Nokia Lumia 1520 review: Finnish fable

The Nokia Lumia 1520 is just like the rest of the premium Lumia smartphones we've seen, but bigger and faster. The advanced imaging and the custom app selection by Nokia will make the difference against Android phablets, with the Snapdragon 800 making sure the Finn won't feel outgunned. Sounds like a promise for the best experience yet on Windows Phone.

A few months ago Nokia was in the headlines for what seemed the wrongest of reasons to people who fondly remembered the Finns from their glory days. Voices were rising once again above the lamenting choir, about what might have been had Nokia gone with Android instead.

Oh well, we're well past the what-ifs and should-haves. And no, it's not because Microsoft's check has already been written. Nokia's first phabet has crossed into what was, until now, a strictly Android territory. And not just average droids either, but some of the biggest, meanest species of Android we have seen.

   
Nokia Lumia 1520 official photos

The Nokia Lumia 1520 didn't just tip-toe in, looking over its shoulder. Armed with a PureView camera, a 1080p display and a quad-core Snapdragon 800, the Finnish giant entered with a bang!

The latest GDR3 version of Windows Phone finally has support for quad-core Krait processors and Full HD displays. There's an attempt too, to make better use of the size and resolution by adding an extra column of contents across the interface. It was about time Microsoft brought the platform back in the hardware race and we are delighted to finally meet the first Windows Phone to aim for the pole position.

Key features

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
• Quad-band 3G with 42 Mbps HSDPA and 5.7 Mbps HSUPA support
• Penta-band LTE Cat4 support, 150Mbps downlink, 50Mbps uplink
• 6.0" 16M-color ClearBlack IPS CLD capacitive touchscreen of 1920 x 1080 pixels; Corning Gorilla Glass 3; Nokia Glance
• 20MP PureView sensor (15MP effective), 1/2.5" sensor size, ZEISS lens, Optical Image Stabilization, dual-LED flash
• 1080p@30fps video recording; 2x lossless digital zoom
• 1.3MP front-facing camera
• Windows Phone 8 GDR3 OS with Nokia Black
• 2.2GHz quad-core Krait 400 CPU, Adreno 330 GPU, Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset, 2GB of RAM
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band
• GPS receiver with A-GPS and GLONASS support
• Free lifetime worldwide voice-guided navigation
• 32GB of inbuilt storage
• microSD card slot, up to 64GB
• Active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic
• Wireless charging with optional accessories
• Built-in accelerometer, gyroscope and proximity sensor
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• microUSB port
• Bluetooth v4.0 with A2DP and file transfers
• SNS integration
• Xbox Live integration and Xbox management
• NFC support
• Digital compass
• Nokia Music
• FM radio

Main disadvantages

• Screen has average sunlight legibility
• Non-user-replaceable battery
• No system-wide file manager
• No lockscreen shortcuts

At first glance the Lumia 1520 looks like a magnified Lumia 1020 - it has the same design and build, only without the camera hump. The trademark unibody is the right bit more impressive at that size, while the PureView camera has lost some of its sensor area and half of its pixels, but hopefully kept the amazing image quality.

Nokia's Lumia Black update isn't bringing as many new features as Amber, while the GDR3 version mostly makes sure the OS would happily accommodate the new chipset and screen resolution. Users will perhaps have to wait for the 8.1 update for a notification center (hopefully) and a file manager (not too likely) among other things.

  

Lumia-1520, a fighting soldier

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.

Nokia Lumia 1020 - A Review

Their Windows Phone endeavors may have not been all smooth sailing for Nokia, but the Finnish company finally came up with the smartphone to beat - the Lumia 1020. Combining the best of both worlds - solid smartphone experience and an unrivaled camera, the Lumia 1020 promises to become the hero device that both Nokia and Microsoft so desperately need at this moment.

Nokia has been the king of cameraphones since the golden days of Symbian. The legendary Nokia N95 won our first 5 megapixel shootout, and it was shortly followed by the N82, which added a xenon flash to the mix. Symbian's fate then took a sharp turn for the worse, but even so, the emblematic sharpshooter Nokia N8 came along. Then, at the end of the Symbian era, the 808 PureView arrived and changed our understanding and expectations of cameraphones for good.

