• Diyan
• On July 16, 2013

Review Overview

Design

8.5

Display

9

Camera

8

Performance

8

84%

Rating

Nokia Lumia 920 (announced on 05 Sep 2012) was the third attempt of the Finnish OEM to launch a high-end Windows Phone. While Nokia was preparing its premium device, Apple launched iPhone 5 and Google released the Nexus 4.  One of the key features in the Nokia Lumia 920 – the PureView camera was undercut by a poor marketing strategy. The marketing agency faked a video showing the camera’s low-light capabilities. Despite the problems, the phone has made an impact on the market. Currently, the Lumia 920 is the second most popular Windows Phone device after the Nokia Lumia 520.

Design and Hardware

The Nokia Lumia 920 is a heavy, solid device – it is 10.7mm thick and weighs 185 grams, which is far more than the iPhone 5. The smartphone has a 4.5-inch display, a 2000 mAh battery, a PureView camera and a large 32 GB internal storage. The phone is composed of a polycarbonate unibody with flat top and bottom. The headphone jack is positioned at the top center, while the microUSB is placed at the bottom. All buttons are placed on the right side – the volume buttons are on top; between them is the power button, while the Windows Phone camera button is placed at the bottom.

The Gorilla Glass display fits the overall shape of the phone. There are three capacitive buttons under the screen. The Lumia 920 supports wireless charging and NFC connection. Overall, the Nokia Lumia 920 feels like a solid and reliable phone.

Display

The display is IPS LCD with a resolution of 768 x 1280 and a pixel density of 332ppi. Compared with the iPhone 5, the Nokia Lumia 920 has a higher pixel density. The screen delivers clear and crisp text. It features the PureMotion HD+ technology for reduced latency and 60FPS on animations. The display performs great while swiping around the operating system. It shows a crisp motion and a sharp transition. The so-called ClearBlack display technology invented in 2010 is also included in the Lumia 920. It consists of polarizing layers for reduced reflections but the effect is not so visible as in the Lumia 900.

Camera

The PureView camera is one of the key features in the Nokia Lumia 920. The camera excels especially with its optical image stabilization (OIS) and low-light capabilities. The camera delivers excellent image quality because of the floating lens technology – tiny springs absorbing the natural hand movements while taking a picture. Nokia has eliminated the camera shake effect allowing the shooter to be opened for longer. The result is blur-free, sharper images with excellent quality.

The new lens delivers much steadier videos and users can move around without quality drop. The quality of the video is not comparable to any professional camcorder but the camera is a significant step forward for the smartphone industry. The Lumia 920 shines especially in low-light conditions. It delivers detailed pictures with significantly less noise compared with other smartphones.

Nokia Lumia 920 camera test by Engadget

Nokia has added some specific camera software features in the Nokia Lumia 920. “Smart Shoot” takes several photos in sequence and you can select one you like best. Then you can process the image and get rid of the blinks. With “Cinemagraph” you can create short animations, similar to iOS’s “Cinemagram”.

Performance and Software

The phone runs on a modern processor – the Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 clocked at 1.5 GHz. In terms of browsing performance the Lumia 920 is as fast as the iPhone 5 and the HTC Windows Phone 8X. Maybe because of the PureMotion HD+, the Nokia feels a bit faster than the 8X.

When you start apps on Windows Phone you will notice the difference. The apps take longer to start, but once open, the apps show instantaneous responses. Windows Phone 8 has also a fast resuming feature – Microsoft changed the engine, but keeps resource efficiency. The overall performance of the Nokia feels a step forward compared with the previous Windows Phone models. Nokia Lumia 920 has a 2000 mAh battery, which is enough for at least one day LTE usage. The speaker is loud enough and the call quality of the phone is relatively good.

Nokia has enriched the Windows Phone 8 platform with some unique Nokia features. Nokia Maps is one of the most appealing. It offers the ability to save maps and use them offline. You get also indoor maps of some popular buildings and venues. Nokia Drive and Nokia Transit are navigation apps, while Nokia City Lens is an augmented reality – you are able to get around town and search for places. Nokia Music is an audio streaming app, but you must me subscribed to Xbox Music.

Summary

The Nokia Lumia 920 is a huge step forward for the Finnish OEM. The phone has significant multitasking improvements, connection to SkyDrive and Xbox, a nice 4.5-inch screen, excellent PureView camera with OIS for great pictures in low-light conditions. Unfortunately, the Windows Phone 8 platform lacks some of the popular apps, already available for iOS and Android. Therefore you should make some software trade-offs choosing the Lumia 920 over some other models on the market.

Pros:

• Large 4.5-inch responsive display
• Unique software features from Nokia
• Excellent PureView camera

Cons:

• Too heavy – 185 g

Specifications:

• 4.5-inch IPS LCD 768 x 1280 (332ppi) display, Gorilla Glass
• 1.5 GHz Dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Plus CPU
• Adreno 225 graphic adapter
• 8.7 MP camera with Dual LED flash (F2.0)
• 1.3 MP secondary camera
• 32 GB of internal storage (no card slot)
• 1 GB of RAM
• Li-Ion 2000 mAh battery
• 130.3 x 70.8 x 10.7 mm / 185 g
• Announced: 05 Sep 2012