I read with interest when Ian posted his first impressions of the HTC Windows Phone 8X since at the time I was still waiting to receive my Lumia 920 but that is no longer the case so it’s time to post my review after using the device for just over a week.  For anyone who doesn’t follow me on twitter or read my posts here on TDL this is now my 3rd Windows Phone having had a Samsung Omnia 7 and a Nokia Lumia 800.  I have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the 920 and so far I am very pleased but I’m getting ahead of myself.

When you first slide out the tray from inside the box the first thing you see is the phone itself, wrapped in protective plastic, and as I’ve said before this is something I like because it makes a great first impression.  Underneath the phone are the following items supplied with the phone:

  • Quick Guide
  • Charger with USB connector
  • Micro-USB Cable
  • In-ear headphones
  • SIM Door Key

When I lifted the phone for the first time it certainly made an impact both in terms of weight and size but given observations I’ve read from others I was expecting it to be heavier.  It would be wrong to deny that the phone is indeed heavier than many people would be used to but for me it gives a sense of how solid the build quality is.  I suspect I wouldn’t have noticed the size as much had I still been using the Omnia 7 (4″) but coming from the 3.7″ Lumia 800 it did take some time to get used to the 4.5″ screen but I adapted quickly.  I do my best to be impartial and so I’d admit that for some the phone could be too big, especially for one handed use, but I don’t think the weight is significant.

The display is marketed as a “PureMotion HD+” and with a resolution of 1280×768 from the moment I started using the phone I found it to be absolutely stunning to look at.  I would add that many of the apps that I normally have pinned to the top of the start screen were written for Windows Phone 7.x and so those tiles look “soft” and really need to be optimised for the new resolution.  The core experience though is crystal clear and Nokia has added all their image enhancements as you would expect on a premium device like the 920.  Overall I’m really impressed and the 920, as did the 800 before that, are leaps ahead of the Omnia 7.

Looking at the phone itself it follows the standard Lumia design principals with the volume, power, and camera buttons running from top to bottom along the right side of the device leaving the left edge clean.  The headphone socket and compartment for the SIM (the door key is needed to gain access) are located on top and finally at the base is the micro-USB socket which I much prefer to previous devices where this was at the top (I understand this is a new Windows Phone hardware requirement).  The shell of the device is like the 800 with a matt black finish which has a nice feel that isn’t slippy (one of my big complaints with the Omnia 7).

No review of the 920 would be complete without mentioning the 8.7 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and Nokia’s PureView technology that incorporates optical image stabilisation (IOS).  I’m not the best person to give an opinion here since I’m not a big photographer but I will say that I don’t carry around a dedicated camera so rely on my smartphone to capture those family moments when out of the house.  Now I’ve set your expectations in terms of my appraisal of the camera I have been really pleased with the performance of the camera on the 920 and while there is nothing to indicate that the OIS is working the pictures I’ve taken have been clear and sharp.  I’ve compared photos taken with both the 800 and the 920 and I honestly can’t discern much difference but then we are only talking an extra .7 megapixels and really the improvements are around the OIS and poor lighting situations.  It is when dealing with poor light that I’ve noticed the biggest difference and am becoming accustomed to switching off the flash when using the 920 in those conditions and here it excels.  I have also used the camera to take some video at my kids school one of which was about 17 minutes long and while there is camera movement (my arms were getting tired!!) it doesn’t appear jerky which I’ve experienced with the 800 before.

NOTE: Image has been resized to fit maximum file size.

As with Windows Phone 7 before it is the way that Nokia are adding value to the platform with additional apps and services available at no extra charge and these include:

  • Nokia Drive+ – Turn-by-Turn Voice Navigation
  • Nokia Music – free music streaming and downloads
  • Nokia City Lens – Augmented reality to help highlight local places
  • Nokia Maps – Customised version of “Maps”

There are also many other Nokia exclusive apps available in the OEM section of the Windows Phone Store and this is why I would, at least right now, recommend a Nokia Windows Phone over another OEM.

The Lumia 920 comes with an inbuilt non-removable 2000mAh battery, which partly explains the additional weight, and this is performing really well and while it’s still necessary to charge the phone once a day (24 hours) at least I’m not hitting the battery saver at the end of the day as I did with the Lumia 800.  This is with Wi-Fi switched on, Bluetooth off and I also have NFC off since for now I have no use for it but I’m going to switch it back on to see how this impacts battery life.

Overall I am really happy with the Lumia 920 and so far I have only one complaint and that is the vibrate is way too gentle compared to other phones I’ve owned to the point I can imagine not even noticing it when placed in a pocket.  I’ve also had one complete lock up of the device, this required me to hold the volume down and power button to perform a “battery removal” reset, but for now I’m putting that down to a software issue and since this is a review of the hardware I only mention it for completeness.

I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending the Lumia 920 to anyone and while the Windows Phone ecosystem might put them off the hardware delivers an amazing experience and really builds on the previous generation of Lumia devices.  I really do hope that Nokia can build the “Lumia” brand, making the Windows Phone operating system almost invisible to consumers, so that it gains similar momentum to “Nexus” or “Galaxy”.

 

Leave a Reply