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Nokia Lumia 800

It was during my first year at university that I noticed more and more ordinary people carrying mobile phones. Before then, it had always been an exclusive accessory for Gordon Gekko-types and the filthy rich.

However, even as my peers enthusiastically joined the mobile revolution I stubbornly held out.

My reasoning was simple: I hated the idea of being contactable at all times; being at the beck and call of everyone; being a slave to the machine.

Maybe I told myself that being a free spirit was important to me, although no one else noticed.

Starting with a classic

Nokia 5110

Then I graduated, got a job and joined the real world.

I had to get a mobile phone and, naturally, I got myself a Nokia 5110. It was a very dark blue that made it look black from a distance and this made it, in my mind, very stylish and sophisticated.

Even now my mum would say ‘why do you need a smart phone? I only text and make phone calls.’

Well, the Nokia 5110 could have been made for her because it was great at these two things. Predictive text was a revelation.

I remember unscrewing the antenna to see if it made any difference and while I’m not entirely positive, I don’t think it did. That seemed astonishing.

Of course, I remember playing Snake. A lot of Snake.

It’s very satisfying to discover that the Nokia 5110 has become an iconic handset and considered a modern classic. Your first mobile phone is like your first car – it opened new possibilities and broadened your horizons.

A glimpse of the future

A few years later even Snake wasn’t enough.

My second Nokia was the 6300 and is possibly the most beautiful phone I will ever own. It had a gorgeous metal body that was extremely tactile and satisfying to hold.

Nokia 6300

image credit: Andrew Currie on Flickr

The Nokia 6300 seemed an unimaginable leap forward from the 5110.

It had a colour screen where I could watch video clips, a camera, ring tones that no longer sounded like a phone ringing, a browser for web pages, I could check my emails and remarkably it had Wi-Fi connectivity.

This was back when my computer still needed a dial up modem to get online.

In hindsight, the Nokia 6300 was a tantalising forerunner of the smart phones that we take for granted today. At the time it all seemed so easy and natural. It was the future, but we didn’t yet know it.

The great leap forward

So, finally, I now have the Nokia Lumia 800. I had heard many good things about it, and I know that Windows Phone has got a lot of admirers.

It has not disappointed. Windows Phone is responsive, fast and wonderfully intuitive.

The ClearBlack screen is a thing of beauty. How much more black could it be? As they said in Spinal Tap: ‘None more black.’

One of my initial impressions of the Nokia Lumia 800 was that it integrates social media at its very core, and in a way that I’ve never come across before. It feels like a leap forward.

The Nokia Lumia 800 feels great in the hand; it looks sleek, elegant and is yet playful: None more Nokia?