After a long layoff from the US market, Nokia has finally released Nokia Lumia 900 4G which promises to stamp its mark in the smartphone market. Going for a price of only $99.99 on-contract but still providing some high end hardware would definitely make this one phone to remember.
Design
One glance at the Nokia Lumia 900 4G and it looks exactly like the Nokia Lumia 800 minus the fact that it’s a littlee bigger, but granted that this time the phone actually made it to the shores of US it is something that would catch anyone’s attention. The reason for that being that it’s actually unique when compared to the slab of plastic the other smartphones of late have been. The dimensions are the first obvious difference between the Nokia Lumia 900 4G and Nokia Lumia 800 as at 5.03 x 2.7 x 0.45 inches this phone is bigger than its younger sibling. Nevertheless, Nokia surprisingly still manages to keep this phone thinner thus giving it a streamlined finish. At 5.64 oz, the phone is also not leaning to the heavy side. Its unibody polycarbonate design makes it pretty although its edges are a tad bit sharp; however it’s still a refreshing design and had a lot to love.
Underneath the screen are three Windows buttons that are nicely spaced so the problem of accidental presses was averted. Another thing on the front is the 1.3MP camera which is on the top left hand corner right above the screen. Moving on to the buttons and ports around the Nokia Lumia 900 4G, it’s surprising how many things are on the right side of this phone. In fact all the buttons, namely the volume rocker, power button and dedicated camera key, are on the right side of the phone. The buttons felt almost flush to the chassis but they had a good response to our touch. Meanwhile on the top are both the microUSB port and standard audio jack. Last but not least, on the back of the Nokia Lumia 900 4G is a 8MP auto-fcous camera with dual-LED flash which also comes with Carl Zeiss optics.
Display
The Nokia Lumia 900 4G sports a 4.3 inch ClearBlack screen that has a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels. 4.3 inch might is no longer considered a huge screen in the smartphone industry, however beyond its size, it performs well. It was able to produce vibrant and vivid colors. Details were aplenty as well and viewing angles were wide as well.
Performance
Knowing how Windows Phone is simple and efficient at its task, Nokia has given this phone just a single core 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon APQ8055 central processing unit. Although there are smartphones out there with dual core processors, Nokia Lumia 900 4G does a good job even with its single core processor which goes to show how effective Windows Phone is. Thanks to the 512MB of RAM as well, there were not evident lags that could slow down anyone’s work.
Features
Nokia Lumia 900 4G is a Windows Phone 7.5 Mango device, so there’s pretty much nothing new if you have used any other Windows Phone recently. Just as previously seen on other Windows phones, the overall look and feel have been kept just like before – with a lot of character and personality. It’s also implementing Metro UI in its apps now. Yes it can’t be personalized as much as an Android phone but Windows have stuck to familiarity rather than too much change with their phones and keeps the personalization to things like rearranging tiles and changing color themes.
Moving on to some of the apps found on the phone, there are again not many differences there either. For instance the organizer apps haven’t changed much in terms of function and form. Each specific hub has an assortment of features although the hubs for this category namely Alarm, Calculator and Calendar are rather plain looking to the eyes. Meanwhile on the People and Me Hubs, the Metro UI platform comes into play a lot. The hubs also integrate social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. From just one place, all the social networking sites can be updated and the hub also provides some organizational functions as well. A relatively big screen on the Nokia Lumia 900 4G means a good typing experience. The keys on the on-screen keyboard are well spaced and the auto-correct which Windows Phone keyboards are known for is still there helping make the texting experience a lot better.
Hit the dedicated camera button even when the phone is locked and it still gets to the camera app right away. The camera on the Nokia Lumia 900 4G is an 8MP one with dual-LED flash and Carl Zeiss optics. However, the results from the shots taken weren’t as impressive as expected. Even photos that were taken with the best lighting scenarios produced results with bluish tinge in color production. In low light settings, the results were very poor as there was too much noise to content with although using the dual-LED flash did come in handy.
Nokia Lumia 900 4G comes with 4G LTE connectivity, something new for a Windows Phone. Web browsing on this phone is fluid thanks to both the browser as well as the speeds from the 4G connection. Since it’s a Windows Phone, it is no surprise that there is again no support for Adobe Flash. Navigating through the pages was easy and smooth too. In terms of connectivity options, the usual suspects like aGPS, Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR as well as Wi-fi with mobile hotspot functionality as a bonus are packed into this device.
Thanks to the loud and clear sounds on the earpiece, there were no problems with call quality on both ends of the line. There was also no noise or static to be found which was impressive. The speakerphone also did a tremendous job. A mammoth 1830mAh battery is fitted into the Nokia Lumia 900 4G and it wasn’t surprising that the phone made it through more than a day with just one charge. However, heavy usage of 4G connectivity might bring it down to one day.
Pros and Cons
Nokia Lumia 900 4G is exactly what was needed in terms of design in the smartphone business, refreshing and unique. Call quality was absolutely wonderful. Sporting 4G LTE connectivity and still only going for a price of $99.99 seems like a bargain.
The camera wasn’t up to the task both for photos and videos.
Conclusion
If simplicity is what you are looking for, than the Nokia Lumia 900 4G provides a lot of that with its Windows Phone 7.5 Mango and also throws in a lot of good hardware for a good price.