Browsing on Lumia 800 – Internet Explorer Mobile 9 for Windows Phone works like a charm:
Internet Explorer been a name of nightmare for me since years and I should have not been looking forward to Internet Explorer on a mobile, but thanks to the developer version of Windows 8 that came with Internet Explorer 9 and changed my perspective about the name. (Nevertheless, one should never compare the desktop version and the mobile version at all, but in real, a common user does go by names.)
Lumia 800 sports Internet Explorer Mobile 9 for the browsing part that was first launched by Microsoft at Mobile World Congress 2011 based on rendering engine of its desktop counterpart. It features some of the UI changes as well like Address bar has been moved to the bottom of the screen (like Symbian Phones from past) and is now also present in landscape orientation. Internet Explorer Mobile 9, like its desktop counterpart, features full hardware acceleration. Microsoft shown many HTML5 demos (including Speed Reading) on the browser and security has also been enhanced with the port of SmartScreen Filter.
Tabs are here, bookmarks are here, recent items\favourites are here, option to share page is also here, not only this but you can pin the page as a Tile itself. So, it already checks almost all the boxes required for Mobile browsing.
For me, the real thing was the rendering of content, panning & zooming, HTML5 performance, text reflow etc and it came out as a mixed bag on stats at least. While I was happy about the performance from every angle and it outperformed my Galaxy S in speed of loading pages at least, on the negative side, you find a lot of standards missing like HTML5 score stayed lower at 141, no flash supported (Adobe already discontinued that so no big deal), no text reflow support (just like Email app) and you can’t even download files as it prefers to stream them. So, it doesn’t stand as a winner in my eyes.
It has an option to set the agent as Desktop or Mobile, but somehow all of the Google sites are able to bypass the same and Gmail will open in its less functional mobile browser mode only except if you choose to view legacy HTML mode.
I would say that if it manages to fix the above mentioned issues (may leave flash support) then for the rest of things, this would have been one of the best browser for me at least about the rendering part. Even on EDGE connection, loading of sites never been an issue for me. I hope things will change soon for better.
If talking about alternatives, then there are actually not many alternatives on Windows Phone. No Opera version for Windows Phones yet and Metro Browser though got a nice interface, performs well but is a paid app and in trial mode the annoying ad will stay on the bottom of the screen. But trust me, if Microsoft just adds support for downloading files, then I would easily choose Internet Explorer Mobile 9 any day over Symbian or even Stock Gingerbread Browser of Android.
Bing Search on Nokia Lumia 800- Trust me, you should give it a chance:
If you remember then you would have seen a Bing Search option in your Nokia Symbian phones as well, but I hardly know of anyone me who would have used that option rather than our popular Google search. Even in case of Desktop searches, I have read a lot of praises about Bing Searches and was even needed to go through the same from Business perspective once, but honestly speaking, nothing ever made me switch to Bing Search in past. So, why a complete section on Bing Search here in Nokia Lumia 800 review?
Obviously there is a reason and that reason is the integration and some of the unique innovations with Bing Search and Smartphone operations that led the decision to keep a dedicated search button at the bottom of all Windows Phones include Lumia 800.
There is no search tile or app and that was not needed either provided the fact that it always here in your search at the bottom of every Windows phone as a capacitive button. Tapping the same takes you Bing search UI that has a “Search the web” text input box at the top and three buttons at the bottom namely scout, vision and voice. Rest of part is filled with a unique innovation, a high definition image that will keep on changing at times (probably on daily basis) with some significant photo tagged with some information as rectangular boxes that will show up the text when you tap on them (check the pics).
voice is obviously the voice based search that takes the input from you and then try to make it out in words. The same didn’t did bad for the well know words like India or Youtube, but for the others it remained hit and miss, but I would say that is pretty much all the voice based solution I would have tried (famous Indian ascent).
vision is a very interesting idea to add up QR codes and Text Scan etc into one for making up over visual information present. Like you are in an unknown area, don’t know the language there and want to know what’s written on the signboard, just point the phone with vision mode towards the text and it can search or translate the same for you. The feature is somewhat like Google Goggles but first its integrated into cores, second it doesn’t need you to download a separate app for the same. Same about the QR codes, you don’t need to install a separate QR Code app to decipher them, its all already there inbuilt into Windows Phone Core. Nokia Lumia 800 really makes use of its open camera (without shutter) very well here.
scout as the name suggests works like your scout in the area you are right now. Detects you position via GPS (almost always ready with the location info already) and provides you the info for things around you in sections like eat+drink, see+do, shop and highlights. There are options to navigate to the places as well and good thing is, all of it happens within the same app. It was a great joy to see that the info was always relevant even in Indian surroundings and information was more accurate than it was in case of my Symbian^3 Nokia N8 Guides app.
As about the regular search results, then result appear on a dark background (as per your settings) with categories (navigation sideways like other Metro style apps) like web, local and images. The search box will always have a mic icon ready for you in case you ever feel lazy in typing and wanna just say the same. Local here not the search into phone content itself but it lists the results that near you by the GPS location.
So, as you can see, your idea of a Bing Search on Desktop might be some different, but on phone, it could soon change your perspective about searching things via your phone.
