Nokia Lumia 800
For the first time in ages, it's possible to recommend a Nokia phone to somebody in the pub. Nokia's first Windows-based device is the company's most attractive consumer product for some years, at least in the modern era of touchscreen smartphones. Nokia Lumia 800 Windows Phone 7.5 Mango handset A reversal of fortune? Nokia's …
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Ordinary punters
If we're talking about ordinary punters, Series 40 beats both Android and WP7.
Once you get into then smartphone territory then that kind of implies that the punter wants to be able to do a bit of tinkering, not have the phone equivalent of a straightjacket.
So far, not good enough..
..but then again, I don't buy a new phone anyway - I tend to wait a few months. By that time, the early adopters have gone through the early suffering and I know what the phone is really worth.
Having said that, I am torn between good (it's a Nokia) and very bad (it uses Windows), and I suspect that my existing old iPhone (it's usable and by now average) will thus not get replaced soon..
Sign of the times..
Interesting to read about how the live tiles and transitions become tiresome quickly, i did wonder if this would be the case when i first saw the OS. There was spate of attempts at fancy UI's a few years back, but experienced users quickly pushed back and it was quietly dropped.
Seems MSFT didnt get the memo or didnt care, opting instead for initial impact at the POS over substance. Despite this, i think it will do well.
The N9 will do me for now, as WP lacks power features like decent multitasking. Maybe next year.
Odd
Seems strange you'd complain about not being able to see the signal indicator, I mainly use my phones for data services and appreciate the extra screen space, but when I do really want to know signal strength you know when I want to actually make a call it pops up when you tap the phone tile or select a person from the people tile, strange it'd display it at the point most people really need To know they have signal.
Also it always displays on the lock screen, jus' saying.
Works on my hd7 and Titan. Came from android won't go back.
Why the hate on the forum?
I know this article is a positive review for a Microsoft product, which will be seen as heresy by many techies just on basic principles, but... Those who are wading in, have you actually tried WP7?
My next phone will be running it, and not iOS which my current phone uses. Why? It takes Apple's approach of getting things done and refines it, and also allows better business integration. It has been designed based on what situations people actually want to use a mobile device for.
I like how Andrew has come in for flak by saying what non-techies want: people want stuff that works without an instruction manual, without messing around, and something that occasionally surprises and delights. WP7 Mango does that in spades, without dumbing down.
I'd wholeheartedly agree that WP7 offers a better proposition and experience to average punters than Android. MS fanboi? No.
Does it have the flexibility of Android? No. Does the populous in general need the flexibility of android? I'd argue no...
I don't hate it
But I don't rate it either. I'm indifferent.
I just don't think it's good enough to warrant shooting down the N9. Now THAT, does it for me.
WTF?
Weak hardware specs, coupled to a price only £30 less (less than 10% of the total price) than an iphone 4S?
The review also seemed like he was trying very hard to praise the phone, but was having trouble doing so...
Not to mention the lack of apps compared to an Apple or Android based handset...
Why would anyone want one of these?
Lest we forget...
iPhone sucked like a hungry calf when it first launched.
How did they get away with such a shoddy product?
The other manufacturers are merely the mass production end to this release.
Nokia, however, is a trusted manufacturer of quality products, They understand their users and know how to build a product people like.
Apple took 4 iterations to get it even close to right, and you lot lapped it up simply because it was Apple.
Imagine what the Nokia 801 will be like...
*I am an Android phone user*
Actually...
I kind of like it. I think it's asthetically pleasing; I prefer wider phones to thinner phones and to me, the whole purpose of a smartphone is emphasis on the latter part of the moniker: PHONE! If this thing has the same Nokia reliability as some of their older phones, in terms of reception and clarity then I think it's worth a shot. However, I'm with a couple of other posters: I do not want to make my contacts public domain information; I don't want integrated into face book, and here's the deal breaker... I DON'T want Bing! In my experience it's as useful as bulgarian funbags on the back of a turtle.
