Nokia Lumia 810 Windows 8 Phone Review

Feelin’ the Love #MeetYours

Say hello to my lit-tle friend. I’ve had my new Windows 8 Nokia Lumia 810 phone for a little over a week now, and let’s just say… love is in the air. I don’t typically get all gushy over products, but when you go “gift” shopping for one, you know something is up. O.K. … the goodies are actually for me (Bluetooth speakers & headphones), but they are to use with the phone. I also plan to get a good case for it this week.

I have to admit, when the phone first arrived I felt a little intimidated by all the windows tiles. It seemed a little overwhelming… so I did what anyone would do, rather than read instructions, I started messing around with the tiles and other screens. No, this is not a cautionary tale. The tiles screen is actually very user friendly. You can drag and re-size the tiles easily, and if you mistakenly delete one, it is still on the next screen, just select and re-pin the tile to your scrollable start screen. This was my first experience with a Windows 8 product, and I like it.

I kept my first tile configuration pretty simple. Texting got a big box, so they will be easy to read right from the start screen. I also gave Internet Explorer and phone calls good size screens for now. I made a social media hub section, so important for bloggers. Nokia maps, My Fitness Pal, camera & Nokia Music are also pinned on the start screen. Dangling off the screen, but still slightly visible are Windows Office and the weather. I’m sure this configuration will be adjusting with time and experience (I haven’t even pinned any people to the screen yet, nor any foodie apps), but for now I am pleased with the tile arrangement, and when the whim strikes me I’ll shuffle it around and add more to the scroll down area too.

While the tiles are an innovative and handy approach to organizing the phone, some other features are what truly make me all swoon-ish.

The Screen ~The Nokia 810 (available through T-Mobile), has a huge screen compared to most phones. Although bigger is not always better, in this case anyway it is. My daughter’s therapist has an iPhone 4, and every time she sees this phone she coos over the screen size. I’ve also found the screen to be far more responsive than my old LG Optimus V Android phone.

Fast ~ The processing speed on this baby is blazing fast. There is really no comparison to my old phone. Thanks to the Dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 processor, the Nokia Lumia 810 Windows 8 phone deftly maneuvers through tasks… like a yoga video on fast forward.

Nokia Music ~ One bonus I’ve really been loving with this phone is the free Nokia Music service, a commercial free streaming radio service with a huge array of custom channels. The service is exclusive to Nokia Lumia Windows phones. Obviously I love it. It is a good part of the reason I ordered speakers and headphones for my new Nokia 810, and with up to 64 GB expandability through micro SD card and access to cloud storage, this phone can handle a lot of music.

I’ll be filling you in some more on my transition to a Windows 8 phone over the coming months, until then… enter to win your own Windows 8 phone!