Nokia launches Windows Phone lineup: Lumia 800 and 710

Jos

Posts: 3,073   +97
Staff

Nokia has finally unveiled their much-anticipated range of Windows Phone handsets, in what the company believes will be the start to a recovery for its struggling smartphone product line. "It's a new dawn for Nokia," Chief Executive Stephen Elop said as he unveiled the high-end Lumia 800 and mid-range Lumia 710, which will go on sale in key European markets starting next month.

Nokia's first flagship device running Windows Phone Mango, otherwise known as Windows Phone 7.5, boasts a 3.7-inch curved 800x480 AMOLED display, a 1.4-GHz single-core processor, 16GB of internal storage, 512 MB of RAM, and an 8-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and 720p high-definition video capture. The design is based on the N9 -- it has the same polycarbonate body but it's slightly thinner -- and will be available in cyan, magenta, and black.

Nokia has added some of its own integrated apps, including a homegrown app that offers turn-by-turn navigation and full maps coverage. It comes preloaded on the phone and it's completely free. There's also a free, mobile music-streaming app that offers pre-created music lists that can be accessed on or offline.

The less expensive Lumia 710 also has a 3.7-inch screen and 1.4GHz processor, but offers half the storage at 8GB and has a 5-megapixel camera. The screen's less brilliant (WVGA TFT) and it's slightly chunkier than the 800 overall, but it will come pre-loaded with the same navigation and music applications as its higher-end sibling.

The Lumia 800 will go on sale in November for a retail price of 420 euros ($584) without contract, while the Lumia 710 won't be coming to market until later in the year and should set users back 270 euros ($376) without contract. The phones will go on sale in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Britain in November, and in Hong Kong, India, Russia, Singapore and Taiwan before the end of the year. Both are expected to hit the U.S. in early 2012.

Permalink to story.

 
I love the look of the new devices, but I can't for the life of me figure out why they didn't include any front-facing cameras on them. I guess this just confirms that I'll be upgrading sometime late next year, probably when Apollo lands. I hear it will support 1280x720 displays.
 
I don't get why people think Nokia will make a difference with WP7. Nokia has always been--in the US-- a minor player. It won't be a game changer, specially with the HTC Titan and the Focus S being superior in hardware.
 
lawfer said:
I don't get why people think Nokia will make a difference with WP7. Nokia has always been--in the US-- a minor player. It won't be a game changer, specially with the HTC Titan and the Focus S being superior in hardware.

And how is the titan superior in hardware? An inferior TN based screen with a lower pixel density, the same processor, a worse camera, and the same storage and ram.

The focus S has better specs by having a SAMOLED+ screen but that's about it. And the titan certainly does not beat the lumia 800.
 
lawfer said:
I don't get why people think Nokia will make a difference with WP7. Nokia has always been--in the US-- a minor player. It won't be a game changer, specially with the HTC Titan and the Focus S being superior in hardware.

I don't really agree with that. Nokia dominated the U.S. a few years(10-15) back. There were only nokia and Motorola phones in people's hand. They have been a non-factor recently but that's not to suggest that it can't change Motorola died for a couple years here too.

But with that said, It will be a challenge for sure and I'm glad Nokia decided to prioritize European markets first. It shows that they have their priorities straight. They're much more likely to make a impact there. Almost at the same time they were announcing the phone a ton of Europe carriers started an advertising blitz for these two new phones. Stark contrast to our U.S. carriers.

As for the FFC comment, I think that is much more important in the U.S. and we don't even know what phones Nokia will be bringing out to the U.S. It's rumored that it'll be the 900 and it's possible that will have a FFC. Either way you'd have to wait and see since Nokia phones aren't coming to the U.S. until 2012 anyways.

For me, I'll be getting either the Focus S or the new Nokia phone. It depends on what Nokia releases, but as for the confirmed upcoming U.S. phones the Samsung ones are the best IMO.
 
Princeton said:
lawfer said:
I don't get why people think Nokia will make a difference with WP7. Nokia has always been--in the US-- a minor player. It won't be a game changer, specially with the HTC Titan and the Focus S being superior in hardware.

And how is the titan superior in hardware? An inferior TN based screen with a lower pixel density, the same processor, a worse camera, and the same storage and ram.

The focus S has better specs by having a SAMOLED+ screen but that's about it. And the titan certainly does not beat the lumia 800.

I apologize, I guess I should have made myself more clear. There are two things in my last comment that should be edited for clarification.

First, I was comparing the Titan to the Lumia 700, and the Focus S to the Lumia 800. As it is understood the Focus S is a higher-end device compared to the Titan (despite its large screen).

A second thing that should be edited is that, at the end, my comment should say "overall."

Now that that's out of the way. Let's just say I wasn't indeed talking about the Titan vs the 710, and the Focus S vs the 800, respectively. Let's say its the other way around.

