Windows 8 phones are around the corner, which means that Windows 7 phones are now on final sale. The 900 is available at AT&T for 1 cent with a 2-year contract; is the question is whether it’s a good buy for someone who wants a good smartphone but doesn’t want to spend a lot to get it.
The Nokia Lumia 900 is a thing of beauty. Commercials in the massive Lumia roll-out campaign had me excited to see the phone in person, and it didn’t disappoint. Upon showing the Lumia to a friend, he said, “It looks like you’re holding technology from the future in your hand.” This Windows 7 phone is a visual delight, with a 4.3” AMOLED display. The matte black one-piece polycarbonate body of the phone has rounded sides that taper slightly, a nice bit of visual design that makes the phone comfortable to hold and easy to slip in and out of a pocket. Note that the one-piece means that the battery is not accessible. While the phone has some heft to it, which I appreciate, it’s not by any means heavy. The mini USB port is on top of the phone, as is the earphone jack, which is convenient, but the volume buttons, power button, and camera button are all on the same side of the phone with no distinguishing marks. It’s easy to figure to out, but I don’t see why they couldn’t have placed small function symbols next to them.
The Windows OS takes some adjusting as it looks and works differently than Androids and iPhones. The home screen is made up of tiles which can be pinned to and removed from the home screen. For example, I have my husband’s profile pinned to my home screen. From there I can see at a glance his updates to Facebook, and I can call or text him by tapping on it. I also pinned my most often played games, so my kids can access Angry Birds with one tap instead of needing to scroll through screens to access it. I highly recommend using the tips and guides Nokia has created for the OS, no matter which Windows phone you may have. Multitasking is a cinch on the phone: simply hold down the back button to scroll through the various screens you’re using. XBox Live games are beautifully rendered, and the selection of free apps and games has fully met my needs. The Marketplace has been steadily growing, and I expect that it will continue to do so. The sync to Google for contacts and calendar is painless; using a Microsoft OS I have still maintained my Yahoo! email and Google everything else, and it’s seamless.
The Lumia features 4G LTE, a 1.4 GHz processor, and a 1830 mAh battery that allows for up to seven hours of talk time, with up to 12.5 days of standby time, and can play music for 60 hours. The 16 GB memory is supplemented by Microsoft’s Sky Drive service.Features on the phone are not left to new users to figure out, but are spotlighted on in features such as “10 Things You Never Thought Your Lumia Could Do”‘ by Nokia and Microsoft. Particularly nice about these features is that my own Windows phone is finally explained to me; shame it took Microsoft until the launch of the Lumia to truly educate users about the great shortcuts built in to the OS. An 8 MP camera features a Zeiss lens with dual LED flash, as well as a 1 MP front-facing camera for video calls. Nokia released an update for the camera and removed the noise issues at lower ISO; test shots below show various ISOs. Using the free Creative Studio app that’s exclusive to the Lumia, I easily took panoramas of my den, also shown below:
ISO 100
ISO 200
ISO 400
ISO 800
To fully illustrate the noise difference between the levels, here’s a zoom on the ISO 100 and the ISO 800. You can easily see the distortion on the ladybug and the red pillow.
Panorama of the toys littering my den
The phone responds well, no matter how many apps I open. In the car I often will be using maps while playing music for the kids and playing a game (note: this is not while I’m the one driving), and I’ve experienced no lag. Voice calls are clear, whether I use the phone or a headset. I own a Windows phone with the same OS, but I prefer using the Lumia. Lumia’s screen is huge and sharp, making the tiles in the home screen pop, and the lack of a physical keyboard didn’t bother me for once.
What’s the downside? Microsoft has announced, after having its first huge campaign for a Windows phone, that it will not upgrade Windows 7 devices past 7.8. Users are concerned that apps won’t be made for their OS, and that they’ll have an obsolete phone for the next 18 to 24 months, although app developers are fully aware of the situation. It’s a tough sell for this phone, but worthwhile for users who want a top-of-the-line phone practically for free. For 1 penny, the Nokia Lumia is quite a lot of phone to get for the same price as a Blackberry Torch.
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