Nokia 8800 Arte review: Art of seduction

Stainless steel and OLED screen: there's no way a handset with that kind of features will ever blend in with the crowd of handsets. Add the hefty price tag and you got the high-end biting the dust too, just like that. But then, there's always someone like us to ruin the pleasure. Poking and prying, finding out if it's worth your dime. Wait a minute, did we say dime?! Sorry, we got carried away. Can't help it with the Nokia 8800 Arte.

   
Official photos of Nokia 8800 Arte

   
Official photos of Nokia 8800 Arte
Key features
Looks 
Body made of the highest-quality materials 
2" 16M color OLED display with QVGA resolution 
3G 
3 megapixel camera with autofocus 
Full-house retail package 
Decent battery life 
Fingerprint resistant surface on the back 
Turn-to-mute 
Magic clock 
Large internal memory 
Series 40 5th edition user interface 
Main disadvantages
Poor legibility under direct sunlight 
Tri-band only 
No memory expansion 
Smallish display 
Expensive, believe it or not 

Nokia has long stuck a pole into the ground of premium lifestyle. Ever since the original Nokia 8800 saw the light of day, the Finnish-based company has been the first choice for phones made of exclusive, highest quality materials. Exquisite and beautifully crafted, the 88xx series handsets will get away with anything, be it their underperformance or exorbitant price.

   
Nokia 8800 Arte views

Nokia 8800 Arte will face the greatest amount of competition inside its own pack, with every other 88xx-series handset a potential rival. Looks will be the weapons of choice, although the Arte duo has an ace up their sleeve in terms of functionality too. Nokia 8800 Arte and 8800 Sapphire Arte are the first 88xx series phones to feature 3G support. Anyway, the whole bunch is so heavy on design and exclusivity that high speed data transfers may as well be of no consequence if you're to make up your mind between the Arte and the Luna.