Six things that make Nokia X stand out among Androids

The Nokia X series phones will rely upon an open version of the Android mobile software system created by Google that has become the world's most popular software used in smartphones.

Just weeks after the launch of Nokia’s first ‘Android phone’ – Nokia X – at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the company has brought the phone to India. Priced at Rs 8,599 (best buy), the phone is available for purchase starting today (March 10).
Although Nokia X is based on Android, it is very different from other phones in the market that work on the Google’s OS. Here are six ways in which the Nokia X is different from the crowd.
ANDROID SANS GOOGLE
Nokia X’s operating system has been built on Android Open Source Project (AOSP). This is just a fraction of Google’s OS seen in many of today’s phones. AOSP doesn’t come with proprietary Google code and hence, Google apps such as Play Store, Google Maps, etc, will not be available on Nokia X. Over the years, Google has been linking several key features to Google Play Services, which isn’t available under AOSP. If an app makes use of any of these features, Nokia X won’t be able to run it.
For further information on the limitations of AOSP, you can read two articles on the subject at Ars Technica. One is about Google’s iron grip on Android and the other explains why forking Android is not the best idea.
DISTINCT MICROSOFT FLAVOUR
Nokia X comes with a customised tile-based interface that reminds of Windows Phone. Couple that with Microsoft services such as OneDrive, Outlook and Nokia’s own Here Maps, and it’s easy to mistake this phone for a Windows Phone device.
Nokia said it is working on an easy way to migrate your data from the Nokia X to Lumia phones. More details on that should be available in the coming weeks.

along with a Nokia app store, where you can download many other apps and games. You can also sideload apps (download the .apk file and install), but that may not be a great idea because the app may not be optimised for the device. Nokia allows you to access third-party Android app stores to download apps that aren’t available on the Nokia store.

BUILD QUALITY
At the launch event in New Delhi, a Nokia representative threw the phone down from a height of five feet and even banged it against wooden surface. The Nokia X didn’t break and continued to work smoothly after that. Of course, it doesn’t mean that you’ll be able to claim warranty if you manage to break your Nokia X. Still, the demo was interesting and we will definitely test the build quality as soon as Nokia sends us a review unit.
Overall, Nokia’s phone is in the news because it stands out. There is no dearth of Android phones in the market, but the Nokia X is definitely going to grab eyeballs.

FAST LANE
Nokia X just has one button below its touchscreen display. This is a back button that looks identical to the one on new Asha series phones. It’s not surprising that Nokia also brought the Fast Lane interface from Asha to the X. Fast Lane gives you quick access to your favourite actions, whether it is playing music or calling. It also keeps you updated on upcoming events from your calendar.
FIXED FOCUS
The Nokia X’s camera does not have auto-focus, which is a bit baffling considering the phone’s price. The Lumia 520 costs less than the X and comes with auto-focus. If you love photography, then the Nokia X’s camera is going to prove a little restrictive.
THE APP MARKET
The biggest concern, however, is availability of apps. Nokia ships the phone with apps such as Facebook and Opera,

Nokia Lumia 1520 preview: Second encounter

Introduction

Lagging behind Android in hardware specs for what seemed like ages, WP8 managed to catch up in one fell swoop. With the Lumia 1520 at the spearhead, Nokia evened the playing field with a massive 1080p screen and a Snapdragon 800 chipset, then tilted it in its favor with a 20MP OIS-enabled PureView camera.

The Nokia Lumia 1520 in white, red and yellow
The Lumia 1520, along with the midrange Lumia 1320, are the first Nokia-made phablets and the first for Windows Phone 8 altogether. The 1320 has last year's hardware though, unlike the Lumia 1520, which is virtually on par with the best Android flagships.

Nokia Lumia 1520 at a glance

• Dimensions: 162.8 x 85.4 x 8.7 mm, 209g
• Display: 6" ClearBlack IPS display of 1080p resolution, Gorilla Glass 2, 367ppi
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 800; quad-core Krait 400 at 2.2GHz, Adreno 330 GPU, 2GB RAM
• OS: Windows Phone 8 GDR3 with Nokia Black
• Camera: 20 MP, Carl Zeiss optics, optical image stabilization, autofocus, LED flash, PureView technology
• Video camera: 1080p @ 30fps video capture with main camera
• Storage: 32GB built-in, microSD card slot with support of up to 64GB, 7GB SkyDrive cloud storage
• Connectivity: NFC, A-GPS+GLONASS, WLAN (2.4/5Ghz) a/b/g/n/ac, microUSB 2.0, BT 4.0 LE
• Battery: 3,400mAh with built-in wireless charging (Qi compatible)
• Misc: Nokia Camera app, FM Radio, built-in accelerometer, multi-touch input, proximity sensor

Windows Phone's market share is rising - it's a distant third at the moment - but it's the low-end devices like the Lumia 520 making up the bulk of that growth. Meanwhile flagships have failed to make much of a splash and even the Lumia 1020 isn't exactly flying off the shelves. Can the 1520 be the first flagship WP8 device to claim a piece of market share matching its size?
It certainly has all the right ingredients. Windows Phone is known for simplicity and efficiency - it runs smoothly on much less powerful hardware and doesn't bury you under a mountain of gimmicky features like some Android smartphones do. The Lumia 1520 does pack the latest Windows Phone 8 updates - GDR3 and Nokia Black, so there are further improvements over previous WP devices we've handled.
The screen is pleasantly crisp - only made possible by the jump to 1080p resolution - and features Nokia's ClearBlack tech, which provides some of the best viewing under direct sunlight. The Nokia PureView camera is equally responsible for some of the best cameraphone experience ever.

Nokia Lumia 1520 in our office
In terms of imaging, this is midway between the Lumia 1020 and the 920. The sensor is bigger than most, but not so big that it takes a hump to accommodate, while it still packs enough resolution for Nokia's supersampling magic. There's optical image stabilization too, which is a confident display of superiority over the non-stabilized cameras on competing phablets. There's no xenon flash on the Lumia 1520, but that would have required room for another bulky component.
Software is the only place the Nokia Lumia 1520 can stumble - WP8 is still young compared to Android and iOS, which have been around for a few years longer. But before we have a look at that, we'll discuss the hardware and the screen of Nokia's phablet on the next page.

360-degree spin

The Nokia Lumia 1520 is inevitably a large device, the 6" screen alone is huge for a pocketable device. That said, it's actually reasonably sized for what it is - it measures 162.8 x 85.4 x 8.7mm and weighs 209g. Put that next to the HTC One Max with a 5.9" screen, which stands at 164.5 x 82.5 x 10.3mm and weighs 217g, despite the 0.1" smaller screen.

Design and handling

The Lumia design has been pretty much set in stone though there are some variations. The Nokia Lumia 1520 is actually very similar to the Lumia 925. The difference to the Lumia 1020, for instance, is that the top and bottom edges are rounded rather than flat. Other than that, the rectangular look and beveled sides are unmistakable trait of the Lumia line since its inception.

Familiar Lumia design
Phablets are pushing the limits of what can be considered pocketable and comfortable for one-handed use. That said, the Lumia 1520 is not the biggest - as we said the HTC One Max is a tad taller and heavier, while the Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 is tangibly bigger.

Size comparison: Samsung Galaxy Note 3, Nokia Lumia 1520, HTC One Max
Those have some software features to help with one-handed use tough, which mostly amount to squishing keyboards (i.e. the on-screen QWERTY and the dialer) in the corner so you can reach buttons with your thumb. Windows Phone lacks such options and the Lumia 1520's large screen will have some people limited to two-thumb typing.

The Lumia 1520 feels big in the hand
The phablet maintains the capacitive Back, Home and Search buttons just like other phablets (One Max, Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Mega 6.3). Above the screen is a 1.2MP/720p front-facing camera along with an array of sensors. The front of the phablet is almost entirely covered with Gorilla Glass 2, which coats the screen, the capacitive keys and front camera.

Capacitive keys below the screen • front-facing camera and sensors above the screen
The basic layout of the other hardware controls is unchanged - all buttons are on the right side, starting with the volume rocker on top, then the power key and finally the two stage shutter key. Those keys have been moved down so they are easy to reach with your thumb (though volume up is a bit of a stretch).

Hardware keys on the right side
The left side of the Lumia 1520 holds the nanoSIM card and the microSD card slots. Those have to be opened with a dedicated tool, which might be a hindrance if you swap memory cards often. Still, we're always glad to see expandable storage, especially on devices with high resolution screens, high megapixels and monster chipsets.

nanoSIM and microSD card slots on the left
The bottom of the phablet features a regular microUSB 2.0 port, while the 3.5mm audio jack is smack in the middle of the top side.

