Even though Nokia lost out on becoming the first company to unveil a Windows Phone 8 device, it has tried to make amends by taking wraps off not one but two new Windows Phone 8 devices. The devices, called Lumia 920 and Lumia 820, have been targeted at the high-end and the mid-segment of the smartphone market respectively, and they will face off against Samsung’s ATIV S (the only other Windows Phone 8 device as of now) for market supremacy.
But are the devices good enough to win back the market share that the Finnish handset manufacturer lost out to Samsung and Apple? Let’s have a look.
Lumia 920
The smartphone has a 4.5 inch IPS LCD PureMotion HD+ touchscreen display (768×1280 pixel resolution) with 332 pixels per inch and runs on Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 operating system (one of the first devices). The device is powered by a 1.5 GHz Snapdragon S4 dual core processor and has 1 GB of RAM. It comes with 32 GB of internal storage and 7GB of additional SkyDrive storage.
On the camera front, the device has an 8.7 mega pixel auto-focus rear camera (with Carl Zeiss lens and PureView technology) with dual-LED flash that can record full high-definition videos (1080 pixels) at 30 frames per second and a 1.2 MP front-facing camera that can also record HD (720p) videos. The company claims that the camera has the capability of capturing blur-free videos even if it is shaking or in low light, thanks to its Optical Image Stabilisation.
On the connectivity front, the device comes with Bluetooth 3.1, Wi-Fi (with Wi-Fi Direct), 3G and 4G (depending on the market), and it also has a microUSB port.
The device measures 130.3 mm x 70.8 mm x 10.7 mm and weighs 185 gm. It has a 2,000 mAh battery that the company claims will provide 17 hours of talk time and 400 hours of standby time. The device comes with Nokia Maps (for navigation), A-GPS and Near Field Communication (NFC). It will be available in black, white, gray, red and yellow colours.
It also comes with Nokia City Lens, the latest addition to the Nokia location suite. By pointing the camera at a city street, City Lens overlays information about restaurants, shops, hotels and more on the surfaces of buildings, enabling users to better explore their surroundings.
Lumia 820
This little sibling of Lumia 920 has a 4.3 inch ClearBlack AMOLED touchscreen display (480×800 pixel resolution) with 217 pixels per inch and runs on the Windows Phone 8 operating system. The device is powered by a 1.5 GHz Snapdragon S4 dual core processor and has 1 GB of RAM. It comes with 8 GB of internal storage that can be further expanded an additional 32GB with a microSD card and 7GB of additional SkyDrive storage (similar to Lumia 920).
Lumia 820 will feature an 8 MP auto-focus rear camera (with Carl Zeiss optics) with dual-LED flash that can record full high-definition videos (1080 pixel) at 30 frames per second and a front-facing VGA camera. On the connectivity front, the device comes with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi (with Wi-Fi Direct), 3G and 4G (in select markets), and it also has a microUSB port and a microSD card slot.
The device measures 123.8 mm x 68.5 mm x 9.9 mm and weighs 160gm. It has a 1,650 mAh battery that the company claims will provide 14 hours of talk time and 330 hours of standby time. The device comes with A-GPS and NFC and in addition to all the colours that Lumia 920 will be available in, this smartphone will also feature cyan and purple colours.
Similar to Apple’s iPhone 4S, both these smartphones will only support micro SIM’s. Additionally, the smartphones can be charged wirelessly without plugging them in. While Lumia 920 has wireless charging built-in the device, users can also charge Lumia 820 wirelessly by adding on a Wireless Charging Shell.
Since Samsung’s ATIV S is the only other handset running on the Windows Phone 8 platform as of now, the devices don’t face much competition. But this could change fast since there are still a couple of months before the devices are officially launched in the market.
And although these are decent devices, they have not been able to even come close to the buzz that surrounded Samsung’s Galaxy S III launch or the upcoming iPhone launch (scheduled for next week). However, the bigger question is whether users will warm up to the new Microsoft OS offering, or will they stick to iOS and Android, spelling doom for the once reigning handset king.
(Edited by Prem Udayabhanu)
