Nokia Lumia 1520 - Review

This year, Nokia finally seems to have arrived in the smartphone arena with its high-end device that speaks volumes about the tech giant's capabilities. The innovative Lumia 1520 packs in all the goodness of the revamped Windows Phone 8 Black operating system - and then some.

Nokia unveiled its latest creation back in October at the Nokia World event in Abu Dhabi. Now the tech giant has sent out invites to an event on December 16, 2013 in New Delhi, leading industry majors and smartphone enthusiasts to predict that it will introduce its new flagship to India next week. The Lumia 1520 is built to compete with devices in the higher-mid and top-end ranges of the smartphone spectrum, priced as it is at $749, approximately Rs. 46,000.

The Finnish tech major has invested a lot into the making of its new flagship - and the results speak for themselves. The handset comes with tons of personality thanks to its bright colours and plenty of durability thanks to its well built polycarbonate casing. It's straight and clean lines give it a modern, premium feel. The phone has quite a presence with dimensions of 162.8 x 85.4 x 8.7mm and a weight of 209g.

Nokia has packed its newbie with some top-of-the-line specs. It houses a 6-inch IPS LCD screen that sports a Full HD resolution of 1080 X 1920 pixels and a pixel density of 368ppi, complete with ClearBlack display technology, High Brightness Mode, the assertive display technology by Apical and Gorilla Glass 2.

Qualcomm's quad-core 2.2 GHz Snapdragon 800 chipset with its Krait 400 processor, its Adreno 330 GPU and a 2 GB RAM power the Lumia 1520 which carries 32 GB of in-built storage. External memory can be increased by up to 64 GB on the device which also ships with 7GB of free SkyDrive cloud-based memory.

The Lumia 1520's camera is its most talked about feature, coming as it does with a 20-megapixel snapper, a Carl Zeiss lens, OIS, auto focus, dual LED flash, geo-tagging, panorama, face detection, dual capture, stereo sound, 1080p video capture at 30fps, Nokia Camera app, Nokia Rich recording, zoom and PureView technology. The phone also has a 1.2-megapixel front sensor which can capture 720p video at 30fps.

A 3400 mAh battery powers the handset that works with a nano Sim and packs in support for wireless charging and NFC, besides 4G, Bluetooth and USB.

The Lumia 1520 is certainly an exciting device and leaks and rumours about the handset painted a vivid picture of its features even before its release. Read on to find out what Nokia's biggest and best creation yet was anticipated to be like.

Design

• Device type:
  • Smart phone
• OS:
  • Windows Phone 8
• Dimensions:
  • 6.41 x 3.36 x 0.34 inches (162.8 x 85.4 x 8.7 mm)
• Weight:
  • 7.37 oz (209 g)
    the average is 4.6 oz (132 g)

Display

• Physical size:
  • 6.0 inches
• Resolution:
  • 1080 x 1920 pixels
• Pixel density:
  • 368 ppi
• Technology:
  • IPS LCD
• Colors:
  • 16 777 216
• Touchscreen:
  • • Multi-touch
• Features:
  • Light sensor, Proximity sensor, Scratch-resistant glass, Polarizing filter

Camera

• Camera:
  • • 20 megapixels
  • Flash:
    • Dual LED
  • Aperture size:
    • F2.4
  • Focal length (35mm equivalent):
    • 26mm
  • Camera sensor size:
    • 1/2.5"
  • Features:
    • Back-illuminated sensor (BSI), Auto focus, Touch to focus, Optical image stabilization, Face detection, Exposure compensation, ISO control, White balance presets, Burst mode, Digital zoom, Geo tagging, Panorama, Effects, Self-timer
• Camcorder:
  • • 1920x1080 (1080p HD) (30 fps)
  • Features:
    • Optical image stabilization, Video light
• Front-facing camera:
  • • 1.2 megapixels

Hardware

• System chip:
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 MSM8974
• Processor:
  • Quad core, 2200 MHz, Krait 400
• Graphics processor:
  • • Adreno 330
• System memory:
  • 2048 MB RAM
• Built-in storage:
  • 32 GB
• Storage expansion:
  • microSD, microSDHC up to 64 GB

Battery

• Talk time:
  • 27.40 hours
    the average is 12 h (741 min)
• Stand-by time:
  • 32.0 days (768 hours)
    the average is 20 days (485 h)
• Talk time (3G):
  • 25.10 hours
    the average is 12 h (700 min)
• Capacity:
  • 3400 mAh
• Not user replaceable:
  • Yes
• Wireless charging:
  • Optional

Multimedia

• Music player:
  • Filter by:
    • Album, Artist, Playlists
  • Features:
    • Album art cover, Background playback, Preset equalizer, Dolby Headphone
• Radio:
  • • FM, Stereo, RDS
• Speakers:
  • Earpiece, Loudspeaker
• YouTube player:
  • Yes

Internet browsing

• Browser:
  • 
  • • Internet Explorer 10
• Built-in online services support:
  • Facebook, YouTube (upload), Flickr, Picasa/Google+, Twitter

Technology

• GSM:
  • 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
• UMTS:
  • 850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz
• FDD LTE:
  • 800 (band 20), 900 (band 8), 1800 (band 3), 2100 (band 1), 2600 (band 7) MHz
• Data:
  • LTE Cat4 Downlink 150 Mbit/s, LTE Cat3/4 Uplink 50 Mbit/s, HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSUPA 11 Mbit/s
• nano-SIM:
  • Yes
• Positioning:
  • GPS, A-GPS, S-GPS, Glonass, Cell ID, Wi-Fi positioning
• Navigation:
  • Turn-by-turn navigation, Voice navigation, Points of interest (POI)

Connectivity

• Bluetooth:
  • • 4.0
• Wi-Fi:
  • • 802.11 a, b, g, n, n 5GHz, ac
  • Mobile hotspot:
    • Yes
• USB:
  • • USB 2.0
  • Connector:
    • microUSB
  • Features:
    • Mass storage device, USB charging
• Other:
  • NFC, Tethering, Computer sync, OTA sync

Other features

• Notifications:
  • Haptic feedback, Music ringtones (MP3), Polyphonic ringtones, Vibration, Flight mode, Silent mode, Speakerphone
• Additional microphone/s:
  • • for Noise cancellation, Video recording
• Sensors:
  • • Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass
• • Voice dialing, Voice commands, Voice recording, TTY/TDD

Availability

• Officially announced:
  • 22 Oct 2013

Shopping information

• Accessories:
  • Nokia AC-60 MicroUSB Charger, Nokia Charging and Data Cable CA-190CD, Nokia Headset WH-208, Quick guide, SIM Door Key
• MSRP price:
  • $ 749