Hands On with the Nokia Lumia 920 & Lumia 820
by Anand Lal Shimpi on September 5, 2012 12:47 PM ESTI'm rushing over to the Motorola event right now, but I wanted to upload some hands on shots of the new Lumia 920 and 820 that were announced earlier today. Videos and more impressions to follow!
Both the 820 and 920 felt well built as you'd expect from Nokia. We've already gone over the full spec list for both pentaband phones based on Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 silicon. Unfortunately Microsoft had strict guidelines about what aspects of Windows Phone 8 could be shown off, so don't expect any performance or impressions about using the new OS on faster hardware just yet.
Nokia had a scene setup in the dark to test the Lumia 920's low light camera performance. A vase with flowers was set inside a dark box with a port big enough for you to get a smartphone inside. Without using a flash or a tripod, low light performance of the 920 was pretty impressive:
We'll have to reserve final judgement until Brian gets his hands (and eyes) on one, but it's good to see Nokia continue to focus on camera quality.
The super sensitive touch feature worked very well in practice. A cloth covered finger that wouldn't respond at all on the iPhone, did amazingly well on the Lumia 920 - even when typing using the keyboard.
The wireless charging on the Lumia 920 worked seamlessly. Nokia had some tables with integrated wireless chargers that worked just as you'd expect them to. Other accessories such as the JBL PowerUP integrated wireless charging stations as well as NFC for Bluetooth pairing with the 920.
Overall the 920 feels like a much needed modernization of the Lumia platform. We finally have current generation silicon, running a significantly updated Windows Phone OS, with brand new hardware to boot. I don't know that the 920 will be what Microsoft needs to gain significant marketshare, but it's another step in the right direction.
I'm personally very eager to give Windows Phone 8 a try. I was a huge Windows Phone 7 fan at launch, but a lack of updated hardware and an OS that didn't see major updates for far too long soured me on the experience. The big question is whether or not Microsoft will start to push the envelope on hardware and software updates now with Windows Phone 8 as a base.
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MadMan007 - Sunday, September 9, 2012 - link
Funny thing is the 820's screen is just 0.2" less than the 920. I almost thought 'why bother'...I know the specs are quite different in other ways and the price points will be different too but that's just not enough variation to be a lineup.terrybear - Saturday, September 22, 2012 - link
Exactly 920 is just too big, will wait and see what Nokia brings out early 2013.iPhone is right in saying phone width should be around 60-65mm for comfort me thinks.
Malih - Thursday, September 6, 2012 - link
"the 820 is really a 2011 phone in basic features."well the specs is improved, Dual Core Krait, and 1GB RAM, and with added microSD option
polzombie - Wednesday, September 5, 2012 - link
920 hits the most important buying points for me - decent hardware, nice screen, good camera. And it looks nice. It's a very solid flagship phone for Win8. And I like the wireless charging feature.But 185 grams? It's this Nokia's entry in the race for the first "phone" weighing over one lb?
tipoo - Thursday, September 6, 2012 - link
It has a substantially larger battery than most phones though. I've never picked up my phone and thought "boy, I wish this was lighter", I have however been left wanting for battery life.tipoo - Wednesday, September 5, 2012 - link
Any chance you were able to snag some numbers? With the new IE plus Krait it should be pretty competitive, but WP did lag on browser tests before so I'd love to know.susanna88 - Wednesday, September 5, 2012 - link
The Lumia 920 supports 5 LTE bands along with 4 HSPA bands - pretty amazing.What baseband processor is it using?
RenderB - Thursday, September 6, 2012 - link
I would love to know how well the built in screen magnifier etc will work on wp8. In part how they will prevent accidental clicking while trying to move the zoomed view, and speed while zoomed in.haukionkannel - Thursday, September 6, 2012 - link
Well the wireless cahrging increases the weigt a guite a lot, so it is easy to see why the weigh is as high as it is. It still is not too heavy, I have to say. But it all depends on what you wan to have.Azurael - Friday, September 7, 2012 - link
What I don't get about WP, and what really alienates me from it (aside from the fact I don't really 'get on' with the UI, but I appreciate that this is very personal) is the choice to allow all external connectivity ONLY through the cloud or proprietary software. Sometimes I like to get stuff on and off of my phone, and I don't always have my own PC with the appropriate sync software to hand. What's wrong with mass storage/MTP or even Bluetooth object push? It feels to me like Microsoft have gone out of their way to make interoperability impossible. I work as a photofinisherr, and the (admittedly very few) customers with WP7 devices are always dreadfully disappointed that they can't print their photos on our kiosks, since they work with 'everybody else's phones' (their words, not mine...)Are they going to fix this/has it been fixed in WP8?