Nokia Lumia 800 - music and video

First port of call today in my test drive of the Nokia Lumiere 800 phone is centred around music (and video).

Just like Apple's iPhone there is no ablity to simply plug into USB and drag and drop into a folder in Windows Explorer to manage music. Instead of iTunes we now get forced to install Microsoft's Zune software. At 100MB this wasn't a small download.

Zune is the only way to manage your phone from a machine especially if you want to import your own music. Setup was easy and once the necessary Windows Live information has been entered (or created) and various naming things set up we were sort of ready to go.

Once into Zune it was easy enough to import my music collection. Annoyingly it did take a couple of goes for my phone to show up in Zune. Getting songs onto the phone was a simple case of drag and drop onto a device icon and the import began immediately so there is no need to click a sync button. On the other hand if you change your mind you'll have to cancel the sync or delete from the phone.

Minor niggles aside, it was quick and easy to import music. The only downside is the fact that you have to use Zune at all. There is method to the madness however as, like iTunes, Zune will keep track of an backup your apps.

The Zune player is easy to use on both phone and PC. The quality of sound on the Nokia handset is very good. Just like the iTunes Genius system, the Zune player also has SmartDJ options. The controls are easy to use and tracks can be moved on or back using standard icons or swipe gestures. Pause, next and back icons appear on the lock screen to give easy access. Change the volume and once again the pause, next and back buttons appear.

You can access your music and videos, podcasts and radio via the Zune app. Needless to say you also get access to the Windows Live Marketplace to allow you to buy music should you so wish. Prices are comparable with iTunes and you can stream 30 second samples of songs before you buy. One downside of this is the integration with the player which means that you'll have to reload your current music to continue playing as it remembers your samples from the store which for me was quite irritating. It would have been better if the samples were just played in the store.

Also offered is the Zune Music Pass. A Spotify style affair that gives you unlimited music streaming to your phone, PC and Xbox 360. They offer a 14 day free trial and then it's £8.99 a month or £89.90 for a year after that.

Nokia have bundled up their own Nokia Music app too. This integrates with the Zune player and gives you access to your music content on the phone as well as a host of other features. There's Mix Radio (giving free access to genre related streamed playlists). Probably one of the best value adds on this phone however is the Gigs item. Click on this and the phone will pop off via GPS and report back with any gigs over the next couple of days in your immediate vacinity. Oddly the Nokia Music app has access to the Nokia MP3 Store, which requires a different account to the Windows Live Marketplace and doesn’t offer a sign up feature so I have no idea if that is any good or not as I don’t actually have a Nokia account. Not sure having two competing music stores on the same phone is a good idea myself and could get frightfully confusing if you forget what you bought where.

Overall though, the music experience is mighty fine with good quality playback. Videos are also good although the size of the screen does make it’s use a little limited.