Nokia Lumia 800 (codenamed 'Sea Ray') is a Windows Phone OS powered smartphone, first unveiled by the company's CEO Stephen Elop, on 26 October 2011 at the Nokia World 2011 event.[4] It is Nokia's first mobile phone to run Windows Phone OS as a part of the first wave of Windows Phone devices to be released by the company as it shifts focus from the Symbian and MeeGo platforms for premium priced phones. The design of the body is based on Nokia N9 that is made from polycarbonate plastic but with a physical camera button on the right side of the phone and the dual LED flash moved directly above the Carl Zeiss camera lens,[5] as well as having a smaller 3.7" display to accommodate the capacitive softkeys. The phone was launched in the UK on November 16, 2011.[6]
Software
The phone is provided with two Nokia exclusive applications—'Nokia Drive', a free Turn-by-turn navigation system and 'Nokia Music', a free streaming music service similar to Last.fm but which optionally lets users purchase tunes from the Nokia Music Store.
Reception
The Nokia Lumia 800 won "Editor's Choice" award of 2011 What Mobile magazine.[7] Their review rated it 5/5, and said "The Lumia 800 is a massive step forward for Nokia and sits apart in an increasingly crowded market. Alongside Windows Phone Mango, there’s enough inside the Lumia 800 to worry rivals and make iPhone fans jealous".[8]
Brian Klug of AnandTech in his review wrote, "The Lumia 800 is indubitably the best Windows Phone hardware out there right now" , with notable features such as "camera without compromises, hardware build quality that’s unique and solid, Nokia’s attention to detail..."[9] Regarding the shortcomings, Klug wrote, "lack of USB or external storage, a still fledgling application ecosystem, and a few others."[9] Regarding the Camera, Brian Klug said, "Lumia 800’s camera comes out looking very good against the rest of the 8MP competition, and for me this is the first F/2.2 8 MP shooter I’ve come across. With less compression and better ISP, it could be even better than most."[10]
In the Engadget review, Sharif Sakr wrote, "Nokia's Lumia 800 is a sophisticated and capable smartphone that melds its hardware beautifully with the Windows Phone OS." Sherif Sakr writes that while the phone lacked features like USB mass storage, expandable storage, the phone is a welcome for those who want to be "part of a carefully crafted, simple and generally happy emerging ecosystem."[3]
PC World said that the Nokia Lumia 800 has solid guts and shiny looks, and was an "interesting proposal", though they also said it had "nothing extraordinary to offer" when compared to the highest end models the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Motorola Droid RAZR or the more expensive iPhone 4s in hardware and software.[11]
Cnet UK noted that the phone was 'overall, the Lumia 800 is a very good handset. The Windows Phone software is slick and fun to use, especially if you like to keep up-to-date with what friends are up to on social networking sites. It also looks attractive and the excellent build quality gives you the confidence that it's built to last.'[12] CNET UK made a camera comparison with the current high-end phones iPhone 4S and Samsung Galaxy S II and wrote that Lumia 800 "didn't offer the quality of camera we were hoping for."[13] Regarding the Camera, GSM Arena wrote that, "We were quite impressed by the job done by the 8 megapixel sensor and the bright F/2.2 lens. Images might not be the sharpest around and the noise levels are only average, but their colors and contrast are great, despite the sub-optimal lighting. Cameraphone lovers should definitely check this one out."[14]
Ketaki Bhojnagarwala in The Hindu review wrote, "The Lumia 800 isn't perfect, but its one of the best products that Nokia has released in the market in recent months. I have no complaints about the hardware - Nokia gets it right every time. Windows Mango is a refreshing and vibrant operating system that's already got a big fan list,..."[15]
Matthew Baxter-Reynolds of The Guardian, after using a Nokia Lumia 800 for a month and being a previous iPhone user, argued that the Nokia Lumia 800 is not up to an iPhone. In summary, he wrote: "I really wanted Windows Phone to work for me. This was £400 of my own money spent to try it. But it just doesn't work well enough to be the small-scale personal computer that I must have on me all the time."[16]
Issues
Audio
Nokia Lumia 800 is claimed to have "sound quality problems" when using low impedance headphones like the supplied ones.[17] Nokia has acknowledged the issue and they are working on a fix.[18]
Battery
In December 2011 Nokia confirmed that some Lumia 800 devices do not use the full capacity of their battery.[19] Nokia announced that they would fix the problem with a software update in early 2012.[20] Brian Klug in his AnandTech review wrote that it's possible that the battery charging issue has been "addressed already, though there’s another update coming down the line as well", since the latest update for the Lumia 800 as of the writing of the review (04-Jan-2012) was "1600.2479.7740.11451" which included “charging improvements” in the change-log.[21] During 19-20th January 2012, two updates were made available—battery related software update and another of Windows Phone 7.5 Mango build 8107.[22] Nokia has stated that battery issues are fixed, but some users are reporting a decline in battery performance.[23]
Camera
Nokia has confirmed camera focus problems when snapping. They are working on a fix.[24]
Connectivity
Transferring data is possible with the Zune software on Windows PCs or through the Windows Phone 7 Connector synchronization software for Macs. WiFi sync is also available when the phone is charging and connected to the same network as the host PC. Solutions that require 3rd party access to data like USB Mass Storage or file transfer via bluetooth are not supported. The Lumia 800 promote Microsoft services including a 25GB of free SkyDrive storage that can be used for images, audio tracks and others.[14]
Manufacturer Nokia
Carriers Telus Mobility[2]
Compatible networks GSM, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, 3G
Availability by country
November 2011 (Europe)
December 2011
Related Nokia Lumia 710, Nokia Lumia 900, Nokia N9
Dimensions 116.5 x 61.2 x 12.1mm
Weight 142 grams
Operating system Windows Phone 7.5
CPU 1.4 GHz Qualcomm MSM8255T Scorpion(Snapdragon)
GPU Adreno 205 GPU
Memory 16 GB internal flash
512 MB ROM
512 MB RAM
Battery Rechargeable BV-5JW 3.7V 1450mAh Li-ion battery (Up to 265 h (2G) / Up to 335 h (3G) standby, Up to 13 h (2G) / Up to 9 h 30 min (3G) talk time, Up to 55 h music play)
Data inputs Multi-touch capacitive touchscreen, proximity sensor, ambient light sensor, 3-axis accelerometer, digital compass
Display 3.7 in. ClearBlack AMOLED PenTile[3] at 252 ppi capacitive touchscreen
480x800 px 16m-color WVGA
Rear camera 8 Megapixel, 3264x2448 pixels, dual-LED flash, autofocus Carl Zeiss optics
Front camera No
Connectivity Bluetooth 2.1, 802.11b/g/n, G-Sensor, Digital Compass, dual mode A-GPS/GLONASS, micro-USB, 3.5mm audio jack
Development status
