Hands-on with the Lumia 925: this is what the 920 should have been

It seems that every week, there’s a new phone, and this week, Nokia had two of them. While one was an announcement, the other is a release, with a new flagship making its way to retailers across the country.

Launched this week to electronics retailers, the 925 is an update to Nokia’s massive flagship handset sporting a 4.5 inch screen with 1280×768, effectively replacing that polycarbonate brick of a smartphone with something slicker, smarter, and importantly less chunky on the pocket.

And wow, is it different from its predecessor.

Internally, very little has changed between it and the Lumia 920, with the same 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, same 1GB RAM, same Adreno 225 graphics chip, and same level of connectivity, with 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi, 4G LTE, DLNA, Bluetooth 3.0, microUSB 2.0, and Near-Field Communication.

The screen is the same size and resolution, but now relies on AMOLED technology, making it brighter, contrasty, and lovely to look at from all angles.

The battery is even the same, with a non-removable 2000mAh module.

Nokia says the camera has been improved with a slightly bigger sensor, faster image shooting, and better low light.

Really, though, the obvious difference is when you pick the handset up and notice the weight.

It’s only around 50 grams, but that amount is massive, with the polycarbonate Lumia 920 feeling closer to the weight of an empty coffee mug, while the new Lumia 925 reminding us of the more fashionable iPhone 5 or HTC One.

Aluminium has been embraced for this new model, connected with the style Nokia has been using for the Lumia range up to this point, with a pinch of polycarbonate on the back.

Overall, it’s a comfy handset, and one we don’t expect to weigh our pants down, which is precisely what happened with the Lumia 920.

“The Lumia 925 is undoubtedly Nokia’s best smartphone yet and we’re hugely encouraged by the interest in this device from our partners and consumers,” said Steve Lewis, Managing Director for Nokia Australia.

While it’s probably Nokia’s best currently available smartphone yet, we do have one quibble to pick.

At the launch this week, one Nokia representative went on record to say that the camera technology in the Lumia 925 is “second to none,” which is an interesting statement when you realise that Nokia’s own recently announced Lumia 1020 boasts a 41 megapixel sensor that is – on technology alone – easily better than what’s inside the Lumia 925.

And that’s where we’re left wondering if the Lumia 925 isn’t just a little bit late to the game.

There’s no mistaking that this is a lovely designed handset, even from the initial hands-on thoughts, but this is what the Lumia 920 should have been, and with a smartphone containing a 41 megapixel camera just around the corner, the Lumia 925 probably won’t be flagship for very long.

Image shot on the Lumia 925 in darkness.