Pros:Sturdy Build; Beautiful design; Camera gets optical image stabilisation and does well in low light; Extremely responsive touchscreen; Sleek and fluid UI; Voice-guided sat nav that actually works; Rich social networking experience; Crisp display; Great sound quality.
Cons:No significant cons; Given the bulk, the battery life could have been better.
Nokia Lumia 920
Street Price: Approx. Rs 37,500 (€520)
Nokia's partnership with Microsoft could have gone either way; industry observers have been divided in opinion. Nokia's recent flagship devices have posed no real threat to the iPhone 4S / 5 and the myriad of Androids. But things look different now, with Windows Phone 8 and the latest high-end smartphone, the Lumia 920. Unlike Nokia's earlier top-of-the-line Windows Phone handsets, the Lumia 920 seems right from the word go. The spec sheet includes PureView camera tech, the tried-and-tested Snapdragon S4 chipset, PureMotion HD+ screen with high refresh rate, wireless (induction) charging, and more.
Review units were not available from Nokia at the time of launch, so we obtained one from the Netherlands.
The Bold And The Beautiful
There are no prizes for guessing that the Lumia 920 looks like an overgrown Lumia 800 — but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The phone's body is CNC-machined; each device is carved out of a single polycarbonate block. The result is a seamless unibody with no cuts or joints, save for the ports and buttons. The precision build and attention to detail is simply amazing. Another advantage of the coloured polycarbonate is that even if you manage to chip off a chunk from the Lumia 920, it will reveal the same colour underneath. This means you won't have to worry about your phone losing its colour
Display
The handset features a 4.5" IPS screen labelled as PureMotion HD+ display by Nokia. The display's 1280 x 768 pixels offers a 15:9 ratio that neatly scales the old WP 7.5 apps in right proportion edge-to-edge. On the other hand, the HTC 8X with a 16:9 screen runs some older apps with a thin letterbox (vertical bars that are used to fit images of one aspect ratio onto a screen of a different aspect ratio).
The 920's screen has a pixel density of 332 ppi, which is in iPhone 5 territory (325 ppi). Sharpness is not an issue; thanks to the high 60 Hz refresh rate, anything that the screen displays — be it scrolling text or fancy transitions — looks good. Being an IPS panel, the screen offers wide viewing angles.
Nokia's ClearBlack technology, consisting of a sequence of polarising layers, eliminates reflections and delivers sunlight legibility. The screen also offers better contrast ratio than most IPS panels. The levels of blacks on the 920 are comparable to AMOLED panels, except when set to full brightness. While it's one of the best IPS panels I've seen on smartphones, I would have preferred an AMOLED screen on this phone.
There's been a lot hype surrounding Nokia's super-sensitive screen. After using the phone for a few days, I can confidently say it's one of the most responsive touchscreens available. Just like the iPhone 5's screen, it never missed an input. Even better, it's operable with pen, gloves, keys, fork, fingernails, and even a nail! This ability can come in handy in the northern parts of our country, where gloves are a must in winter. Finally, like any other high-end smartphone screen, this one is protected by Gorilla Glass 2.
Package, Basic Specs
There's nothing special in the Lumia 920's retail package. You get a USB cable, charger, and IEMs that match the colour of your of handset. But wait, where's my charging plate, Nokia? Too bad — it has to be bought separately.
The phone is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 chipset, featuring a dual-core 1.5 GHz CPU and Adreno 225 GPU. It has an 8.7 mp camera with dual-LED flash, Carl Zeiss optics, and Optical Image Stabilisation. Apart from that, you get a 4.5" IPS panel with pixel dimensions of 768x1280, 1 GB of RAM, and 32 GB internal storage. The detailed list of specs is at the end of this review.
Windows 8 With Nokia Exclusive Apps
With support for multi-core CPUs, the Windows Phone platform now performs even better. Thanks to a Snapdragon S4 chipset ticking inside the 920, the experience is as smooth as that of the iPhone 5. As already mentioned in oooour review of the HTC 8X, Microsoft has removed the unused space, often referred to as the gutter, from the homscreen. Users can now customise Live Tiles with three sizes to choose from. Other functionality upgrades include the addition of the mass storage mode and Bluetooth file sharing.