3.5mm audio jack • microUSB 2.0 port
It's the back of the Nokia Lumia 1520 that's quite interesting. The 20MP PureView camera with ZEISS lens and optical image stabilization protrudes slightly from the back, but less so than the Lumia 1020's camera. Keep in mind that the 1520 is 1.7mm thinner than the 1020 too, using a smaller sensor has really helped Nokia keep that unsightly hump in check.

The back of the Nokia Lumia 1520 • PureView camera with ZEISS lens and dual-LED flash
Aside from the sensor size - 1/2.5" vs. 1/1.5" - there has been another concession made, there is no xenon flash but a dual-LED light instead. Still, the sensor is relatively big (around 45% bigger than the common 1/3" sensors), which combined with OIS should still make for some great low-light shots.
The Nokia Lumia 1520 phablet has a whopping four microphones, a pair on the front and another two on the back. On the front, there's one below the screen and one near the earpiece. On the back, there's one above the LED and one inside the loudspeaker grille. The mics in each pair are sufficiently wide apart, so you can expect great stereo sound capture from both the back and the front camera. The mics also include Nokia's proprietary HDR tech and Bass filter option.
The battery in the Lumia 1520 is sealed, but it has the reasonably big capacity of 3,400mAh. The phablet comes with built-in wireless charging, something that was dropped from the 1020. We'll leave the proper battery test for the complete review, but official numbers promise a month of standby, over a full day of calls or just over 5 days of music playback.

Display

The Nokia Lumia 1520 has a 6" IPS LCD screen of 1080p resolution, the pixel density works out to 367ppi. The LCD assembly incorporates Nokia's ClearBlack tech - a set of polarizing filters, which minimize glare. Plus, Gorilla Glass 2 on top for protection.

The 6" IPS LCD on the Lumia 1520
The capacitive touch sensor on the display features the supersensitive touch technology that allows it to detect fingers even through winter gloves.
The 1520 comes with the Lumia Color Profile option in the settings, which gives you two sliders to play with - one for color temperature (which spans the cool, neutral and warm range) and color saturation (natural to vivid).

Lumia Color Profile settings
Nokia Glance screen keeps the clock and notification counters visible even after you lock the screen. This could be set to appear only for a little while after you lock the screen, intermittently on and off and always on. There's a separate always on setting for when the device is charging. A Night mode allows you to pick a different color for the Glance screen info - Red, Green or Blue - if the default White setting is too bright for your sleepy eyes.

Nokia Glance Screen settings
One new option in GDR3 is the screen rotation lock. That's an important feature for a phablet, but unfortunately it's only accessible from the Settings menu, which means you have to leave the app you are in to change it, there are no quickly accessible toggles here (this is a common problem for any settings in Windows Phone).
As we already mentioned, the Lumia 1520 screen is tack sharp. Due to its large diagonal, pixel density drops below 400ppi, but 367ppi is still better than what most people's eyes can resolve, especially when you consider you tend to hold a phablet further away from your eyes than a phone.
The viewing angles are pretty good with only a minor shift in contrast when viewed at an extreme angle. Color rendering is good and, as an added bonus, you can tweak the white balance and saturation to your liking. The one weak spot of the display is the black levels, which are not as great as on AMOLED, but the overall contrast is still pretty great.

Display test	50% brightness			100% brightness
	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio
HTC One Max	0.14	224	1591	0.40	629	1572
Samsung Galaxy Note 3	0	149	∞	0	379	∞
Sony Xperia Z1	-	-	-	0.38	580	1513
Nokia Lumia 1520	0.22	263	1174	0.43	522	1207
Nokia Lumia 1020	0	172	∞	0	398	∞
Nokia Lumia 920	-	-	-	0.48	513	1065
Sony Xperia Z Ultra	-	-	-	0.47	467	1001
Sony Xperia Z	-	-	-	0.70	492	705
Huawei Ascend Mate	0.23	222	982	0.67	711	1053
Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3	0.12	160	1364	0.32	440	1379
Samsung I9505 Galaxy S4	0	201	∞	0	404	∞
HTC Butterfly S	0.15	165	1117	0.43	451	1044

The ClearBlack tech does help minimize reflectivity. The relatively low brightness however hurt the outdoor performance.

