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Nokia Lumia 800 review: Bold design, blah camera

Despite the awesome camera specs, the unlocked Nokia Lumia 800's 8-megapixel shooter missed the bullseye.

Jessica Dolcourt Senior Director, Commerce & Content Operations
Jessica Dolcourt is a passionate content strategist and veteran leader of CNET coverage. As Senior Director of Commerce & Content Operations, she leads a number of teams, including Commerce, How-To and Performance Optimization. Her CNET career began in 2006, testing desktop and mobile software for Download.com and CNET, including the first iPhone and Android apps and operating systems. She continued to review, report on and write a wide range of commentary and analysis on all things phones, with an emphasis on iPhone and Samsung. Jessica was one of the first people in the world to test, review and report on foldable phones and 5G wireless speeds. Jessica began leading CNET's How-To section for tips and FAQs in 2019, guiding coverage of topics ranging from personal finance to phones and home. She holds an MA with Distinction from the University of Warwick (UK).
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Nokia Lumia 800
Josh Miller/CNET

It's been a couple of weeks now since we first glimpsed the Nokia Lumia 800, one of the first two of Nokia's brave new Windows Phone world, just after it was announced at Nokia World.

This phone had promise: a 3.7-inch WVGA AMOLED screen, a 1.4GHz processor, a singular design in crazy bright blue and magenta, and a fancy 8-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss Tessar optics, dual-LED flash, and 1080p HD video capture.

Let me tell you, specs don't always pan out. I have few complaints with the phone's interesting, gutsy design, but the camera quite frankly overpromised and underdelivered. You can see some of the photos and comparison shots in this gallery.

As for the rest, read all the pros and cons, and see photos and video in the full Nokia Lumia 800 review.

Nokia Lumia 800 photo test

See all photos