Both the 8X and Lumia 920 are first generation Windows Phone 8 smartphones and comes powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 SoC with a pair of Krait CPU and Adreno 225 GPU. Both these devices are clocked at a modest 1.5GHz speed and are augmented by 1GB RAM. While the SoC here is regarded as mid-range, the processor is more than capable of everything thrown at it. Windows Phone 8 appears to be efficient.
The Lumia 920's 4.5" display is a tinge larger than the one on the HTC Windows Phone 8X. With a smaller display, the HTC 8X's 4.3" screen features a slightly higher pixel density and hence sharper, on paper. In real life, there is little to distinguish between the two when it comes to sharpness, though the Lumia 920's has an advantage when it comes to outdoor readability and display sensitivity, and its high contrast ratio thanks to Nokia's proprietary ClearBlack Display filter. Regardless, whichever device you go for, you won't be disappointed by the display. Despite the almost similar size in screen and thickness, the 8X is significantly slimmer due its narrower aspect ratio. Keep in mind that some apps, such as Netflix, has not been updated to support the new 16:9 aspect ratio, as used by the 8X.
Nokia's first Windows Phone device, the Lumia 800, was a beautiful thing. In fact, it is often heralded as a piece of design marvel, one engineered almost to perfection, at least when it comes to what you could get out of a piece of polycarbonate. Despite being a disappointing seller (and also a phone at times), the design was iconic, so much so that for its follow ups retains the same basic design with some tweaks. Nokia's Windows Phone 8 debut, the Lumia 920, follows this formula.
But first, for specification lovers:
Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8960 SoC with dual core 1.5Ghz Krait and Adreno 225
1GB RAM and 32GB built-in flash storage (no expansion slot)
4.5" LCD IPS capacitive touchscreen with 768 x 1280 resolution (332 ppi)
Quad band GSM and 3G (LTE on select models)
42 Mbps DC-HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA
8 Megapixel autofocus camera with dual LED flash and 1080p30 video recording
1.3 Megapixel front camera with 720p30 video recording
Bluetooth 4.0 and WiFi 802.11b/g/n
GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS
Qi contactless charging, NFC
microUSB
2000mAh battery
The Lumia 920's design doesn't differ much from the Lumia 800. The microUSB port has been moved to the bottom, which is an improvement. It is weighty, perhaps too much. At around 185g, the Lumia 920 sits right on the the heavy end of scale. I have nothing against heavy phones but the Lumia 920 is just a tad too heavy for me. The 2000mAh battery is respectable in size, but could have been larger. After all if Motorola can do it, why couldn't others? Still, the battery life is somewhat okay, capable of lasting a full day on moderate use. Power users will want to look into investing into a portable charger.
In any case, the Lumia 920 is a brilliant designed phone, just a tinge over designed compared to the Lumia 800. With a resolution of 768x1280, the curved 4.5" IPS display is one of the biggest yet seen on a Nokia device, and also one of the sharpest. As I personally abhor the 16:9 aspect ratio on smartphones, I am glad the display here has a bit more horizontal pixel than normal. The IPS display coupled with Nokia's own ClearBlack filter is close to the brilliant of the iPhone 4S, but comes just short of the magnificence shown on the HTC One X. Still, it's an amazing display and I am glad Nokia has finally ditched AMOLED. The display's touchscreen features a technology stupidly called PureMotion+ HD, which turns the sensitivity up so it can be used with a pair of gloves or any other materials.
Nokia has a lot riding on the Lumia 920. Their flagship Windows Phone 8 device is supposed to be the device to propel them back into recovery. The Lumia 800 which I praised a lot last year had plenty of faults, one of which includes the sub-standard camera expected from Nokia - but hei it was a stop-gap device, one they engineered and got onto the market in nine months. The Lumia 920 on the other hand, is pretty much their first real made from scratch Windows Phone smartphone, one not bound by previous pre-Windows Phone era projects.
Nokia also prides themselves as a big camera company, one that makes smartphones with the absolute best imaging hardware - that many of their fans insists will bring about the downfall of dedicated photographic companies like Nikon and Canon. The Lumia 920, the second of their device to has the PureView brand attached to it, is one such device. Never mind that physics dictates that a device the size of the Lumia 920 can't possibly bet as good as a five year old compact or even the PureView 808, we were told that it was technically brilliant.
Believe it or not, this is the first time I've managed to test a Lumia 920 since, well, since it was announced. I have had a very brief hands-on during my disastrous trip to the Windows Phone 8 "launch party" at Victoria House, Bloomsbury, if you remember my tweeting rants from the night. Well never mind about that for now, surely you would want to know more about Nokia's newest flagship.
