OFFICIAL CZ NOKIA LUMIA 900 SMARTPHONE REVIEW!
Okay folks, this is overdue. I had a 2-week long test period of the Nokia Lumia 900 smartphone (AT&T) and ran it through the ringer. Here's my official word on this device, and the Windows Phone Mango platoform!
Despite all of the reviews both positive and negative about this device, I am here to report to you that it gets an overall passing score, and my thoughts about the future of this device and Windows Phone Mango are still as positive as ever before.
First of all, I'll tell you that Windows Phone Mango is a breath of fresh air. It's not the same old mobile platofrm that we have seen for the past 3 years with Android and iOS. It's a "whole-nother" ball of wax. I picked up the phone right out of the box, and was able to understand how to navigate around instantly.
The Windows Phone Mango system on the Nokia Lumia is smooth, efficient, and super-intuitive. I didn't need to pull out the instructions to figure out how to operate the phone. Microsoft did a fantastic job in starting from scratch when they ditched Windows Mobile 6.5 to create the new platform.
Because of the ease of use, I see the Nokia Lumia 900 as an excellent choice for first-time smartphone buyers. I have told more smartphone newbies to look at the Lumia than any other device. It gets completely away from the old way of jamming hundreds of icons on a screen.
Knowing that 50% of the population still does not own a smartphone, I would say that all of the predictions of the Nokia Lumia 900 and Windows Phone Mango making a huge dent in the smartphone market over the next few years is absolutely true. The future of this device looks bright.
But getting back to the operating system, there are a few things that I absolutely love. First and foremost, the Live Tiles.
Everything you need to get to that you frequently use is located right on the home screen. And you can create a tile shortcut to your favorite things, even people. And what I also love is how all of the social media communities are combined into "news events". Rather than checking Twitter, Facebook and other sites, you get the latest "news" as a notification.
Something else that I found extremely useful with the Nokia Lumia is how messaging is aggregated. Instead of jumping back and forth between SMS messages and Facebook messages, for example, they all show up as generic "new messages" on the home screen. This saved me a ton of time. I was able to keep closer contact with all of my friends this way.
Some people prefer SMS, while others heavily use Twitter or Facebook. The Nokia Lumia 900 only looks at "current messages" rather than individual apps. That way, I can chat with everyone using their preferred method while only gazing at my home screen.
Accessing programs is a snap. If you swipe to the right, you see a verticle listing of all your apps and features, similar to what you get by clicking the "Start" button on Windows 7 with a PC. This was a big plus for me, since I am an avid PC user.
But the Lumia 900 is not just for Windows enthusiast. I'm starting to see more and more Apple iPhone users make the switch. As a matter of fact, one of the reps at my local AT&T store switched from owning an iPhone for 3 years to a Nokia Lumia 900, and she said she'll never switch back.
A big plus with the Lumia 900 is the solid build of the phone. It's a heavier and more solid-feeling smartphone than my Samsung Galaxy S2, but it's far more durable than a fragile iPhone 4S. The Lumia was built with a solid polycarbon composite body, and Gorilla glass for the display. It will survive drops, and the body of the phone is resistant to scratches because the color is built into the material.
The size of the display is 4.3" in diagonal measurement. That's the perfect size for people who dont' want a gargantuan "phablet", but also strain to read on the tiny 3.5" iPhone display. The resolution is 800x480 pixels, and while some gadget reporters complain about this, the average smartphone user will not have a single complaint about it. It looks great for multimedia and pictures, and doesn't have a lot of overkill.
Something else that many gadget geek reporters complained about is the single core 1.4GHz Qualcomm cpu. I don't understand the complaiing about this. The software written for the Lumia 900 is not "multi-threading", so it doesn't make a difference that it's not a dual core or quad core cpu. Speed-wise, I challenge any user to notice a real difference. It cuts through apps and functions with ease, and the majority of users won't tell a bit of difference as compared to other high-end smartphones.
The cameras on the phone don't just cut the mustard, they actually perform quite well. You have a Carl Zeiss branded lens on the rear 8Mp camera with 3X zoom plus a dual-LED flash, and it takes extremely high quality photos and video. The front facing camera is plenty good for video chatting at 1Mp, and is extremely clear.
I was impressed that I had no problems running apps and multitasking with the 512mb of RAM. Most smartphones are packing a standard 1Gb of RAM, but this does not seem to slow down the Lumia 900. It has more of a standard internal memory capacity at 16Gb for storing pictures, multimedia content, and files.
I don't know if it was just my excitement about the phone, or possibly that listening to music was a richer, fuller experience than other smartphones that I have tested. I seemed to have less trouble connecting to streaming music services, and using the music and video player was quite smooth.
Surfing the net with the Nokia Lumia 900 was also a thrill when running on a 4G LTE service area in St. Louis, but the HSPA+ 4G connectivity was also impressive. My download speed tests had the Lumia competing right in the ballpark of other devices.
Making phone calls with the Lumia was as I would expect it to be, and the sound quality when using the earpiece was fairly rich and robust. I'm picky about how a smartphone "feels" when smashed up to my ear, and I didn't seem to have any discomfort when having long conversations.
Last but not least, the battery life of the Lumia 900 impressed me. I noticed that the phone would stay charged when leaving it on in standby mode much longer than my Android device. I would put it on par or better than the battery life of the iPhone 4S. Battery drain is a real issue with high-end smartphones, but there's no worry here.
At the end of my test period, I was truly sad to see this phone go. When I first got the phone, my Galaxy S2 had experienced a malfunction and would not charge. I was forced to use the Lumia 900 fully. It was a big plus that picking up the new system was as easy as it was.
I could go on and on and bore you with more technical details, but I think the people who would consider buying this smartphone just need to know that the Windows Phone Mango system is truly a different experience, and the Nokia Lumia 900 was truly a "fun" smartphone to use.
I give it an overall resounding passing grade, and I would recommend this device first and foremost to new smartphone users. But anyone else who is looking for a change of pace should definitely give it a test drive, because I believe that Microsoft will only be offering more and more apps as developers start to give Windows Phone Mango more attention.
If you have a Nokia Lumia 900, I would love to hear your thoughts on whether or not you're going to stick with the Microsoft platform! Until then, I better bring this post to a close, because this is the longest article I have written about a new smartphone!
Carlton Flowers
Nokia/Mango Fanboy
GET THE NOKIA LUMIA 900 FOR $49 ON AMAZON WIRELESS!
You can own the Nokia Lumia 900 for as low as $49 with a 2-year contract from AT&T through Amazon Wireless! Enjoy the intuitive Windows Phone Mango operating environment with all of the hardware features you expect with a smartphone like 4G LTE internet connectivity, a Carl Zeiss 8Mp camera, front-facing camera for video chatting, 16Mb of internal memory storage, SD card expandabilty, and more! Get it now while the special lasts!
New details on the Nokia Lumia 1020 are coming out, and it looks like there's more to this smartphone than the itty bitty 41Mp camera. It goes without saying that the Lumia 1020 smokes everything on the Android market with that monstrosity of a camera, though.