 
Nokia Lumia 1020 official photos

Unfortunately for the Finns, their WP8 cameraphone voyage didn't begin as smoothly as the Symbian journey ended. The Lumia 800 had an interesting multi-aspect sensor, which sacrificed only little resolution when shooting 16:9 stills, while the Lumia 920 was first to bring optical image stabilization (OIS) to the smartphone world, but neither of those was able to achieve the iconic status of their predecessors. Perhaps adding the PureView moniker to the Lumia 920 in an attempt to capitalize on the brand was a mistake by Nokia, as that guaranteed the smartphone will often be compared to the 808 PureView and that was a battle it was never going to win, OIS or not.

People wanted their 41MP WP8 smartphone and yesterday Nokia finally delivered.

The Windows Phone ecosystem is still growing but not fast enough to compete with the big boys. Perhaps bringing the platform to the forefront of the cameraphone race is exactly the kind of push it needed. And camera aside, the Lumia 1020 delivers duly on all those vital other aspects of a modern-day smartphones with barely any compromises made - check out the complete breakdown below.

Nokia Lumia 1020 at a glance

• General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 850/900/1900/2100 MHz; HSDPA 42.2 Mbps, HSUPA 5.76Mbps; LTE bands 1, 3, 7, 8, 20 LTE Cat 3 100Mbps down, 50Mbps up
• Form factor: Touchscreen bar
• Dimensions: 130.4 x 71.4 x 10.4; 158 g
• Display: 4.5" 16M-color WXGA (768 x 1280 pixels) ClearBlack AMOLED capacitive touchscreen; PureMotion HD+, 2.5D sculpted Gorilla glass 3; Super sensitive touch
• Chipset: 1.5GHz dual-core Krait processor, Adreno 225 GPU, 2GB of RAM
• OS: Windows Phone 8
• Memory: 32/64 GB of built-in storage;
• Still camera: 41 megapixel camera with 6-element ZEISS lens, OIS, 3x zoom, xenon and LED flashes
• Video camera: 1080p video recording at 30fps with two Rich Recording mics; 1.2MP front-facing camera with 720p video
• Connectivity: dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, stereo Bluetooth 3.0, standard microUSB port, GPS receiver with A-GPS and GLONASS, HERE Drive+ free worldwide navigation, 3.5mm audio jack, NFC
• Battery: 2,000mAh
• Misc: Nokia-exclusive Pro Camera app, FM Radio, built-in accelerometer, multi-touch input, proximity sensor; available in Yellow, White or Black
• Accessories: Snap-on camera grip with built-in 1,020mAh battery and tripod mount, Snap-on Qi wireless charging cover

The Nokia Lumia 1020 didn't stay in the factory long enough to get a quad-core chipset or a full HD screen - this kind of WP phones are probably set to arrive further down the road along with the next WP8 release. However, the Lumia 1020 can now make full use of the growing catalog of WP8 apps, which is now not too far behind Android and iOS as far as the most important titles are concerned and is even starting to get an exclusive app now and then.

  
Nokia Lumia 1020 at the office

There's also the free lifetime voice-guided navigation that needs no data connection to operate. Getting that on another platform usually costs a pretty penny, so delivering it out of the box is certainly going to earn quite a few points for the Lumia 1020.

Then again the new Nokia flagship has quite the price tag to live up to, so it will need all the help it can get. 

Nokia Lumia 925 preview

Introduction

Nokia refined the design of the Lumia 920 flagship, but didn't fundamentally change it - the Lumia 925 is, in essence, the 920S. The number of changes might be small, but their magnitude isn't. With a better body, screen and software, the Nokia Lumia 925 is a more desirable device than its 920 sibling.

  
Nokia Lumia 925 official photos

Let's break down the changes. The thick and heavy polycarbonate unibody is gone, with an exposed aluminum frame and polycarbonate back taking its place. The diet has shaved 36g and 2.2mm off the waistline of the Lumia 925.

Part of that is the new AMOLED screen, which is thinner than the LCD of the older phone. It has the same basic specs - a 4.5" diagonal, WXGA resolution, Gorilla Glass 2, ClearBlack and Super sensitive touch. But we believe that AMOLED is a better match for Windows Phone - LCDs just don't do the interface justice . AMOLEDs simply render colorful squares on a black background better.

There are some other changes too, like the added Nokia Smart Camera app and FM radio support.

