Interested in Nokia’s flagship Lumia 920, but not sure if you can justify the massive size or weight? Well it has a 4G brother that offers similar performance, but without the same bulk.
Features
The second of Nokia’s Windows Phone 8 Lumia range to come out, we’re getting our hands on it a little later than expected, especially since we’ve recently covered a mid-range Lumia, the 620.
This model plays little brother to the 920, a handset we reviewed when it first came out late last year, and shares a few of the things it has.
As a result, you’ll find similar innards to that model, such as the dual-core 1.5GHz processor, 1GB RAM, Adreno 225 graphics chip, and similar connectivity, including 4G LTE support, 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 3.1, and even Near-Field Communication.
Some things are different, however, and Nokia has changed the screen size and resolution, with the Lumia 820 featuring a 4.3 inch 480×800 screen, a drop from the 4.5 inch 1280×768 (HD) screen on the 920.
Storage is also different, and while the 920 featured a set amount of memory for you to store things on – 32GB – the Lumia 820 drops that to 8GB, but also includes a microSD slot to expand that considerably.
The cameras are similar, though not the same, as both handsets feature an 8 megapixel rear camera with dual-LED flash and Carl Zeiss glass, Full HD video capture, though the 820 lacks the optical image stabilisation found in the 920. The front camera on the Lumia 820 is also lower in spec, with only a VGA 640×480 front camera.
As with most smartphones, ports and buttons are sparse, but the Lumia 820 has pretty much the same ones that we’re used to, including a 3.5mm headset jack up top, a microUSB charge port at the very bottom, and three buttons on the side: a volume rocker, power button, and dedicated camera button.
The three soft buttons specific to Windows Phone are, of course, here, with back, home, and search all catered for.
Underneath the handset and inside the removable case, you’ll find the slots for microSD, the microSIM, and the battery, which is rated for 1650mAh.
The Lumia 820 also supports wireless charging, something shared with the Lumia 920 that few of the lower priced Nokia handsets support.
Performance
Bright colours, plastic, and a contrasty easy to read interface seem to be the hallmarks of Nokia’s Lumia lineup, and with the 820, that hasn’t changed.
The sibling of the unibody Lumia 920, there are things about the 820 that are shared, and then there are the things that are completely separate.
Over in the different category is the look, and while the 920 featured a look and build that made you think it was chiselled from one piece of heavy plastic (hint: it was), the 820 is a two-part device: there’s the main bulk of the phone with all its parts screwed together, and then the casing, which you need to pull off and remove if you want to take out the battery, which in turn lets you put in your microSIM card and microSD.
In the hands, it’s another similarly plastic affair, with a glossy and slightly slippery finish that feels a little cheap, even if the overall heft of the handset subsides that feeling considerably.
Like other Nokia devices, we’re seeing a constant in its design, and that is a smooth circular brick, which, with bevelled edges, flows into the hands nicely making it thoroughly easy to grip, even if you have smaller hands.
From there we move onto the experience of the handset itself, and it is, as we expected, a smaller Lumia 920.
