Nokia Lumia 920 - In Summary
I wasn't sure how to best summarise my time with the Nokia Lumia 920. Do I compare it to an iPhone? Do I compare it to my Lumia 800? How do I even know what is 'good' or 'bad' for a phone? If I have learnt anything from my three years of owning Apple products, my return to the Microsoft ecosystem and working with a few Apple followers, when it comes to choosing the tech, its about your preferences and not what everyone else thinks is a great phone. That's pretty much why I have made this an 'experience' review rather than a technical review.
The Nokia Lumia 920 is striking when you first meet it. As an owner of a slim iPhone 5 and an even smaller Nokia Lumia 800, it's seemed slightly too big. I showed the device to a number of people and was surprised at the wide range of responses. Most of the people who have had iPhones in the past said that it was 'big', that's to be expected given the iPhone has managed time managed to become thinner and thinner. What did surprise me though was the number of people that said "Well yeah, phones are getting bigger these days, look at the Samsung Galaxy". This shows me that although the Nokia Lumia 920 might be large, that doesn't mean that it won't suit a certain demographic that wants large devices. The second thing that struck me is the screen clarity, it's kind of like putting a non-retina and retina iPhone next to each other but with a Windows Phone flavour. Moving back to my Lumia 800 I miss that screen clarity and it amuses me to say that I now find the Lumia 800 too small!
Once I played with the Nokia Lumia 920 for a few days and the novelty factor of a new phone wears off, is it the type of phone I would swap an iPhone for? .... yeah!. The Windows Phone App store selection is better when compared to my windows 7.5 device as developers are definitely making the most of the devices extra features (like the Lockscreen). The Windows Phone 8 adverts are all about it being a phone personal to you and the Nokia Lumia 920 does just that with its resizable tiles, custom lockscreen and combined People hub. This theme of personalisation flows through Windows Phone, Microsoft Surface and Windows 8 and links the ecosystem together. My iPhone and iPad felt clean and crisp but also clinical and impersonal.
Would I recommend the Nokia Lumia 920 over an iPhone? Yes but you would need to approach it with an open mind. Using a Nokia Lumia 920 and Windows Phone 8 is different to an iPhone and many people I see seem struggle with iPhone and iPad competitors not being intuitive. This tends to be because they see the iDevice way of interacting as 'standard' and therefore find a different interface initially confusing.
If you have grown tired of the incremental updates of the iPhone and you are thinking of trying something different then buy yourself a Nokia Lumia 920. You wont be disappointed with the camera or sound and if you approach it with an open mind you will be able to make the most of the operating system too. However, if you enjoy the controlled and 'clinical' experience of the iPhone then Windows Phone probably isn't for you.
The Nokia Lumia 920 is for those that want to try something different, personalised and different from the rest of the crowd. The iPhone isn't unique anymore, everyone has one.