Powered by Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 operating system, the
920 features significant changes on the software side of things too, which
we’ll dive into further in the review.
Although Nokia did have some hiccups getting the device of
the door, many believe the device speaks for itself. Click on to find out for
yourself.
Hardware
Out of the box, the unit comes with matching in-ear
headsets, and a USB charger and cable, including the expected documentation.
You can choose from all of 6 colors of the Lumia 920; Black,
Grey, and Cyan come in a matte finish. While the White, Yellow and Red models
have a glossy finish. We did notice that our glossy yellow model does collect
fingerprint marks that are mostly visible in direct light.
As for the phone itself, the Lumia 920 is built like a
Hummer H1. It feels tough. It doesn’t creek. It doesn’t bend. And it feels like
it could do some serious damage to the floor if dropped. Torture tests on
YouTube prove just how tough this phone is. Built with the same polycarbonate
unibody Nokia used on the 900 and 800, the 920 can certainly take a beating.
Under the hood, the 920 packs a punch with a Qualcomm
SnapDragon S4 dual-core CPU clocked at 1.5GHz, an integrated Adreno 225 GPU,
1GB RAM, 32GB of flash storage, 1.3MP and 8MP front and rear cameras
respectively, and a range of sensors that includes an accelerometer, gyroscope,
proximity, ambient and magnetometer (compass). As for connectivity, the 920
features Wi-Fi, 3G (some models support LTE), Bluetooth, NFC, A-GPS, GLONASS
and a MicroUSB charging port. The device comes powered by a 2000 mAh
non-removable battery that can also be charged wirelessly.
By no means is the Lumia 920 a thin and light device (again,
think Hummer H1), its weighs in at 185 grams and is 10.7mm at its thickest
point. However, it feels great in the hand and its weight feels evenly
distributed across the phone. Complaints that the phone “is too heavy to even
consider living with” are blown completely out of proportion. No matter what
phone you get, whether it’s lighter, or heavier than your previous phone, you
will have to get used to its weight and the way it feels in your hand. And the
fact of the matter is, the Lumia 920 isn’t as heavy as it’s thought to be.
(The 920 on the right is actually a little thinner than the 900 beside it!)
Consider this, the iPhone 5 weighs in at 112g. Add a quality
protective case to that, which you very likely will if you have an iPhone 5 to
protect its fragile exterior, and its combined weight will go up to somewhere
around 160-170g for a full body plastic/rubber case. We’re talking about a 15g
difference here over the 920 which doesn’t even need any sort of protective
casing to begin with. Not to mention the hardware advantage. My guess is that
reviewers complaining about its weight own lighter devices and so their first
impression on the 920’s weight is negative. Again, you need to get used to the
new weight before you stop feeling the difference.
In my opinion, the 920’s weight complements its construction
by adding to the heavy-duty build, and high quality feel of the device. And it
adds to the stability of the phone when taking still images.
Display
One of the main attractions of the Lumia 920 is its display.
Nokia have brought back the curved glass that made the Lumia 800 so elegant. It
did not make an appearance in the 900 as Nokia cited durability concerns
because of the larger display. With the 920, despite the larger 4.5” screen,
the glass curves seamlessly into the surrounding polycarbonate body. Strengthened
with Gorilla Glass 2 this time, it’s practically unbreakable, yet gorgeous at
the same time. Two characteristics of a smartphone display that don’t usually
go together.
With Windows Phone 8 finally supporting HD displays, the 920
sports a 1280x768 panel, with a pixel density of 332ppi. That’s “beyond Retina”
as some would say at it surpasses the pixel density of the Retina Display on
the iPhone 5, producing sharper images and text as a result.
The TFT LCD panel is also a ClearBlack one, which defines
Nokia’s display polarization layer tech. It produces deeper, truer blacks and
better visibility in direct sunlight.
Nokia didn’t stop there though, what’s really interesting about the 920’s screen is its refresh rate. Clocked at 60fps, the ‘PureMotion HD’ display completely eliminates motion blur while navigating the UI and watching videos. The Hobbit for example was shot at 48fps, so the 920 is more than capable of viewing the movie in its full glory.
Oh and there’s more! This feature is designed for those of
you in cold countries. Super Sensitive Touch allows you to operate the display
with, well anything really. Gloves mainly, but mittens, pens, cloth and even
kitchen utensils will do the job too. It’s a convenience that I’m sure many of
you will come to appreciate.
There’s no doubt that Nokia paid a lot of attention to the
920’s display, it’s a massive improvement over those found in today’s high-end
smartphones. One that really makes the device stand out. Combined with Windows
Phones minimalistic UI and focus on typography, using the 920 is very pleasant,
and easy on the eyes. Unlike some of its main rivals.
(iOS, Windows Phone, and Android - Image courtesy of TechRadar)
Camera
Let me just say that the camera on the Lumia 920 is simply
phenomenal. Nokia’s PureView technology made its debut earlier this year with the launch of the Symbian-based 808 PureView. However, that was an
outstanding 41MP camera that captured incredible detail in the images it took.
Ever since, Lumia fans have been waiting for PureView to make its move to
Windows Phone. It finally has with the 920.
When asked about why Nokia didn’t include the same 41MP
sensor used on the 808 therefore diluting the PureView brand, they were quick
to assert that ‘PureView’ is not about the MP count, but rather a suite of
technologies used by Nokia to produce such amazing, high-quality images.
In the 920, PureView consists of an 8.7MP sensor, which is backside-illuminated,
a Carl Zeiss f/2.0 lens, and optical image stabilization. All that is wrapped
in a “floating lens” system which suspends the entire camera assembly on tiny
springs. You can hear the lens bouncing around if you shake the phone close to
your ear. The springs help eliminate vibrations and the small movements of your
hand when holding the device for still images or when recording video.
See the sample images above for an idea of what the Lumia 920 is capable of. Click to enlarge. Its also important to note that these images were taken before the 'Portico' update, which improves image sharpness in good lighting conditions.
(Low-light image comparison - Image courtesy of The Verge)
Again, Nokia didn’t stop there. They put an effort on the
software side of things too. Introducing a range of camera based applications
like City Lens, Cinemagraph and Panorama to name a few.
Below is a low-light video sample taken with the 920. It was mistakenly shot at 720p instead of the native 1080p. We'll upload another one at 1080p soon.
Below is a low-light video sample taken with the 920. It was mistakenly shot at 720p instead of the native 1080p. We'll upload another one at 1080p soon.
Software
The Lumia 920 runs Windows Phone 8, Microsofts latest
version of their mobile operating system. Having used Windows Phone 7.5 for
over a year, WP8, just like the Lumia 920, has received improvements in almost
all its aspects. From the revamped Start Screen all the way down to the OS core
underneath.
Based on the Windows NT kernel (like Windows on the
desktop), the OS is now capable of handling, and making full use of much more
powerful hardware. For example, WP8 can now utilize up to 64 processor cores,
higher resolution displays, and the same network stacks, security components
(BitLocker, Secure Boot) and graphics support (DirectX) as Windows 8 does.
The OS in general is more feature rich while still
maintaining Windows Phone’s super fluid and responsive DNA. With the addition
of the dual-core SnapDragon CPU, apps load faster, websites render quicker, and
games run smoother.
(Nokia City Lens)
Nokia, unlike other Windows Phone OEMs also pays attention
to the software side of things. Not only do they develop excellent
location-based apps for the platform, but they also push developers to invest
in the Windows Phone ecosystem. They were behind the partnership with Rovio for
example to bring the popular Angry Birds franchise (including the latest
AB:Space and AB:Star Wars) to WP. Other Nokia partners include Electronic Arts,
ESPN, and Univision to name a few.
(Nokia Drive and Maps)
Nokia Maps and Drive are the star apps here. Microsoft have
even licensed Maps so as to provide it as a replacement to the company’s own
Bing Maps on all WP8 devices.
(The People Hub)
One of the stand-out features of Windows Phone, is its deep
social network integration. You’ve got Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn baked
right into the OS. This integration is aggregated in the People Hub, where you
can read Facebook/LinkedIn status updates and view your Twitter news feed all
in one place. This could get messy but there are filters you can choose from to
tidy things up. You can also update your own status on multiple networks
simultaneously and comment, like, reply and retweet to your heart’s content. All
without having to jump in and out of different social network apps. Once you
get used to this convenience, you’ll wonder how you managed without it.
(The Office Hub, Word, PowerPoint and Excel 2013)
For you work orientated people, you’ll absolutely love
having Microsoft Office 2013 and SkyDrive built in. You have Word, Excel,
PowerPoint and OneNote to work with. Which means you don’t have to settle for
third party office suites like QuickOffice or iWork that aren’t fully
compatible with Office on the desktop. In addition to SharePoint support and
SkyDrive, Windows Phone 8 is the ultimate pocketable business machine.
