Nokia Lumia 800- Detailed Review |

The much awaited Nokia Lumia 800 is out now. This latest collaboration of Nokia and Microsoft that sees Lumia 800 with Windows 7.5 (mango)operating system developed by Microsoft and  Nokia hardware reliability.

The first feature which will grab your eyeballs is surely the Integrated internet interface merged with contacts in phonebook and messaging centre like facebook, twitter and LinkedIn etc. that means you need not install separate social networking apps.  Another great feature is the office integration, the office integration I found to be truly indispensible. The ability to open word docs, PDFs, PowerPoint and excel spreadsheets is a huge advantage for this phone. Yes, these functionalities can be provided in rudimentary form on rival devices, but nothing functions as smoothly, quickly and effortlessly as it does here. It’s an absolute breeze to do a quick edit of a word doc while on the tube, and then zap it off via 3G while you walk out of the station. Bravo Microsoft.

But every technological aspect has some pros and cons in it, and this phone deeply flawed in many ways.  Most critical with this phone is the mess it makes of traditional functionality, the very first issue is that as soon as you purchase this phone you will have to install Microsoft’s proprietary Zune software to copy music and video to the required formats and copy it to the device. It is a poor program with an unintuitive interface that will take some getting used to.

Also believe it or not it does not have Bluetooth connectivity and front facing camera that surely lowers down its usability, although it supports 3G and WiFi connectivity.

Now talking about its hardware and performance specifications it works breezy smooth with its 1.4 GHz Qualcomm processor paired with 512 MB of RAM and 16 GB of storage capacity. One of the star features of the Lumia 800 is the Camera, which boasts 8 megapixels through a wonderful Carl Zeiss lens. It takes brilliant photos by day (comparable to a low end compact cameras), and shoots 720p HD video. However, like most smartphones it struggles at night. Nokia claims the Lumia 800′s battery will last for 9.5 hours under normal usage, although I found it realistically to hover around 5 hours maximum.

Final verdict-

Pros

• Beautiful body and screen
• Fantastic camera
• Integration with Office is brilliant
• Integrated social networking apps

Cons

• OS favors style too much over usability
• Cluttered design and inaccurate touch screen
• No Bluetooth and front facing camera
• Poor battery life

The Lumia 800 feels like a work in progress. It is a nice hi-tech phone with a wonderful camera and stunning screen. The front end menu system is beautiful and a refreshing change from the stale Apple iOS and Android based operating systems. Beyond this however, its touch screen is inaccurate and functionality has taken a back seat to building a pretty design.

All in all a good effort but a price tag of whooping Rs. 29,999 and absence of some critical functionality like the Bluetooth and front facing camera dos not makes it a value for money, it’s hard to recommend.