Sunlight contrast ratio

• Nokia 808 PureView 4.698
• LG G2 1.976
• Sony Ericsson Xperia ray 1.955
• Samsung Galaxy Camera 1.938
• HTC Butterfly 1.873
• Huawei Ascend P6 1.865
• Nokia Lumia 1520 1.813
• Sony Xperia V 1.792
• Sony Xperia U 1.758
• Meizu MX3 1.754
• LG Optimus 4X HD 1.691
• HTC One V 1.685
• Samsung Galaxy mini 2 1.114

• User interface is mostly the same

  The Nokia Lumia 1520 comes with Windows Phone 8 GDR3 (the Lumia Black edition) out of the box. GDR3 and Black are software updates that add a handful of new features, but most importantly bring support for 1080p screens and the Snapdragon 800 chipset, without which the 1520 would've been impossible.
  That said, the user interface is virtually unchanged on the new Windows Phone version. Yes, you can fit more Live Tiles per row on the homescreen (6 from the smallest ones, up from 4), but that turned out to be a function of the screen size rather than a Lumia Black specific feature. There are a couple of other changes, we'll get to those in a minute.
   

Nokia Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 hands-on: First look

It's a big day for Nokia today - it just announced the new crop of Lumia phones, which are the first members of the family to run on the new Windows Phone 8 platform. The future of the Finnish giant is riding on the success of these new phones, so the whole tech industry is watching with bated breath.
The first device Nokia announced is the Lumia 920, "the most innovative smartphone in the world". As expected, the camera has Carl Zeiss lens and Nokia's PureView technology.


The 920 is the new Nokia flagship and promises better images and better video than competitors. It has an 8MP sensor, unlike the 808, but the PureView tech enables better image stabilization and better low-light performance.
The screen on the Lumia 920 is an LCD with 768x1280 resolution. It's pixels update "up to 2.5x faster" than other LCD screens and is also the brightest screen on a smartphone. It is "super sensitive" too, Nokia demonstrated that it works even through thick winder gloves. The ClearBlack technology has been improved and is now PureMotion HD+ - it automatically adjusts the screen tone and brightness according to the ambient light

Nokia Lumia 920 hands-on

After the Nokia Lumia 920 was handled on stage by various Nokia and Microsoft employees, we finally got our turn at playing with the smartphone.
The Lumia 920 is not a small device, but for its 4.5" screen it's actually not bad - it's only marginally bigger than a Lumia 900. Still, at 185g it's one of the heaviest smartphones out there. The shell of the phone is a polycarbonate unibody that's 10.7mm thick and the back is curved, which really improves handling.

Nokia Lumia 920
The overall design harkens back to the Nokia Lumia 800, though the polycarbonate is glossier.
The horizontal camera placed near the center of the back is a nod towards the Lumia 800 too. The Lumia 920 camera is flush with the back, even though Nokia added the impressively souding optical image stabilization - a first for smartphones.

The back of the Lumia 920
The Nokia Lumia 920 has a PureView-branded camera, but misses on the 41MP sensor - it uses an 8.7MP sensor instead. Still it has the image stabilization and the super bright F/2.0 aperture plus Carl Zeiss lens, and according to Nokia those allow for unrivaled image quality in low-light conditions. The phone also comes with three Lens apps be preloaded - SmartShot, Cinemagraph and Panorama.
"PureView" stands for innovative camera features, not a megapixel count (Nokia has been saying that right from the start, that's why the 808 PureView shoots 5MP images by default).
By the way, the plate surrounding the camera on the back as well as the keys on the side of the device are made of ceramic that Nokia tells us is nearly impossible to scratch.

Durable ceramic keys on one side • nothing on the other side
Moving on to the front of the Lumia 920, its IPS LCD screen features the same curved glass we saw on the Lumia 800 (Nokia calls it "2.5D") and uses some brand new technologies that Nokia refers to as PureMotion HD+.
The image on the screen appears as if painted right on the very surface of the screen - something we really appreciate. Even though it's not an AMOLED, the viewing angles are great and so are the colors. The new display tech automatically adjust the screen settings to fit the ambient light.

A close-up of the 4.5" PureMotion HD+ display
The screen glass is Gorilla glass and there's Synaptics touch tech. As we saw during the demonstration, the screen will detect touches even if you're wearing gloves but it's even better than that - you can use your fingernails (good for the ladies) or even use your car keys as an improvised stylus.
The Nokia Lumia 920 comes with two wireless technologies that Nokia thinks will be huge - NFC and wireless charging. NFC comes into play with the new Bluetooth speakers, but also for content sharing and NFC features from WP8.
As for wireless charging, the 920 supports Qi technology, so it will work with any Qi-compatible charger. There were three chargers that Nokia showcased - a somewhat boring looking plastic charger, a soft Fatboy pillow charger and the JBL PowerUp Bluetooth wireless speaker.

