A few weeks ago, Microsoft asked me if I wanted to check out the Lumia 1520. Although I’m a long-time iPhone user, I thought, why not? It’s always good to see if there is something better out there.
Unfortunately, once I got the phone, it seemed like I never had the time to really put it through its paces. Luckily, my 20-year old son, Tyler McCabe (@tyccabe) who is entering his junior year as computer engineering major, was eager to take the Lumia on a weeklong test drive. Since he’s used both iPhones and Androids over the past few years, his take on the Lumia 1520 intrigues me and I hope to try it soon as well!
Hardware
The phone is a sleek device that offers a 16.2×8.5cm screen while only weighing just over 200g. The size may be turn off for an iPhone user because it so much wider, but after carrying the phone around for a while, I felt that the trade off for a larger screen is worth the extra size.
Camera
The camera bulge on the backside was slightly annoying at first, but considering the impressive photo quality, I can deal with this annoyance. With 20 Megapixel resolution, the front camera produces staggeringly clear and detailed photos that very few smartphones I’ve seen can compete with.
Unlike the mid-resolution photos I get on the iPhone 5—which look good on a small phone screen but are grainy when viewed on a proper monitor—the Lumia’s front camera provides crisp, clean views of intricate images regardless of monitor size.
The camera program also offers amateur photographer helpful modes to help optimize picture-taking under different conditions. From bright sunny days to dark nightclubs, the Lumia’s easy to use tools helped me take great pictures to share with friends. The phone also has many built-in visual filters to make “post production” and editing on the fly easy to do well.
Integrated Circuitry and Storage
The Snapdragon processor in the Lumia 1520 excels at providing quick and responsive feedback when using applications on the phone. For example, when clocked next to an HTC Incredible II and iPhone 5 streaming podcasts over WiFi, the Lumia began playback long before the other two had finished loading. The phone also has exceptional battery life, with a lithium-ion cell that provides me with 24 hours of phone use without a recharge.
The only major hardware gripe I have is the SD/NanoSim slots, which require a Lumia 1520 specific tool to remove and replace these critical components in the phone. What if you lose it? It proved difficult to pry open with a paperclip. Though the unibody design benefits from this choice, the overall inconvenience isn’t worth it. This design lags behind many Android designs for the same function.
Software
Though the original Windows 8.0 was the bane of desktop clients, Windows Phone 8 OS is well suited to smartphones. The Lumia 1520 comes with Windows Phone 8.1, and the user interface was surprisingly intuitive for me and I think would be even the most diehard Apple fans. Some specifics:
- Getting started with the phone and connected to the Internet over WiFi was easy enough, taking me about five minutes.
- The email application integrates with top email providers like Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo, and other services if the mail server information is known. Emails load quickly and the UI provides a good viewing experience.
- I was genuinely surprised to see how concise and user friend the Microsoft Office mobile app is. It’s easy to use and the touch screen enhances, instead of inhibits, document editing.
- You can use 3G or WiFi and the Skype app to make free calls and video calls, and to send IMs.
- The new mobile office really shines with integration of local phone documents with Microsoft’s OneDrive cloud service. This allows users to access their files from anywhere with wireless Internet. Though not a new concept, this feature will bring users of Microsoft’s desktop office suite into the new age of cloud-based and mobile services in an intuitive way.
- The Excel spreadsheet application offers most of the functionality of its desktop relative, giving users the ability to edit multiple cells dynamically with touch commands and analyze data with a variety of predefined and user-created functions. It also brings chart and graph creation and editing, a useful feature for those looking for quick and easy way to interpret data and share information on the go.
- One major drawback of the new Suite is the lack of live multi-user collaboration and revision. Unlike its free competitor Google Docs, Office mobile does not offer live editing of documents between coworker. Though document storage is a step in the right direction, many users will find the lack of collaborative features a turn off for the Lumia and Windows phones.
- A small problem with the ergonomics of the keyboard when typing on the phone in landscape mode is that due to its long body, reaching the inner row of keys can be a strain for those with smaller hands.
Social Media
Social media is front and center on the dashboard of Windows Mobile 8.0. Unlike IOS or Android where social media apps are discrete and can only be loosely organized, the Windows main screen knits together all of your different social networks together, giving a unified and user-friendly way to manage your entire social presence with the touch of button.
Entertainment
Though work is a major focus for the Lumia, it also offers much in the way of kicking back, for example:
- The Game store and library on the phone integrates the Xbox Live network with your local library, allowing both diehard gamers and casual players alike to share content across platforms and with friends.
- The selection of touch-based games appeared to be quite good with favorites like Plants vs. Zombies, and Cut The Rope.
- Many streaming video options are available right out of the box like Hulu, and AT&T Mobile Video.
Summary
Though the size of the Lumia was initially a major hurdle for me to think that I would be able to use the phone as my main mobile device, the slim ergonomics design won me over. The phone continued to impress me by combining the ease of IOS and the customizability of an Android to produce a polished introductory experience. Further complementing my favorable first impression is the creative UI and graphic design that sent a message of innovation and not that of an old “dorky” business phone (think Blackberry).
Unlike its rivals from Google and Apple, the Lumia and Windows 8 Office suite allow for native support of common business formats like PowerPoint, Word, and Excel spreadsheets. The Lumia renders these files as you’d view them on a desktop with the original aspect ratio.
Though there are a few software tweaks, as discussed above, that could improve the Office suite, the Lumia is a good choice for business people who want a cloud and mobile first approach to applications.
Overall I was quite pleasantly surprised with the week I spent with the 1520, and would consider it a fitting, and possibly even superior option for anyone looking for a new approach in the smartphone market.