As the Nokia Lumia 800’s UK release approaches and with handsets already available for pre-order, we’ve been looking at the best offers that are currently available, to see how monthly tariff costs compare to its main rivals. Today we’ve been pitting the Lumia 800 against the Apple iPhone 4S.

Nokia Lumia 800: Top 10 things we already love!

When the Nokia Lumia 800 arrives in UK stores on the 16th November, it will be available through a choice of retailers and service providers. Carphone Warehouse, Phones 4U, Orange, Three and Vodafone will all be supplying the Nokia Lumia 800 on the day of release and you can even place your order now, to bag yourself this great Nokia Windows Phone on the day of release.

To check out just how much you can pick up the Nokia Lumia 800 for, first we popped over to Carphone Warehouse, where we found they’re offering the Nokia Lumia 800 on a choice of Orange and Vodafone tariffs. The most affordable Orange tariff they currently have is a 24-month contract that nets you the Lumia 800 handset for free for a contract fee of just £26 per month.

You have a choice of two tariffs at this price. One gives you 200 minutes, unlimited texts and 750MB of data, while the other nets you 400 minutes, unlimited texts and 250MB of data, letting you choose the right tariff for you, whether you’re a frequent-caller or prefer to use your phone for browsing the internet. These tariffs work out at £624 over the life of the contract.

In contrast, the Apple iPhone 4S is available on 24-month Orange contract through Carphone Warehouse for £36 per month, with the handset costing you £99.99. For this you get 300 minutes, unlimited texts and 1GB of data, with the tariff working out at £963.99 over the life of the contract – a whopping £339.99 more than the Nokia Lumia 800 would cost you.

If you choose to opt for a Vodafone contract through Carphone Warehouse, the Nokia Lumia 800 is again available for £26 per month on a 24-month contract, with the handset costing you nothing. For this you get 100 minutes, 500 texts and 250MB of data, costing you £624 over the life of the contract.

The Apple iPhone 4S is also available on 24-month Vodafone contract through Carphone Warehouse for £26 per month, but the handset will cost you £239, making the overall cost £863 - £239 more than it would cost you to take home the Nokia Lumia 800. For this you get the same 100 minutes, 500 texts and 250MB of data.

Next we checked out what Phones 4U is offering and found the exact same deals for both the Nokia Lumia 800 and Apple iPhone 4S, if you choose to sign up for a 24-month contract with Vodafone. However, Phones 4U is offering a slightly different set of deals if you choose to buy the Nokia Lumia 800 and Apple iPhone 4S on 24-month contract with Orange.

Picking up the Lumia 800 on Orange through Phones 4U will get you the handset for free on 24-month contract for £26 per month. For this you get 400 minutes, 3000 texts and 250MB of data and the tariff will cost you £624 over the life of the contract.

The Apple iPhone 4S, however, is available on 24-month contract with Orange through Phones 4U, for just £20 per month, although the catch is that the handset will set you back £309.99. This gives you a total of £789.99 over the life of the contract - £165.99 more than the Lumia 800. And for this you only get 50 minutes, 50 texts and 100MB of data.

Wherever you look, it’s pretty clear that the Nokia Lumia 800 isn’t just the world’s best Windows Phone, it's also one of the best high-end smartphone deals you can find in the run up to Christmas, saving you hundreds of pounds against the Apple iPhone 4S. And, we should note, that the prices we’ve quoted here are for the entry-level 16GB iPhone 4S; the 32GB and 64GB models will cost you significantly more.

To check out the full list of Nokia Lumia 800 pre-order deals, you can visit the Nokia UK pre-order page, and you can also browse the current deals available through Carphone Warehouse and Phones 4U.