My sneaky affair with the Lumia 820

 

 

It’s been a while since my last Nokia Innovation post, so if this doesn’t actually get published because Lenny has quietly booted me off the team, then I’ll understand. After all, as a Symbian and MeeGo fan, I know what’s it’s like to be given the heave-ho. OOH! Too soon? hehehe

So, a little while back Jimmy sent me a huge box of goodies. Inside were an N900 (gorgeous), an N950 (smokin hot) and a cyan Lumia 820 (classy). I’ve been playing around with all three devices, (while tossing my main sim between the N9 and the 808 PureView) and so I thought it was about time I put something down on paper (well, y’know what I mean!) on at least one of these three beauty queens.

My previous Maemo and MeeGo experiences have led me down the N900 and N950 paths in the last few years, so I thought, for now, I’d focus my attention on the Lumia 820.

I have been using this on almost a daily basis. Not as my main phone, but as a back-up device for everything web-related, including email. I had to use a ‘Pay & Go’ AT&T sim card in order to use the 820, and then (staying on the cheapo 25c/min plan) I’m able to skip around any hefty data charges, as long as I just use my wifi at home and at work.

Even so, 4G signal strength on the 820 has been spectacular, so good in fact, that I am seriously considering switching back to AT&T when my T-Mobile contract runs out, unless T-Mobile get their act together and improve their coverage in New York City! Placing my Nokia N9 on T-Mobile and the Lumia 820 on AT&T side-by-side on my work desk shows just one bar on my N9, and a full five on the Lumia. Having good signal strength at work is sort of important! And the results have been excellent on the Lumia at home too.

Onto the phone: it is a beauty. The softly curved edges and corners make the device feel superb in the hand, and the weight feels just about right. I’ve played with the bigger brother Lumia 920 before, and I honestly think the 820 is more my cup of tea in terms of size in the hand and how much lighter it feels. Of course, other bonuses with the 820 are the memory expansion slot and removable battery cover, although the battery on the 820 lasts so long, I can’t really imagine ever needing to go to the extreme of switching out the battery in the middle of a day.

Windows Phone 8 is also growing on me more and more, mainly because I love the swishy interface, and quality of the apps (very polished, a la iOS) and the fact that typing on the WP keyboard is so effortless and easy, with autocorrect working so well, I always feel like I’m lumbering through like a caveman when I return to Symbian or the N9.

What’s not to like? The fact that it isn’t mine! Haha. But seriously, if I was on the lookout for a quality phone, that did a very decent job of my day-to-day needs all things mobile, then the Lumia 820 would be a great choice. And did I mention wireless charging? Jimmy included a Nokia wireless charging pad (review unit) that was sent to him by the wonderful AT&T PR team in Philadelphia, so charging the thing makes me feel like an overpaid extra in Star Trek. Whoever thought this would be a good idea?! I don’t know, but they deserve a raise, because it’s simply brilliant. Plonk your phone down for a quick charge while you make dinner, pick it up again when you’ve finished eating, and you just (completely effortlessly) gave yourself an extra 25% charge for your tweeting down the pub. Perfect.

I wouldn’t hesitate recommending the Lumia 820 to any of my (ahem) non-Nokia owning friends and family members, if they were ever on the lookout for a top-notch, high-end device that did it all, in a superbly crafted package. It’s the kind of sheer ‘best of the bunch’ build quality one expects from Nokia (as we always have done). A great choice.

Next up: “Luke! I am your, er… great uncle?” My comparison between the N900 Maemo beast and it’s younger relative, the MeeGo-powered (but tied up and hidden in the basement) N950. Hopefully be done sooner than it’s taken me to get this one finished! 😉