Nokia Lumia 925 at a glance:

• General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 850/900/1900/2100 MHz or 580/900/1700/1900/2100; HSDPA 42.2 Mbps, HSUPA 5.76Mbps; LTE 800/900/1800/2100/2600 or 700/1700/2100; LTE Cat 3 100Mbps down, 50Mbps up
• Form factor: Touchscreen bar
• Dimensions: 129 x 70.6 x 8.5 mm, 78 cc; 139 g
• Display: 4.5" 16M-color WXGA (768 x 1280 pixels) ClearBlack AMOLED capacitive touchscreen; Gorilla glass 2; Super sensitive touch
• Chipset: 1.5GHz dual-core Krait processor, Adreno 225 GPU, 1GB of RAM
• OS: Windows Phone 8
• Memory: 16/32 GB of built-in storage
• Camera: 8 megapixel auto-focus camera with Carl Zeiss lens, OIS, face and smile detection; 1080p video recording at 30fps; 1.3MP front-facing camera with 720p video
• Connectivity: dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, stereo Bluetooth 3.0, standard microUSB port, GPS receiver with A-GPS and GLONASS, HERE Drive+ free worldwide navigation, 3.5mm audio jack, NFC
• Misc: Exclusive Smart Camera app, FM Radio, built-in accelerometer, multi-touch input, proximity sensor

Nokia Lumia 521 with Windows Phone 8 launched in the US for $150 unsubsidized

Microsoft Corp's phone chief hates to call the new Nokia Lumia 521 cheap, but the lower-priced smartphone launching in the United States is the company's boldest move yet to win mass market share from leaders Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics.

The world's largest software company has so far focused on putting its Windows Phone software into expensive, high-end devices - chiefly from Nokia and HTC Corp.

But the new model will go on sale at Walmart later this month at an unsubsidized price under $150, relatively cheap for a new phone running up-to-date software without a long-term contract.

"There is an opportunity for us to offer a very high quality device in the mainstream," said Terry Myerson, head of the Windows Phone unit, at Microsoft's campus near Seattle last week. "That's where we've made progress in the last couple of months and it's a strategy we'll continue to explore in the United States."

The Nokia Lumia 521 went on sale on the Home Shopping Network (HSN) last week, where it has already sold out. The 4G phone, sold overseas as the Nokia 520 , is essentially a mid-range phone with some high-end features, such as four-inch touch screen, five megapixel camera and high-definition video display.

Next week the phone will go on sale at less than $150 at Walmart, along with T-Mobile US Inc's $30 per month unlimited data and text plan, which works out much cheaper over the long run than heavily subsidized iPhones and upscale Android devices that generally come with pricy long-term contracts.

The early popularity of the Lumia 521 on HSN is a minor boost for Microsoft, whose mobile plans have stuttered and stumbled since Apple's iPhone destroyed its early dominance in the smartphone market in 2007.

After completely redesigning its software, Microsoft-powered phones now have 3.2 percent of the U.S. smartphone market, compared to 39 percent for Apple and 52 percent for Google Inc's Android system, according to comScore.

Nokia, which now only makes smartphones running Windows, sold 5.6 million of its Lumia handsets in the first quarter, up 27 percent from the previous quarter, although that is still dwarfed by 37 million iPhone sales.

Microsoft does not detail overall Windows phone sales or financials, but did say last quarter that phone-related revenue rose by $259 million, which includes licensing revenue from Android phones, which use some technology patented by Microsoft.

Windows phones tend to fare better overseas, where they have as much as 20 percent share in some markets such as Mexico and Poland, and almost 7 percent in Britain, according to Microsoft.

That is partly because the role of powerful carriers such as AT&T Inc and Verizon Wireless, which dominate U.S. phone retail, is less pronounced in overseas markets.

"AT&T and Verizon have been great partners," said Myerson. "But where the market dynamics are different, and where the operators play a different role, we have done better."

Heavy up-front subsidies from AT&T and Verizon, in return for long-term service contracts, mean U.S. customers can afford the best hardware from Apple and Samsung. Even though Windows phones are also subsidized, Myerson admits it has been hard to break that lock on the home market.

