Nokia Lumia 800 & 710, Windows Phones Announced
by Anand Lal Shimpi on October 26, 2011 12:26 AM ESTJust seven months after announcing its intention to move to Windows Phone, Nokia unveiled its first WP based devices: the Lumia 800 and 710.
Both feature the same Qualcomm applications processor: a single-core Snapdragon S2 MSM8255 running at 1.4GHz with 512MB of memory on-package. The 800 has a more expensive chassis and Carl Zeiss optics, while the 710 is cost reduced in those aspects.
The 800 features a 3.7-inch AMOLED (RGBG PenTile) display, 16GB of integrated NAND (no microSD slot) and a 5.365Wh battery. The 800's camera has an 8MP sensor with a Carl Zeiss f/2.2 lens. The camera sensor and lens stack are borrowed from the N9, one of the ways Nokia was able to bring the 800 to market in such a short time after the Microsoft announcement.
I played with the 800 a bit at Nokia World and the feel is easily leaps and bounds beyond any WP devices available today. The 800 will be available in three colors (black, magenta and cyan) while the 710 comes in black and white.
The 710 keeps the screen size the same (3.7-inches) but moves to a standard TFT-LCD. The 710 has the same amount of DRAM as the 800 but it cuts NAND in half to 8GB. Unlike the 800 however the 710 features a microSD card slot that can accommodate up to a 16GB card (24GB total). Battery capacity drops to 4.81Wh. Both models use micro-SIMs.
Nokia Lumia Windows Phone Lineup | ||||||
Lumia 800 | Lumia 710 | |||||
SoC | Qualcomm S2 MSM8255 1.4GHz | Qualcomm S2 MSM8255 1.4GHz | ||||
Display | 3.7-inch AMOLED PenTile RGBG | 3.7-inch TFT-LCD | ||||
Camera |
8MP LED flash rear facing camera Carl Zeiss lens |
5MP LED flash rear facing camera | ||||
Memory | 512MB, 16GB NAND | 512MB, 8GB NAND | ||||
Dimensions | 116.5 x 61.2 x 12.11 mm, 142g | 119.0 x 62.4 x 12.5 mm, 126g | ||||
Battery | 5.365Wh | 4.81Wh | ||||
Network Support |
WCDMA, EDGE Class B, GPRS Class B
WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100 |
WCDMA, EDGE Class B, GPRS Class B
WCDMA 900/1900/2100 |
||||
Connectivity | 802.11n b/g/n (2.4 GHz), BT 2.1+EDR, USB 2.0 | 802.11n b/g/n (2.4 GHz), BT 2.1+EDR, USB 2.0 |
Nokia announced its unique software bundle available on all Lumia Windows Phones including Nokia Maps and Nokia Music. The former is Nokia's own voice guided, turn by turn navigation app. Nokia Maps allows you to download and preinstall maps ahead of time to avoid streaming map data if you're roaming in another country. Map data can be downloaded on the fly however if necessary.
Nokia Music is a streaming music service that doesn't require a subscription or even so much as a login. You'll be able to stream live mixes as well as save them for offline listening, although Nokia didn't share much about what specific labels/artists would be available via the service. The service will be available in 38 countries - plans for North America will have to wait until NA phones are announced.
Both Nokia apps will come preloaded on all Nokia Windows Phone devices.
The Lumia 800 will be available in six countries in November (UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands). Before the end of the year Nokia will add Hong Kong, India, Russia, Singapore and Taiwan to the list. The Lumia 800 will be available for around 420 Euros.
The 710, priced at 270 Euros, will be available in Hong Kong, India, Russia, Singapore and Taiwan by the end of the year.
Nokia will bring a US-specific lineup to market in early 2012 on multiple carriers. The Lumia family will hit mainland China in the first half of 2012. Nokia also mentioned it has plans to release LTE/CDMA Lumia products but it didn't commit to any timeframe. Based on Qualcomm's roadmaps I'd expect to see LTE devices toward the middle/second half of next year.
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softdrinkviking - Wednesday, October 26, 2011 - link
is missing a word?"Just seven months after announcing its intention to move to Windows Phone, Nokia (missing word(S)) its first WP based devices: the Lumia 800 and 710."
Brian Klug - Wednesday, October 26, 2011 - link
Fixed!-Brian
marc1000 - Wednesday, October 26, 2011 - link
Brian, comparing the ".co.uk" and ".com" sites of Nokia, it looks like Lumia 800 will NOT be launched on the USA right now. all they will get is the 710.XiZeL - Wednesday, October 26, 2011 - link
seriously PenTile?Exodite - Wednesday, October 26, 2011 - link
Considering the UI/UX of WP7 that's going to be even less noticeable than in devices running Android.A fringe number of geeks will complain but it won't affect sales.
name99 - Wednesday, October 26, 2011 - link
What I find interesting is how underwhelming these specs are --- if one obsesses about specs...They seem, basically, out the Apple playbook. Small screen, limited DRAM, faster CPU than iPhone4S --- but a single core. And less ambitious wireless --- no BT4, no LTE, and no mention of diversity for GSM systems.
Those who make a habit of routinely criticizing the "stupidity" and "technical backwardness" of iPhones might want to ponder this. When Apple, Nokia and MS all agree, perhaps there is actually something to what they all agree upon, hmm?
ananduser - Wednesday, October 26, 2011 - link
There will be an additional nokia phone with a larger screen, the N800 is only one option out of a lineup. The scarcity of the hardware is limited BY the OS(WP Apollo will be tailored for dual cores), plus Nokia always had lower than average specs, it is not like they are following in Apple's footsteps, more like the other way around - Nokia was always conservative regarding specs and optimized for stability and power efficiency.Are you really beating on the BT; is BT suddenly a feature now, same BT that you cannot transfer anything between iphone devices?
The iphone is not LTE, nor is the network on which it operates, nor are most carriers around the world(except the Japanese which are in a whole league of their own).
The current Iphone is pretty formidable spec wise, simply because it is NEW. The "technical backwardness" that you mean is still true to Apple across the board. Apple never went for bleeding edge hardware. Apple has precisely scheduled refresh cycles and because they have a tight control on the driver software cannot afford to change SKU's just for bragging rights. Hardware wise Apple is always "good enough" and that is not a bad thing.
trivor - Wednesday, October 26, 2011 - link
Some specs are important. I grant you that WP7 does not need dual core so we'll ignore this one for a moment.The things that are important:
1. Storage - I have 8 GB right now and that barely makes it. My next phone will have at least 16 onboard (if expandable like Android) or 32 GB (maybe 64 GB) if I go to iPhone. Relying on the cloud for my data (be it movies, music, apps, etc) is not good enough with capped data and unreliable, slow 3G service (I'm on Verizon and love their service so don't tell me to switch to another carrier). I don't expect LTE for at least 18 mos. (maybe 2 years). If this is supposed to be a high end device (competing against iPhone 4S, Galaxy SII/Nexus, and Moto RAZR) 16 GB, NON EXPANDABLE, storage is not going to hack it.
2. The announcement is great - when can someone in the US actually get one of these - by time they're released Android will be sporting ICS (which by the way is starting to look like a nice OS based on using Mathias Duarte's experience with WebOS is actually very nice), 32-64 GB on board storage expandable to more, and possibly new battery tech for longer life.
3. What about FFC and 4G LTE (Verizon is expanding gangbusters, ATT is starting to roll out and even Sprint is announcing LTE). Total lack of future proofing.
4. Just like any OS RAM always matters and more is always better. While Apple can get away with 512Mbyte with its optimized OS I'm not counting on Microsoft needing only 512 MByte (look at their history with Desktop OS's). Once again more ram (which is always non-expandable) will help with future proofing this device.
Would really love to buy into the WP7 experience (I have been all Microsoft since 1983) but just don't see it. Especially since by time I see it on Verizon it will already be yesterday's hardware - the Trophy is now the only WP7 phone on Verizon and it's 18 month old hardware - not worth tying myself up for two years with it.
AncientWisdom - Wednesday, October 26, 2011 - link
Just responding to your comment about not enough RAM-from what I read, WP7 is nothing like Windows, and in fact should run very well with not much RAM. It doesn't have proper multitasking, which is the only reason you need more RAM on a phone.
And I wouldn't say that MSs control over hardware is any less tight than Apple's. They have obviously learned some lessons and are keeping the hardware super under control. So if the iP4 is ok with 512mb of RAM, there is no reason a WP7 wouldn't be.
I like the looks of this phone, my only problem is screen size. After owning a SGS II, I can't see myself downgrading the screen size. Even for the missus, which has a SGS, it would be tough to convince to get a phone under 4" - and why should I?
a5cent - Thursday, October 27, 2011 - link
RAM:All WP7 apps are limited in the amount of RAM they can request from the OS and the OS can reclaim a lot of RAM from apps that aren't running in the foreground. Consequentially, even if you put 2 GB of RAM in a WP7 phone you wouldn't notice any difference whatsoever (except a higher purchasing price).
Storage:
Agreed. A phone with 16GB of storage should have a mSD slot. No idea why Nokia skipped this.
FFC:
I can't help but suspect that whatever comes to the U.S. will have one. Europeans seam to care nothing for FFC's.
4G LTE:
Currently no SoC manufacturer integrates LTE so handset manufacturers must add extra circuitry that turns any such device into a battery sucking monster. Nokia figured better battery life is more important. This will change with chassis 3 sometime in 2012.