Nokia Launches ‘First Real Windows Phone’, Lumia 800

Nokia has just unveiled a collection of new phones, including a new flagship that will sit above the Meego-based N9. While the design of the Lumia 800 is quite similar to the N9, the hardware inside has a couple of notable changes. The software has also seen a stark change: a move to Windows Phone Mango. The phone is set to cost around $585 USD when it launches, based on European pricing.

Like the N9, the Lumia 800 isn’t set to launch in North America just yet, but rather remain an exclusive to Europe for the time-being. This is unfortunate, as it’s a great-looking phone, both in design and in specs. For North American customers, the Lumia 710 will be made available, which is similar in specs but features a different (but still nice) body.

But it doesn’t get much sexier than the Lumia 800. It features a 3.7″ AMOLED Gorilla Glass screen that curves into the phone edges (a seriously nice effect), resulting in a display that seems to “pop” out at you. It features a resolution of 800×480, compared to the N9’s 854×480.

Hardware-wise, a Qualcomm 1.4GHz MSM8255 SoC is being used here, an upgrade from the 1GHz Texas Instruments OMAP 3860. Both phones feature the same camera, though for some bizarre reason the Lumia 800 does not have a front-facing one. Video recording is as expected 720p in resolution, at 30 FPS.

The Lumia 800 also differs to a minor degree in cellular support, down to a quadband UMTS / HSPA from the pentaband of the N9. Speeds of up to 14.4Mbit/s is still possible. Both the RAM and storage specs have also decreased from the N9, down to 16GB internal from having a choice of 64GB, and likewise, we see 512MB of RAM rather than 1GB.

It’s a little odd to see a faster processor with less RAM, but it could be that Windows Phone is just more efficient than Meego in most operations (I somehow doubt it, but I need a theory). One advantage however of the Lumia 800 is increased battery-life, up to 13 hours talk time and 7 hours video (up from 11 and 4.5, respectively).

It’s been a while since I’ve felt a desire to own a Nokia phone (well, at least since the N9), but the Lumia 800 is in all regards, a stellar-looking option. It might just be what Microsoft needs for Windows Phone to take off.