I used to be a Nokia user before I bought the Samsung Galaxy S II last year and the switch from Symbian to Android was a good one. Just when I thought I won't be considering another Nokia phone anytime soon, Bryan handed me a Nokia Lumia 800 after his wedding ceremony last week for a quick review of this latest smartphone running Windows Phone OS. Well, I'll have to say that this new phone running on a new platform changed my perception towards Nokia phone based on my previous experience.
Nokia Lumia 800 sports a nice exterior design and very comfy to hold. It has a body made from a single piece of molded Polycarbonate, so there's no easy way to remove the battery without removing the screws. It doesn't matter much to me but it could be a concern to people who like to change phone battery. Display on Nokia Lumia 800 looks very vibrant, despite having a smaller screen size as compare to my Galaxy S II.
I'm satisfied with the performance of the 8 megapixel rear camera of Nokia Lumia 800 even though it lacks a built-in feature to take panorama picture. The camera interface is simple and it comes with some general settings such as scenes, white balance, exposure, ISO, effects and contrast. I like the fact that users are able to take a picture either with the dedicated camera button on the phone or tapping on the screen. However, one thing lacking is that the Nokia Lumia 800 does not have a front facing camera which is essential to make face-to-face video call.
While the gorgeous phone design deserves its credit, to me the real deal in Nokia Lumia 800 is the Windows Phone operating system running inside it. The operating system is fast and it produces zero lag when scrolling or launching an application. The home screen of Windows Phone is made up of metro-style live tiles. Information are shown on these live tiles from the respective applications. Similar to the widgets on Android phone, these animated live tiles on Windows Phone makes the main screen even more fun to look at.
Windows Phone might be new in the industry but it is packed with many cool and unique features and I particularly like People Hub, Me Hub and Linked Inbox. People Hub is an information center connecting social networks I frequent such as Facebook, Twitter and Windows Live. All updates from these social networks are shown in a status stream and I can choose to display updates from all networks or individual one. In People Hub, I can check Facebook or Twitter update and reply to them very quickly and effortlessly.
Me Hub is where I can post updates across different social networks at one go. Saves time and there is no need to post the same status updates on diffrent social networking platforms. I can view comments in Facebook and reply to Twitter at one go from the Notification tab in Me Hub.
As I can see, Facebook services are deeply integrated into Windows Phone. For example, I can check into places using Facebook Places in Me Hub. Facebook Chat is also integrated into the Messaging feature of Windows Phone so I can always stay connected with people in my contact either via SMS or Facebook Chat.
Linked Inbox is another feature that I like. It allows me to link multiple email inboxes into a unified mailbox and shows all emails in a single view. I can still open an individual email and reply to to it just as usual. Managing multiple email inboxes has become so easy and convenient on Nokia Lumia 800.
There are some limitations in the operating system that I think many Android users like myself might not fancy though. For example, home screen customization, theme & skin, USB mass storage mode, file transfer via Bluetooth, screenshot function, taskbar menu and File Manager are not available in Nokia Lumia 800. Well, I understand Windows Phone is a close-source platform like the iOS but it's a little hard to give up on these functions that are already available on my Galaxy S II. Anyway, this is just my personal preference and I suppose these limitations are not be significant to most people who are looking for a simple and smooth operating system.
All in all, in my opinion Nokia Lumia 800 is a nice phone with elegant design and running on a well-developed operating system. The rich social network integration is one of the features that I truly enjoy using it. Thanks Bryan for giving me the opportunity to experience the phone, otherwise I wouldn't know how lovely the phone is.