Green Lumia 900 ? Its just a white Lumia 900 hiding behind a Green Soft Case that can be purchased from the Nokia Store for $12 ! fits tightly and it looks like i got myself a Green Lumia 900 ! (:
Camera
I’m sure this is one hot topic on everyone’s mind ! Nokia has been traditionally strong in the camera department with the N8 and now the Pureview 808. So does the Lumia 900 live up to the standard ?
Sadly, the camera on the Lumia 900 does not live up to the hype of its N8 or Pureview brother.
With its 8 mega pixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens (probably similar to the Lumia 800) and dual LED flash, pictures using the automatic settings under sufficient light yielded photo of decent quality but with a slight yellowish tint to the picture.
Pictures below taken with the Lumia 900 !
Now comparing it with the same area taken with the HTC titan (below)
when it comes to indoor shots, the lumia 900 did not fair as well as the titan and gave a blue tint in the middle for some of the pictures ! . hopefully this can be solved in a future software update .
As for macro shot, the Lumia 900 camera also had trouble focusing when its very closed up.
Picture taken by Lumia 900 (left), Titan (right). The picture taken by the Lumia 900 was less focused and more grainy while the Titan produced more details and less noise.
overall, the camera on the Lumia 900 produced decent pictures but as compared to the competition it is still quite disappointing. However it is noted that the hardware for quality pictures is present just that the software need some tweaking and update. Hopefully we get to see more software updates that addresses the problem with the camera.
But in the meantime, do look at the link provided below as it provides the recommended settings that should be used on the Lumia 900 under certain situations such as low light, macro and etc .
However the front facing camera is a winner ! With a large aperture and wide angle camera, the front facing camera is capable of great pictures when compared to other devices out there now ! Below is a photo taken when the front facing camera !
Say hi to Mr Captain America ! (:
As you can see, the picture is pretty sharp and clear even under lower light conditions ! I did not manage to perform a video call but others has reviewed that video calling is a joy and video quality was more than decent.
Battery Life
With the 1830 mAh battery, the Lumia 900 was able to last me for a full day of medium usage (about 1 hour of music, quite some exchange of messages on whatsapp and some web browsing) . The battery life is definitely better than the Lumia 800.
So in conclusion, the Lumia 900 is currently the BEST windows phone out there available in Singapore and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a phone that works out of the box and yet at the same time dun wanna spend so much on an iPhone or high end android .
personally i cant wait for the next wave of devices from Nokia and HOPEFULLY pureview technology will be ported over by then ! . Windows Phone 8 with pureview and Nokia extensive applications ! .
Earlier I have touched on mainly the hardware aspect of the Lumia 900 so it is now time to move onto the software side and others !
Mango (Lumia 800) Vs Tango (Lumia 900)
Firstly, the Lumia 900 runs Windows Phone 7.5 Tango (Software version 7.10.8773.98) and comes with the much anticipated Internet Sharing feature missing in its Lumia 800 brother (running Mango). With internet sharing, you can now use your Lumia 900 as a wifi hotspot and it allows up to 5 devices to connect to internet via your Lumia 900 .
however users of the Lumia 800 fear not ! the eagerly awaited Tango updates will be rolling out VERY SOON, lots of reports mentioning that carriers all over the world have already approved the update and just waiting for Microsoft to open the floodgate ! My guess would be that it will coincide with the Windows Phone Summit happening on 20th June ! So watch out for it !
Some other improvement with the tango updates includes :
ability to attach videos and voice note to MMS !
add multiple attachments to messages
these 2 additional & lesser known features are available in the Lumia 900 but not yet on the Lumia 800.
this list might seem short but tango is mainly designed to allow phones like Lumia 610 to work so a lot of the update is about optimising the software for the even lower end devices .
General Performance, Call Quality and Reception
With a 1.4ghz single core processor (similar to the Lumia 800), general scrolling and usage is buttery smooth without hiccups. As compared to the HTC Titan with a higher clocked 1.5ghz processor, performance of both devices are on par without substantial different.