(The Games Hub)
My personal favorite WP feature is its Xbox Live
integration. As a gamer, it’s great playing towards a goal, and with Xbox Live
Achievements, it adds that extra layer of challenge to games that support the
service. In addition to achievements, you can set beacons, chat with fellow
Xbox Live members and customize your avatar. Xbox Smartglass is also supported.
(Top Xbox Live titles in the Store)
There are a large number of Xbox Live enabled games in the
Store – many that are free – that would allow you to rank up your Gamerscore
like Assassins Creed, Need for Speed, Angry Birds and of course the classics
like Minesweeper. This is Windows after all.
In regards to the app ecosystem, it varies depending on the
user. The Windows Phone Store is growing faster than the iOS and Android app
stores did when they were the same age. So the apps are certainly coming in.
Apple and Google may boast about the sheer number of apps in
their respective stores but let’s get real, you’re not going to download
600,000 apps onto your phone. It comes down to quality at the end, not
quantity, and Microsoft has made it a priority to bring the top apps of Android
and iOS over to the WP Store. Big apps like Facebook, Netflix, WhatsApp, ESPN,
Skype and a bunch of well-known games are already available. It’s the apps you
use on a daily basis that really matter, and it’s very likely those apps are
available on the Store. Unless you’re an Instagram nut, in that case, you’ll
probably have to settle for an alternative.
Battery Life & Call Quality
From my experience so far, the Lumia 920’s battery life is
nothing to brag about. There have been complaints that the phone doesn’t last
very long at all. While I haven’t noticed any significant drop in battery life,
it’s certainly much lower than that of the Lumia 900 I had before it.
The 920 currently just makes it to a full waking day of
longevity, or about 16 hours of regular usage. That includes browsing the web
on 3G, listening to music, downloading/updating apps on Wi-Fi, replying to
emails and watching YouTube videos. Any heavy usage like playing GPU intensive
games would force you to charge it mid-day.
Thankfully, this isn’t due to a hardware defect (as far as
we know) and Nokia have promised to release a firmware update to fix the phones
power management system.
Call quality is excellent, no dropped calls, and clear
voices heard on both ends. It’s probably due to the cell tower two blocks down
the road. But I’ve also noticed that it holds onto its 3G connection stronger
than the Lumia 900 does, which would constantly fluctuate between 3G and Edge.
The Not So Good
Although the Lumia 920 is an all-around spectacular beast of
a phone, it’s not without its faults. Starting with its lack of a MicroSD card
slot. Although the phone comes with 32GB of built-in storage, it would be nice
to have the option to expand on that. Nokia’s reason is that they didn’t want to
ruin the otherwise seamless exterior of the device. Which isn’t a very good excuse
really. On the other hand, you do get 7 or 25GB of cloud storage with SkyDrive
depending on when you signed up for the service.
Another issue is the quality of the front-facing camera. Although
it works as expected, the image quality is just bad. I don’t know if it’s
because I’ve already gotten used to the quality images the rear shooter
produces but it seems like the front camera on the Lumia 900 is better than
this one.
Next is the vibration motor in the 920 which I think might
be exclusive to my unit, since I haven’t heard or read complaints about it
online. The rattle that the motor produces is very violent. Like it’s trying to
escape. I have a feeling the motor isn’t seated properly or something. If you
do decide to get the 920, let me know if you’re experiencing the same problem.
The last issue I’ve come across isn’t really that big of an issue. The capacitive buttons on the front of the device are a little too bright for my liking. They’re certainly brighter than those found on the Lumia 900 and are sometimes a distraction.
I’m just nitpicking here. None of these issues are deal
breakers, at least for me they’re not. Nokia have produced a stellar device, and these tiny anomalies certainly don’t change that.
Final Thoughts
Let’s see, an amazing display, a crazy camera and beautiful
software all wrapped in a colorful, tough-as-a-rock unibody exterior. There’s
little not to like about the Nokia Lumia 920, especially if you’ve invested
into the Microsoft ecosystem. The software giant’s consistent approach towards
UI design and services will unify your devices and make switching across them
effortless. Apps available for both Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 communicate
with each other to stay in sync so you don’t have to worry about copying things
over.
No device is perfect, there’s always room for improvement,
but you can’t go wrong with the Lumia 920. Both Nokia and Microsoft are highly
invested in the platform, so it will only get better from here on out.
A word of caution though; if you do decide to get the
Yellow, Red or Cyan Lumia 920, people will be curious, they will stare, and
they will flood you with questions. So brace yourself.
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