Nokia announces new Lumia 820 and 920 Windows Phone 8 smartphones

Nokia today announced its latest flagship, the Windows Phone 8 powered Lumia 920 and mid-range Lumia 820 at an event in New York City.

The Lumia 920 retains the same gorgeous design language as the Lumia 800 and Lumia 900 but will come with a larger 4.5" display. The 768x1280 resolution LCD IPS display will feature Nokia's proprietary ClearBlack filter (which they dub as PureMotionHD+ - whatever) said to be able to improve outdoor legibility. Like the Lumia 800, the Lumia 920's screen will sit below a curved glass. If it is anything like the IPS display seen on the HTC One X or iPhone 4S, then you won't miss AMOLED one bit.

Powering the Lumia 920 will be Qualcomm's successful Snapdragon S4 SoC featuring a pair of 1.5GHz Krait CPUs and Adreno 225 GPU, a clear boost over the Snapdragon S2 SoC that powered the Lumia 800 and 900. 1GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage are included. Disappointingly Nokia has decided not to engineer a memory expansion slot onto the Lumia 920 despite Windows Phone 8 supporting such expansion. Oddly enough, it's lower end cousin the Lumia 820 (see below), also announced today, will feature a microSD expansion slot.

Its 8.7 megapixel PureView branded camera may disappoint pixel peepers with no photography skills, but in reality is likely to be more than enough. Nokia has made bold claims about how amazing this camera will be but they have made similar hyperbolic claims with the Lumia 800 as well, and we all know how that turned out. Still, it does look like we will see some improvements, including the introduction of a new kind of image optical stabilisation with the camera technology used here as well as the software algorithm needed to capture steady images in low light.

Nokia has also taunted the latest image stabilisation technology which they dub as 'floating lens' allowing one to capture images without blur.  The lens of the camera is Carl Zeiss branded (in reality it is probably made by Nokia) with an aperture equivalent to f/2.0 and focal length of 26-28mm depending on aspect ratio used (35mm equivalent). The sensor size is 1/3" and is back illuminated. The main camera is capable of 1080p30 video recording whilst the front 1.3MP camera will only make do with 720p30.

NFC, Bluetooth, GPS + GLONASS, WiFi and LTE connectivity rounds up the checklist on the Lumia 920's spec sheet. Oh, it also features a built-in contactless charging by Qi. Accessories and partners has already been announced including a Fatboy wireless charging pillow, a JBL NFC Qi speaker and Virgin Atlantic, who will be equipping Qi wireless charging stations, presumably at their terminals or planes. There is respectable but hardly note-worthy 2000mAh none-removable battery inside.

In addition to the Lumia 920, Nokia has also announced the Lumia 820, a mid-range smartphone powered by Windows Phone 8. The Lumia 820 ditches the lovely Lumia 800 design language for what appears to be a Galaxy S2 look alike. The 4.3" ClearBlack AMOLED screen will have disappointing 480x800 resolution. However like the Lumia 920, it will be powered by a Snapdragon S4 SoC with dual core Krait CPU and Adreno 225 GPU plus 512MB RAM. Only 8GB of internal storage is included, but unlike the flagship device, it has a microSD expansion card slot giving users a potential storage of 64GB+8GB. LTE connectivity will be available in select regions.

So nothing really extra ordinary or revolutionary here, but on paper, the Lumia 920 hits pretty much all the marks needed to get noticed. Here is a modern Nokia smartphone that finally has the specs to compete. My thoughts on Windows Phone is pretty clear and while I am disappointed in the direction Windows Phone 8 is heading (in particular the ditching of the asymmetric off-center homescreen), it's still the most exciting mobile OS out there. The Lumia 920 retains the brilliant and unique design language of the Lumia 800/900, which is an instant win in my book.

Both Lumia 820 and Lumia 920 will launch in multiple colours, including red and yellow. Price and availabillity will be announced at a later date. I will of course be chasing Nokia in order to bring you a detailed review of either of this smartphones.

Specs:

Lumia 920
4.5" LCD IPS 728x1280 resolution with ClearBlack display filter
Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 with dual core 1.5GHz Krait and Adreno 225 GPU
1GB RAM, 32GB internal storage
8.7Megapixel 1/3" BSI sensor with 26mm f/2.0 Carl Zeiss lens 1080p30 video recording
1.3Megapixel front camera 720p30 video recording
2000mAh battery
NFC, Qi wireless charging, GPS + GLONASS, Bluetooth, WiFi, LTE

Lumia 820
4.3" AMOLED 480x800 resolution with ClearBlack display filter
Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 with dual core 1.5GHz Krait and Adreno 225 GPU
512MB RAM, 8GB internal storage, microSDHC card slot
8Megapixel f/2.2 Carl Zeiss lens 1080p30 video recording
VGA front camera
1650mAh battery
NFC, GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi, LTE