MOBILE

Nokia Lumia 810 – T-Mobile (Part 1)

4/27/2013 4:48:33 PM

Coming after a long wait is the next harvest of Windows Phone handsets which is just launched in time for the upcoming holiday. If you have read our reviews about HTC 8X and Nokia Lumia 920, you would have known that Windows Phone does have some formidable competitors, but these top devices have just told half of the story. Now, we have been given a chance to test the Lumina 810, an average-level smartphone which is available on T-Mobile.

Obviously, it is not T-Mobile who starts the price war here. At $150 after discount, Lumia 810 is more expensive than the Nokia’s crown jewel, the Lumia 920, which you can find on AT&T for $100. Naturally, you can recoup some of this with the lower monthly fees, but it must be said that T-Mobile is levying an early adopter tax on its subscribers. That means, for people who are fans of Windows Phone but are still not ready to change the ship, so between Lumia 810 and the more expensive HTC 8X, the choice is yours. With the lower expense, Nokia hides its ace under the forms of its home-brewed Windows apps, which are enough to draw customers’ attentions and blur its luxury competitor’s existence. However, whether the additional card is adequate to win the gamble? Let join us to discover Lumia 810’s beauty.

Nokia Lumia 810

Nokia Lumia 810

Hardware

If you are interested in enduring handsets, you would be fond of Lumia 810. For other people, its shape might be a drawback, because it is one of the chunkiest smartphones we have ever seen for such a long time. In spite of the popular 4.3inch screen, the newest product of Nokia for T-Mobile is surprisingly large. To put things in a picture, the device’s height and width are nearly equal to HTC One X’s, and with 0.43inch depth (10.9mm), it is much thicker. If you prefer a more compact Windows Phone, just consider HTC 8X, which is more slender among two, regardless of the similar dimension.

Beside its physical dimension, the substantial appearance of Lumia 810 is consolidated by the aesthetic design. Unlike most of the smartphones, which usually try to hide its perimeter by the curved or beveled edges, Lumia 810 seems to show off its thickness with clean edges and flat sides linked with the tapered rear casing. Generally, it is very comfortable to hold the handset and more importantly, you can easily operate with just one hand. However, you might find it hard to fit your pocket, with that thick shape.

Lumia 810’s outlook

Lumia 810’s outlook

Lumia 810 is the spiritual successor of Lumia 800 and T-Mobile’s offerings, the Lumia 710. However, from the design perspective, it represents a new begin of Nokia. There is no doubt that the proportions of the phone are very similar with that of Lumia 820 for AT&T and Lumia 822 for Verizon Still. Nevertheless, Lumia 810, without rounded edges or sides, seems to be the most elegant of the bunch. The phone’s surface also looks very spare with just a solid and expansive sheet of glass. It owns a front 1.2-megapixel camera, light and proximity sensors, an earpiece and the capacity Windows Phone navigation buttons. Notification light, which is the distinct advantage of HTC 8X, is a lack of this device.

Of course, sitting in the middle is the 4.3-inch, 800x480 (WVGA) ClearBlack AMOLED screen. Exclusive to Nokia, a polarized filter helps the screen displaying the view content better under the direct sunlight, and just for this aspect, it really made a huge step forward compared to its competitors. Manipulating tasks with your finger nails or even while wearing glows is also another highlight. Yes, bare fingers are still the most ideal, but it is so hard to dissemble that utility. Overall, the screen offers much content space, lively colors, deep blacks and elite viewing angles. Notwithstanding, there are some disadvantages as text appears roughly within the web browser and the white balance of the display seems to be decidedly on the cool end of the spectrum.

Lumia 810’s thickness

Lumia 810’s thickness

The rear case of Lumia 810 is really a perfect case covering two sides of the device. It also contains the volume rocker, power button and dual-stage camera shutter button, which are on the right hand side of the vase. Good news is that right-handed people will face no problem in adjusting the volume or waking the device up, because both buttons are located within the reach of the thumb. At the bottom, you will find a micro-USB port lying between two grilles which hide the loudspeaker on the left side and microphone on the right. On the top, there is a 3.5 mm earphone jack and an additional microphone for stereo recording. The back side of the handset is quite Spartan, with a vertical camera pod – complete with Nokia and Carl Zeiss mark and a dual-LED flash light. Those, who easily get bored, might find it interesting to change the rear case everyday with different color and texture shells, along with ones that support Qi wireless charging.

Essentially, Lumia 810’s thickness is rather a differentiator than an inhibition. It is somehow necessary because the phone provides the built-in support for the Qi wireless charging standard, which means that it is able to compatible with Nokia’s charging pillow from Fatboy. When removing the rear case, you will find a removable 1800mAh battery which occupies such a large space. You will also see a micro-SIM array and a microSD slot, along with a NFC antenna which is built into the rear case before.

The removable skin case for Lumia 810

The removable skin case for Lumia 810

 

Other  
 
Top 10
Review : Sigma 24mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art
Review : Canon EF11-24mm f/4L USM
Review : Creative Sound Blaster Roar 2
Review : Philips Fidelio M2L
Review : Alienware 17 - Dell's Alienware laptops
Review Smartwatch : Wellograph
Review : Xiaomi Redmi 2
Extending LINQ to Objects : Writing a Single Element Operator (part 2) - Building the RandomElement Operator
Extending LINQ to Objects : Writing a Single Element Operator (part 1) - Building Our Own Last Operator
3 Tips for Maintaining Your Cell Phone Battery (part 2) - Discharge Smart, Use Smart
REVIEW
- First look: Apple Watch

- 3 Tips for Maintaining Your Cell Phone Battery (part 1)

- 3 Tips for Maintaining Your Cell Phone Battery (part 2)
VIDEO TUTORIAL
- How to create your first Swimlane Diagram or Cross-Functional Flowchart Diagram by using Microsoft Visio 2010 (Part 1)

- How to create your first Swimlane Diagram or Cross-Functional Flowchart Diagram by using Microsoft Visio 2010 (Part 2)

- How to create your first Swimlane Diagram or Cross-Functional Flowchart Diagram by using Microsoft Visio 2010 (Part 3)
Popular Tags
Microsoft Access Microsoft Excel Microsoft OneNote Microsoft PowerPoint Microsoft Project Microsoft Visio Microsoft Word Active Directory Biztalk Exchange Server Microsoft LynC Server Microsoft Dynamic Sharepoint Sql Server Windows Server 2008 Windows Server 2012 Windows 7 Windows 8 Adobe Indesign Adobe Flash Professional Dreamweaver Adobe Illustrator Adobe After Effects Adobe Photoshop Adobe Fireworks Adobe Flash Catalyst Corel Painter X CorelDRAW X5 CorelDraw 10 QuarkXPress 8 windows Phone 7 windows Phone 8