Regular charger • Fatboy • JBL PowerUp
One thing that the Nokia Lumia 920 doesn't have (and we wish it did) is a microSD card slot - you have to rely on the 32GB built-in storage (plus that 7GB SkyDrive storage). The design allows it (as we saw on the N9 and Lumia 800) and the OS supports it too (the new Lumia 820 has a microSD card slot), so we don't know why Nokia decided to do without it here.
The battery is also not user-replaceable (a more understandable consequence of the unibody design), but there's a 2000mAh juice pack in there. Official numbers promise 17h of 2G talk time and 10h of 3G talking.

Nokia Lumia 820 hands-on

The second device introduced by Nokia is the smaller brother of the new Lumia flagship, the Lumia 820.

The Nokia Lumia 820
It features a 4.3" AMOLED display of WVGA resolution and, while the resolution is lower, the AMOLED part is actually a step up from the 920. Sadly the Lumia 820 misses on the PureMotion HD+ fun. Inside, there's the same 1.5 GHz dual-core Krait and 1 GB of RAM, but a smaller 1650 mAh battery, and 8 GB of storage.

Side-by-side with the Lumia 920
Another advantage of the more affordable Nokia Lumia 820 over the Lumia 920 is the presence of a micro SD card slot, which supports cards up to 32 GB in size.
As the Windows Phone 8 interface isn't finalized yet, we can't go much in depth from that standpoint, but we will give you our impressions of the hardware.

The 820's solid construction
The overall construction of the device does not feature a curved front glass display like the 920, but has a glossy paintjob which looks like it will attract fingerprints with regular use.
The WVGA resolution makes the display really pale in comparison with the 920, but seeing as how they have the same internals, we expect the 820 to be zippier due to the lower amount of pixels it has to push.

Close-up of the Lumia 820 screen
The construction shows the same meticulous attention to detail characteristic of Nokia, and the device feels very solid in-hand.

The phone also packs features like wireless charging with the Fatboy pillow (which has Qi tech inside), NFC, Nokia City Lens augmented reality app and so on.
The second phone announced today is the Nokia Lumia 820. It's a more compact device than the 920 and uses a 4.3" ClearBlack AMOLED display with WVGA resolution. It's a polycarbonate unibody design too, but has protective shells that go on the back to add a new color to your phone or enable the same wireless charging you get on the 920.
The camera is a 8MP shooter with Carl Zeiss lens, though it's not a PureView camera. It still gets some of the interesting new camera features that Microsoft just showed off.
Microsoft had some new features of Windows Phone 8 to announce too, so it's not just new hardware that we saw today.
Join us on the next page for the Nokia Lumia 920 hands-on. The Lumia 820 live photos, garnished with our first impressions are on page 3.

Key Features: 4.5in HD IPS LCD screen; 1.5GHz dual-core processor; Windows Phone 8 OS; 8.7MP camera with 1080p video and optical stabilisation Manufacturer: Nokia

Nokia Lumia 920 review

What is the Nokia Lumia 920?

The Nokia Lumia 920 is technically one of the most exciting phones available but it has been supersceded by the Nokia Lumia 1020. Not only does it have features like an optically stabilised camera for blur-free night time shots and inbuilt wireless charging to do away with pesky cables but it also has the growing in capability Microsoft Windows Phone 8 operating system that's been imbued with a host of Nokia extras. However a smartphone isn't about any single feature but the device as a whole, so how does the Lumia 920 fare?

Nokia Lumia 920 - Design

Nokia has always had a pretty good eye for design and that was no more in evidence than on the company's last flagship phone the Nokia Lumia 800, which we thought the best looking phone of its time. Here then the company has simply taken that same design and made it a bit bigger.

The whole phone is hewn from one piece of polycarbonate plastic into which is set the slightly curved screen. To keep the whole thing looking as seamless as possible all the ports and slots are kept in the flat ends, with just the buttons ranged up the right edge. The unbroken effect it creates gives the phone a wonderfully premium feel, particularly thanks to the quality of plastic used – the colour is in the plastic so doesn’t scratch off like paint does.

Read more at http://www.trustedreviews.com/nokia-lumia-920-pureview_Mobile-Phone_review#qif4iA3O8OHQCVeM.99