Nokia Lumia 900 Reviews 195
MrSeb, zachareye, and others wrote in with several reviews of the Nokia Lumia 900. Starting things off, Extreme Tech asks if the Lumia redefines the smartphone; BGR chimes in declaring the phone "terrific". Ars Technica, on the other hand, isn't quite so enthusiastic, especially about the camera optics. Anandtech joins Ars in not being particularly enthused. It looks like most reviewers are happy with the UI, but not so enthused about the hardware (low display resolution for one). Signs point to an OK handset, but nothing spectacular.
Duh (Score:2, Interesting)
So they come up with a device that doesn't meet the hype they're pushing it with which will drive down Nokia's share price making them easier for Microsoft to one day acquire. It's gonna happen, they'll sell off all the parts except the patent portfolio and the Brand.
Re:Goodbye iphone and android! (Score:5, Interesting)
That's sort of the point of the reviews. For the price (and that does count a lot) the Lumia 900 is a decent phone. It struggles to compete with dual core phones which are much more expensive, which is a problem for the windows brand, since the Galaxy Nexus and iPhone 4s are powerful flagship devices, but as a Nokia Phone that isn't going to just be sold to rich people who can afford 500+ dollar phones it's pretty good overall (where I am the Galaxy Nexus and iPhone 4s run 575 and 650 dollars respectively, where the Lumia 900 is about 450).
Now, overall, given the circumstances I don't think that makes it a great launch. Nokia, or one of the WP7.5 launch partners should have a quad core phone out the door nowish (but then I figured the playstation vita should be a phone as well), and the lumia 900 could be a mid range device. There's a big gap in the user experience between iphone and android in terms of software updates, and it's an area on the PC that MS does surprisingly well at in terms of how updates are delivered and what works/doesn't on them. But MS doesn't seem to have delivered very well, and that's not good for anyone, least of all nokia employees and shareholders.
Re:Goodbye iphone and android! (Score:2, Interesting)
I had the N900, used it for several months, I don't consider it worth owning at all - and I can't understand why people are so enthusiastic about it.
Terrible interface, terrible screen, terrible keyboard, hardware wasnt at all resilient (the wifes one died physically after 6 months of usage).
Re:Hope MS does well with this phone (Score:5, Interesting)
Microsoft claims you can get to the camera app real fast.
Its just not a convincing argument.
The new crop of android phones are android phones are in a serious pissing match over this very stat. I will say that i will be weighing this in my decision. my phone is my primary camera and I have missed several camera worthy moment by phone lag of getting to the camera (yes I have set the camera to be able to launch from lock )
Re:Duh (Score:3, Interesting)
So I ask, where are the battery life comparison/benchmarks from these sites that don't seem to be "enthusiastic" about the phone's performance?
Most reviews lob softballs, Not TheVerge. (Score:3, Interesting)
http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/3/2921472/lumia-900-review [theverge.com]
It seems reviewers are anxious for a third ecosystem to emerge so the keep making light of the shortcomings. This is ~2010 era HW power, with an OS that was aimed at the original iOS and hasn't caught up to the competition. People need to stop making excuses for the Weak HW, and weak SW. Microsoft/Nokia, need to seriously revamp the OS and release a real flagship if they want to be anything but irrelevant.
Verge Excerpt(on the software itself):
Let me just put this bluntly: I think it's time to stop giving Windows Phone a pass. I think it's time to stop talking about how beautifully designed it is, and what a departure it's been for Microsoft, and how hard the company is working to add features. I am very aware of the hard work and dedication Microsoft has put into this platform, but at the end of the day, Windows Phone is just not as competitive with iOS and Android as it should be right now.
The problems with Windows Phone are myriad, many small. But it's a death by a thousand cuts. And all those little problems were once again immediately apparent to me the moment I started using the Lumia 900.
The most glaring issues also happen to be some of the oldest issues — things you think at this point would have been dealt with. Scrolling in third party apps, for instance, is still completely erratic. I would blame this on developers, but given that this platform has been around for nearly two years, I think that's a cop out. In new Twitter apps like Carbon, lists of messages will sometimes disappear or skip weirdly when scrolling. I first complained about this in version 1 of Windows Phone, and I thought it had been squashed — it has not.
Elsewhere there are missteps. Though Microsoft has added some form of multitasking to the OS, there is nearly never a feeling that apps in the "background" are actually still waiting for you. In fact, many apps still deliver a splash screen to you when you reenter them — if this is a developer issue, then I guess most of the hardworking coders on this platform never got the memo. In short, it kind of sucks to use. Where iOS and Android at least feel responsive in packing and unpacking background apps, Windows Phone often comes across as broken and limp. ....
iPhone is not a $500 phone in the US (Score:3, Interesting)
Interesting how Apple cannot shake its image as a pricy, too-expensive-for-the-hardware manufacturer, even when that's not always true.
In the US, you can get an ATT iPhone 4, which everyone agrees basically is not that much worse than their flagship 4S, for $99. For that price you get 960x640 resolution at high pixel density and a motherlode of apps, plus a device that when jailbroken is an absolute joy to use. This is for the same exact price as the N900, yet N900 comes off as a cheapo phone that's a bargain and the iPhone gets off as some kind of luxury item.
Same for the 8-core Mac Pro. My supposedly economical cluster blade vendor is sending me quotes for 8-core Nehalem blades that are the same price as the 8-core Mac Pro... WTF? Oh yeah, an 8+ core Mac Pro is actually very competitively priced compared to anything other than build your own.
So yeah, apple will rob you blind if you're trying to buy a charger, but just remember, there are some prices that aren't ripoffs, OK?
Re:iPhone is not a $500 phone in the US (Score:4, Interesting)
$99 up front and how much each month? For how long?
From this side of the pond, the U.S. phone market looks really weird. I just bought an N9 for 299€ without any plan. My phone bill is below 20€ / month and obviously, I can change any time. For me the cheapest iPhone would be 519€ - again without a plan... I do have the choice of buying the phone and paying in installments for two years, but why would I want to?