The Titan does not use just a TN screen. It is, technically, an AMOLED display, just the same as the 800. HTC now mostly manufactures using Sony's S-LCD displays, which effers the same advantages as AMOLED does. S-LCDs are not simply twisted nematic displays; they are superior, with a different type of active matrix technology. Although equal to AMOLED, S-LCDs usually come with less ppi than AMOLEDs, which is the case with the Titan and the 800.

I researched and the 800 features 252ppi, while the Titan features 199ppi. In essence, the screen is the same, but the Lumia 800 has 53 more pixels per inch. Hardly anything to boast about.

The camera is the same, megapixel-wise, both at 3264x2448, and capable of shooting 720p video. The Lumia has a Carl Zeiss lens, for better "quality." At 8MP, difference is hardly noticeable, but lenses do make a difference. In this category, the only thing left is to actually have test photos of the two; but for now, Lumia is superior.

Everything else is about the same. Titan has the same memory, although a higher clocked Scorpion processor, and the same Adreno 205 GPU. So basically, Lumia has a better camera? Although form factor, and actual body do come into account when choosing a phone, I'd leave those characteristics out of the comparison, as those are more subjective than qualitative.

Both are almost the same. And mind you I never even meant to compare the Titan and the 800, but the Focus S and the 800; which is, arguably, the best out of the two.

Chazz said:
lawfer said:
I don't get why people think Nokia will make a difference with WP7. Nokia has always been--in the US-- a minor player. It won't be a game changer, specially with the HTC Titan and the Focus S being superior in hardware.

I don't really agree with that. Nokia dominated the U.S. a few years(10-15) back. There were only nokia and Motorola phones in people's hand. They have been a non-factor recently but that's not to suggest that it can't change Motorola died for a couple years here too.

But with that said, It will be a challenge for sure and I'm glad Nokia decided to prioritize European markets first. It shows that they have their priorities straight. They're much more likely to make a impact there. Almost at the same time they were announcing the phone a ton of Europe carriers started an advertising blitz for these two new phones. Stark contrast to our U.S. carriers.

As for the FFC comment, I think that is much more important in the U.S. and we don't even know what phones Nokia will be bringing out to the U.S. It's rumored that it'll be the 900 and it's possible that will have a FFC. Either way you'd have to wait and see since Nokia phones aren't coming to the U.S. until 2012 anyways.

For me, I'll be getting either the Focus S or the new Nokia phone. It depends on what Nokia releases, but as for the confirmed upcoming U.S. phones the Samsung ones are the best IMO.

Well that's exactly my point. Nokia WAS predominant in the US. But right now, in the era of smartphones, it is minor player. And by minor I mean minuscule.

Truthfully, what makes you think that releasing another phone with WP7, will make any more impact than with their Symbian or MeeGo OS? A customer walks into a store, an sees the "Samusung Focus S", right next to the "Nokia Lumia 800/Searay", which you do you think he/she will pick? It's not about quality, as I have owned Nokia phones, but is more about both consumer trust and market awareness.

The same reason why, say, having a price card say "8MP Carl Zeiss camera" on a Nokia, and just "8 MP" on a HTC, doesn't make a difference. People know HTC and love HTC. The same way people know Samsung, and love Samsung.

And I too, will be getting the Focus S. I actually like more the design of the Lumia, and I know it has a better camera, but I see myself just getting the Focus S. I wonder <i>why</i> is that? ;)
 
"HTC Titan and the Focus S being superior in hardware."

Who cares about those phones anyway? Windows 7 hasn't been able to gain market share despite HTC selling Windows 7 phones for a while now. Nokia should be worried about its biggest threats which are Android and iOS markets, with phones such as Samsung Galaxy SII and iPhone 4S. Windows 7 as a whole is competing against 2 superior platforms.

One of the main reasons Nokia hasn't been successful in the US market is because they didn't really sell high-end phones on a contract in US. So most people never even thought about buying an unlocked stand-alone Nokia phone in the US/Canada.

Now the biggest challenge isn't necessarily hardware, but convincing the consumer that Windows OS is easier to use. Thus far, Microsoft hasn't been able to make any ground here.
 
lawfer said:
I don't get why people think Nokia will make a difference with WP7. Nokia has always been--in the US-- a minor player. It won't be a game changer, specially with the HTC Titan and the Focus S being superior in hardware.
Yeah I'm not necessarily buying into MS and Nokia being the future power couple of the smartphone world either. This isnt 10 years ago when nokia could sell just because it was nokia and W7 Phones arent selling as well as MS hoped. I know people arent going to disagree with me on this, but just the look of the phone will turn people off, especially when there are better looking devices out there which can do exactly the same thing. Though, they are offering free voice navigated GPS so they could swing in their favor.
 
Princeton said:
lawfer said:
I don't get why people think Nokia will make a difference with WP7. Nokia has always been--in the US-- a minor player. It won't be a game changer, specially with the HTC Titan and the Focus S being superior in hardware.