"It (subsidization) is a compelling business model for them. If you are Samsung, Apple, AT&T or Verizon, it's where everything's working, you are growing share, you are growing profits," said Myerson. "If you are an incumbent with a successful business model, you're not going to be jumping to throw it out."

As a challenger to those incumbents, Myerson says Microsoft has to differentiate on more than just price.

After introducing "killer hardware", he says the next task for Windows phones is to leverage Microsoft's Office and Xbox products to make a genuinely new phone experience, whether as a work tool or advanced toy.

"I don't think we've come near to the full potential," he said. "Those are our two dimensions here, Office and Xbox. We want to bring to life getting work done and bring to life that serious fun, here on this thing in your pocket. That's going to develop over time."

Myerson played down reports that Microsoft was working on a phone of its own, to follow up on its Surface tablet.

"Nokia's doing a great job," he said. "They really are receiving all of our go-to-market energy right now."

Nokia Lumia 520

The Lumia 520 completes the roll call for Nokia's second generation of Microsoft-powered smartphones. Statistically, this means that every step of their product line, from 5** all the way to 9**, has been backed up by a fresh WP8-rocking alternative.

OK, that's nothing out of the ordinary and actually well on time. The Lumia 520 was announced at this year's MWC, along with the Lumia 720, signaling Nokia's intention to focus on the lower tiers of the market.

In terms of budget, it doesn't get any lower than the Lumia 520. With an estimated retail price of under €150, the 520 is clearly the most affordable WP8-powered smartphone. Hardly a surprise then that it's a trimmed down version of the Lumia 720 we recently reviewed.

   
Nokia Lumia 520 official images

The Lumia 520 has to make do with a smaller, garden variety LCD (no ClearBlack) and an inferior imaging package. The wide aperture lens of the Lumia 720 had to go, too, while the LED flash and the front-facer went with it. The battery is of lesser capacity too but other than that, we're looking at two very similar packages priced some way apart. And we do think the actual price cut is well worth the features that got slashed.

Key features

• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
• Quad-band 3G with 21 Mbps HSDPA and 5.7 Mbps HSUPA support
• 4.0" 16M-color IPS LCD display of WVGA resolution
• 5 megapixel autofocus camera with 720p@30fps video recording
• Windows Phone 8 OS
• 1 GHz dual-core Krait CPU, Adreno 305 GPU, Qualcomm MSM8227 chipset, 512MB of RAM
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band
• GPS receiver with A-GPS and GLONASS support
• Free lifetime voice-guided navigation (with a twist)
• 8GB of inbuilt storage, expandable via a microSD card slot
• Active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic
• Built-in accelerometer and proximity sensor
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• microUSB port
• Bluetooth v3.0 with A2DP and EDR, file transfers
• SNS integration
• Xbox Live integration and Xbox management
• Nokia Music
• Extremely competitive pricing

Main disadvantages

• Common LCD lacks the punch of CBD
• A few prominent apps still missing, some apps incompatible due to 512MB RAM
• No FM radio
• No front-facing camera
• No LED flash
• No system-wide file manager
• No lockscreen shortcuts
• Voice-guided SatNav license limited to a single country

Nokia has rolled out a few devices of proper flagship pedigree since going all-in with Redmond, but the Finns must see plenty of awareness-raising value in devices like the Lumia 620 and 520. And we can't help but be impressed with the fact that the Lumia 520 shapes up to be the cheapest of them all at launch - considering it's the only one of the three powered by a couple of Krait cores.

Of course there're things missing but if you can live without an FM Radio and a front-facing camera, the Lumia 520 is an extremely tempting package. We don't think the 512MB of RAM is as big a disadvantage as it was for the clearly more costly Lumia 720. The screen isn't particularly impressive but the thinking must've been that potential users would care more about being able to use it with gloves on than the actual image quality.

 
The Nokia Lumia 520 at HQ

Nokia Lumia 520 360-degree spin

The Nokia Lumia 520 is about the size of a Lumia 800 - another proof that smartphones have only been getting bigger lately. Four inches of diagonal is no longer too much even for the most basic of offerings. Anyway, what this means in practice is that the 520 has found room for a bigger screen in a body that's just a tad wider - but slimmer - than the Lumia 800's.

It's a reasonably compact device by modern standards and one that's easy to hold and operate with one hand. At 119.9 x 64 x 9.9 mm, the Lumia 520 is not the slimmest smartphone around but by no means too chubby either. It weighs the perfectly acceptable 124g.

