Nokia Announces the First Great-Looking Windows Phone

By Dan Nosowitz Posted 10.26.2011 at 10:02 am 13 Comments

Nokia Lumia 800 Nokia

Windows Phone, especially with its newest update, is a damn fine mobile operating system, but also one lacking a truly killer phone. We were holding out hope that Nokia's first Windows Phone smartphone would be the one to get, and it just might be--the Lumia 800 is the first Windows Phone that's as eye-catching as the OS inside. Nokia also announced the 800's little brother, the 710, which is no slouch either.

Nokia's long been known for great (if bulky) hardware and just the worst software (see our review of the Nokia N8 if you want to witness our frustration with it), and Microsoft's awesome Windows Phone software has been lacking a really great, non-plasticky, non-weird handset. It's the perfect pairing! And at last night's Nokia World, the Finnish company finally showed off the long-rumored handsets: the flagship Lumia 800 and cheaper Lumia 710.

The Lumia 800 (we know Nokia loves numbers, but still, that name) is based on the N9, a big, flat, gorgeous slab of aluminum. It'll have a 3.7-inch screen, which is slightly smaller than average for Windows Phones but certainly still usable, 16GB of non-expandable storage, and a fancy-pants camera that could actually give the iPhone 4S some competition. It's an 8MP job with Carl Zeiss optics, rated at f2.2. No clues on which U.S. carrier will get it, nor on a release date--it's only been announced so far for Europe, which will get it on November 16th for €420. (A note: European phones are often sold unsubsidized at full price. Here in the States, we receive huge discounts on phones in exchange for signing a two-year contracts with our wireless carriers. That's why your 16GB iPhone 4S only costs $200--without the discount, you'd be spending $650.) If we were to bet, we'd say it's more likely that it comes out on AT&T than Verizon here in the States--Nokia typically makes GSM phones, which is the same standard used in Europe, as opposed to Verizon's U.S.-only CDMA network.

Nokia Lumia 710: Nokia

The Lumia 710 actually looks great as well, design-wise, though it's clearly the lower-end of the two. It's got half the storage at 8GB (non-expandable, ouch), a 5MP camera, and the screen uses the older and slightly less crisp TFT technology. It's significantly cheaper than the 800, selling for €270 unsubsidized.

The specs aren't barn-burners, like flagship Android phones often are (the biggest screen! The fastest processor! The craziest dock!). But the Lumia 800 especially looks great, and Windows Phone is designed to not need crazy amounts of power to run smoothly. Hopefully it lives up to our lofty expectations.

[Nokia]

Previous Article: iPhone 4S Review: Apple's Restraint

Next Article: Libratone Live Review: Euro Design, Danish Engineering, and Apple AirPlay

13 Comments

Link to this comment

maxb500

10/26/11 at 10:32 am

Looks amazing. Will probably stabilize Nokia to a good extend.
Will Microsoft expand this to more phones of other companies as well? If they want to compete with android they need a whole range of companies and phone models for the future.

Link to this comment

cosmic

10/26/11 at 10:36 am

I like smart phones. I like Microsoft Windows.

Link to this comment

Turbo Two Tone

10/26/11 at 11:38 am

Better late than never I guess. I hope they can scratch out a market. It'll help drive down the pricing on all phones.

Link to this comment

10/26/11 at 12:04 pm

Since it is Microsoft Windows and all, it should not be long until we have hacking and virus running a much with these things.

Then will the antivirus applications will arrive to save our day and the constant updates from Microsoft too. All antivirus programs running in the background will slow down the processing ability of the cell phone as it does on our home computers too.

Food for thought as our wonderful smart phone technology grows and we all grow more dependent upon them.

Link to this comment

JediMindset

10/26/11 at 1:54 pm

i am so gonna buy this awesome phone.

_________________
The people of the world only divide into two kinds, One sort with brains who hold no religion, The other with religion and no brain.

- Abu-al-Ala al-Marri

Link to this comment

Clog The Cog Studios

10/26/11 at 3:31 pm

@Q: Because all Microsoft products are riddled with viruses from the start, and it's not simply the fault of the user when one is on the machine?

If you're referring to iOS being any superior just account for the fact that the platform isn't open ended enough to create properly good (or bad) programs.

But alas, you're correct, we do grow more and more dependent on our technology.

Link to this comment

johnt007871

10/26/11 at 3:41 pm

I think Q is just a debbie downer.

I'm also glad to see a phone with color. Seems like everything is black or white these days.

Link to this comment

10/26/11 at 6:29 pm

I am happy to try this phone and use Microsoft Windows. I am just cautious of reality and spoke my mind, so others are cautious too. Hacking and virus are such a pain.

Link to this comment

Anubispax

10/26/11 at 8:59 pm

@Q Computer viruses are created by people. The reason viruses are made to target Windows is because Windows is the operating system on the vast majority of computers. The hackers get a lot more "bang for the buck". Viruses can and have been tailored for other OS. As far as smartphones go, there have been viruses on iPhone, Android, and Blackberry. Some spread by just a text message. So no matter what you get you not 100% safe

Link to this comment

10/26/11 at 9:39 pm

Anubispax,
Thank you, you said it perfectly. I just like the facts to be made public so people take the time to protect themselves.

Link to this comment

kormiko

10/27/11 at 2:47 am

Android is probably the most likely to get a virus because it is very popular right now and it's open source.

Windows Phone 7 and iPhone are less likely to get a virus because the apps go through virus protections before they are downloaded to the phone. They aren't foolproof, and yes, you can still get a virus via the Internet or text, but Android is a lot easier to attack.

That said. These phones look nice, but they could have more to compete with Android. These Nokia phones have no front facing cameras or NFC and not much storage space. Good start from Nokia, though.

Link to this comment

Dr_Pancakes

10/27/11 at 10:43 am

I like the design aspect of the Nokia 800 but I'm not sure about the colors. Guess it would make it harder to loose your phone...

Link to this comment

beefymclovin

10/27/11 at 5:13 pm

now this i like, alot! i dont need over the top stuff thatll just be out of date next month. ill go for the smaller version because i have a life and it doesnt revolve around my phone