Nokia Lumia 920 review

Nokia's flagship Windows Phone 8 handset boasts the firm's excellent PureView camera technology and decent battery life. But it's a bit on the chunky side and the price could put users off.

IT Pro Verdict

The Lumia 920 is an incredibly impressive device with excellent build quality, a top-level display, great performance and features and easily the best camera on any smartphone to date.It remains to be seen whether Nokia has priced itself out of the market, with the handset costing well over £46 per month and even then with an upfront fee of £20. With device such as the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S3 on the market at similar if not cheaper pricing, Nokia could struggle to shift units.

The Lumia 920 is Nokia's latest high-end smartphone which runs on Microsoft's updated mobile operating system - Windows Phone 8.

The handset is equipped with a Qualcomm dual-core processor, a gorgeous ClearBlack display and Nokia's pioneering PureView camera technology. We put it to the test to see if it's worth the investment for business users.

Design

Nokia's design style from the Lumia 800 and 900 has returned with the Lumia 920, although on a larger scale.

Where the Lumia 900 was the bigger of Nokia's Windows Phones at 4.3ins, the 920 is approaching behemoth territory with a screen size of 4.5ins.

As with the company's previous models, it's well-built with a polycarbonate unibody, so there's absolutely no flex anywhere.

Nokia Lumia 920 - Display

Nokia Lumia 920 - Display

There is plenty of real-estate on the Lumia 920, with the large 4.5in display

As well as being robust, the Lumia 920 is a good-looking phone, Nokia has continued to use the rectangular shape from earlier models, though the edges do sweep round into a curved back panel.

While the device is available in a range of colours, these vary in the finish used. The black model has a preferable matte coating which is not as slippery as the glossy variants and feels nicer to use.

Ports and buttons are well-located, all controls, including power, camera and volume rocker, are along the right hand side and easily operable with either hand. The camera button is on the right when using the phone in landscape mode as a digital camera.

In the baseplate is a microUSB port, making the phone ideal for charging stands. However, the Lumia 920 also supports wireless charging via a charging plate accessory. To use this you simply drop the phone onto the plate and it charges through the back panel. This is an optional extra though and will set you back another 50, so we don't envisage many people using this until it becomes more affordable.

At the top of the phone is a 3.5mm audio jack and the device supports Dolby headphones and has a built-in equalizer so you can get sound levels just as you need them.

Nokia Lumia 920 - Thickness

Nokia Lumia 920 - Thickness

We found the device to be quite chunky - it's over 10mm thick

Compared to other Windows Phone handsets, the Lumia 920 is thick and bulky. As well as being big to hold it can be problematic using it with one hand and weighs a hefty 185g. While we don't think it's too big or too heavy to render it unusable, users with smaller hands, or those who require one-handed use specifically, may have trouble here.

Despite these points, we do think the Lumia 920 is a great handset externally as it combines top-tier build quality with an attractive and modern design.