Nokia Lumia 800 review

While a lot of new smartphones running other operating systems now have dual-core processors, the Lumix 800, as with all current Windows Phone 7 handsets, uses a single-core processor. The Qualcomm MSM8255 runs at a speedy 1.4GHz, making this among the fastest Windows Phone 7 smartphones that we’ve seen – only the far larger 1.5GHz HTC Titan runs quicker.

The UI runs incredibly smoothly, with slick transitions between pages. We didn’t notice any slowdown when running multiple applications and Internet Explorer rendered websites quickly. Java performance, as shown in the SunSpider test, was a little disappointing with the Lumia 800’s score of 6,713ms almost a third slower than the iPhone 4S.

This seems to make little practical difference in every-day use. Comparing side-by-side to an iPhone 4S, the transition from portrait to landscape was just as smooth on both handsets, as was zooming into web pages. In terms of slickness, then, the Lumix 800 is up there with the best of them and was noticeably smoother than Android devices. It helps that the capacitive multi-touch touchscreen is so responsive.

Microsoft has strict requirements about Windows Phone 7 handsets, so Nokia can’t touch the user interface. This can make distinguishing handsets between manufacturers quite difficult. Nokia is attempting to make its handset stand out by adding some new apps.

First up is Nokia Maps, which is in addition to Bing Maps. We can’t say what it will bring to the table, as at the time of writing the app hadn’t been launched. It will be pre-installed when the phone launches on the 16th November and we’ll update our review with the full details of the software then.

Nokia Drive is potentially more interesting, as this app gives you turn-by-turn driving directions. Once you’ve worked out how to use it (you have to press the Back button to bring up the menu to set a destination), it’s a handy way to get from A-to-B. While Android phones have this feature with the built-in Google Maps, Nokia’s version downloads the maps of your choice to the handset, so you can be offline. With free maps available for the most of the world, you can take your phone on holiday for navigation without getting hit for lots of data charges.

Nokia Music gives you a Pandora-style internet radio, where you can listen to music by genres. It covers most of the major labels and lets you buy the tracks that you like. It’s a bit limited, though, only letting skip a few tracks every hour. Until Spotify comes to Windows Phone 7, it’s a handy extra.