Since the release of the phone last month, I have done my best to avoid reading any reviews of Windows Phone 8 or the Lumia 920. Naturally, being on twitter, facts from various reviews and opinions from my tech reviewer and blogger friends do somehow get my attention at times. I wanted to approach the OS and phone with a fresh perspective. Now, as a fan of Windows Phone 7 rather unusual but beautiful homescreen, I did not welcome the initial announcement of the redesigned homescreen on Windows Phone 8. In fact, I downright loath it. But like everything else, there's a difference between what you see on your laptop's screen and what you see in real life.
Curve it
Before I continue, these, for the specs-lovers out there:
Specifications:
Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8960 SoC with dual core 1.5Ghz Krait and Adreno 225
1GB RAM and 32GB built-in flash storage (no expansion slot)
4.5" LCD IPS capacitive touchscreen with 768 x 1280 resolution (332 ppi)
Quad band GSM and 3G (LTE on select models)
42 Mbps DC-HSDPA and 5.76 Mbps HSUPA
8 Megapixel autofocus camera with dual LED flash and 1080p30 video recording
1.3 Megapixel front camera with 720p30 video recording
Yesterday evening Nokia hosted a Lumia #Switch Party at the Flat Iron Square in Southwark. The event celebrated the launch of the Lumia 920 and 820 Windows Phone 8 smartphones, and is a sequal to last year's mind blowing '4D' projection performance at the Millbank Tower in London.
That one
So how could Nokia and deadmau5 top last year's crazy display? Well they didn't, but then again, they didn't exactly have to. As this year's performance location was kept secret (the event was exclusive to Nokia staffs, competition winners and a few guests), it was billed as a more intimate event. The rather heavy handed approach by security did annoy us a little bit (the event was oversubscribed) and it didn't help that no one knew exactly where they should be facing so everyone just pushed forward towards the Shard.
Sure, the effects did not blow our mind like last year's, but the music at least did. Using the surrounding buildings around Flat Iron Square as props and special effects for the gig, deadmau5's cracking performance matches the area perfectly. Props to Nokia for the invite and deadmau5 for an entertaining, if chilly, night.
You might have read about it in today's news. If not, here's a recap. Yesterday Nokia released a promotional video demonstrating the imaging capability of the new Lumia 920 when in actual fact, the samples shown in the video were in fact not actually taken with the Lumia 920. In short, Nokia was caught with their pants down.
Nokia's excuse was they wanted to convey/simulate what the product is theoretically capable of achieving (in this case, optical image stabilisation with ridiculously awesome image quality when taken in low light). This, my dear readers, is a classic textbook example of how to botch the launch of what appears to be a good product.
Being the cynical person I am, I have never bought Nokia's (and any other firms like Apple and Samsung) hyperbole claims about their imaging expertise and prefer to do my own test to find out, so I was already cautious over their claims. The N8 was pretty disappointing after all the hype and so was the Lumia 800's camera, despite claims to the contrary. But this is particularly disappointing because I've actually expected better from them.
The advertising industry isn't immune to deception, and you would be gullible to believe otherwise. I still remember the video games scandal of 2005 when Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) announced Killzone 2 at E3, and attempted to pass on a pre-rendered proof of concept target render simulated video as an in-game footage being rendered in real time. As with everything in life, things don't stay secret for long.
Sony learned then (and since then, again and again) that there's no such thing as secrets. That was in 2005 and consumers has since wised up. This is the age of the internet, and any companies trying to one-over the consumers will be exposed and lynched. I am pretty sure the incident cost SCE, Guerrilla Games (the developer) and its parent company, Sony, a sizeable amount of trust.
I have no doubt that the Lumia 920, as a whole, an exciting product. I am already a fan of the design language inherited from the Lumia 800 and Windows Phone 8, and will most likely switch to it as my next everyday device (Instagram arriving on WP8 permitting). Initial impressions by those lucky enough to go hands-on with the smartphone has been mainly positive. Many has actually commented on how the camera is actually better than the iPhone 4S (which is pretty damn good) and Galaxy S3.
So it appears that the camera is actually pretty good (for a phone). So the billion dollar question is if the camera on the Lumia 920 was competent, why did Nokia or their advertising agency go the extra length to provide fake 'samples' that were so extraordinarily awesome in quality, even my Nikon D7000 with a super sharp £500 lens would struggle to match?
The risk of getting caught were just too great. Nokia has also since posted real images taken with the Lumia 920 and while the quality looks good for a smartphone, the new samples lacks the detail and quality of the images shown in the original video. Not. Even. Close.
At the end of the day, Nokia and its agencies has just learned the hard way. The mainstream press today weren't reporting about Nokia's latest and greatest smartphones - they were going on about how deceitful Nokia were. The media just loves their whipping boys, and Nokia has more or less become theirs.
We live in the age of the internet, where truth reigns and trusts has to be earned. For Nokia's sake, I hope they learn from this sorry episode.
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.
