I must say I had really high expectations for this phone.
I was going to finally get rid of my Google Nexus One, which hadn't served me too well in those two years I used it; the signal was shite, my 3G was slow, taking self portraits was next to impossible due to where the shutter was located on the screen, and the quality of the speakers wasn't good.
So, once my contract was up, I quickly changed carriers and two weeks later I got myself a brand new, SIM-free Lumia800 in cyan.
Such a beautiful, smooth phone!
But once I got home and tried to set it up, I encountered the first big issue:
The need of a Windows Live ID, an XBox Live ID and a Zune Live ID set up with UK as region.
Many of you know I lived in Spain before coming here, and even though I had all those 3 ID's, because their region was Spain, they would not work for my phone here. Mind you, I would be able to use the phone, just not purchase anything from the Marketplace, including games and music.
I even called the Xbox Live support team to figure out if there was a way for me to change the locale of my existing ID's, but to no avail. I think I could change the locale for one of them, but not the Zune one, so in the end, the easiest solution was to create new ID's with UK as the region.
what this basically means is that all the points and achievements I had unlocked with my Xbox Live are of no use to me here, and I have yet another email I will need to check periodically and remember its password for.
That evening, before I had accepted the fact that I would need to create these new keys, I decided I would return the phone the next day and try to get a refund, or even an exchange for an Android.
So the next day, my bf and I went to the phones4u store in our neighbourhood to see what could be done. There, a very rude attendant told me they did not give refunds or do exchanges based simply on the fact that I didn't like the phone. Even though I had barely used it, and had carefully packaged it in its original box and everything. This frustrated me even more!
Luckily, my bf was also in need of a new phone, so he offered to keep the Lumia and get me the phone I wanted once I found it.
For that entire week I heard only praise coming from him about the phone. He was uttery in love with it! That weekend I caved in. We went back to the store (it was cheaper there than in any other store), where luckily there was another attendant, and got another Lumia, but this time, in black for him.
And so, after having spend almost all weekend getting my phone all setup, I decided to play with it.
I really did like it! I quickly got used to the interface, discovered how great the integration with all my social media was, loving the free radio mixes from Nokia, etc.
Everything, but the camera.
This phone sports a Carl Zeiss 8MP camera that has received a lot of praise from Nokia.
My verdict? It is crap!
Not only does my Google Nexus take better pictures with its 5MP camera, but its flash, focus and settings are way better!
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| Flash is weird as it makes the whole area around it darker than it really is. Macro is utterly useless! |
In a few forums where other users also had issues with their cameras, many suggested that an update was due with fixes for the camera, as well as other issues.
Well, since then, already two updates have come up, and I've got them on my phone. The camera? still the same crap.
I know this is a phone and not a Canon Dslr, but still! I am very much into my social media, and sharing pictures by uploading them on the go is a must for me. I enjoy doing it. The fact that this phone isn't delivering on that area is very frustrating.
Besides the camera issue I really do like this phone and enjoy the novelty of WP7.5 and am eagerly waiting for WP7.8.
But see that is another thing that has let me down. When Microsoft finally announced WP8 last month, they said that it was not compatible with the current WP7.5 phones out there. So basically, even though my phone hasn't been on the market for a year yet, is already starting to be obsolete. Yes, we will get 7.8 to keep us 'happy' but if we really want to try WP8, we will need to get a new device again.
And honestly, I don't think WP7.8 will fix the camera issues.
(There are more images on my Flickr)
I am considering getting another Android later on and try to sell or exchange the Nokia, but am still not sure. This phone does have things that bother me, but then it has tons of stuff that I like and love. I don't know if I could go back to using Android, it just looks so boring to me now, not to mention the actual devices aren't too exciting.
How about iPhone, you say? HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH, don't make me laugh!