Apps run normally without any problem and the bigger screen is a pleasure to view and have. The non-pentile screen on the Lumia 900 was also brighter and colours were more natural as compared to the slight green tint on the Lumia 800 display due to the pentile display.
The loudspeaker was notably louder than its Lumia 800 brother
And call quality is Good as there were no complains of muffled voices and I could hear the speaker loud and clear.
The lack of smartdial at the dialer was a glaring omission (hopefully it will be implemented in the next iteration) but you can easily access your contact list right in the phone hub by tapping the phonebook-looking “people” icon at the bottom of the screen.
Music
For those music lover, the Lumia 900’s sound quality is about the same as its Lumia 800 brother. Nokia still did not implement a sound equaliser in the Lumia 900 but here’s hoping that Nokia can implement one in future updates that works just like the “Sound Enhancer” that comes with the 2nd gen HTC Windows Phone devices like the Radar and Titan I & II.
Sidenote : I have the Titan with me as well and the Sound Enhancer is really useful and greatly improves the bass and quality of the sound !
On-Screen Keyboard
Given the larger screen, it is no doubt that the on-screen keyboard is now BIGGER and more finger-friendly ! . Typing away on the Lumia 900 is a breeze with no apparent lag and the auto correct on windows phone is less invasive and at the same time more accurate in my opinion. Just tap on a word and the suggested words will appear above the keyboard . And if autocorrect mistakenly correct the right word, you can easily get it back by just tapping on the word and then the typed word would appear as the first word above the keyboard !
The lack of haptic feedback might be a disappointment for some but perhaps in future iteration, Microsoft or Nokia can actually set it as an option so that users can choose whether or not they want the haptic feedback . (much like in android)
Another area to improve on would be the integration of EMOTICONS into the keyboard.In the current OS, windows phone does have many extra emoticons (other than the 2 pages on the keyboard) imbued into the OS but not a lot of ppl know about it because its not easy accessible ! Right now you have to enter the correct key combination and send out the message then you will be able to see the emoticons. Hopefully for the next iteration, these hidden or less known emoticons can added to the pages for easy access.
For the full list of emoticons do check out the links/pictures below :
The exclusive Nokia Apps provided in the Nokia Collection section of the marketplace is definitely one of the best selling point of the Lumia 900.
Nokia Driveallows you to transform your Lumia 900 into a full off-line GPS navigation machine that can rivals conventional GPS machines such as those by Garmin and etc. It provides turn-by-turn voice-guided navigation and allows you to download maps of 100 over countries ! I have tried it in Singapore and it works perfectly although it still lacks live traffic conditions (which i believe should be coming in future updates). And this service is totally FREE for Nokia Lumia users !
Nokia Maps is an excellent alternative to bing maps as bing maps currently still do not support point of interest for our country. The Nokia Maps work like the Bing maps but with support for local point of interest. With it you can find popular places near your area and with the new update, you can now save your favourite places and it will be synced to your Nokia account ! (rumours are saying that in future iteration of the OS, Nokia Maps will replace or merge with bings map and that means that current functionality such as local scout would then be possible in our country !)
Nokia Music
The Nokia Music is a combination of a music store and music live streaming service. As the Microsoft’s Zune Pass is not available in Singapore, Nokia Music makes for an excellent alternative. By logining into your Nokia Account, you can then browse the store and purchasesongs directly from your Lumia 900 ! The Mix Radio works as a live music streaming service and there is a huge selection of mixes for you to choose from ! Furthermore, the mixes can be cached for offline listening as well ! So no worries about poor network coverage while in trains or tunnels !
Contact Transfer
Contact Transfer App allows new users of the Lumia 900 to easily transfer their contacts from their old phone to their new Lumia 900 over bluetooth. It is a very simple process and once the contacts are transferred over, they will be sync-ed to the live account and now your contacts would be stored in the cloud ! No longer do you have to worry about backing up your contacts when changing your phone because its all in the CLOUD !
Creative Studio
Creative Studio is a photography app that allows you to take panoramic shot and also apply face warps and styles to your new picture or to those from your album. I wished that Nokia could have implemented panorama directly into the native camera app like how HTC implemented theirs but hopefully it will come one day !
