Nokia Lumia 930 Review
by Brett Howse on September 8, 2014 3:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Microsoft
- Nokia
- Mobile
- windows phone
- Lumia
Wi-Fi
The Snapdragon 800 SoC supports 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac wireless, and the Lumia 930 implements all of them, which means it supports 5 GHz as well as 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi. There is only single band Wi-Fi though, so on the typical N network you would be limited to a maximum connection speed of 150 Mbps. If you own an 802.11ac router, connection speeds will get bumped to the maximum of 433 Mbps.
I was able to achieve peak transfer rates of around 55 Mpbs with the Lumia 930 on a Wireless N router with just the 930 attached. Due to only having 802.11n available, the maximum transfer speed is going to be reduced compared to 802.11ac.
Cellular
Cellular connectivity on the Lumia 930 supports category 4 LTE for maximum download speeds of 150 Mbps, with 50 Mbps upload. LTE bands on the 930 that I was sampled were 1, 3, 7, 8, and 20, which prevented me from testing LTE at my location. DC-HSPA is also supported for up to 42.2 Mpbs downloads if available in your area.
Speedtest.net did not give me great numbers on the days I tested it, but that can be typical of HSPA depending on cell tower usage.
GNSS
Again, with the Qualcomm silicon at the heart of this device, we’re working with well known, and well tested parts such as the GNSS. The Lumia 930 supports Cellular and Wi-Fi assist and supports GPS, GLONASS, and BeiDou for location, and it locks quickly. Hopefully the days of poor location tracking are over.
Speaker
The 930 has just a single rear-facing speaker. Both volume and sound quality are surprisingly good with this speaker, but there is certainly no sense of stereo sound. For notifications, this speaker is adequate for the task but if you are going to watch a movie, you would be happier with a set of headphones.
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Myrandex - Tuesday, September 9, 2014 - link
You realize the high end Lumia 1520 has SD card slot support...as well as Glance support that was a major loss in the authors eyes right? Too bad it was never reviewed at AT. That LCD screen on it is really nice.Luke4 - Thursday, September 11, 2014 - link
Just buy the upcoming 730 instead.Chriz - Monday, September 8, 2014 - link
Will the 930 support T-Mobile LTE? It wasn't really clear which provider Brett was using to test with.Brett Howse - Monday, September 8, 2014 - link
I was testing on TELUS, but as it was an international phone it did not support all of the LTE bands for North America. The specific LTE bands this phone is capable of are listed in the specs on page 1. T-Mobile appears to use band 4, which is not available in the 930.krutou - Tuesday, September 9, 2014 - link
The Lumia 930 (aka Lumia Icon in the US) is a Verizon exclusive. There will be no US GSM versions (ATT&TMobile), aside from international editions of the 930.Myrandex - Tuesday, September 9, 2014 - link
The 1520 supports TMo LTE though ;)Boogaloo - Monday, September 8, 2014 - link
About the wifi graph on page 7: If I'm reading this correctly you tested the 930 with a router that only supports up to 802.11n despite the fact that the phone supports ac, and then published a graph that includes phones that were tested with routers that DO support 802.11ac.Let me know if I understood correctly please.
Brett Howse - Monday, September 8, 2014 - link
Yes, I only have access to a 802.11n router. I updated the graph to point out the connection speed was based on 802.11n. I hope to get a 80.211ac router soon but I have been waiting for the new wave of ac routers that are just starting to appear.jenesuispasbavard - Thursday, September 11, 2014 - link
Still isn't clear that the other phones were tested with 802.11ac...georgehan - Monday, September 8, 2014 - link
I went to the Microsoft store last week, and every single Lumia Icon on display had a ridiculous amount of mura. Solid colors had a rough linen texture even at high brightness levels.Maybe Samsung's selling Nokia rejected Galaxy S4 panels?