If they address those issues, I may buy one.
Some things missing from the review
Specifically, a smartphone review that doesn't even discuss the calendar and tasks functions counts as uninformative for me. Not much about actual GPS/calendar use either. Since Nokia is meant to be bringing their resources for this to the Windows platform I expected to see a bit more about this.
Battery - Why is symbian STILL 10 times better? cmon!
I'll stick with my old N8 symbian, pisses all over Win7 AND android for battery life. I WANT a battery that will survive longer than a day, fuck I can get a WEEK out of mine! heavy usage at least 2 days. I do like android, it's doing great, just wish they' do something about battery life. Win7 looks great but is a baby, I mean it can't even use memory cards FFS! Java? no? even my 'dated' symbian can do java. Win7 I can see becoming a real winner, it looks great but at teh moment it's all eye candy with nothing underneath the hood, it's gonna take a few more years until they turn it from a pretty looking box into a usable tool! I love both android and win7 but I really wish they'd do something about the awful battery life, it's embarrassing that an O/S that has so much slating; Symbian, can wipe the floor with them on battery life. In a few years I'll likely need a new phone, but if by then my years old N8 still has better battery life than a modern Win7 or android I'll be sticking with my N8 lol. Cmon boys get with it.
Oh. I get it now.
I was reading this thinking it doesn't sound like someone at El Reg wrote it! Then I checked the author...
Reveiwer Needs More Time With WP7.5
It is clear from most of the negativity in this review that the person writing it has not spent nearly enough time with WinPhone 7 to be able to assess it objectively. For example, if certain tiles' animations are annoying, just move them where you can't see them or remove them completely (they will still show up in the App List). I love the way my Live Tiles have come alive since the Mango update. Also, once the App List reaches a certain size, it shows the letter squares so you can navigate alphabetically, like you do with contacts. I find it way better than scrolling through endless screens of regimented grids of icons, as I used to do on my previous phone and I keep the apps I use regularly on the Start screen (Live Tiles).
It is also a little interesting for what is not here. Every other review I've read of this phone is mightily impressed with it's responsiveness to touch, yet there is no mention of it here.
This guy is also the one and only reviewer so far with any negative comments on the beautiful design of the phone. I think the currently available N9, which looks mostly identical, is easily the sexiest smartphone on the market today and is about the only handset that really has anything different to offer, in terms of style.
It seems Andrew is something of an Apple fanboi too, if he counts AirPlay as an advantage when Bluetooth (A2DP) is generally much less hassle and works with every brand of device, as well as allowing you to stream music in your car. With Apple no longer at the top of the tree, either in terms of handsets or app downloads, one has to wonder how long they will continue to enjoy the 3rd party hardware support they have to now, or their premium position when it comes to new app releases.
If Android has managed to comprehensively overtake iOS in less than two years, there is no reason to think Microsoft and Nokia, working together, cannot also take a significant bite out of the market. If the marketing campaign for the N9 is any indication of Nokia's will to succeed, they are clearly going make sure that WP7 and Nokia are front of mind with everyone who walks in to a phone store, which is exactly what WP7 has needed.
@MotorMouth
"If the marketing campaign for the N9 is any indication of Nokia's will to succeed"
Then I would say they will die.
The N9 marketing was very limited and limited to only some countries.
I suppose the N9 was never meant to succeed (due to Microsoft).
Still I wonder if it would be so difficult to produce decent hardware and give the user
the choice to choose the OS.
I just cannot force my self to bye any Microsoft and nobody will, today, pay me for
using one.
Also I cannot understand why I would like to share my contacts with a cloud.
Also I have decided to never get a facebook account as my wife has one and I have to do all
the delete clicking. If I had one my self I would never have the time to eat or sleep.
I still have a Nokia 9100, and just for fun, I sometimes use it,
superb quality still working fine.
