Nokia certainly seems to be working toward its 2012 goal to increase and improve its branding profile: It barely released the Nokia 710; the Nokia 800 just hit store shelves, and while we wait anxiously for the Nokia Xperia Lumina 900, Nokia is set to release the Nokia 801T smartphone.

Not yet in stores, let’s take a look at what it will be offering.

Overview

One of the first things a user notices is the 801T’s hefty weight. Far heavier than the Nokia 700 at 96 grams and the Nokia 800 at 142 grams, the 170-gram weight of this device is not easily overlooked. While some may say that the weight helps ground the mobile phone in the hand, it can also make carrying the mobile in a pocket rather uncomfortable.

Very surprisingly, the 801T does not carry WP 7, much less 7.5 Mango. This model reverts to the Symbian OS, and Nokia fans are of mixed minds on this: Some like the familiarity of Symbian, whilst others cry for Mango.

Specifications

Dimensions: 125.2 x 65 x 12.8 mm / 170 g
Display: 4.0 inches / TFT capacitive touchscreen / 360 x 640 pixels at 184 ppi
Operating System: Symbian Anna
Speed: 680 MHz
Memory: 256 RAM / 1 GB ROM / 8 GB storage, expandable to 32 GB via microSD card.
Battery: 1300 mAh / 2G: Talk: up to 5.6 hours; standby: up to 400 hours / 3G: Talk: up to 8 hours; standby: up to 400 hours. / Music play: up to 65 hours.
Camera: rear: 8 MP / 3264 x 2448 pixels / fixed focus / dual-LED flash /Video: 70p at 30 fps. / Front: VGA.
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n. / 2G: GSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900 / 3G: TD-SCDMA 1880-1920 or TD-SCDMA 2010-2025 / GRPS / EDGE / HSPDA.

Additional comments: The fixed focus on the rear camera will disappoint many users in the quality of photos they take: They’ve gotten used to autofocus. Nice battery life on music play; disappointing talk life on 2G networks. NFC technology onboard. Stereo FM with RDS. MP3 / WMA / WAV / eAAC+ audio player; MP4 / H.264 /H.263 / WMV video player. Document viewer and photo editor.

Surprises: CMMB mobile TV and TV Out with composite – very nice for the entertainment-oriented user.

Overall opinion: For users who like Symbian OS, this is a nice device. Its biggest drawback is the slow processing speed, but putting that aside, the Nokia 801T might be suitable in a mid-range price zone for those who use the smartphone for entertainment purposes.