Lumia 800 vs Omnia W vs Radar
The Lumia 800 from the Nokia stables is Nokia’s flagship smart phone running on Windows Phone platform. While Nokia will be pinning their hopes in regaining its place in the smart phone market with Windows Phone 7 as their only OS (Symbian is still there but one can’t help in assuming that it will be discontinued very soon), the likes of Samsung and HTC have followed an approach in which they make smart phones with Android, Windows and other platforms. Samsung is making great strides with their Galaxy phones running on Android, they have made it very clear that Android won’t be the only platform for Samsung smart phones. Add the Bada platform to it and Samsung is making phones in three different platforms, though Android is going to be the main OS for now. HTC too have entered the fray in taking up any opportunity in taking advantage of the Windows Phone platform with the HTC Radar. So how does Nokia’s Lumia 800 compare with the Omnia W and the HTC Radar? Let’s take a look. Since the OS on these phones are the same, we will only compare the hardware of these phones.
Design and Display
Nokia Lumia 800:
The Lumia 800 is basically a clone of the Meego running Nokia N9, only that the display is a couple of inches smaller. The polycarbonate unibody with the distinctive curves make the Lumia 800 stand out as a very different phone compared to the many Android phones in the market. The Lumia 800 is slightly heavier at 142 gms, which when compared to the likes of Galaxy S II is a lot heavier. Measuring at 116.5 x 61.2 x 12.1 mm, the Lumia 800 isn’t the slimmest either. The polycarbonate body makes the Lumia 800 feel very sturdy compared with its competitors.
The 3.7 inch display is covered with Gorilla glass, so it is basically scratch proof and dust proof. The display unit is an AMOLED unit with WVGA resolution (480*800).The screen quality of the Lumia is best in class as the viewing in both outdoors and indoors is simply brilliant. The display is not reflective, hence meaning that viewing outdoors is not going to be a problem at all.
Samsung Omnia W:
The styling of the Omnia W is basically the same as its predecessor, the Omnia 7, with a few subtle differences here and there. The body is a mix of plastic and metal and when compared to the Lumia 800’s polycarbonate body, this won’t feel as the sturdiest phone in the market, but then Samsung doesn’t have a history of making phones that feel strong in your hands. The Omnia W is just 115 gms, a lot lighter than the Lumia 800.At 115.6 x 58.8 x 10.9 mm, the Omnia W is also slimmer than the Lumia.
The display on the Omnia W is almost similar to the Lumia 800. It also 3.7 inch Super AMOLED display with Gorilla glass. The indoor and outdoor viewing is almost comparable to the Lumia 800’s display and the nearly non-reflective screen also makes the outdoor viewing a pleasurable experience.
HTC Radar
The HTC Radar is a well built phone with an aluminum body. The HTC Radar is also a slightly heavy phone at 137 gms and measures 120.5 x 61.5 x 10.9 mm. The display on the Radar is not the greatest by any means as it sports a slightly bigger 3.8 inch display, but is Super LCD screen. The display with resolution of 480*800 is protected by Gorilla glass. The viewing experience or the viewing angles on the S-LCD screen is not comparable to the superb AMOLED screens. One thing to remember is that the Radar is not a pricey phone and hence at that price, the screen isn’t the worst.
The Lumia 800’s design is better when compared to the other two but it is a lot heavier and bulkier than the Omnia W. The HTC Radar’s body is better than the Omnia W, but it is also a bit heavy compared to the Samsung phone. My ratings on the design are as follows:
• Lumia 800 : 4/5
• Omnia W : 3.5/5
• HTC Radar : 3.5/5
When it comes to the display, the Omnia and the Lumia are almost head to head. The Radar’s display is not comparable to the AMOLED screens on the other two. My ratings for display are:
• Lumia 800 : 4.5/5
• Omnia W : 4.5/5
• HTC Radar : 3/5
Camera
Lumia 800:
The rear camera on the Lumia 800 is the best in class camera. The 8MP camera with dual LED flash and Carl Zeiss optics produces brilliant snaps. In low light conditions, the camera performance is a bit disappointing but compared to the others in the market, we could easily say that it’s the best. A major letdown is the absence of a front camera. It also records 720p videos at 30 fps. Unfortunately, the Lumia doesn’t record 1080p videos as the Windows Phone OS doesn’t support dual core processors and 1080p recording and playback is possible only on dual core processors. Quite a dilemma,huh?
Omnia W:
The Omnia W has a 5MP camera with LED flash. Compared to the Lumia 800’s camera, the camera isn’t the greatest but does a fair job when it comes to the quality of the snap. 720p videos are recordable at 30 fps. The biggest advantage is however the presence of a VGA front camera. One would think that Nokia’s biggest mistake on the Lumia 800 is the absence of the front camera when the competitors have them.
HTC Radar
The HTC Radar, like the Omnia W sports a 5 MP camera with LED flash. A VGA front camera is also present for video calling.
The Lumia’s rear camera is without doubt the best among the three, and probably better than the 8MP cameras on the Galaxy SII and the iPhone 4S, but the absence of the front camera is a major letdown. If I am giving a rating in the rear camera alone, I would perhaps give it a 5/5, but the ratings are based on both cameras.
• Lumia 800: 3.5/5 (-1 for absence of front camera. Rear camera rating :4.5)
• Omnia W : 3.5/5
• HTC Radar :3.5/5
Other Features:
Lumia 800:
The Lumia 800 is powered by a 1.4 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and a 512 MB RAM. Coupled with the Windows Phone 7 OS, the performance is nothing less than fast and breezy. The presence of a Adreno 205 GPU also enhances the performance even further. The battery is a 1450 mAh battery, with fairly decent life. Reception quality and the sound quality of the speakers are the best on the Nokia phones and the Lumia is no different. Internal storage of 16GB is also present.
Omnia W:
The Omnia W is also powered by a 1.4 GHz Snapdragon processor and has a Adreno 205 GPU on board. The Omnia W also has a RAM size of 512 MB. Battery of 1500 mAH provides fairly decent battery life. Call reception is not the best when compared with the Lumia. Internal storage is just 8GB.
HTC Radar:
The Radar is powered by a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor with a 205 Adreno GPU. The Radar also has a 512 MB RAM onboard. The Radar also has an internal storage of 8GB.
As Windows Phone 7 doesn’t support expandable storage, none of these phones have a slot for it. The presence of an extra 8GB internal storage gives an edge to the Lumia but still think its not much anyway.
Ratings:
Lumia 800: 4/5
Omnia W: 3.5/5
HTC Radar: 3.5/5
Price and value for money:
Lumia 800:
The Lumia 800 is not the cheapest phone by any means. At $590(Rs. 30000), it is a pricey phone and when taking into account the absence of front camera and storage space of only 16GB, I think the Lumia is a bit too highly priced.
Omnia W:
The Omnia W is priced at around $380 (Rs. 19000). At the lower prices, we get almost the same features of the Lumia 800. The Lumia 710 priced at around the same range is more of a competition to the Omnia W than the Lumia 800.
HTC Radar:
The HTC Radar is priced at around $400 (Rs. 21000).
Ratings on the price:
• Lumia 800 : 3/5
• Omnia W : 4/5
• HTC Radar : 3.5/5
Final verdict
The Lumia 800 isnt a value for money phone and also doesn’t offer any ‘wow’ factor that could make it a killer phone. There are many good things in it but if you really want a Windows Phone Mango smart phone, I think the Omnia W offers more value for money. Or even the Lumia 710 is a better choice than the Lumia 800.If price is not an issue and you are not concerned about video calling and you dearly want a Windows Phone running smart phone, the Lumia 800 is a very good choice for you, but an even better idea would be to wait for Windows 8 to be launched and wait for the Windows 8 phones from Nokia and others.
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