First impressions of Nokia Lumia 800

I know I’m late to the game but I received my Lumia only yesterday. I’ve had a Windows Phone 7 LG E900 a.k.a LG Optimus 7 for 16 months now and I’ve generally been very happy with it. Even though the Lumia is so much newer, spec-wise it does not add much to my old LG: slightly faster HSPA network, faster processor, and some Nokia software, that’s all. Below I’ve listed some pros and cons of Lumia over LG.

Pros

  • Design and the looks are better. I wish I could have had a red phone but my employer had only the (boring) black ones listed.
  • Construction is excellent. LG wasn’t bad and felt solid, but Lumia tops the scale. The plastic back plate feels better than the metal one on LG.
  • Screen: while the screen is too small – in fact 0.1 inches smaller than LG had – it has better contrast and the blacks are really blacks.
  • Automatic screen brightness setting works well. The levels are good for my use.
  • Nokia drive and Nokia maps work very well in Finland. I must test them more, but they are a welcome addition to WP7.

Cons

  • Capacitive buttons are a pain. Luckily there is a vibration feedback when touching the buttons, but still they do not feel buttons. And you hit them accidentally all the time.
  • Touch is not as responsive as in LG; every now and then your touch is not detected. Especially annoying when playing Fruit ninja.
  • Still no Wi-Fi tethering. This is unacceptable on a modern smart phone.
  • No DLNA support. With LG I could stream media from my phone to my TV, which is useful to easily show some videos or pictures shot with the device.

Comparison aside overall I would like to see larger screen and better battery on Lumia. There is the Lumia 900 series upcoming, but it will take months before that device is sold in Finland (if ever). I’m confident Nokia has some new devices on drawing board, I just hope they are released before general interest on Lumia fades.