Nokia Lumia 800 hands-on (video)
Oh, Nokia. Earth mother and founding father of the mobile industry. At last, we have your newest creation nestled amidst our clammy palms: a 3.7-inch slab of polycarbonate Windows Phone wonderment, fronted by a ClearBlack AMOLED display. Has that sweet breeze off the Nokianvirta River worked its special magic? Or is this just another Windows Phone? Well, first impressions are that it... feels just like an N9. Read on for our detailed impressions.
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Nokia is calling this device the "first real Windows Phone," a claim that we think other manufacturers are going to have a bit of a beef with, but we'd certainly say this is among the best we've yet had the opportunity to fondle. If you're familiar with the N9 you'll know the basics of the story here, a polycarbonate shell that feels very nice in the hand and, perhaps more importantly, won't show scratches as clearly as painted metal or plastic exteriors. That baby blue you see? It's that same color all the way through to the core -- there's no paint here to chip or scratch.
Up top, doors flip open to reveal the micro-USB charger port and the SIM slot, doors that fit so well you'd barely know they're there. A 3.5mm headphone jack is up on the top as well. That's really about all there are for ports. The right side of the phone is adorned with a volume rocker and power button, and the left is completely bare -- just super sleek, curved polycarbonate. There's a speaker right there on the bottom as well.
The front is covered by that 3.7-inch 800 x 480 ClearBlack AMOLED display, which rests under ever so slightly curved glass, giving a raised effect. This is Gorilla Glass, so hopefully it being exposed in this way won't danger its visual purity. Needless to say it looks as good as the display on the N9 -- it's quite simply gorgeous. There's the same eight megapixel camera as we saw on the N9, complete with f/2.2 aperture lens and 720p HD video with continuous autofocus. Overall the Lumia 800 looks quite incredible -- this is some impressive hardware -- but will Nokia's latest flagship help drive some serious Windows Mobile market share? We shouldn't have to wait long to find out.
Tim Stevens and Myriam Joire contributed to this report.
