The Nokia Lumia 920 and Windows Phone 8

I've been working at Microsoft for about two and a half years now, and for about two of those years, I've been using Windows Phone as my mobile OS of choice.  Originally I switched partly out of company loyalty and partly out of an intense hatred for what iOS 4 did to my iPhone 3G, basically causing it to be nearly unusable.  Eventually the problems were ironed out, but it left a bad taste in my mouth for iPhone products.  At the time, Android wasn't a very polished or consumer friendly OS and I didn't want to worry about multitasking or crashes, so Windows Phone seemed like the best alternative.

I ended up with a Samsung Focus and used it for two years, basically until my contract was up.  Initially I liked the phone, and really enjoyed the overall design of the OS.  I liked the speed and fluidness, and I also enjoyed how the applications all worked together to form a cohesive whole.  Well, the applications that were there anyway.  I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that many applications available on competing platforms haven't really shown up on Windows Phone yet.  Honestly though I'm not missing much.  I don't use Twitter, which seems to be a particular sore spot for Windows Phone, and otherwise my needs are pretty much covered.  It would be nice if my bank (Wells Fargo) had a decent Windows Phone app, but then, it'd be nice if they had an iPad app also (rather than just a blown up iPhone app).  Until the device started basically falling apart at the end of the contract with strange battery and speaker issues, I didn't really have a problem with it.  I didn't love it the way I loved my first iPhone, but I found it incredibly usable.

Earlier this year, Windows Phone 8 became available on a range of hardware devices.  After looking them all over, for me, the clear choice was the Lumia 920.  With it's incredible high resolution screen, striking design, and PureView camera, I knew I had finally found a premium phone in my ecosystem of choice.  However much I liked my Samsung Focus, I knew it wasn't really a premium device.  It was light on specs for when it came out, and it had a low resolution screen.  It also felt extremely cheap and plasticky, and fell apart when dropped.  That said, until the very end, it generally worked properly. 

The Lumia 920 is a completely different story.  Even though, ironically, it's made of plastic, the method they use to mold the phone makes it feel like an extremely premium product.  The phone is rather large and hefty in hand, but while many people have knocked the phone for this, it's one of my favorite things about the phone.  It feels solid in ways other phones I've used just don't.  And it's certainly not like it's unusably heavy.  Design aside when I turned it on, the screen was a feast for the eyes with bright colors and deep blacks as well as extreme viewing angles.  I think it's the best screen on a smartphone today.  To be fair I haven't seen an HTC One X or Droid DNA in person, so those might be better, but I can't imagine how.  With 60 fps refresh and the deepest blacks I've seen on an LCD, I really love the screen on the 920. 

The other striking thing when using the phone at first is just how FAST it feels. Windows Phone 7 didn't exactly feel slow to me, but Windows Phone 8 on a higher end CPU just screams.  Opening applications is much faster; as is resuming tombstoned applications, and just swiping around the OS.  The web browser clearly blows away any mobile browser I've seen yet (let me caveat this by saying I've never used Browser or Chrome on Android), and even running Windows Phone 7 apps is noticeably faster.  The app story is still pretty thin, though there is a decent new facebook app, though it's not totally solid yet, hopefully some updates are forthcoming.  There are a few cool new features that I haven't used a ton yet like the wallet functionality or the Kid's Corner.  Allowing applications to take over the lock screen is a welcome change as is the ability to have notifications on the lock screen. 

The other huge differentiator with Nokia devices in particular is the Nokia suite of apps that are available only for Nokia windows phones, including Nokia Music, Nokia Maps, and Nokia Drive.  I haven't used Nokia Music since I have an X Box Music pass, but Nokia drive is fantastic... when it works.  I did have some trouble with the phone seemingly losing a GPS connection lately but otherwise it's been incredibly solid.  Overall the Nokia apps are a huge value-add helping to justify my purchase. 

The other "big name" feature of the phone is wireless charging, which I initially pooh poohed, but I have found it to be very nice when going to bed to just kind of lay the phone down on it's charging tile without having to plug anything in.  Early reviews mentioned having to carefully align the phone, but I haven't found this to be the case, I can lay it down fairly haphazardly and it will still be fully charged by the next day.

The battery life of the phone is probably the only sore point so far.  The first day of use found it actually sorely lacking, but after turning off NFC (since I never use it anyway), I've found it to be much better, if not fantastic.  Probably the only drawback compared to my previous phone.

The main reason I bought the phone was the PureView Camera, which is called PureView due to it's Optical Image Stabilization feature, rather than some kind of digital stabilization, this camera actually floats in the middle of the phone on a flud, and is attached with springs, so when your hand shakes, the camera still manages to take still images.  This has two key advantages, one, normal picture taking is no longer a "careful tap" affair, to avoid motion blur, and secondly, the optical image stabilization allows the camera to keep the shutter open quite a bit longer for low-light images.  This makes for amazing dark and night photos.  There have been complaints of poor daytime performance, but it's such an upgrade from my previous camera, I haven't noticed.  Potentially this could be due to the software not automatically "touching up" photos for end users, and will apparently be addressed in a patch.  So far I'm very very happy with the camera.

In conclusion, I'm am extremely happy with this phone. It's the first phone I've owned since the original iPhone that feels like a truly premium and top of the line device.  Even the iPhone 3G felt like kind of a step backwards in design from the original iPhone (to me).  This phone feels like the logical end of the polycarbonate body that Nokia has been using since the N9 and it just feels and looks fantastic.  The OS also runs extremely well and is fun to use.