Nokia Lumia 900 Review ⇥

I really wanted to love this device. As I have frequently stated, I think Windows Phone 7 is an interesting and generally well-executed operating system. Joshua Topolsky also wanted to like it, but found it wanting:

These aren’t minor gripes I have — they speak to the foundations of this OS. My annoyances aren’t just about the color choices in the calendar, they’re about whether or not scrolling in apps functions as it should, or if I’ll get important updates in the background. Can I use IRC without breaking my connection every time I leave the app? How many steps does it take to get to the information I need? Do webpages display properly? Will the apps I need or want to use make it to this platform, and will they be any good when they get there?

In some ways, I feel like I’m reviewing a webOS device again (but with much, much nicer hardware). There are all these wonderful ideas at play, but it’s impossible to look past the nagging bugs and missing features.

But I thought my phone sucked? Brian X. Chen, yesterday:

Nokia’s strategy to sell its new Lumia smartphone is to make you feel dumb about what you already have. New video ads from Nokia, the Finnish phone maker, suggest that iPhones and Android phones are flawed, unfinished “beta” devices, which makes you a sucker for having one.

Nokia has built a great device here, and Windows Phone 7 should be a great operating system. Or, more accurately, it has the potential to be a good OS. But it is perpetually far behind what Apple and Google are shipping, making every device it ships on a “beta” device, in opposition to the marketing promise.