And how is the titan superior in hardware? An inferior TN based screen with a lower pixel density, the same processor, a worse camera, and the same storage and ram.

The focus S has better specs by having a SAMOLED+ screen but that's about it. And the titan certainly does not beat the lumia 800.

Also Nokia's ClearBlack AMOLED is superior than the original SAMOLED of Samsung (although pixel density on this thing is nothing special), I'd like to know whether Nokia have brought any further improvements in the CB AMOLED tech to compete with Samsung's SAMOLED Plus. I think I will either get Focus S or perhaps wait till Apollo rolls out .........

Who cares about those phones anyway? Windows 7 hasn't been able to gain market share despite HTC selling Windows 7 phones for a while now. Nokia should be worried about its biggest threats which are Android and iOS markets, with phones such as Samsung Galaxy SII and iPhone 4S. Windows 7 as a whole is competing against 2 superior platforms.

I could't put it any better than then GSMarena folks:

And let's face it, the Windows Phone interface is the only UI around that's truly different - iOS, Android, even Symbian are becoming harder and harder to tell apart. The only thing that held it back was the lack of multitasking and now that's been sorted out.

Having used Symbian for years, iOS (occasionally), and Android for good part of a year+/-, and WP (for few days); I like the last one, it is far easier to use, and even for a novice to learn than the others. And I am not going to get into debate about all the stupid issues I've had with android.
 
lawfer said:
I don't get why people think Nokia will make a difference with WP7. Nokia has always been--in the US-- a minor player. It won't be a game changer, specially with the HTC Titan and the Focus S being superior in hardware.

Nokia has had a huge portion of the market share worldwide (particularly in Eurpoe) with their Symbian OS. Having the windows phone 7 agreement will help expand microsoft's slice of the pie. These devices (winphone7) are just awesome but I think Microsoft could use some lessons in "aggressive marketing"
 
Archean said:
Princeton said:
lawfer said:
I don't get why people think Nokia will make a difference with WP7. Nokia has always been--in the US-- a minor player. It won't be a game changer, specially with the HTC Titan and the Focus S being superior in hardware.

And how is the titan superior in hardware? An inferior TN based screen with a lower pixel density, the same processor, a worse camera, and the same storage and ram.

The focus S has better specs by having a SAMOLED+ screen but that's about it. And the titan certainly does not beat the lumia 800.

Also Nokia's ClearBlack AMOLED is superior than the original SAMOLED of Samsung (although pixel density on this thing is nothing special), I'd like to know whether Nokia have brought any further improvements in the CB AMOLED tech to compete with Samsung's SAMOLED Plus. I think I will either get Focus S or perhaps wait till Apollo rolls out .........

I wouldn't call darker blacks per pixel density a characteristic that merits "superiority." But that's my opinion.


jonny702 said:
lawfer said:
I don't get why people think Nokia will make a difference with WP7. Nokia has always been--in the US-- a minor player. It won't be a game changer, specially with the HTC Titan and the Focus S being superior in hardware.

Nokia has had a huge portion of the market share worldwide (particularly in Eurpoe) with their Symbian OS. Having the windows phone 7 agreement will help expand microsoft's slice of the pie. These devices (winphone7) are just awesome but I think Microsoft could use some lessons in "aggressive marketing"

Oh yes, I know it is big in Europe. That's why I specifically said that is was a minor player here in the US. The very reason these devices are launching over there first is because they know they can't approach the American market the same way they do with the European. Mainly because both market shares are dissimilar.

And I know that the partnership with Nokia is ultimately more beneficial to Microsoft than it is to Nokia; after all, the main reason why Android got bigger faster than iOS worldwide, was mainly because it is free, but also because it was approachable and marketable. WP7 is kind of like the illegitimate son of Android and iOS; Microsoft (who in the analogy would be the stepfather) is imposing certain minimum requirements on the handsets that come with the OS (something they've recently said will drastically change in 2012, as they've seen that the controlling, Apple-like way of doing things wasn't "beneficial"), but also offer a more open space for both development and marketing by OEMs (the same way Android does; OEMs, like HTC, put their own software changes on the OS and market their phones without restriction, as opposed to Apple who is the sole software engineer and designer).

Essentially they have the best of both worlds. Specially now that with the release of Tango--and Nokia's support--in both Asia and Europe WP7 is more likely than ever to have phones with better hardware, and lower prices, to compete with (shittier) Android devices on developing countries.
 
I just wonder one thing here - why if LG make the displays in the iPhones aren't more companies acquiring them? Does Apple have a exclusivity agreement with LG? Coz this things resolution is disappointing.
 
I no longer trust MS commitment to their own Windows Mobile, because they now milk Android manufacturers so efficiently, the profits surpass anything that can come from their own mobile platform, not to mention it will be counterproductive straight away. I bet MS is thinking this one through today, and one thing for sure - they won't go against their own profitability.
 
Back