The Nokia Lumia 800 is here, packing Windows Phone 7.5, an amazing screen and a touch-and-feel that has to be experienced to be believed. What’s more, it crams in enough features to make you consider hanging up your Nokia N8. Find out what we mean with our Nokia Lumia 800 hardware review.
Sure, the Nokia Lumia 800 takes all its design cues from the Nokia N9, there is no denying the fact, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a device in its own right. There are two things that immediately stand out about the Nokia Lumia 800, the first is the slightly curved screen, which kisses either side of the body, so images fill the whole display and really pop out. The second is the build quality, as it feels rock solid and robust to the touch.
Check out our Nokia Lumia 800 unboxing review
When Stephen Elop announced the Nokia Lumia 800 as the first ‘real’ Windows Phone he wasn’t joking, or playing up to the crowd. Here we take a look at the build quality and overall design of the Windows Phone to beat all others.
Nokia Lumia 800: Build quality
The Nokia Lumia 800 is a highly crafted and neatly detailed smartphone that feels fantastic in the hand. We had reservations that a 3.7-inch screen would be too big but as long term Nokia N8 users, it pretty much shares the same footprint, so if you’re worried about the size you needn’t be worried.
The screen is a touchscreen panel with AMOLED, Gorilla Glass and ClearBlack Display technology, which is a pretty huge hit list for one device but what it means in real terms is that you can use it in just about any lighting condition and not find yourself angling or squinting the screen to see what it says.
To be honest, if there is one problem with the Nokia Lumia 800 it’s that it’s something of a fingerprint magnet and you will find yourself wiping it down on a regular basis. That said, it’s worth it as the slight curve to the glass does make this one of the most pleasurable smartphone screens we’ve used, ever!
Nokia Lumia 800: Design and layout 
When it comes to ports and button layout on the Nokia Lumia 800 you’ll find that less is certainly more. Below the screen you’ll find three touchscreen buttons, Back, Home and Search, which can be activated with a delicate touch. These work exceedingly well, but you do need to be wary of accidentally tapping the Search button as it has a tendency to rush off and load Bing search for you, which can be annoying at times.
On the top of the Nokia Lumia 800 you’ll find two ports, one with a push operating cover, the other with a slide and open approach, which are for the microUSB charge and connect port and microSIM slot, respectively.
On the right-hand side of the Nokia Lumia 800 you’ll find the only dedicated hardware buttons, with combined Volume buttons, which also double as Zoom for the camera, a Screenlock button and a dedicated Capture button for the camera. The buttons push nicely out from the body but if you’re using the supplied silicon jacket, you’ll find they sit nicely flush with the jacket.
We’ve been highly impressed with the look and feel of the Nokia Lumia 800. It feels great in the hand, it’s highly responsive to the touch and we’re enjoying simply using the smartphone every day.
Nokia Lumia 800: tech spec and performance 
When it comes to the tech spec tucked away inside, you’ll find the Nokia Lumia 800 is built around a 1.4GHz single-core processor and runs the Windows Phone 7.5 operating system. You’ll find that it’s backed by 512MB of RAM and even comes with a dedicated graphics controller, in the form of the Adreno 205 GPU.
While tech-heads will rattle on that you need a dual-core processor to be current, we’ll let them sound-off in their own space and simply say that the Nokia Lumia 800 is fast, more than fast enough to load apps with ease. You won’t find any lag or delay when loading an image, or the web browser and moving around is easy.
The main reason for this is that Microsoft has worked on Windows Phone to reduce the footprint, so it works effortlessly on a 1GHz processor, so for the Nokia Lumia 800 there is plenty of headroom to spare.
If you’re wondering if the Adreno GPU is worth getting excited about, well we’ve been playing Jet Car Stunts, Kinectimals and even the latest Earthworm Jim HD and found it quick and nimble and pushing some serious colours out.
Nokia Lumia 800: Windows Phone OS For many people the Nokia Lumia 800 will be their first experience of the Windows Phone platform and while there has been plenty of discussion around the fact it hasn’t made the market penetration it should have done, now there is the Nokia Lumia 800 we’re bound to see that start to change!
Windows Phone OS on the Nokia Lumia 800 follows the standard tile-based layout that is common across the platform, apart from there are a host of Nokia specific apps, such as Nokia Drive, Nokia Maps and Nokia Music to name three. However, rather than being static icons, these tiles have been designed to be Live Tiles, so they change and update whenever something new arises. For example, whenever you get an email, Facebook update, or text.
It’s a great way to interact with the Nokia Lumia 800, as it means you can simply give it a glance and if nothing has changed, move on. However, if there is a change you’ll spot it right away without having to tap down into the application, which is a real time saver.
We have to admit, Microsoft is playing something of a game of catch-up in terms of apps, but the marketplace seems to be adding apps on an almost hourly rate. That said, you’ll find the Nokia Lumia 800 pretty much delivers everything you need straight from the box and the extra Nokia apps certainly help it stand out from other Windows Phone devices out there.
Nokia Lumia 800: Camera and video playback 
The Nokia Lumia 800 was never intended to be an enthusiasts device, like the Nokia N8 and its whopping 12-Megapixel. Rather, it's very much a mainstream device for the every man/woman out there. That said, the use of an 8-megapixel camera is still seen as a premium inclusion in the mainstream and with the addition of dual-LED Flash and Carl Zeiss you'll find this is certainly a cut-above what the competition will be offering.
We'll be running a separate and more detailed camera review of the Nokia Lumia 800 in the next few days but from our initial testing getting the hang of the Windows Phone layout and software is fairly intuitive and the screen makes for an excellent viewfinder. Image quality has proven more than acceptable, with the dual-Flash making sure that indoor shots are well lit.
As you would expect from a modern smartphone like the Nokia Lumia 800, you'll find that video plays an equal part of the multimedia experience and serves up slices of home video at a resolution of 720p, so ideal for watching on your HD TV.
If there is one problem we've found with the camera and video on the Nokia Lumia 800 it's to do with the placement of the camera itself, which is quite central to the body of the device. Now, this is great for getting things in line with the viewfinder but it does mean that you need to be careful not to get fingers in shot!
Nokia Lumia 800: Storage and backup 
The Nokia Lumia 800 has caused a little controversy with the naysayers by not coming with any form of built-in memory expansion, so you won't find a microSD slot tucked away on this Windows Phone smartphone. That said, you will find the Nokia Lumia 800 comes with 16GB of internal memory, which is more than enough for most users as it allows for hundreds of hours of music and movies along with all the apps you can ever wish to access.
The thing is, you may not need extra memory, as the Nokia Lumia 800 comes with access to Microsoft's online backup solution, SkyDrive, which gives you access to 25GB of online storage all for free. All you need to do is signup to get an account and you're off.
Then again, if you're worried about storage space then you don't even need to store music on your Nokia Lumia 800, as you can simply take advantage of the Nokia Radio Mix software that comes as part of Nokia Music. As long as you have a connection you can stream music from any genre or style you like. What's more, if you just happen to want to download the odd track or two to listen to when offline, you can do so.
Nokia Lumia 800: Conclusion 
The Nokia Lumia 800 is a bold new day for Nokia and we have to say the company has hit the ground running. The hardware on the Nokia Lumia 800 lives up to what we were hoping for, with a build quality and attention to detail few can match and no one will doubt. The fact the Nokia Lumia 800 is also fast, responsive and a pleasure to use will be apparent as soon as you start to use it.