Street Price: Approx. Rs 37,500 (€520)
Nokia's partnership with Microsoft could have gone either way; industry observers have been divided in opinion. Nokia's recent flagship devices have posed no real threat to the iPhone 4S / 5 and the myriad of Androids. But things look different now, with Windows Phone 8 and the latest high-end smartphone, the Lumia 920. Unlike Nokia's earlier top-of-the-line Windows Phone handsets, the Lumia 920 seems right from the word go. The spec sheet includes PureView camera tech, the tried-and-tested Snapdragon S4 chipset, PureMotion HD+ screen with high refresh rate, wireless (induction) charging, and more.
Review units were not available from Nokia at the time of launch, so we obtained one from the Netherlands.
The Bold And The Beautiful
There are no prizes for guessing that the Lumia 920 looks like an overgrown Lumia 800 — but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The phone's body is CNC-machined; each device is carved out of a single polycarbonate block. The result is a seamless unibody with no cuts or joints, save for the ports and buttons. The precision build and attention to detail is simply amazing. Another advantage of the coloured polycarbonate is that even if you manage to chip off a chunk from the Lumia 920, it will reveal the same colour underneath. This means you won't have to worry about your phone losing its colour
Display
The handset features a 4.5" IPS screen labelled as PureMotion HD+ display by Nokia. The display's 1280 x 768 pixels offers a 15:9 ratio that neatly scales the old WP 7.5 apps in right proportion edge-to-edge. On the other hand, the HTC 8X with a 16:9 screen runs some older apps with a thin letterbox (vertical bars that are used to fit images of one aspect ratio onto a screen of a different aspect ratio).
The 920's screen has a pixel density of 332 ppi, which is in iPhone 5 territory (325 ppi). Sharpness is not an issue; thanks to the high 60 Hz refresh rate, anything that the screen displays — be it scrolling text or fancy transitions — looks good. Being an IPS panel, the screen offers wide viewing angles.
Nokia's ClearBlack technology, consisting of a sequence of polarising layers, eliminates reflections and delivers sunlight legibility. The screen also offers better contrast ratio than most IPS panels. The levels of blacks on the 920 are comparable to AMOLED panels, except when set to full brightness. While it's one of the best IPS panels I've seen on smartphones, I would have preferred an AMOLED screen on this phone.
There's been a lot hype surrounding Nokia's super-sensitive screen. After using the phone for a few days, I can confidently say it's one of the most responsive touchscreens available. Just like the iPhone 5's screen, it never missed an input. Even better, it's operable with pen, gloves, keys, fork, fingernails, and even a nail! This ability can come in handy in the northern parts of our country, where gloves are a must in winter. Finally, like any other high-end smartphone screen, this one is protected by Gorilla Glass 2.
Package, Basic Specs
There's nothing special in the Lumia 920's retail package. You get a USB cable, charger, and IEMs that match the colour of your of handset. But wait, where's my charging plate, Nokia? Too bad — it has to be bought separately.
The phone is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 chipset, featuring a dual-core 1.5 GHz CPU and Adreno 225 GPU. It has an 8.7 mp camera with dual-LED flash, Carl Zeiss optics, and Optical Image Stabilisation. Apart from that, you get a 4.5" IPS panel with pixel dimensions of 768x1280, 1 GB of RAM, and 32 GB internal storage. The detailed list of specs is at the end of this review.
Windows 8 With Nokia Exclusive Apps
With support for multi-core CPUs, the Windows Phone platform now performs even better. Thanks to a Snapdragon S4 chipset ticking inside the 920, the experience is as smooth as that of the iPhone 5. As already mentioned in oooour review of the HTC 8X, Microsoft has removed the unused space, often referred to as the gutter, from the homscreen. Users can now customise Live Tiles with three sizes to choose from. Other functionality upgrades include the addition of the mass storage mode and Bluetooth file sharing.
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