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When we received our first Lumia review unit from Nokia, then it was quite late for a device like Lumia 920 which has already been released some 6-7 months back. But, taking into account the fact that this was the first compelling smartphone coming from Nokia in Lumia range, we thought of doing a impressions review of it and Windows Phone 8 OS that it runs on. Though I had used a Lumia phone earlier as well, but this was the first time I took the sim out of my 808 PureView and plonked it into some other device. Yup, so our impressions are based on continuous use of Lumia 920 as a daily driver for more than 20 days.
Things which make you fall in love with Lumia 920 instantly are:
- Awesome Build quality and premium feel.
- Great Display with excellent sunlight readability,
- Pretty convenient to use one-handedly even with 4.5 inch display size.
- The low-light imaging capability. Here it beats even N8 and 808 PureView in gathering more light.
- I hardly found that dreaded 185 gm weight any issue and neither my 3-year old toddler who wouldn’t let me hold it for even a second if around :P.
Things I liked about WP 8:
- Easy to configure and use. It hardly takes 10-15 min for the first time use in getting it ready.
- The UI is very simple and yet very radical in design. You have only two screens: Live tiles and swipe to the right and you will see all the apps listed.
- It is one of the OSes that support true multitasking. So, the Live Tiles are live example of the multitasking taking place in background. It doesn’t support Symbian like 50-56 open apps and you will see at most 8 multitasking app cards. It freezes most of the apps in background, though browsing, Drive, Music, Skype and downloading of apps, images etc take place in background.
- The thing that sets Windows Phone OS apart is its fluidity. It is really addictive. If you compare WP8 to Symbian, then this comes to mind,
If multitasking is addictive on Symbian, Fluidity is certainly addictive on Windows Phone
- Surprisingly, the “Glance and go” approach of the Windows Phone tiles, is something which I truly liked.
- Kid’s corner and Camera lenses are something which I put in use extensively and wished I had something like that on my 808.
Things, which I certainly feel can be improved or added to the existing WP8 OS.
- Notification centre is a much asked feature by many. Honestly speaking, I liked the glance and go approach supported by push notifications much superior and hardly felt the need of a separate notification centre. But, may be adding a unified notification screen will make the transition comfortable for many Android, Symbian and iOS users.
- Toggles like WiFi, Bluetooth and NFC are certainly required and will make already easy navigation easier.
- The sound settings is a bit of a downer and it is mandatory to have ability to set different audio settings for different purposes like ring tones, music etc.
- Music and Video Player may help having more settings and control, but may be it is because it is that way on Symbian.
Conclusion:
In my more than 20 days daily use of Lumia 920 and Windows Phone 8, I really liked it as my daily driver. The Nokia quality feel and easy and fluid navigation is something that sets it apart. Though there are some niggles which can be fixed without breaking much sweat, but none of them is a deal-breaker. The low-light imaging has been a revealation on Lumia 920, with others trying to follow in Nokia’s footsteps. Throw the 41 MP sensor of 808 PureView in and you have the best device out there!!
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Gallery of Lumia 920 images:
