I wasn’t sure if I should post a review or not as I wondered can I say something that hasn’t been said yet. But I thought that perhaps I can offer a different point of view, because I belong to that group of people that maybe read reviews on tech websites, but a lot of the content in them are about things that I don’t care about (or don’t understand) – because I do not use my phone for any high tech purpose. I use it for calling, texting, taking pictures, taking some videos perhaps, connecting with my social media channels, reading my emails… just basic things. So I hope someone who looks for the same features in a phone as I do can benefit from my thoughts if you’re unsure whether to buy one or not.

I have now had the Lumia 800 for almost two months. I first met this phone at Nokia World in London and first reaction was that I love the design. After my London trip when I got it shipped home for a two month trial I got to test the phone better, and today I feel I have a pretty good idea of how it works. Needless to say but I’ll say it anyway – I do not need all the features the phone offers, so neither have I tested all the features. I’ll just write about my favorite things.

The body is beautiful. It’s not too heavy, I love the matte finish on the back of it and the screen is big enough for my use (I don’t play games and I rarely watch any videos with my phone). It’s very similar to the N9, just with Windows icons on the touch screen and a few physical buttons (camera, volume, and power). You need a MicroSIM card and there is no place for an expandable memory, so you have the 16GB.

But beautiful isn’t always practical, and sadly, to my disappointment, this is the case with the Lumia 800. I don’t know how you’re supposed to treat phones these days, but on the other hand I’ve lived with a N73 for nearly four years and that phone exterior lasted a long time in mint condition, without any protection / cover. So when I got that box with the Lumia 800 my first thought was not to run to a shop and buy a dust bag or plastic cover to keep it in. I expected it to spend two months with me and return in the same condition as it arrived.

WRONG. But lesson learned and I want to warn people of course, because if you buy an expensive phone you do not want to ruin it during your first weeks together. If you purchase the Lumia 800, please protect the screen (very important!) and if possible, protect the whole phone (plastic case or something similar). The screen is NOT scratch resistant, so it’s super sensitive – my scratches are so small that I can’t even take photos of them and of course only visible in a certain light, but you know they’re there. If you are like me and think you can get away with it if you keep it in a separate pocket and never together with keys, coins or anything sharp – you’re wrong. The scratches will appear, sooner or later, and you will wonder how the fuck did I manage to do that. On the back of the phone there’s this silver part with NOKIA logo on it. Also weak quality and will eventually be filled with scratches if not protected (if you like a brushed metal look, then no problem). Of course these scratches are only cosmetical faults and do not affect the use, but good to know anyway.

Other than these things, the design is awesome. When you’ve used the tiles for a while it’s unlikely you want to return to the Symbian / Meego icons. There’s just something about that Windows platform that other platforms can’t compete with. It’s the overall feeling and the sharp stylish design – I love it.

I don’t generally take a lot of videos, so unfortunately I won’t post videos this time – you can see a few from Nokia World in this post, but those do not demonstrate what the camera is capable off, so fair enough to say that I didn’t test this feature enough to be able to give a fair opinion.

Photographs however – I’m quite pleased. If you love the N8 but want the Windows platform, then Lumia 800 (or 900) is a good option for you. It can’t deliver exactly the same kind of quality that the N8 can, but it’s good enough for most people’s use and needs and it’s not supposed to replace a proper DSLR either. I took some stunning sunset shots with it that convinced me that if I put a little effort to it (= no shaky hand), I can get really impressive photos. However the colors are a small disappointment – especially red easily turns pink and they are not as “bold and bright” as with the N8. The Lumia 800 does not have a front-facing camera, so if you’re looking to have that, then you should choose the Lumia 900 instead. I did mention before that I was really disappointed they didn’t live up to my camera expectations for this model, but now when I have tried the camera with better time I want to change my mind about that. Yes, a Windows phone with an upgraded N8 camera would be awesome and hopefully we will see that combo come to life one day (I’ll buy it!), but if I now have to choose between Windows platform and a better camera (= N8), my choice is the Windows phone!

THIS GALLERY IS NOT THE NICEST POSSIBLE FOR VEGETARIANS – SORRY! “I love meat”

(Some images are “the same” but with different settings, for example night or sunset vs. auto)