember?). It's got a great camera, really premium design and should come with a lower price tag to boot.
It's not the most advanced or cutting edge piece of technology on the market, and there are still a number of features we want to see, but if Nokia can start to exert some influence on Microsoft for the future of Windows Phone, this could become a very fruitful partnership indeed.
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