Nokia's Windows phone Lumia shines

Nokia chief executive officer Stephen Elop described Nokia Lumia as 'the first real Windows Phone'.

Admittedly most Windows Phone failed to elicit much response, including the recent HTC Radar and Samsung's Windows phone.

Lumia range is make-or-break for both Nokia and Microsoft where each is desperate for a successful device that can take Windows operating system to the masses.

Nokia loads Lumia 800 with the latest Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango update) along with a 1.4GHz single-core processor and a 16GB internal memory, that is complemented by the great 3.7-inch AMOLED screen.

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Lumia 800's polycarbonate shell is very impressive to look and hold but it's the Windows Phone software that really shines on the device.

The 3.7-inch capacitive screen has a resolution of 480x800 pixels and looks really bright and clear.

Think Samsung's Galaxy series' display screen.

The Samsung Omnia W, another Windows 7.5 phone, too sports a 3.7-inch display, 8 GB of internal memory and a 1.4 GHz processor buts when compared with Lumia 800, it seemed to lag between apps.

The good news is that Windows OS executes flawlessly on Nokia Lumia 800.

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The design of the user interface is aesthetically minimalistic, very clean and consistent and the animated transitions sneakily buy the processor some time to do things in the background, so apps appear to load almost instantly.

Since widgets on homescreen are now shaped as tiles, they have been made very practical.

For example, the phone tile tells how many calls user has missed, or a tile representing a person (ie. contact card) will let user know as soon as the contact uploads a picture on Facebook, or updates his Twitter status.

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The disappointing news is the Windows Marketplace (app store) that has around 40,000 apps, which certainly fall well behind the number of offerings available for the Apple iOS or Android devices.

But Nokia and Microsoft promise that it is growing every day.

The Lumia 800 also supports HSDPA, Wi-Fi-n, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP/EDR and A-GPS. Accelerometer, compass and proximity sensor are also present as is a stereo FM radio.

Daily battery recharge is a fact for smartphone user, and this one is no exception.

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If you are using Lumia 800 for instant email delivery and running social networking apps in background, then the battery goes down within 10-11 hours of use.

However, there is a battery saver mode, which turns data sync and presumably some other features off to keep the battery running a little longer.

Who should buy?

Lumia 800 is priced at Rs 29,999 and will definitely grab the attention of early adopters. It probably isn't a big pull for Android users to abandon their handsets yet but Nokia-Microsoft know this.

That's why they are set to bring more smartphones on the Windows platform and the features and specs will only improve.