Nokia Lumia 920 - first impressions

Nokia is pinning its hopes on its new Lumia handsets with Windows Phone 8 but how good are they? Matt Warman tries out the Lumia 920.

The fresh Nokia Lumia 920 mobile phone is the most excellent the company has ever made – its 4.5” screen curves round a pleasantly solid body that surround a camera that’s so clever it can even work out when public walked in front of your shot, or add some moving fundamentals to still photographs. Its maps now flawlessly add content from the web to show the street you’re walking down in splendid ‘augmented reality’. Wireless charging means that even your bedside table or desk will look neater thanks to Nokia.

There is, of course, a ‘but’ – the operating system, Windows Phone, is struggling to attract users and Microsoft’s overall market share is still falling. Nokia couldn’t get its act together to release prices or release dates for its latest, lovely handset. That basic blunder is not one that Apple will make when it announces the iPhone 5 next week, or that Samsung makes when it launches important new products.

The Windows Phone 8 software remains excellent – its start screen has been upgraded to use space more effectively, live tiles continue to offer constant updates. Nokia itself has worked hard with partners to build apps that provide real enhancements for the camera, and the package comes together to make sure consumers feel that they’re always using one coherent device rather than a phone that is constantly having new apps bolted uncomfortably onto it.

Offline maps, too, work so well that the satnav is even more redundant than it was before, because they’re built in properly to the phone. In the short time I had hands-on with the phone, all the camera features worked effectively, and the wireless charging is a neat addition, but of course still relies on users being near to a charger, albeit one that is now wireless in its connection to the phone.

The biggest challenge Nokia faces in the UK is not that there aren’t many users who will soon be buying their first smartphone and could be tempted by a Windows Phone. In an objective world, it would probably be the most tempting on the market. The real problem is that to attain the critical mass Windows Phone needs, it must, led by Nokia, steal users from Android and Apple. While that ought to be perfectly possible, it’s hard to see anybody managing, even with pockets as deep as Microsoft’s. The Windows maker can’t afford to fail, but it will need many more devices at least as good as the 920 to reach its goal.

Nokia C3: Specifications & Review

Design:

The design of Nokia C3 Touch & Type highly resembles with other Nokia C-series devices & highly with Nokia C6-01. However, C3 Touch & Type is extremely light weight & very much comfortable. A stainless steel finish on the whole device gives an elegant look far better than X3 or T&T. The keys are large & comfortable & side by side the design gives the phone a very much bold & stylish look.

It has a 2.4 inches large screen giving resolution of 240x320 pixels. The screen have is integrated with a very pretty, bright & detailed. Its viewing angles are also acceptable.

The device’s form looks like a candy bar combined with numeric pad & a touch screen, all cased in a stainless steel wrapping. Right side there is a volume key & a keypad lock button. And on the top of it, there is a micro USB port, a 3.5mm headphone jack and a charging port. It has a 5MP with auto focus with a single LED flash and a loud speaker. microSD card slot is below the battery.

SIZE                                                 Dimensions: 

111 X 47.5 X 11 Mm, 63.2 Cc

Weight: 

(With Battery): 114 G

MEMORY                                       Phonebook & organizer:

                                                            It doesn’t offer anything new feature but yet reliable.                                                                                                                                                                                                And practically unlimited phonebook memory.

                                                            These features are finger friendly & simple to                      understand.

MULTIMEDIA                            Pictures:

Pictures are usually complained to be of low contrast & dull especially in indoors. Over & above pics taken in outdoors are are       pretty wel if thelighting is good. However, the detail is inconsistent.

DISPLAY                                       Type:

                                                            TFT Resistive Touchscreen

                                                           Resolution:

                                                           320x240 pixels

                                                           Color: 

                                                           256K Colors

                                                           Size:

                                                           2.4 inches

CAMERA                                       Primary Camera:

                                                           5 MP camera:

Nokia C3 Touch & Type has a 5MP camera integrated with flash having average review. It can take nice snaps upto a distance around 1                                                                                                                meter. It do not have nice output in low light. With the camera, good quality of 6x4 & 7x5 prints can be obtained. It do not have nice response in Noise handling & low contrast.

