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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andrewaggb - Wednesday, September 5, 2012 - link
camera looks nifty, but most of the video dragged on a bitSpivonious - Wednesday, September 5, 2012 - link
Looks like a nice piece of hardware, with some very nice camera tech. Hopefully MS handles the launch of WP8/Win8 in a way that gets people excited about the possibilities.I'm hoping for a "and you can buy it today" launch of WP8.
Belard - Wednesday, September 5, 2012 - link
Surprised they bothered to put a SLOT in the 820 case... why bother? People rarely change out their SD memory card / SIM card, so might as as well require the case to be removed to gain access to them that way. more secure... too... safer for the hardware too.So is the 820 case made out of the same material as the Lumia 920/900/800 or is it a cheaper plain grade of plastic. I'm guessing its the same.
alissa914 - Friday, January 18, 2013 - link
I'm glad they did it. I put a 64GB Micro SD in there. Enough room to put all the songs I own, a couple videos, all my podcasts (videos too), and still have space left over. It's the only reason I bought the 820 over the 920.Pantsu - Wednesday, September 5, 2012 - link
Looks great in terms of specs. I really like the low light and stabilization features, those really are something smartphone cameras need. Lacks replaceable battery and memory card, but 32 GB is enough, and the wireless recharge and good sized battery take the edge out of that complaint.In terms of WP8 I'm still undecided. I do like the freedom of Android, but ultimately I'm not a heavy smartphone user so any OS is fine by. I think WP8 will get good app support once things get going. The only thing I'm sorta disappointed is lack of MKV support.
While the 920 looks great, they really should've had a launch date and prices. I really hate it when companies show off their devices and then won't say when they'll release it or at what price.
All in all, this gives some hope for Nokia, though there's still ways to go to get back on top.
zilexa - Wednesday, September 5, 2012 - link
I am excited about WP8 and really think Nokia did a good job..BUT..
Basic features are lacking: battery capacity. Very heavy phone.
1. For such a heavy and thick phone (185grams!) the battery is very disappointing. A bigger battery would expain the weight and thickness.
Motorola shows a 4.5" phone that weighs less then the Lumia 820 but features a 3300 mAh battery, thats 150% more then the Lumia 920.
2. The lineup. The 820 basic specs are really poor. The battery is just a sad story and display resolution is suprisingly low for a 4" screen. It would be good for a 3.7" (cos it would have a higher pixel density on a smaller screen). But even on a 3.7" I would expect higher battery capacity on a 820, come on, this is not september 2011, this is the phone for 2013!
3 The line up, really! Now you can only choose the 920 because the 820 is really a 2011 phone in basic features. Why not a 920, a 820 with same specs but smaller screen (but not that low res) and a 720 with same specs but 3.7" screen? Like Motorola is doing (Razr M, HD, Maxx).
4. Where the hell is Bluetooth 3.1 coming from?? WTF? We need APT-X support !! The only really useful cool thing Bluetooth brings us since Bluetooth 1.0 ! But APT-X is Bluetooth 4.0!
fyi: APT-X is wireless music streaming, lossless, no quality loss. Samsung has this for a while now. LG Also.. Sony also..
I was really waiting for these Nokias but the heavyness, lack of high capacity battery and no high quality music streaming.. Maybe I will choose Android again for a year or 2.
Don't get me wrong all these unique features (superb quality screen, superb camera, optical stabilisation, wireless charging) are cool but gimmicks/selling points. All new smartphones have extremely good screens (you need to put them all on a row to find differences, I am not going to do that after buying one). So I am checking basic features here.
From the other features, only touch with gloves (!) support is really what I needed.
So yes amazing phone, the 920 that is, but in basics lacking therefore Android (Motorola or another) is still an option for me even though I was really looking forward switching to WP8.
ananduser - Wednesday, September 5, 2012 - link
The screen quality(improved refresh rate, improved touch sensor and dynamic adjusting of brightness), superb camera+ improvements are not gimmicks but features. Siri and wireless charging yes, those are gimmicks.ericloewe - Thursday, September 6, 2012 - link
While I agree that Bluetooth 3.1 is kinda lame, you seem to have some weird priorities.Battery capacity is meaningless without knowing the exact power draw. You also seem to have the math a bit off - the Motorola's battery is 65% bigger than the 920's. I can easily imagine Android gobbling up the extra power, in the end resulting in similar battery lives. Don't judge the battery before it's actually been tested.
185g is hardly heavy. It may be relatively heavy when compared to other phones, but why does it really matter?
Same goes for thickness - we're reaching absurd thicknesses in phones, but for what reason? For any reasonable thickness, length and width will determine if you can hold it.
Sasparilla - Thursday, September 6, 2012 - link
The battery issue probably is not be as big a deal as it appears. The capacity of the battery is 40% larger than an iPhone 4s, while the internals of the 920 are closer to the 4s than the latest in the android world (where more power hungry specs often reign). Nokia often uses efficient and lower end spec internals (which are cheaper) for their phones. So the 920 battery might be quite sufficient. Best to wait and see what reviews say.TzCzar - Thursday, September 6, 2012 - link
The real news is the 'missing' 820.The current Lumia line up is three phones; with the 800 just a smaller version of the 900 and a world away from the much cheaper 710.
With the new line up, it looks like they just did away with the 'real' 820 and tried to pretend an updated 710 was an 820. It's not. It's a cheap 720 pretending to be a classy 820.
The specs on the 920 look fabulous and it's delighted the largely male reviewers (as it shoul), but it's just too big for small hands. And it's too heavy too.
There is an iPhone sized hole in the middle of the line up.