I've spent the last three to four months immersed in Windows 8 Metro, from working with Google and Opera teams to investigate its capabilities, to watching hours and hours of Build videos, to reading a much documentation as I could stomach and spending a large piece of my time on Windows 8. I've got a Samsung Series 7 Slate, a ThinkPad laptop, an HP all-in-on TouchSmart, and a Sony all-in one L Series each running Windows 8 and I've spent countless hours forcing myself into a Metro mindset so that I can better help Mozilla define a compelling Firefox on Metro experience.
Recently, I decided that I was going to go a step further and move over to a Windows Phone to experience even more Metro. Because I'm not a fan of the the super-sized smartphones, I sought out a solid Windows Phone device in the sub-4" range. It didn't take me long to see there was really only one choice, one phone that shined above all others: the Lumia 800 from Nokia.
I've been using it for a while now and I'm posting here to say that it is without a doubt the most beautiful phone experience I've had.
The Lumia 800 phone body is a dense and brightly colored polycarbonate. It's available in cyan, magenta, and black. I have the cyan version.
The polycarbonate feels amazing in your hand. It's got the heft and rigidity of metal and ceramic, but the touch isn't as cold and unforgiving, and the ever so slight texture of surface is easily gripped with absolutely no fear that it could slip from your hand. The CMYK print-maker-inspired colors are pure and powerful -- simply stunning.
The sides of the body have a true round edge while the top and bottom follow the ark of the curved glass face, starting with a gentle bevel that culminates in a sharp cut.
The front of the phone is a beautifully curved dark black glass set just into the polycarbonate with carefully beveled edges that complete a face that's nearly symmetrical with the polycarbonate back. The phone's glass and screen are perfectly balanced in both landscape and portrait mode.
Power and volume buttons, along with a dedicated camera button, raise just slightly out of the right side of the phone. The silver buttons have edges and texture that make them an easy target for your fingers with no learning curve. The camera button is positioned precisely under your right index finger when holding the phone in landscape mode and button travel is just deep enough to feel a complete press, better than most other phone hardware buttons I've used.
I'll leave this quick review focused on the hardware interfaces and follow up with some thoughts on the Windows Phone operating system experience in a later post.
One parting note though. I've spent time on considerably more capable devices including most recently a Samsung Galaxy Nexus. While the Lumia 800 isn't even in same league when it comes to specs, it's a generation ahead in user experience. As I said at the opening, the Lumia 800 is the most beautiful phone experience I've had. It's nearly a perfect piece of design.