The Nokia 8800 mobile phone has won the “best of the best” prize from red dot. The Nokia 8800 received the award because of its’ design qualities, use of precious materials (stainless steel and mineral glass), usability and features. The Nokia N90 with unique clamshell design also received a red dot.

My Perspective

We were going to cover the Red Dot Awards yesterday but had to ponder over the Nokia announcement and their win. Here’s why. This is really great and all for Nokia but winning this award struck me as odd provided the phone was announced over a year ago and even has several variations in theme. There has been a 24k gold version and versions based on automobiles such as the Aston Martin. The Nokia 8800 is sexy, shows individual confidence and glamour but is considerably old when it comes to both design and technology. Maybe I just have higher expectations.

It really perplexes me how Nokia wins for a device well over a year old, that by all I can see could have been entered in last years Red Dot competition. In fact just to show you how old the 8800 is, the Nokia 8801 which is the US version based off the Nokia 8800 was expected to begin shipping during the 3rd quarter of 2005. This phone is stylish and shiny but it just seems like Nokia is doing everything they can to make this phone a runaway success or at least justify whatever went behind the production.

If you are only buying a phone for looks the Nokia 8800 is a great bet. Big spenders however should go all out and purchase a Vertu. If you like the idea of owning a Red Dot award winning phone that you can use as a conversation piece, but still want current / next generation technology in my opinion go with the Nokia N90.

- BigBerries