The Final Word - Nokia Lumia 920 AT&T Smartphone CZ Review

THE NOKIA LUMIA 920 GETS MY FINAL VOTE... HERE'S WHY

My review of the Nokia Lumia 920 via AT&T Wireless has come to a close! It has been a great review period, and I have a lot of closing thoughts and comments about the flagship smartphone brought to you by the Nokia/Microsoft team.

Let's start off with the hardware. The phone itself is the most durable build of a smartphone that I have tested to date. iPhones are breakable, and many Android phones feel too "plasticy" (that's the new buzzword). But the composite build of the Nokia Lumia 920 makes it nearly indestructible, and it feels good ergonomic-wise in your hands.

Under the hood you get a dual core 1.5GHz Snapdragon processor. That's enough to push apps, run tasks, and surf the net as fast and efficiently as anything on the market. I had no problems with lag, even while multitasking. The 1Gb of RAM also gets credit for its ability to crunch the data with ease.

The display is incredible. It's a lovely 4.5" PureMotion HD display that packs in a 1280x768 pixel density. It's rich and robust. And the animation that goes along with the navigation is breathtaking.

Even with the big brilliant display, I noticed that the battery life was excellent during the entire time of my test. Standby time just does not drain the battery at all. But even hitting it hard for most of the day, that battery was a champ.

Call quality is at or above what I would expect from a smartphone. Something that I really like that is just a little silly an nostalgic is how you get a solid tone when holding down a number button while "dialing".

Most smartphones only "blip" the dial tone once when you hold the button. But the Lumia 920 makes me feel like I've got an old school land line phone. I know that doesn't make a hill of beans difference with anything, but I think it's cool!

The camera sports the Carl Zeiss brand name with 8.7 megapixel resolution. I would agree with those who say this is one of the best quality cameras on a smartphone. Picture taking is quick and efficient, and you don't have to wait long for the shot to focus and flash to activate.

Video is spectacular. The quality is also of the best I have seen in a smartphone. Audio with the video is superior. I have yet to test the ability to do post editing, but I am very anxious to know if I will have the same issues I have with Android and iPhone devices with video syncing problems.

Flipping through apps and programs is so easy. Windows Phone 8 is just plain intuitive. Any rank ameteur could pick this thing up and become a pro in no time flat. Microsoft has created an operating system that is nothing like iOS and Android. This is a breath of fresh air.

New things like "Nokia City Lens" really capture my attention on this device. You can launch City Lens and just point the camera around out in space. It will show you, in real time, what restaurants and points of interest are actually in the direction you are facing. This is augmented reality at its best.

Even the simple little things like typing on the virtual keyboard make this a device a wonderful thing to operate. I can say without a doubt that the soft keyboard on the Nokia Lumia 920 is better than anything I have tried. Period. It is by far the easiest and most accurate layout for a smartphone keyboard, and nothing quite feels the same.

Social media integration is unique on this smartphone. Once you register all of your accounts from various social platforms, the phone will "report" messages on the home screen as if they are coming from one source. That means you can carry on a conversation with someone over text, Facebook messenger, and other services, but have each message on one single screen. This makes it easier to get straight to the act of communication, instead of flipping through multiple platforms or apps.

Something I wish I had spent more time playing with is Office 360 on the Lumia 920. Just taking a stroll through the sample documents and presentations on the device is enough to get excited about. Office integration makes the Lumia 920 a potentially seriously productive device, to say the least.

I'm taking the Nokia Lumia 920 seriously, and I think the writers who make claims of its demise obviously have not spent any quality time with this handset. I'll agree with the prognosticators who say that Nokia and Microsoft could own the top-selling smartphone by 2015.

First of all, this is the best device on the market for first time smartphone buyers, thanks to its simple and intuitive operating system. Second, it makes a perfect match for the gazillions of people using Microsoft Windows based PCs, and MS Office. Lastly, we're starting to see people switching from Apple iPhone devices to the Nokia Lumia, and that is something I thought I would never see.

Add it all up and the future of the Nokia Lumia 920 is strong. There's so much more to this phone that I won't delve into at this point, but I'll leave any fence-sitters with a strong "buy" recommendation for this device. If you're seriously considering it, take the plunge. You will probably be satisfied, especially with the latest contract price of $69.99 through Amazon.

What are your thoughts about the future of Microsoft/Nokia and their Lumia line? Will it make a significant dent in the market, or fade to oblivion? Share in the Disqus section if you will!

Carlton Flowers
Telephone Tester

GET THE NOKIA LUMIA 920 AT AMAZON NOW!

The current price for the Nokia Lumia 920 through AT&T Wireless is only $69.99 for qualifying accounts at Amazon! Price not guaranteed to stay this low, so grab it while you can!