Nokia Lumia 900 vs iPhone 4s (video review)
Zollotech usually publish pretty fair reviews, and their look at the Nokia Lumia 900 vs the iPhone 4S is no exception.
In the 14 min video above they compare most of the relevant specs, including apps, keyboard, screen, battery life and video quality.
Do our readers think the Nokia Lumia 900 holds its own? Let us know below.
HTC One X vs Nokia Lumia 900 video review
Pocketnow have published this excellent review of AT&T’s latest LTE smartphones, matching up the Nokia Lumia 900 with the HTC One X.
The video shows that HTC did not do a bad job with the HTC One X, fitting in a 4.7 inch screen into the same physical dimensions as the 4.3 inch screen of the Lumia 900, while fitting the same size battery into an only 8.9 mm thin device.
On the other hand, the video once again demonstrates to me that I have been completely spoilt by the cool, classic lines of Metro, with Android 4.0 looking like a complete mess, as usual, which does make me wonder how regular users can stand the distraction. Of note is that the Google Play market is the best-looking feature of the OS, and is clearly cribbed from Metro.
The video also shows that all of the power of the Dual Core 1.5 Ghz S4 processors are wasted on Android 4, with zooming still as laggy as it has always been (check it out briefly at 4:30 min mark).
As has become usual, the Nokia Lumia 900’s camera disappoints compared to HTC’s offering, and it is interesting that one of the reasons Nokia’s handsets were so enthusiastically expected was the expectation of excellent cameras, rather than the mediocre reality.
What do our readers think of the two handsets? Let us know below.
European Nokia Lumia 900 reviewed, scores 4.5/5
Pocket-Lint have reviewed the European version of the Nokia Lumia 900 and seem pretty happy with the handset.
They note the phone is not just a larger version of the Lumia 800, but has an identity all of its own.
They did feel the handset was a bit bigger than it needed to be, but was very happy with the battery life, saying it would easily last 15 hours through a busy day of “GPS (on a run for 30 minutes), checking notifications, receiving mail, watching Netflix, playing games, using Spotify, making phone calls, taking pictures and everything else you would expect”, finding it a great leap over the Lumia 800.
Of course the 1.4 Ghz processor had more than enough power for Windows Phone 7.5, and they found with the help of cloud services like SkyDrive, Dropbox, Nokia Music, Spotify and Netflix the 16 GB storage was more than sufficient.
They found Nokia’s collection of app “impressive”, provided great value for free, including gems like “Nokia Drive, a very good turn by turn navigation app; Nokia Music, a fantastic free streaming music service that lets you create radio stations or play curated music around certain themes; Nokia Transport, an app that lets you check transport routes and times around the UK and the rest of the world; Nokia Maps, a quicker and easier alternative to WP7′s own mapping software; Creative Studio, an app that adds panorama, burst shooting and creative effects to the camera; Tango for video calling; and a few others.“
The phone also included internet sharing without needing to be provisioned by the carrier first.
They found the camera reasonably good but not outstanding, writing “Our test shots were on the whole good, but we still got mixed results. Basically the more light you have the better the shots. Inside and the flash can be overbearing if your subject is too close, and without the flash the pictures can be noisy. Get the right lighting and the results are very good indeed.”
They concluded:
So, should you get the Nokia Lumia 900? We are torn between this and the Lumia 800 enjoying both phones as much as each other.
The Lumia 900 delivers a bigger screen, a front facing camera, faster surfing speeds, internet tethering, a much better battery, and a easier to charge device than the 800. However all those extras come at the cost of a much bigger device that won’t be for everyone. Like the Samsung Galaxy S III, Sony Xperia S, and HTC One X, the Lumia 900 is a big phone and that is likely to put some off.
If you fancy the idea of a bigger screen this is the better of the two. It’s more brash that the Lumia 800, but the experience is good. The screen’s resolution is stretched to its limit at this size, but that’s not enough to push it over the edge as in the Titan series from HTC.
We aren’t going to witter on about the merits of Windows Phone 7 over and over again. You either like the OS or you don’t.
Nokia has done the best it can to make the most of Windows Phone 7, for us making this a viable alternative to Android and the iPhone. The app scene is still lacking though. It is getting better, but if that’s your main want, WP7 still won’t deliver as much as the other two main platforms. For us, the success with WP7 is with contacts, the interactive tiles, and how easy everything is to use. The apps will come in time.
We like it, but we know many won’t.
They awarded the handset 4.5/5 stars. Read their full review here.
