September 5th, 2012Top StoryNokia Lumia 920 Hands On: You Really Want This Thing—But Enough to Switch?By Kyle Wagner
The first thing you notice about the 920 is the curved glass screen—the same as the old Lumia 800. It's a relatively small detail, but it makes all the difference in holding the phone. And for a phone as visceral as the design-centric Lumia, with its in-your-face Windows Phone 8 start screen, that's a big deal. It's a huge improvement over the Lumia 900's screen on first impressions alone. Then you notice the rest of it. It's gorgeous. It's bright and defined and photos look incredible on it. The start screen looks great, but photos especially look amazing. We couldn't use the PureView camera, which looked so amazing in the demos, but the onboard photos were displayed tack sharp. The phone's PPI is dead even with the iPhone's 326 PPI retina screen, and in the real world, it looks just as good. And since it's what you're obviously waiting for, here is a video of the 920's CINEMAGRAPH APP.
Next to the the Lumia 900, it's pretty much the exact same thickness. That's actually really impressive considering all the new toys and battery that the 920 is packing—NFC, wireless charging, PureView camera stabilization. You'd never know that one has a bunch of extra guts. The display is just as responsive as the previous Lumias—which were also very good. The polycarbonate is also glossy, like the Piano White Lumia 900, not the matte of the previous 900s and the 800. That might sound like a downgrade, but it's actually really nice. A lot like the Galaxy S III's finish, just polycarbonate. The wireless charging is just as impressive as you want it to be in real life. You just plop your phone down on the stand it it starts charging. You do have to put it down on its back, not face-down, but that's not that inconvenient since who puts their phone down face first? All things considered, yeah, it's cool—though we want to see how long it takes to charge up that hulk of a battery before passing final judgement.
The screen touches on the big question: Will you switch from your iPhone or top end Android phone for this thing? After a few minutes with it, it's a resounding... maybe. Yes, we're still worried about apps, but Nokia's new features—particularly with the camera (which, again, we didn't get to play with)—are enough to make that less of an issue. Nokia Drive, Nokia Maps, Nokia's ESPN app—those are all really good apps. Even if the Windows Phone marketplace isn't quit there yet, Nokia's just plowing ahead on its own. Maybe that's enough. We've already seen the best Android has to offer, and the Lumia 920 is just as responsive and fast as the Galaxy S III and HTC One X. We're waiting on the next iPhone, but from what we know so far, this phone will be able to go toe to toe with Apple as well. If you already want to switch, it's a no brainer. But if you aren't quite sure, yet, it's probably worth waiting around for next Wednesday before making up your mind. Especially since we don't have official pricing or a release date yet. But! Things do look rather promising.  |
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