Review: Nokia Lumia 810 for T-Mobile USA
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The 810 runs Windows Phone 8 from Microsoft. Handset makers and carriers aren't allowed to mess with the user interface, so the user experience on the 810 looks and feels just like it does on other WP8 devices.
The lock screen now has customizable alerts that pop-up when the screen is locked. You can choose which alerts reach the lock screen and which don't, as well as pick which type of alerts are given priority.
The Start screen is more customizable than before. The Live Tiles can be resized in small, medium, and large variations, and of course the Tiles can be arranged however you wish. More apps support Live Tiles, which makes the Start screen even more dynamic.
The rest of the menus behave more or less the same as earlier versions of Windows Phone.
The Lumia 810 has a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm processor. Windows Phone has always been a snappy smartphone operating system and the dual-core engine under the hood provides more than enough motivation to keep the 810 feeling spry and zippy.
Calls and Contacts
The phone app is simple to use and offers a standard set of features, such as hold, mute, speakerphone, merge calls, and send to Bluetooth. It's easy to text or call a number stored in the call log, as well as add it to a contact.
The People Hub ties in users' Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter profile data, as well as their basic contact data. It's the most feature-rich contacts app out there, and provides consistent updates and notifications about those with whom you converse the most.
Messaging
The Lumia 810 has the same WP8 communications tools that other Microsoft-based smartphones include. That means a solid email client, SMS/MMS, IM, apps. In my experience, the email program is quick, Social networking - which is built into the People Hub - is quite useful.
Microsoft employs one program to serve as the SMS, Windows Live (soon to be Skype), and Facebook Messenger applications. I like the idea of keeping all short-form communications in one spot, and of course they are all threaded and support multimedia. This app doesn't support AIM, GTalk, or Yahoo IM, though.
If you want a fuller Facebook or Twitter experience, you'll need to download them from the Windows Phone Store separately. The newest versions of the apps more closely match those offered to the Android and iOS platforms.
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Nokia Lumia 810