App Review: Baconit
What is Baconit? It’s simply the best Reddit app for Windows Phone available. It also looks far better than the actual Reddit website! Oh and there’s no ads in the app!
Baconit is loaded with all the features you could need in a Reddit app. Viewing subreddits is breeze. Commenting or replying to comments is a snap. Upvoting/downvoting is one touch away. Searching Reddit is intuitive. Looking at your account’s stats is possible right from the live tile. It has everything!
Plus, the app is an example of what all Windows Phone apps should be like: Fast and elegant. The simple Metro interface looks perfect, and the speed of the app makes it feel as if it is a native experience.
Are there any negatives? Not really. The only complaint I could find is that things can be slightly difficult for people who are new to both Reddit and Baconit (like I was). However, you learn quickly and the app itself is nearly as intuitive as Windows Phone! I highly recommend everyone at least try Baconit, since it is a perfect example of what a great Windows Phone app looks like.
Title: Baconit
Price: FREE (or donate for $1.99)
Publisher: Quinn
Review: iOS 5.1 vs WP 7.5
For one week, I purchased an iPhone 4S and used it as my primary device, in order to see how Windows Phone compares to its main competitor. Some things were far better on Windows Phone, and some things were far better on iOS. Here is what I found:
Interface – Winner: Windows Phone
Windows Phone hands down has a far more intuitive and easy to use interface. I actually expected the iPhone to be ahead of the game here, since Apple is always known for making things simple and dumbed down, but most of the iPhone’s features are incredibly hidden and impossible to discover without reading instructions.
I was convinced that the iPhone had NO background media controls for current playing music, since the controls are hidden in places where a common user would never look. To skip a song from the lock screen, you have to press the home key twice. To skip a song while using the phone, you have to double-tap the home key and then swipe left on the multitasking pane. If it took me forever to find out about these, I can imagine average users truly struggling.
Also, the iPhone’s stolen version of swiping left to view pictures from the camera is completely unintuitive, since NOTHING tells you that it is possible. Windows Phone, on the other hand, gives you visual clues everywhere. The interface of Windows Phone is unmatched in terms of ease of use and being intuitive.
Apps – Winner: iPhone
There are simply more apps on iOS than there are Windows Phone, and most of the popular ones (PayPal, Photosynth, Wells Fargo, Draw Something) are on iOS and not on Windows Phone. Also, the multitasking in iOS is far faster and better controlled. Apps will almost always open instantly from the home screen since they simply resume the version stored in RAM instead of restarting like in Windows Phone. Continue reading
App Review: Fildo – Free Music Downloader!
Fildo allows you to search various MP3 download sites and stream or download songs instantly, and then sort them into playlists. One cool feature is that when you stream a song, the lyrics instantly show up so you can sing along.
Also, the app is Mango enabled and plays music in the background without an issue. And the selection of songs seems to be great; I had no trouble finding the songs I was looking for.
The best thing about Fildo is that you don’t have to manually go to various websites… you simply search for the track and the app combines all the results in a user-friendly list that is faster and better than any other app I’ve seen yet!
However, the interface in Fildo can be frustrating and laggy. The advertisement in the app blocks the UI thread and often causes the app to lag for about 2 seconds. Also, the UI design is very basic, with the home screen still containing the word “Menu” instead of something more personalized to the app. Overall, the UI doesn’t feel very polished or professional, and your downloaded song collection could use some organization via artists, albums, etc instead of being one cluttered list.
And the app also lacks a Now Playing screen, so you can’t tell which songs are next in your current playing list. And what’s really frustrating is that you can’t use the great lyrics feature for songs you downloaded! Also, if you start a download and then leave the app, the download will become corrupted instead of downloading in the background, and you’ll have to manually delete/redownload the song.
Overall, Fildo has an excellent selection of music and it certainly functions as a free source of music, but the user interface can be frustrating at times.
Nevertheless, Fildo seems like the best free music app I could find on the Marketplace right now. Download Fildo for FREE!
App Review: Who’s Near Me Live
WNM Live is essentially Facebook, but with a much smaller network of people. You won’t find your friends on there, but you will find other interesting people who you otherwise would have never talked to!
Everything is location-based with WNM Live. This means that you can filter posts and people by their distance from your current location, allowing you to discover what people are saying nearby you. You can also view every single post across the world as they’re written, if you so wish.
The highlight of this app is how well it works. It puts the Facebook app for WP7 to shame! WNM Live is fast, has push notifications that are delivered ON TIME (instead of 7 minutes late like Facebook), and is extremely snappy compared to the laggy Facebook app.
