Will Nokia succeed with Rs.30k Lumia 800?

BANGALORE, INDIA: Nokia is expected to release its new Lumia series smartphones in India soon by first bringing its high-end Lumia 800. All this at a time when the struggling Finnish cellphone maker is attempting to revive its fortunes banking heavily on the Windows 7.5 Mango OS.

But the price of the new smart phone at Rs.30,000 has baffled many especially when rival Samsung's Omnia W, which too runs on Windows Phone 7.5, will be selling at Rs.21,000. 

One the eve of Lumia launch, Nokia India is making an all out effort to win back its fans by indulging a  media blitz. Nokia Care Center is providing free trials of the new smartphone across India even as the pre-booking has already begun.

Nokia seems to justiffy the price at this time saying that Lumia 800 has so much new to offer. Nokia hopes that the new design would be a head-turner, and the design will bring the best social and Internet experience.

In my trial of the new the Lumia, I found the phone really fast with its 1.4-GHz processor with hardware acceleration and a graphics processor.

What makes the phone impressive is its 3.7” screen which offers Super AMOLED resolution. The Windows Phone’s living tiles also add to the look and feel of the phone with live weather display and other updates. The phone's weight is also pleasing at 142g.

The Nokia Lumia 800 contains an instant-share camera based on the leading Carl Zeiss optics, HD video playback, 16GB of internal user memory and 25GB of free SkyDrive storage for storing images and music.

But I did not find any unique apps on the Lumia. The Nokia Drive app, a decent satnav alternative, is no different than the one offered in Apple phones or Google Maps on any Android phone. A Music app provides pre-arranged playlists for people who would like a radio substitute. Elsewhere, of course, other Windows Phone apps can be downloaded from the main Microsoft Marketplace.

Nokia Lumia 710

Nokia plans to introduce the low-end Lumia 710 phones in India at a later date.

Nokia Lumia 710 can be personalized with exchangeable back covers and thousands of apps to bring the Lumia experience to more people around the world.

The Nokia Lumia 710 is designed for instant social and image sharing, and the best browsing experience with IE9. It is available in black and white with black, white, cyan, fuchsia and yellow back covers. It features 1.4 GHz processor, hardware acceleration and graphics processor as in the Nokia Lumia 800.

The retail price of Nokia Lumia 710 in India is yet to be declared.

What do you feel about the new Nokia smartphones. Do write your opinion in the comments box below: