Nokia Lumia 920 is a smartphone developed by Nokia that runs the Windows Phone 8 operating system. It was announced on September 5, 2012, and was first released on November 2, 2012. It has a 1.5 GHz dual-co
re Qualcomm Krait CPU and a 114 mm (4.5″) IPS TFT LCD display, as well as a high-sensitivity capacitive touchscreen that is covered by curved Gorilla Glass. It supports inductive charging (it can be charged by being placed directly onto a charging pad) and is compatible with Qi Inductive Charging; further, it features an 8.7 megapixel PureView camera with optical image stabilization for still images and videos. It comes with 32 GB internal storage, but has no card slot; hence it cannot be expanded with memory cards. Its touchscreen also can be used with the gloves worn by the user.
As some reviewers criticized the thickness and weight of the phone, tech sites reported rumors that the Nokia Lumia 920 successor, codenamed the Nokia "Catwalk", will be lighter and thinner and made of aluminum instead of polycarbonate.
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Hardware[]
Like its predecessors, the Lumia 900 and 800, and starting with the N9, the Nokia Lumia 920 has a colored unibody polycarbonate shell with glossy and matte finishes. Available colors include glossy yellow, glossy red, glossy white, matte cyan, matte gray and matte black.
Processors, memory, and storage[]
The Lumia 920 has a 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Krait, and a Qualcomm Adreno 225 GPU, and has 1 GB of system RAM. The Lumia 920T variant comes with a 1.7 GHz dual core Qualcomm Snapdragon Krait.
Nokia Lumia 920 comes with an internal storage capacity of 32 GB, and does not support microSD expansion.
Screen[]
The Lumia 920 has a 114 mm (4.5 inch) curved glass display running at WXGA (1280 × 768) resolution with an aspect ratio of 15:9 using enhanced IPS screen technology which Nokia calls "PureMotion HD+". It has less than 9 ms average transition times, where conventional IPS LCDs have an average of 23 ms, which reduces motion blur.The screen's backlight luminance reserve, together with a new automatic adaptive system for adjusting brightness, color and contrast details to compensate for lighting.
Camera[]
The Lumia 920 has Nokia's PureView technology on the rear camera, featuring an optically stabilized 8.7-megapixel BSI image sensor (1/3" sized, much smaller than the previous Nokia 808 Pureview) with f/2.0 Carl Zeiss Tessar lens, short pulse high power Dual LED flash and 1080p HD video capture. The front camera encloses a megapixel sensor capable of capturing HD video at 720p. On September 6, 2012, Nokia apologized for an advertisement showing a video supposedly shot from somebody holding a Lumia 920 on a bike, but which was shot by somebody holding a camera in a van (as it can be seen in the reflections on a window). A ZDNet contributor however published an article entitled "Hands-on testing of Nokia Lumia 920 shows Nokia didn't need to lie about PureView performance".
Connectivity[]
The Nokia Lumia 920, like its predecessor, will have the 4G network LTE (Long Term Evolution) technology.[16] It is also one of the first devices to support the new 4G spectrum in the United Kingdom.[17]
It also supports NFC. Other connectivity features include[19] Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0as well as USB v2.0.
Inductive charging[]
The phone can be recharged either physically or inductively using the Qi technology. Rather than requiring the use of a physical connection to the phone, this allows the phone to be placed upon a charging pad, but unlike a physical connector, using this method hinders the use of the phone while charging. The charging pad requires a separate power supply. The major US coffee chain The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf will install inductive charging stations at selected major metropolitan cities,[20] as well as Virgin Atlantic Airways, for United Kingdom's London Heathrow Airport[21] and New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport.[22]
The included battery has a 2000 mAh capacity, and lasts for up to 400 hours in standby mode, 10 hours of 3G talk time and up to 67 hours of music playback time.[23]
Operating system and software[]
See also: Windows Phone 8The Nokia Lumia 920 runs the Windows Phone 8 operating system. As with other Lumia devices, the 920 includes Nokia-exclusive apps, like Nokia City Lens, an augmented reality software that gives dynamic information about users' surroundings using the camera.[24]
It also includes turn-by-turn voice guided navigation, Nokia Drive 3 which can be also used without internet connection using preinstalled maps.[25] Other bundled apps include Nokia Maps, Nokia Transport, and Nokia Music, which streams thousands of songs for free.
The Lumia 920 contains the Nokia Smart Shoot app, which lets users capture the best parts of a photo by using a lens for the Camera app that takes a number of photos in quick succession. This application integrates technology from Scalado which was acquired by Nokia in 2012.[26]
Updates[]
On December 19, 2012, Nokia started rolling out the Portico update for the Lumia 920 and 820, that also included a firmware update for the 920 with camera fixes and battery improvements.[27] Current Lumia 920 devices are already shipping with the Portico update.[28]
Carrier locked devices from AT&T will get updates much earlier than other devices, including carrier unlocked devices.[29]
Reported problems[]
- The phone reboots randomly.[30] The "Portico" update was intended to fix these random reboot issues, but the issues remain after the update.[31]
- Some users have complained that the battery drains too fast and the phone overheats.[32] Aloysius Low from CNET Asia did not notice such a fast rate of battery drain on other smartphones even with the same usage pattern.[33] After the Portico update the battery seems to be offering more power than before.[34]
- Videos larger than 4GB get corrupted when transferred to the computer.[35]
- Issues when pairing with various car bluetooth systems including BMW causing much consternation amongst drivers[36] The Portico update is expected to fix those issues.[34]
- In good light the photos are disappointingly soft.[37] Nokia delivered an update to make the appropriate adjustments to correct the issue.[34]
- The Portico update introduced a brightness bug, but there is a possible workaround.[38]
- The latest firmware update from AT&T has created many connectivity issues.[39]
- Dust sets under the front-facing camera and the proximity sensor, that could lead to dropped calls and prevent users from punching up phone-related menus. Nokia will fix this issue in new devices and repair current devices.[40]
Availability[]
There is a non-LTE model sold carrier unlocked in Europe.[2]
In Australia, the Lumia 920 is available from Telstra, and Optus via Harvey Norman retailers.
The Lumia 920 is available from Rogers Wireless in Canada.
The Lumia 920 is sold in China by China Mobile with an exclusive version, 920T, which includes a faster GPU.[41][42] It was launched on December 23.
In the United States, the Lumia 920 is being sold exclusively by AT&T.[43]
In the UK, the Lumia 920 was released on November 2, 2012.[44] It will be sold by EE (who operate T-Mobile and Orange in the UK) as one of the LTE-capable smartphones available from EE.
In Germany, the Lumia 920 is available from all major mobile phone retailers including Vodafone, O2, Deutsche Telekom and E-Plus.[45] In Denmark, all the major telecoms such as Telia, 3 and Telenor starting selling Nokia Lumia 920 from second week of December 2012.
Nokia have reported that the device will lose the EE-exclusivity in the UK, and will be available on the Vodafone and 3 networks from January 2013.[46]
Reception[]
Reviews[]
The Nokia Lumia 920 has received mixed to positive reviews. CNET rated it 4 stars out of 5, praising the screen, attractive design, great Nokia-exclusive apps, and an enjoyable OS, while the negatives were the unimpressive battery life and heavy weight.[47] The user rating is 4.5 out of 5. ExpertReviews gave the Lumia 920 a rating of 5 out of 5.[48] Mobiledia gave it 4 out of 5.[49] Laptop Mag rated it 4 stars out of 5, praising the colorful design, superb camera, eye-popping HD screen and wireless charging, as well as the useful Nokia apps. The cons were that it's relatively heavy and that Windows Phone 8 does not have as many apps as Android and iOS.[50]
Dan Nosowitz from Popular Science wrote: "I spent a long time with the Lumia 920, longer than I usually spend with review units of phones. This is a phone I was really excited about! But I just can't recommend it. It's way too bulky, the battery life is lackluster, and Windows Phone 8 has some big problems on top of that. It's not a bad phone; when you're swiping away through a gorgeous weather or news app, you completely forget its shortcomings, and it's nicely priced. But there are better phones out there."[51]
Adam Z. Lein from Pocketnow wrote: "Our final rating is going to be a 8.3 out of 10. The hardware, the screen, the camera, the sound quality, the video stabilization, and Nokia’s custom apps are all extremely impressive. The pricing is pretty great too. The only negatives for me are really the large size and lack of user-replaceable battery. Everything else on this phone is top notch."[52]
Sam Biddle from Gizmodo wrote: "It kills me to say this, because I wanted to own this instead of an iPhone 5, but no. No you shouldn’t. It’s too big and heavy. It’s not fun to own. It’s not enjoyable to use. If you want a Windows Phone, check out the very good HTC 8X. But this? No, not this."[53]
However, Luke Hopewell from Gizmodo Australia wrote in reply: "Yes it’s heavy, but it’s something you get used to. Sam said that the phone is too heavy to even contemplate living with, and that’s almost true. If you can get past the weight of the device, you’re in for a treat. The weight is almost beneficial when it comes to taking photos, to be honest. It makes it easier to stabilise."[54]
Dieter Bohn from The Verge wrote: "The software and hardware tradeoffs inherent in the Lumia 920 could be worth it if you’ve bought into the Microsoft ecosystem, but for most people I don’t think it’s a sure bet."[55]
Jessica Dolcourt of CNET in her camera review wrote: "Photo quality was strong and fairly consistent, though photos had a blue cast to them and the Lumia 920 had problems with contrast and absolute sharpness compared with the others."[56]
Sales[]
On January 10, 2013, Nokia released preliminary financial information for Q4 2012, saying that Lumia sales had exceeded expectations, selling more than 4.4 million Lumia devices on that quarter, having a 52% increase over the previous one.[57][58][59] It is not clear whether the device has been sold out in thousands of retailers around the world due to limited device supply or overwhelming demand.[60]
In Germany, the device sold out within the first few hours of availability.[61] In Nokia's native country Finland, the phone launched on November 22, and has been sold-out even on pre-orders.[62] It has also been out of stock in Australia, China and the UK.[63] In the UAE, where the device launched on November 25, Nokia also ran out of stock.[64] The USA has also seen millions of customers still waiting for more stock to arrive.[65] On Amazon's best seller list, the Lumia 920 has, as of November 18, become the best-selling phone of the week, ruling the number one, two, and four spots.[66] In the UK, it topped the Expansys' chart during the same period.[67]
Before the device initially went on sale, pre-orders were especially strong in Italy, where it was sold out in just 10 days of its first availability, on October 15.[68] On the same day, it topped the charts in France, beating the already-available iPhone 5, LG Optimus L3, Sony Xperia U and Samsung Galaxy Ace.[69]
On November 23, it was reported that the device has had 2.5 million pre-orders around the world in just three weeks of availability. In comparison, that's more than the entire (previous) Lumia range (610, 710, 800, 900) sold in the whole of the third quarter of 2012, which is three months.[70]
The device launched in China on December 23 and has been a hit. Crowds gathered in front of Nokia stores during launch and many stores, such as one in Shanghai, became out of stock within just 2 hours.[71]
The apparent success of the Lumia 920 has helped Nokia's stock to reach a 7 month-high of $3.40 as of November 22, having jumped 21% in just five days.[72]
Awards[]
The Lumia 920 received 12 media awards in 2012:[73]
- Gizmodo Australia - Best Mobile Phone of 2012, Readers Choice Award
- CNET - The Best High End Smartphones
- V3.co.uk - Top Smartphone
- International Forum Design, Germany - iF Award for Outstanding Design
- Mobile Magazine, Denmark - Mobil Award for Best Smartphone Design
- The Next Web - Best Smartphones of 2012
- Mobil, Sweden - Top Score Award
- Arstechnic - Best Productivity Phone, Best Camera Phone, Best Mapping Phone
- Mashable - Top 25 Tech of 2012
- Mybroadband, South Africa - Top Smartphone of the Year
- BGR - Best AT&T Smartphone
In 2013 the Lumia 920 received the following awards: