Nokia Lumia 800: What the experts think
By Alex Bentley on November 7,
 2011 at 00:00,

Nokia Lumia 800 Windows PhoneWith the Nokia Lumia 800 due in-stores on the 16th November, the global tech press has already got its hands on the stylish new smartphone and the verdict is in; the Nokia Lumia 800 is the world’s best Windows Phone! We’ve been taking a look at what journalists around the world have been saying and what they've most been impressed with.

Nokia Lumia 800: Top 10 things we already love!

Wired was one of the first to sing the Lumia 800’s praises, with Gadget Lab’s Charlie Sorrel saying, “the hot-looking Lumia 800 might actually be the first real Windows Phone.” He went on to say, “the handsets are pretty much state-of-the-art…and the prices are also pretty competitive” and finished up with “The Lumia 800 has the potential to be huge”, showing just how popular the stunning Nokia Lumia 800 is already proving to be.

The Independent’s David Phelan was even more taken with the new Nokia Windows Phone, saying, “the [Lumia 800] has arrived…and it’s amazing.” It was the hardware, in particular, that impressed Phelan the most, with him stating, “The powerful processor [is] dizzyingly fast, with a superbly responsive touchscreen" and "the eight-megapixel camera…delivers great images effortlessly."

Pocket Lint was just as impressed with the Nokia Lumia 800, with founder Stuart Miles saying, “put against the latest batch of Windows Phone 7 devices…the Nokia Lumia 800 looks to be the one that stands out the most”. And Miles also agrees that the Lumia 800 shows just how shoddy it makes rival Windows Phones look, saying, “It makes the HTC Radar look boring, and gives the HTC Titan (with its poor screen resolution) a good run for its money in performance.”

UK gadget fans T3 were particularly fond of the Lumia 800’s stunning style and impressive design quality, with Luke Johnson saying, “the Nokia Lumia 800 cuts an impressive visual appearance…the handset feels reassuringly solid in the hand and satisfactory sturdy whilst remaining light, sleek and certainly pocketable.”

He was also quick to note how the Lumia 800 is clearly the first Windows Phone set to make a strong mark in the smartphone market, stating, “the Nokia Lumia 800 is on track to become the first Windows Phone 7 device to bother the smartphone market leaders.” And finished up with, “Nokia’s reputation in the consumer market is sure to see this specs impressive handset take the Microsoft OS into new ground.”

The smartphone experts at TechRadar also liked what they saw during their time with the Nokia Lumia 800. TechRadar’s Gareth Beavis was particularly impressed with the Lumia 800’s camera, saying “Nokia has managed to differentiate itself from the pack over the years…through the camera, and that seems to be the same again here…The high quality 8MP camera with dual LED flash and Carl Zeiss optics certainly lives up to its reputation…with photos looking sharp and crisp on the OLED screen.

And it’s not just the camera that Beavis was impressed by; he also felt the Lumia 800 provides a great all-in-one package that has the potential to be a great success for Nokia, stating, “One thing's for certain: this is the best Nokia smartphone we've seen for a while…It's got a great camera, really premium design and should come with a lower price tag to boot.”

And finally, CNET UK agreed that the Nokia Lumia 800 is the best Windows phone you can buy and that it is sure to be a hugely competitive rival to its peers in the smartphone market, with CNET’s Andrew Hoyle saying. “If you want a Windows Phone, this looks like the one to get -- it's beautifully made, with a gorgeous screen and…a very good camera” and “From what we've seen so far…we expect the 800 to put up a decent fight against the big boys.”

With such positive reactions in the press and handsets already available for pre-order and on the way in the next few weeks, the Nokia Lumia 800 looks like it’s set to be a huge success for Nokia. When Nokia CEO Stephen Elop said the Lumia 800 is the ‘first REAL Windows Phone’ he was absolutely right and we can’t wait to start using it as our main handset.

But what do you think of the Lumia 800? Are you already sold on its great design and Windows Phone interface, or are you more excited about some other of its flagship features? Why not let us know in the Comments below.

  • http://www.segana.co.uk segana

    I think the Lumia 800 is a great looking phone and is the device I’ve been waiting for to tempt me over from Android, which is why I pre-ordered it the day after it was announced. Can’t wait to own my first Windows Phone on the 16th.

  • http://www.segana.co.uk segana

    I think the Lumia 800 is a great looking phone and is the device I’ve been waiting for to tempt me over from Android, which is why I pre-ordered it the day after it was announced. Can’t wait to own my first Windows Phone on the 16th.

  • http://twitter.com/sillyandlazy home comp

    512mb Ram
    single core
    small screen
    small resolution
    no sd card slot
    heavy
    weak battery
    AND cost more then 4s.
    No thanks.

  • Anonymous

    Its just the Price of Lumia 800 that might not attract buyers,with no front camera an micro sd slot ,Nokia N8 still more value an features than the Lumia 800

  • Tiekone

    Small screen? What about iphone 4s then? I don’t get why 3.7 inches screen is small. It depends on what people want so cannot be a negative. I personally don’t like big phones.

  • Alex

    Firstly I think Nokia and Apple both have it right with screen sizes, the products look distinctive, different from all the boring grey plastic 4.6″ Android slabs out there. I’ve used a HTC Sensation before, and it barely fit in my jeans pocket, I was scared half the time that I might break the thing when trying to sit down. Nokia N8, Lumia, Apple iPhone 4S are the perfect size. I think the Lumia 800 is one of the finest looking phones ever made from a design point of view. You can’t talk about specs and processors, ram etc al day, to the average consumer this means nothing.

    If a phone has stable software, does all the every day tasks like web browsing, email, facebook, twitter etc, messaging to a high standard, the most people won’t care. Motorola had huge success with the Razr franchise, the original iPhone had nothing special in terms of hardware, but it was distinctive and stood out at the time and sold well. Well I’m not a huge fan of the Lumia, it has too many missing features and low end hardware, for me as a tech geek, but I’m pretty confident that I am not Nokia’s target audience. This phone is for the masses, not for tech geeks like me and I get that, I just hope Nokia also make a quad core beast for geeks like me next year lol. I mean Nvidia have already announced Tegra 3 today, I hope Nokia do a deal with them and get that Tegra chip into their phones!

  • Sunshine

    1. it doesn’t need a dual core as the OS has been written to delivery fast performance
    2. how is a 3.7″ screen small
    3. heavy; you must be a girl!
    4. why do you need an SD card slot? sWindows SkyDrive allows 25GB of free online space!
    5. How does it cost more than a 4s??? 12 month contract £36 p/m phone costs £99 VS 12 month contract £59 p/m phone costs £99 (dial-a-phone vodaphone network).

  • Yeptruthhurts

    we get it, over and over again…you’re a geek

    but i think if you dont have the nokia n900 or the n9 you’re just a regular consumer (because these phones were targeted for ‘geeks’ and not for everybody

    a quad core beast would be nice but so what…if you cant mod or root access all the hardware/kernel/software you’re just using it like a regular consumer.

  • YEPTRUTHHURTS

    512mb ram JUST LIKE IPHONE

    no sd card slot JUST LIKE IPHONE

    weak battery…STOP LYING…LUMNIA HAS 20mAh MORE AND LASTS LONGER IN STANDBY AND TALK TIME in 3G THAN IPHONE4s

    weighs 5GRAMS MORE THAN IPHONE…STOP CRYING AND GO TO THE GYM

    LUMNIA HAS LARGER SCREEN..NOT SMALLER

    the iphone has a 1ghz dual core cpu…are you going to tell a difference from the 1.4 ghz single core cpu in the lumnia…NO…

    the iphone has a better rez screen no contest but unless you’ve got them side by side, you’re not going to miss it

    costs more????? how do you compare the price of the carrier locked subsidized iphone4s with an unlocked open nokia lumnia? thats crazy talk….the proposed unlocked iphone4s which may not happen has a price of 649$ (16GB version) and the lumnia is 584$ (16GB)