Design and build quality

Nokia has created a simple and sensible design that works equally well across their WP8 lineup. Of course, the finish varies from the flagship to the low-end but it's a consistent and recognizable styling that an entry level package is quick to take advantage of.

In a nutshell, the Lumia 520 is cheap without looking it. The curved shape and soft rubbery finish around back make for a handset that's got plenty of grip and style.

There's a hint at a unibody design, reinforced by the seriously sturdy feel of the phone, but the battery cover is actually removable - to get access to the battery, SIM compartment and memory card slot. The Nokia Lumia 520 lacks some of the refinement of a Lumia 720 but you wouldn't know either that you're dealing with the cheapest device in the range.

   
The Nokia Lumia 520 is one of the better looking entry level smartphones

We have a black and a white Nokia Lumia 520 at HQ but the phone also comes in the more flamboyant red, yellow and cyan. Like the Lumia 820 sibling, the Lumia 520 offers exchangeable rear covers - wireless charging isn't an option though.

Display

The Nokia Lumia 520 comes with a 4" screen of WVGA resolution (480 x 800 pixels), and the resulting pixel density is around 233 ppi. That's higher than the Lumia 720, which has a bigger 4.3" screen but this is where its advantages end.

 
The display is hardly spectacular

The Lumia 520's screen doesn't use the ClearBlack tech and contrast is the biggest casualty. The display clearly lacks the punch of a CBD like the one on the Lumia 720. On a positive note, the viewing angles are quite good.

As you can see from the readings in our dedicated test the Nokia Lumia display isn't the brightest around and its contrast is far from great.

Display test	50% brightness			100% brightness
	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio	Black, cd/m2	White, cd/m2	Contrast ratio
Nokia Lumia 520	-	-	-	0.51	422	834
Nokia Lumia 620	-	-	-	0.72	762	1068
Nokia Lumia 720	-	-	-	0.69	813	1172
HTC One X	0.15	200	1375	0.39	550	1410
Nokia Lumia 920	-	-	-	0.48	513	1065
Nexus 4	0.22	314	1447	0.45	608	1341
LG Optimus G	0.14	197	1445	0.33	417	1438
Apple iPhone 5	0.13	200	1490	0.48	640	1320

The glass above the Lumia 520's screen is quite reflective, which means the phone is barely usable when outdoor on a bright sunny day.

Controls

The layout of controls is consistent across Nokia's WP8 smartphones and the Lumia 520 follows suit. There's the usual set of capacitive controls below the screen and the hardware buttons are all placed along the right side of the phone, while the left remains bare.

The capacitive Back, Home and Search keys are well-spaced and haptic-enabled - we always appreciate Nokia's sharp and precise vibration feedback. A press and hold of the Home key will launch voice commands, while a log press of the Back button shows recent apps.

At the very bottom edge of the front you'll notice a tiny mic pinhole. Above the screen is the usual place of the earpiece, an ambient light and proximity sensor next to it. The Nokia Lumia 520 hasn't got a front camera.

 
The top and bottom of the phone

The volume rocker, lock/power button and camera key are on the right. All three are sufficiently raised and have great response. The camera key has a distinct half-press for auto focus and will launch the camera reasonably fast overriding a complete lock.

 
The right side of the phone hosts three keys

The left side holds no buttons whatsoever and there're no side-mounted ports either, as opposed to the Lumia 720.

The left side is perfectly bare

The 3.5 mm headphones jack is placed at the top of the Nokia Lumia 520.

 
A view from the top

The microUSB port is in its usual spot at the bottom of the phone.

 
The microUSB port is at the bottom

The removable back cover is made of matte plastic and features the 5 MP camera lens, a Nokia logo, and the loudspeaker grille in the bottom right corner. There's no LED flash on the Nokia Lumia 520, so low-light photography is best avoided.

   
The back

Removing the back panel is easy enough and you gain access to the 1430 mAh Li-Ion battery, microSD card slot and microSIM compartment.

  
Under the cover

The Lumia 520 is quite pleasant to handle and, even though it's not the most compact of smartphones, it will comfortably fit most hands and pockets. The handset is well made and feels durable enough.

 
Handling the Lumia 520