Video Recording: 

Video Capture in MPEG-4, QCIF Max. Resolution 320 X 240, Video Clip Length: Up To Capacity Of Memory Card, Settings For   Scene, Video Light, White Balance, Colour Tone

BATTERY                                    Type: 

Standard Battery, Li-Ion 1320 MAh (BL-5J)

Talk Time: 

7 H (Maximum)

StandBy Time: 

792 H (Maximum)

AUDIO & VIDEO                       Music Player: 

Music player offers a good response for music                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      playback with onboard loud speakers & 3.5mm headphone  jack giving out elegant class sound.

MP3/WAV/WMA/EAAC+ Player
3.5 Mm Audio Jack

Ringtone Formats: 

Vibration, MP3 Ringtones

Speaker: 

Yes

Radio: 

Stereo FM Radio (87.5-108 MHz/76-90 MHz), RDS

Video Player: 

MP4/H.264/H.263/WMV Player

DATA &                                        GPRS: 

CONNECTIVITY                      Class 32

EDGE: 

Class 32

Wlan: 

WLAN IEEE 802.11b/G, Maximum Speed Up To 11     Mbps/54 Mbps

Bluetooth: 

Bluetooth Version 2.1 With Enhanced Data Rate

USB: 

High-Speed USB 2.0 (Micro USB Connector)

WAP: 

Supported Protocols: HTTP, WAP

The S40 web browser is decidedly average, lagging       every time a page is loading and while the inclusion of a touch screen improves the             experience, we still find Opera Mini to provide a better (free) alternative when it comes to zooming in and out of pages lag free. Neither             browser however offers any kind of Flash support, if that's what you're looking for.

PLATFORM                                Operating Frequency: 

Quad Band EGSM 850/900/1800/1900, Automatic    Switching Between GSM Bands, Flight Mode,

Java: 

JavaScript Version 1.3 And 1.5

With all the software you'd expect to see on a modern feature-phone such as a basic, yet comprehensive enough MP3 player, calendar and     organizer tools as well as a Facebook and email client, no software on the Nokia C3 Touch and Type will wow you, however, it shouldn’t             disappoint either. This functionality, coupled with the great connectivity and usable hardware on board, makes the Nokia C3 Touch and Type       one of S40's highest offerings.

GSM/CDMA/

Dual Sim/Triple Sim:              GSM

MEMORY                                       Internal Memory: 

55 MB Internal Memory, Expandable To 8 GB with           MicroSD Card

Cards Slot: 

MicroSD Memory Card Slot, Hot Swappable, Up To 8          GB   

PHONE BOOK                            Practically Unlimited Entries And Fields, Photocall

Call Records: 

Detailed, Max 30 Days

OTHER FEATURES                 Games: 

Downloadable

Browser: 

WAP 2.0/XHTML, HTML (Opera Mini)

Messaging: 

SMS, MMS, Push Email, Instant Messaging

Miscellaneous: 

Voice Command/Dial

Organizer 

PERFORMANCE:                    There isn't really anything major wrong with the                                                                     Nokia C3 Touch and Type on any front and the phone's performance is no exception. When it comes to call quality when on the Nokia C3 Touch and Type, calls are clear, though max volume isn't as high as we would like it to be. On the other end, there were no issues with quality or volume. Coverage is also on the whole good. 

                                                            As for speed, thanks to the relatively simple interface, there is no lag other than in the web browser. The touch screen is responsive and there                                                   is a degree of polish on the Nokia C3 Touch and Type that we only tend to see in Symbian^3 devices, which is refreshing. 

Conclusion:

In all, Nokia X3 Touch & Type is one of the most impressive in its range & Nokia C3 Touch & Type as well. Device having smart connectivity options giving nice flexibility & touch screen adds something great to its user interface. Whereas, camera is sufficient for taking casual snaps & not detailed ones. It is one of the greatest option for those who want both, keypad & touch screen. Moreover if the price range is more to you, Nokia X3 can come to you for rescue having very similar features, without steel casing & flash. Or Nokia C5 which is without touch screen.