Young people tend to go "wow" when they see it.
nice looking hardware, iphone-y enough to pass for "cool", but different enough to not be one of the many android-ish clones. I can't fucking stand the interface designers' seeming obsession with oversized header text that purposefully clips the edge of the screen. +1 nokia, -1 microsoft.
paris--will she ditch her iphone for this?
Comparison between different Nokia smartphones depending on my needs.
Hi folks,
Comparing some functions between the several platforms
C7/N8 Symbian
----------------------
The N8/C7 are the most popular o/t current Symbian devices. They have Symbian Anna nowadays their latest installment of Symbian^3.
- Outlook sync (USB & Bluetooth) including contact-categories, repeating calendar-items and birthdays.
- convenient adressbook with smart-dialing and favorites. A lovely widget on the homescreen allows up-to 20-contacts on a horizontal scroll-list. Very nice.
- 2-way call recording (even when calls are made over BT headset)
--> manually via inbuilt Recorder program (as explained i/t user-guide) or automatically using 3rd-party software. Beeps every 10 seconds unless patched or using particular 3rd-party apps.
- LED Flash (C7) can be used as Torchlight. Move and hold lock-button down for a few seconds.(no 3rd party app needed). The old Omnia used the volume down button for this feature.
- Nokia Maps (most mature version). You can set which routes to avoid (e.g. ferry, tunnel etc..), extensive POI-database, interacts with BOTH contacts and calendar, special pedestrian-mode with spoken streetnames and digital compass (very nice indeed).
- FM-transmitter and FM radio. I don't really care for the FM-radio but the FM-transmitter is a neat little feature that hardly gets the attention it deserves. Its absolutely awesome if your car hasn't got iPod/MP3/USB-integration. Sure, its not perfect because the FM-band is quite saturated but it does what its supposed to do. The real fun part is that the FM-transmitter also plays Movies (audio) and game-audio through the FM-radio too. Obviously and unfortunately, all the other things that also uses the radio-chips can't transmit over FM while receiving data (like calling or navigation).
Nokia N9
-------------
The most handsome of all Nokia's models with a gorgeous UI. The only true contender as iPhone killer. From what I gathered on the interweb the software doesn't use all the hardware features and probably never will (at least not from Nokia). Even landscape support is quite limited :-(
Outlook sync? Any ideas? I assume that since N9 also integrates with OVI-suite software it'll behave the same as a Symbian device. I suspect that it'll also syncs with both USB and BT. That categories are kept as groups. And that calender items get synced the same as they do on Symbian handsets.
- Address-book seems under-developed and misses some modern features like smart dialing. Essential if you have a +500 contacts database.
- There's no 2-way call recording. In fact from the intel I have the Recorder program is absent on this device. There's no mention of 3rd party software in this field either.
- There is a LED-flash and while it can't be used as a torch using a convenient button or icon on the home screen. There are 3rd party programs to address this. I've even found free apps.
- Nokia Maps.... hmmm. It seems that Nokia divided Maps into 2 items on this device. There's Drive and there's Maps. A lot of Symbian-features seems to be missing (like avoiding toll-booths, ferrys or sandy roads). Features which made the Symbian Maps a true replacement turn-by-turn-navigational tool for an incar-navigation or PNA. From what I've read the N9 version of OVI/Nokia Maps just isn't there yet.
- It wasn't very clear from the technical documentation but it seems the N9 does have FM-radio and an FM-transmitter (however no apps to use both of them). I've read that, contrary to the N9, the N900 (Maemo) has a functional FM-Transmitter. :-(
It seems that indeed the N9 has a lot of un-used potential (front-cam, FM-radio & Fm-TX). But since Nokia clearly indicated that this machine will not get further developed it'll probably never get utilized. A real shame! Especially since they DARE to ask approx. 500 euros for the 16GB model!!!
Lumia 800
---------------
It's more or less the WP7 twin o/t N9. It looks almost the same. It has the obligatory camera button but lacks the front-camera (which isn't used on the N9 either from what I gathered). The problem with this device is the fact that Nokia has absolutely nothing to say in how the OS evolves. Sure, they can make suggestions but it doesn't mean these ever get considered. Which means that Nokia will have to resort to make 3rd-party apps themselves to fulfill the gaps in missing OS-functionality (which isn't necessarily bad).
The situation with the Lumia 800 with it's latest WP7 v7.5 (mango) seems like this AFAIK.
- Outlook sync? Outlook who? The same company that enforces Outlook upon us (as primary PIM) for the past decade turned 180 degrees Cloud. Sure, there's virtual exchange servers to hire (which add another cost to the already astronomical fees telco's are asking). Sure there's Google, there's Hotmail, there's Facebook. Unfortunately discretion doesn't allow me to post my +500 clients addresses, tell nos and email-addresses to these clouds. As they get inevitably hacked, cracked and broken. Not to mention that the majority of Facebook participants don't even fill in this info in their profiles.
- 2-way call recording. Oh boy... while there used to be some WM6.x devices that where able to do this. The aforementioned Samsung Omnia (1) could do it similarly like Symbian (both from BT and on the device), The acer Neotouch could only do it on the device itself though it had a record-button prominently display while in a call :-) WP7 has no mention nor capability to record calls. Perhaps Nokia might address this (which I strongly doubt) by porting their Recorder software to WP7. This seems a definite no-go for me as I NEED this feature (the fines for calling while driving are up-to 150 euro in my country!!!).
- LED-flashlight. Again this device has a LED-flash which could technically be used as a lamp. AFAIK only HTC devices (with LED-lights) have an app to use it as a flash. There are 3rd party apps like White Light that should do the trick unfortunately its a hit-and-miss on certain devices. So much for MS-restrictions to adhere to conformity and hence stop software incompatibilities to occur. FAIL!!!
- Nokia Maps. Well, it seems they used the exact same version as on the N9 with the SAME restrictions and shortcomings. Doh!
- FM-radio and FM-transmitter. There is an FM-radio (and there is software to utilize it indeed). The FM-transmitter is absent?!?!? What's the use of a 32GB music-storage device if there's no easy way to play back in my car? Again, a let down from a supposedly high-end Nokia smartphone.
In essence the same problems as with the N9. An immature OS which lacks MANY features that current devices have standard. The hardware is less capable but you get a faster cpu than in N9 (as if that really matters in a cellphone). Social media integration seems pretty well covered in WP7.5 and some hw-features are more accessible for 3rd-party developers. But as of now, the platform is unusable for small self-employed professionals like me. It seems like it's targeted at teenagers whom spend the whole day (though a 'whole day' is probably too optimistic due to battery constraints) on facebook and listen to music. Teenagers for which actually making a call is a luxury (thanks to the high fees telcos ask) and hence spend more time with SMS and tweets than making actual phone-calls. And if you don't make phone-calls then you don't need to record them, do you?
I ask you, is my following conclusion at this time correct? The wanna-have device (N9) is incomplete, the immature WP7 device is targeted at the wrong crowd and the only device that seems to be usable in a home/small-business environment are current crop of Symbian devices.
E.g a Nokia C7 has proper USB-outlook syncing, usable LED-torch (without 3rd party apps), full 2-way call recording (even through BT headset) and the best smartphone navigation tool today (bar WM6.x versions of TomTom/iGO/Garmin whom are defunct nowadays).
Please feel free to correct this info. This would help me greatly into making a future decision. But as of now I guess I have no other choice than to stick with Symbian.
Perhaps a FULL and complete comparative list of what is possible on todays smartphones can be compiled fromt his info. I would certainly appreciate it.
Thanks.
Please don't flame me for the long-winded thread.
Bad Nokia...
A poor effort by Nokia. Fail on so many issues. My Nokia e6-00 just knocks spots off this phone in all aspects. A quirky OS I am used to but most would say symbian was always better then windows mobile. A sad step back.
Wha?
@Zarniw00p, it got an 80% rating. This isn't some Apple fanboi'ism here, he listed a few things he didn't like and gave it a respectable rating.
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