Overall, there’s hardly any chance of WNM Live ever replacing Facebook. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try out this social network… due to the new nature of the social network, users of the network are likely more technology-minded, and you will typically find a brighter and more interesting mix of people on WNM Live, which makes it worth a try!
Download Who’s Near Me Live in the Marketplace for FREE.
Nokia Lumia 900 reviewed against the iPhone 4s (video)
PhoneArena has reviewed the new Nokia Lumia 900 against the iPhone 4S, and the new Nokia handset does pretty well in the comparison, losing only really in the photo and video category.
PhoneArena concludes:
Conclusion:
Making a decision is surely tough, especially when these two are extremely well rounded and abundant with drool worthy features to satisfy even the most hardened smartphone users out there. Having experienced the very best from both camps, we can firmly say that they live up to our expectations as being memorable devices, but ultimately, it’s going to come down to each person’s individual needs.Time after time, the iPhone 4S has impressed us in more ways than one, and as the competition continues to ramp up, it’s able to show why it’s still going to be a relevant device. Even to this day, it’s able to impress many thanks to its detailed Retina Display, while also being the go-to device for those who are looking for a point and shoot replacement. Conversely, the Nokia Lumia 900 is a valiant offering that stands above most other Windows Phones on the market – primarily for the fact that it’s one of the few to offer 4G LTE connectivity. Furthermore, its most absolute memorable thing is the $99.99 on-contract price point it’s flaunting right from the beginning. Seriously, you can’t go wrong with either device since they perform similarly to one another, but if savings is something that takes precedence, the Nokia Lumia 900 will be the right fit for you. If not, the extra money you’ll spend getting the iPhone 4S is justified as well.
Read their full review, which includes video and camera comparison samples, here.
Nokia Lumia 900 – Call and Music Quality
If there’s one thing Nokia is great at, it is making a great sounding phone!
The speakers on the Lumia 900 are unparalleled. You can blast music louder than any phone I’ve used before! And the speaker doesn’t even distort when you’re at the max 30/30 volume. You’ll have no problem enjoying your music or watching a video on your phone without headphones thanks to the great speaker.
In terms of call quality, the Lumia 900 is excellent thanks to the similarly loud earpiece. The Lumia 900 is the first phone I’ve used with an earpiece speaker sufficiently loud enough so that you don’t ever struggle to hear what the other person is saying! The HTC HD7 was miserable, and the HTC Radar was a little better, but the Lumia 900 pounds out a high volume of sound at 10/10 when on a phone call.
Call quality for the person receiving the call was great…. as long as I didn’t use the speakerphone. It is decently noticeable when someone is using the Lumia 900′s speakerphone. The HTC Radar does a better job with speakerphone conversations.
Nevertheless, as long as you don’t use the speakerphone much, the Lumia 900 is the BEST phone I’ve used for call and music quality!
CNET Reviews the HTC Titan ll
The boys at CNET just released their thoughts on the new HTC Titan 2, rating it a “very good” 7.7 out of 10.
Positives
Large 4.7″ SuperLCD display with colors “that were more lifelike” compared to the Lumia’s “oversaturated” colors. The “user interface is intuitive, attractive, and engaging.” “Unlike the bloatware currently affecting most Android phones, you can actually uninstall [carrier installed] apps completely if you desire.”
Brian enjoyed the “slick… voice commands” and the automatic Facebook uploading features in Windows Phone. The Titan 2′s camera takes “less than a second” to focus and has a “shot-to-shot time just as brief.”
Negatives
Low resolution display, less vibrant and lower contrast display, the screen size may be too big for some users, the design of the phone is very common and similar to many Android phones, and the $200 price tag compared to the Lumia’s $100 price.
Brian’s biggest disappointment was “not being able to find certain applications [he] can’t live without.” TweetDeck and Instagram were two examples of apps he found himself missing.
Read CNET’s full review here.
Nokia Lumia 900 – Software and Battery Life Review
The highlight of Nokia devices is their exclusive apps. Are they enough to make the Lumia 900 worth it compared to the other Windows Phones?
In terms of exclusive apps, Nokia Drive is by far the main highlight. Nokia Drive is a 100% free turn-by-turn navigation app, and it works perfectly! It is nearly as accurate as a standalone GPS unit, which is incredible. Watch our hands-on with the older version of Nokia Drive if you don’t believe me. Instructions are crisp, turning prompts are well placed, and the app now supports full offline mode!
In addition, Nokia also gives you Nokia Maps (great if you’re not in the United States, because Bing Maps is apparently terrible in other countries), and Nokia Transit (a public transportation app that only works for certain cities).
Windows Phone is also an excellent operating system for most smartphone users. It’s easy to learn and does a good job of linking all your social accounts into one. If you’re new to smartphones, you should either buy a Windows Phone or an iPhone (Android would be far too complicated in my opinion). Windows Phone provides a seamlessly smooth experience without many glitches or issues.
However, not everything about Windows Phone is perfect. (Edit) Don’t get me wrong, I love WP7, but nothing is perfect! Notifications are magically gone if you don’t respond to them within a few seconds, leaving you completely in the dark never knowing what you missed. Live Tiles can be hit-and-miss, due to some of the developer restrictions (Tiles can only be updated every 30 minutes for example, so the weather won’t actually be “live”). And finally, Windows Phone is missing a number of major applications which some users may find a disappointment.
You can’t play Draw Something with your friends, despite the fact that everyone else is playing it. You can’t do transactions via Wells Fargo since they don’t have an app on WP7. And you have to actually call Dominos instead of using an app to order your pizza (an app would be easier since you can actually see everything on their menu compared to a phone call where you can’t).
Microsoft could also help to improve third-party apps, since many apps are slow to load. This could be partially due to Sliverlight (managed code) vs native code on the iPhone, but even Android apps (Java, managed) load faster! Something needs to be fixed here so that WP7 apps aren’t at a disadvantaged.
Also, the scrolling on the touchscreen is oddly slower than what it should be. is sort of clunky. While scrolling through the homescreen, your scroll flicks don’t register correctly and the movements feel slower than normal. The Lumia 800, 710, HTC Radar, Titan, and Samsung Focus S don’t have these issues, so I’m not sure what went wrong with the Lumia 900. It’s not as bad as the Samsung Focus Flash (that one’s scrolling was so terrible it was unusable), but the scrolling makes the Lumia 900 feel less fluid and responsive. Reader Mab664 confirmed that “the scrolling is at least 2x as slow” as his Focus.
Battery Life
It’s great! For a large phone with LTE support, the battery can last you through the day.
Overall, Nokia did a great job (minus the touchscreen) on the Lumia 900 with the excellent navigation app they created. Microsoft definitely could improve WP7, but the Lumia 900 is still a great device for most smartphone users!
Nokia Lumia 900 reviewed against the Samsung Galaxy Note LTE
PhoneArena have posted this review of the Nokia Lumia 900 vs the Samsung Galaxy Note LTE. Both devices are available on AT&T, but the Nokia Lumia 900 being $100 on contract, while the Galaxy Note being more in the tablet class, costing $300 on contract.
While both devices are smartphones the fablet Galaxy Note tended to win the comparisons mainly due to its massive, high resolution screen, which makes for a better web browsing experience, better media playback and of course allows for a larger battery.
On the other hand the device is clearly massive, which I think ads massive minus points, unfortunately not mentioned in the review.
In the end I am sure our readers will agree in terms of overall experience and value for money the Windows Phone handset comes out ahead in the end, and will not require one to carry a man purse.
Read the full review here.
Nokia Lumia 900 – Camera Review
Despite Nokia’s history with great smartphone cameras, the Lumia 900′s camera falls short of its competitors in many ways.
 |
 |
| Nokia Lumia 900 | HTC Radar (5 MP camera) |
If you’re taking an indoor picture at night, the Lumia 900 suffers from a lot of random blue noise. Anything black and dark in pictures ends up covered with this blue noise, which really reduces the quality of the picture. Nokia turns everything blue for no reason.
 |
 |
| Nokia Lumia 900 | Samsung Focus S |
Outdoor shots were slightly better, but the Lumia 900 fell behind the Samsung Focus S in terms of details when shadows were involved. When I took a picture outside my apartments, the room number in the Focus S’s shot is clearly visible while the Lumia 900 is significantly tougher to read and once again full of noise.
 |
 |
| Nokia Lumia 900 | Samsung Focus S |
Also, the Focus S seemed to be the king of the flowers, with the Focus S producing superior colors.
The Lumia 900 was better at daytime video recording (as you can see in our embedded video review above), but indoor video recording at night greatly suffered once again due to that odd blue static. Hopefully Nokia can release a software update to fix some of these issues, but we may have to accept the fact that Samsung can make really great cameras. I wish I had a HTC Titan 2 to compare to, but unfortunately I do not have that device.
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