Nitish Kumar's Blog 
Holy shit! 24 pages? :-O Sorry man, I give it a pass.. I am too busy, like you 😦
Nice post. How about an option to display the post in one page? May make it simpler to read
You are just awesome dude… how the hell can u review soooooo much!! hats offff! even i own nokia lumia 800!! feels like reading n reading… (now in page 1)
Will consider to put a PDF file for whole post.
One hell of a review Nitish.
Thanks mate. Went out a little early than scheduled but hope I covered most of things
Looks like you can now publish a book on Lumia Review 🙂 Great Review..
Nice review , by the way about OTA , it’s a wp7 limitation and not lumia , soon wp in market currently supports OTA same is true about other few features.
Yup! The review is mostly about Windows Phone as a whole rather than Lumia only
Good post , though I must say I couldn’t read it in one go 🙂
Even though I havent used or tried any WP device for more than half an hour, I just hated UI and how it looks. I don’t think that perception of ugly,over simplified UI will change.
As expected and read all over for me 3 things stand out for WP. These can make it success.
1) People Hub
2) Brilliant Office Suite ( and its FREE)
3) Email
But sadly I feel Nokia is going away from their soul and going Apple way.
This may be good for company(I really doubt) but not good for industry as whole.
Suyog,
I had similar sentiments about WP UI before trying it myself. Even I mentioned once that I felt those uneven fonts as ugly. But trust me, views are bound to change once you allow it grow over you. Not all the praises going around are dummy.
Agree with Nitish, once I got my hands on Lumia 800, I didn’t like UI for few hours or a day and missed home screens. But later, started loving the UI and now I am a fan of UI. 🙂
People hub is exceptional as just like Meego it brings all social activities at one place and like WebOS it brings all the photos (even twitter ones).
So in all, people hub will effectively help people managing their social needs without going behind any apps that is a great thing for n00bs or even people coming from Symbian/Meego.
Second great thing is speed of UI that literally no offers either be Symbian or Android
Suyog, I’ll agree with Nitish.. in just two words…. you will see my views about it changing too… it’s actually a good UI. there are however some features that really were needed but if talking about UI, seriously I think if I was given more time with it I would been liking this UI. and I’ll not say like many out there that “Windows Phone 7.5” is not that good to be used.
But still I’ll say that MeeGo on N9 (for its given time) has been the most *Mature* smartphone OS (in most of the aspects) among all of them.
And Nitish; that really is great post above, I’ll try to read it completely 😛
Review is great for people want to know about the History, comparison , apps functionality , dimensions but drawback is too massive detail..
Very interesting article, Nitish. I’m very exited with Windows phone on Nokia, but lack of BT and file transfer worries me. Nokia has been great among other things because of its flexibility and versatility. Does is support USB on the go, like my N8? What about something small but GREAT in functionality, notification light? Man, I think Nokia should never get rid of this. It helps the user so much to see through a notification light, that you have a missed event.
Quite a thorough article on the Lumia 800(& upcoming 900)windows phone. The most important things for me are:i’m not going to sell a Rolls Royce to ride a better handlind motorcycle-ie,my Nokia E7-00 vs any Lumia! No storage! No tethering! No bluetooth! No sale!
One of the most comprehensive review of Lumia 800 I have read. sheer Brilliant.
Are u still using this device? How is the battery life holding up for you?
Any word on Lumia 900 launch date in india?
Thanks,
-Pankaj
The best review of WP that I have seen , kudos to u Mr. Kumar ! U r right , the Lumia 800 is beautiful ; it should be since it`s a copy of the N9 ! But that same design is also a problem in certain areas of the world ( more about this in a bit . ) .
i`ve always said that WP has potential but it`s still immature ( Takes 3 years to work out enough of the bus and work enough features in , to make the OS useful . ) , seriously late to the party and there r too many other OEMs trying to get a piece of the pie . In all fairness to Nokia , they haven`t had a chance to make an impact on WP yet , maybe WP8 will change this . Nor have the Lumias been out too long , though this is changing . So it`s still a bit early to say for sure .
That said , WP hasn`t exactly taken off yet , marketshare is still single digits . Nor do I like the Metro UI , though my issue with it is more function than form ( but I do think it`s ugly !) . I firmly believe that a homescreen should convey enough info to keep u current at a glance , and the Metro UI doesn`t do this . Even Windows Mobile could do this !
WP`s biggest problem , IMHO , is it`s requirements for a constant connection and Skydrive . Not so much a problem in developed countries , but in emerging markets with their infrastructure issues and the need to watch data usage, it`s a different thing entirely . I don`t think WP will do well in emerging markets ( It seems to not be … ) , though it also doesn`t seem to be doing well in many developed countries either , with the USA , Finland and Russia as notable exceptions .
Nor will do well in countries where the N9 was a success, most notably China , due to the problem that WP is functionally inferior to Meego , and Symbian , for that matter . even the new 311 is better from what I can tell !
For these reasons , I don`t see WP as more than moderately successful , assuming it takes off , of course ! Maybe WP8 will change this , ir really needs too ! cheers !
Mofo awesome! Never believed there existed a greater Lumia 800 fan than me! :p
Hmmm , no replies , can`t say I`m surprised lol !
On second thought , looks like the 10/19/2012 post MIGHT have a reply so I take back the previous remark , t least to an extent lol…
Every thing about Windows Phone OS is covered very well.