The Lumia 900 was recently launched in Singapore and i was fortunate enough to receive a set myself, courtesy of Nokia Singapore ! (:
In The Box
Firstly, the package. The phone comes in a straight-forward blue box with the Lumia 900 in all its colour variant printed on the box.
Pulling the tab reveals the phone itself and under it you get the standard accessories, charger, data cable, an earpiece and not forgetting the micro-sim card slot ejector. Something that i missed was the complimentary soft rubber case that Nokia provided for the Lumia 800 ! (but no worries, since Nokia has a selection of soft/hard/leather cases available at their store !)
Device
Now to the device itself ! The device feels solid in the hands and fit nicely into my relatively small palm . It is no way as light as competing devices like the Samsung Galaxy S3 or the HTC One X but the weight feels good in hand. The glossy white colour and bold design of the phone will definitely catch a lot of attention in the public in the seas of iPhone and boring black/white squarish phones. However do take note that being glossy in nature, the back of the device will be very susceptible to grease and fingerprints ! so prepare your cleaning cloth on the go !
The Lumia 900 uses micro-sim like its younger brother, the Lumia 800, and Nokia has decided to opt for the pin ejector micro-sim card tray. Personally i prefer the implementation of the micro-sim tray (slide and release) in the Lumia 800 as i do not have to carry around something sharp if i want to swap sim cards on the go .
To be honest, the micro-sim tray looks and feels flimsy and I am worried that if I were to swap out the sim card often, I might actually break the tray one day !
The screen is now FLAT ! (unlike its curved screen brother) Personally i prefer the Lumia 800 design with the curved screen flushed at the edges but the flat screen isn’t too much of a deal-breaker for me. However the screen is raised at the edges and can feel quite sharp to the touch at times !
All the buttons are located at the right side of the device. The Power and Volume Keys are situated quite close together so it is possible that sometimes you might actually hit the volume keys instead of the Power button when you want to wake up your device. The shutter key is really a welcome and convenience for me and i personally thinks that it should be on all phones ! (glad that Microsoft implemented this in ALL windows phone devices)
At the back of the phone, you have the 8 mega pixel camera with Carls Zeiss Lens together with a metal strip label and a dual LED flash. Just like the Lumia 800, the metal strip is very prone to scratches, so people with OCD do take note ! (Either use a bumper or case to raise the device slightly so that the metal strip would not touch the surface when placed on a table)
And now the screen ! it is a 4.3” AMMOLED screen with Nokia’s ClearBlack technology that is proven to provide the best viewing under sunlight, beating the iPhone 4s and the Samsung Galaxy S ! You can find out more about the testing and the results from this link below:
The screen on the Lumia 900 is also non-Pentile and photos look vivid and crisp !
The resolution of the Lumia 900 is still stuck at 800 X 480 (a windows phone restriction). Many would complain about the pixellation problem when viewing text at such low resolution but I personally enjoy the smaller resolution on a bigger screen because everything just LOOKS BIGGER . From the live tiles to the keyboard, everything looks BIGGER and definitely more fat-fingers friendly. (less typo !)
A picture with its closest rival the HTC TITAN ! (:
At the top you have the 3.5mm headphone jack, a microphone, the micro-USB port and the micro-sim tray. The placement of the micro-USB port at the top is actually quite inappropriate if you want to charge and use your Lumia 900 on a car dock. The wire will be hitting your windscreen and be a distraction while you drive !
At the bottom you have the loudspeaker grill drilled onto the polycarbonate body. The advantage of this is that its less likely for dust and water droplets to get into the internal of the phone.
And before i forget, the Lumia 900 also packs a wide angle and large aperture front facing camera which translate to high quality video calls and self portraits !
GPS receiver with A-GPS support and free lifetime voice-guided navigation
Digital compass
16GB on-board storage
Active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic
Built-in accelerometer and proximity sensor
the specification here certainly do not blow ppl away when you compare it with the competition but hardware specification is not the only thing that makes a good device, software optimisation for the hardware plays an even more significant role ! Find out more in the 2nd part of the review talking more about the software of the phone !
leave a comments if theres a burning question you wanna know about the phone ! (:
