Nokia Lumia 920

Pros: Nokia's Lumia 920 is the only phone today with
(1) image stabilization for sharp photos especially in low-light
(2) super-sensitive screen; use your phone with gloves on
Add in its best-in-class specs & you have the best phone at any price.

Cons: Not for power users who want to treat their phone like a computer: rooting, installing the OS, customizing the UI, tweaking and personally maintaining every aspect of its operation.

Summary: HARDWARE:

Nokia brings a fresh and colorful design style to its Lumia line of smartphones. Comfortable to hold and comfortable to use, the 920's curved back fits nicely in your hand and its build quality exudes craftsmanship. Choose from several colors worldwide (check your carrier) of red, cyan, yellow, grey, black and white.

Nokia knows phones and brings unique innovation to the two parts of its Lumia 920 that people use most: the screen and the camera.

The screen is big and beautiful with one of the highest pixel densities on the market. Sensing bright sunlight, the Lumia 920 will boost its screen brightness to permit use even in harsh sunlight. Screen innovation doesn't stop there: even on those cold grey days of winter when you have your gloves on, the Lumia 920 is at the ready: supersensitive screen technology found only on the Lumia 920 permits you to interact with the phone with gloves on.

The Lumia 920 camera is arguably the most advanced smartphone camera on the planet today. It incorporates Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) technology -- tiny springs surrounding the camera optics cartridge -- to reduce jitters when taking photos or videos. Adding an F/2.0 aperture with Carl Zeiss optics is the first step to bringing more light into the camera sensor. The second step is longer exposure time. Combine those on other smartphone cameras and you'll end up with blurry pictures because humans are prone to shakes and jitters. OIS smooths out those shakes and allows more light and longer exposures that lead to fantastic blur-free photos even in low light situations. I've taken many photos with other phones and the camera on the Lumia 920 is heads-and-shoulders above anything on the market today.

OPERATING SYSTEM:

One of the best features of the Lumia 920 is that it is running on the Windows Phone OS, which is universally acclaimed for its innovative "rethinking" of smartphone operations. Windows phones place primary importance on people and social networking. Sharing a beautiful Lumia 920 photo to your favorite social network is easy and natural. No more popping in and out of apps to post to multiple locations. And if a friend posts something back, you'll know right away because the Windows Phone Live Tiles will let you know not just the number of updates - it will show you who posted and what they said -- without even opening the app. That's smart!

Office, Outlook, and Exchange support in Windows Phone is the best in the world -- but Windows Phone will also integrate seamlessly with Gmail, Yahoo Mail, iTunes, Facebook, Hotmail, virtually every POP or IMAP email or contact list.

SOFTWARE:

No company bar none is doing more for its customers today than Nokia. While other handset manufacturers are preloading flashlight apps and sticky note apps, Nokia is loading valuable and exclusive apps such as
- Nokia Drive+: full-out GPS replacement app
- Nokia City Lens: augmented reality app to locate food and shopping as you point your phone in different directions
- Nokia Maps: as the owner of Navteq, Nokia releases best-in-class maps in more countries than any other mapping provider, including Google.
- Nokia Music: streaming music player that is practically Pandora without a monthly fee. Sweet!
- Cinemagraph: blurs the line between photo and video.
- Creative Studio: photography post-processing for creatives
- ESPN ScoreCenter: scores at a glance for Lumia owners only
- Panorama: Take panorama photos and the app will stitch them for you on the phone
- PhotoBeamer: brilliant and innovative. point your phone to the QR code at photobeamer.com and the website mirrors the photo gallery on your phone.
- Smart Shoot: allows you to pick the best face within several photos so everyone looks their best

- Plus much much more. Nokia is teaming with Bank of America, Six Flags, and several other companies to provide exclusive apps to Lumia owners. Many are exclusive-for-a-time then released to the broader Windows Phone audience. Lumia 920 owners will get them first.

OVERALL:

This phone has a broad appeal to both the casual phone user and die-hard phone fanatics. Social integration is best when you have a great camera providing the images. The standout camera of the Lumia 920 captures beautiful pictures without effort and the Windows Phone platform shares them with your friends and family effortlessly. Combine exclusive Nokia apps with the hundreds of thousands of Windows Phone apps and you have a phone ecosystem that keeps you in touch and productive in a way no other phone can. Nokia is innovating the smartphone experience in wonderful ways that make me smile. It's a pleasure to use and a joy to recommend.

Updated on May 2, 2013

Now after 6 months of continuous use I can reaffirm my 5-star rating for the Lumia 920. It has been a solid workhorse and the innovations that Nokia brought to this device continue to be standards by which other phones are judged. And I must reiterate my absolute highest regard for its photographic capabilities. The Nokia Lumia 920 has replaced my DSLR and when I take photos at events, my photos always always always outperform those by folks with other phones.

Since my initial review, Nokia has released additional exclusive titles:

- Michelin Travel Guide
- SHOTLY Golf
- The Sims Medieval
- SophieLens
- The Game of LIFE
- Vampire Rush
- Nokia NFC Writer
- Burton
- The Amazing Spiderman
...and more.

The Lumia 920 has excelled in handling all my social networks, emails and entertainment needs and I have never felt that there was anything lacking or missing on this phone. In other words, after the honeymoon is over, you will still be in love with this phone!