    STOP TALKING CRAP

  • Les_kayday

    Just pre-ordered my new lumia for delivery on the 16th Nov.
    Previously had samsung galaxy s, great phone but had trouble syncing with kyes on my lap top.
    Galaxy s 2, great phone, but fond it a little on the large size to fit in your pocket, great app’s on android but most of them are just gimmicks.
    Then got myself a Samsung omnia 7 windows phone, loved it, great operating system, great screen, live tiles are great and let you see whats happening without having to flit from page to page.
    Syn’cs harmoniously with all my e.mail accounts, window’s live, google and facebook, does just what it say’s on the tin and is a joy to use, can’t wait for my new nokia lumia.
    Home comp above must be on drugs, dearer than I phone 4s, how, got mine on orange from phones 4u for £33-50 a month, 900 minutes, unlimited text and 1gig data, I don’t think so, can’t wait for it to arrive.

  • APai

    the same hardware as N9, but N9 does not get such praise. meego seems better than wp7, I dont see wp7 being praised elsewhere, there’s hardly any talk of wp7 in tech mags, sites, except ones with microsoft slant. will wait and watch if windows phones fly off the shelf for a long time.

  • Bailey

    I don’t think they will make a quad core phone there is no need for it. As for the limitations has not got the same as the iphone with its no sd slot and it sells in the millions and most people I know have the 16gb version. I don’t mind that the screen is 3.7 as the Android whoppers are starting to be really stupid to hold. As an Android user i have asked the question time and time again how comes Android is still laggy? how comes that we have dual core and are now moving to quad core yet we still don’t have anything in the market that makes real use of this power? How comes a under spec under powered phone has had more press coverage and more interest good and bad than all the dual core phones that have been released lately? How comes with is single core its so silky smooth? I think in part its down to the fact that Nokia have made a phone that’s lust worthy for all the Samsung galaxy nexus power the phone is way to big for the average cosumer and is made out of ugly cheap looking plastic the screen is amazing but the shell is dull.

  • Mark Tetley

    If you were a tech geek then you’d know that WP7 is fast and stable on a single core and that it doesn’t actually support multiple cores yet as there is no need and it would completely destroy the battery life. Apparently you just want the smartphone equivalent of a Ferrari not an actual phone

  • d1ck0

    I’ve just got a Nokia 800 Lumia and I think its fantastic ! , screen size is just right , the voice control is around 65% correct but learns as you use it , xbox live intergration is just cool ! , plus its just a so silky smooth OS its unreal !.

    Negative point are that the new Nokia Drive software is NOWHERE near as good as what OVI maps was (considering Nokia Maps is supposed to be an update to the previous version) , you carnt slide screen to see next turn , motorway junction numbers are missing , no street name reading , BUT the GPS does lock on exceptionally fast. I am hoping that more updates will be on the way for Nokia Drive.

  • Bharat

    You are right… But Windows Phone is the future..
    Microsoft has the best of talent in its house and they can really make wonders happen.. From what I have seen being delivered from microsoft( Right from development tools like Visual studio to XBox ) they have a starting problem. But once they get control over the situation, you can see all the wonders in a smartphone from them.

    Way to go Microsoft…..

  • Bharat

    You are right… But Windows Phone is the future..
    Microsoft has the best of talent in its house and they can really make wonders happen.. From what I have seen being delivered from microsoft( Right from development tools like Visual studio to XBox ) they have a starting problem. But once they get control over the situation, you can see all the wonders in a smartphone from them.

    Way to go Microsoft…..

  • terry wassall

    i have just ordered one on t mobile can not wait 2 day to get nokia allways get it wright
    can not make video calls who wonts to at 050p a min
    i have had noika phones since 1993 and never looked back