My First-Hand Experience With The New Nokia Lumia 820 and 920

I happen to pass by the recently opened Glorietta 2 to check out some of the latest gadgets available in the market. Among the gadget shops I visited was Abenson Glorietta found at the 3rd floor level. The store is just a few stores away from the Glorietta foodcourt.

What caught my interest there inside Abenson are some of the latest Nokia Lumia phones to date. At first glance, the phones look cool and classy, so I went to ask for a demo.

Ms. Faye, a Nokia representative was kind enough to give me a demo of the latest Nokia has to offer. Among them displayed for demo was the Nokia Lumia 820 and the Nokia Lumia 920. Both run under the newest Windows 8 operating system.


Some fast facts about the Lumia:

If you are new to Windows 8, the interface operates using a tile set for options. Slide the tile set using your fingertips to the sides or from top to bottom, and press a tile to select an option. It took some time getting used to but overtime I got the hang of it.

I was particularly interested in the Nokia Lumia 920 because of the tons of features loaded in the phone. Only weighing 185 grams, with dimensions of 130.3 x 70.8 x 10.7 mm, this phone is easy to carry and can easily be handled while texting or calling.

It has two cameras, one 1.3 megapixel camera mounted at the top right primarily for video calls, and one 8 megapixel camera mounted at the back to take photos and videos.

The Lumia 920 is equipped with a 1.5 GHz Dual-core processor which practically makes the Lumia more like a palm computer rather than a phone. The touchscreen is an IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, which makes the phone very sensitive to touch. At 4.5 inches across, the glassy texture and overall feel gives me the impression the screen is also able to resist scratches.

I tried out the 8 megapixel camera, and was surprised to find out how clear and crisp the images came out to be considering the relative smallness of the lens. According to Ms. Faye, the lens brand of the lens for the Lumia is Carl Zeiss, which is similar to the ones used in Sony digicams. It also has optical image stabilization and autofocus for those who have shaky hands.

Smart phones are never complete without internet, social networking and file sharing capabilities. Aside from accessing the internet via mobile network, the Nokia Lumia 920 also comes with a Wireless LAN support,Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, DLNA, and Wi-Fi hotspot. In layman's terms, it translates to being able to connect to a public wi-fi zone for free internet access. Bluetooth is also available for localized file sharing.

Windows 8 on the new Lumia series comes with features that allow easy sharing of photos, videos and messages to the internet. No need to download a separate app or open the browser to access Facebook or Twitter.

Another cool feature the new Lumia series has is that you can take your work to a whole new level! The new Lumia now comes with full versions of Microsoft Office and Outlook, which you can open, edit and save on your phone. If you happen to take an FX home or to work, you can now edit Microsoft Excel and Word files while on your way. Unfortunately, for MS Powerpoint, you can only use Lumia to open Powerpoint files, not for editing as of the moment. Maybe in the future, Microsoft might add this feature.

Have you ever heard of wireless charging? Well, the Nokia Lumia 920 has this feature! If you have a Nokia charging plate, you can put the Lumia 920 on top of this to charge its battery. No need to plug this phone to charge.

The Nokia Lumia 820 is similar to the Lumia 920 with only slight differences. The Lumia 820 is slightly smaller with dimensions of 123.8 x 68.5 x 9.9 mm and a weight of 160 grams, slightly lighter than the Lumia 920. The Lumia 820 has an AMOLED capacitive touchscreen. The screen is also very sensitive to touch, but compared to the Lumia 920, it doesn't feel as glassy. The front camera of the Lumia 820 is VGA only compared to the 1.3 Megapixel camera of the Lumia 920. Also, the Lumia 820 is not wireless charging ready when purchased. You would still have to change the phone's frame (or casing) so that the Lumia 820 can have this feature. Still the rest of the features are the identical, like the Dual core 1.5 GHz processor, Windows 8 Operating System and interface, wi-fi and bluetooth,  and overall look and feel.

With the demo I experienced, I am impressed with the appeal of the new Nokia Lumia series. Windows 8 has a lot to offer when it comes to applications particularly the use of Microsoft Office on a phone. Sharing multimedia is easy on Facebook and Twitter with the Lumia, and the camera function is simply great. If you happen to pass by Abenson in Glorietta, check out the demo booth directly in front of the Abenson entrance and give the new Lumia series a try.

Plus, if you are interested in buying it, Abenson offers 0% installment and you may pay as low as 500 pesos per month on the gadget you really want! You also get to have exclusive freebies if you make a purchase of a Nokia Lumia phone at Abenson.

My take on the new Lumia series? For me, it measures up to be a great phone to own, all in terms of design, usability and functionality.