The War On Innovation

 Nokia has been struggling for the past 2 or so years because of bad management decisions and increasing competition. They have released a lot of good phones that were either let down by software, hardware or even ecosystem. But now that they have got their act together. They have managed to surprise the world this September with a true gem. I'm talking about no other than the Lumia 920. A device that delivers on all fronts and even ups one or two at the tough competition. This is the first "complete" smartphone that Nokia has released in years, and I can't help but feel disappointed and even frustrated all thanks to a few well known tech blog reviews.

 It truly is a sad day when you finally see a device that ticks all of the right boxes get hammered by tech sites because of their lack of objectivity. On one hand, we have a device that offered nothing new to the table - with incremental improvements to the hardware components that gets praised like it was God sent. Not that the iPhone 5 is a bad device, but as a techno-geek who really loves fresh ideas and out of the box thinking, what's the big deal about the iPhone 5? Or more importantly, where's the innovation?

 The 920 is the first phone to come with Optical Image Stabilisation. Its one of the first devices to come with wireless charging coils built in. Its the first device to feature a 60 Hz refresh rate screen. Its the first device to offer a higher than HD resolution (1280 * 768). It's the first (or one of the first) device that can be operated using gloves, or anything really while having a capacitive touch screen. It's the second device (only after the 808) to come with Rich Audio recording which allows the phone to record audio to up to 140 decibels (you have to hear it to believe how much ahead of anything else it is) and yet reviewers are going out of their way to find any flaws and over exaggerate them in the readers' eyes. In the case of the 920, its the weight.

If you haven't had a chance to try the 920, I urge you to do so. The first thing you'll notice is that it is quite big and relatively heavy, but can be easily used without a problem and sits very nicely in the hand. But reading the reviews makes one imagine the device is almost impossible to operate because of the weight and might cause your arm to drop off in a few minutes! Ironically, the size of the 920 is barely bigger than the 900, and yet we didn't see complaints about that, despite the 920 actually being easier to hold! As a matter of fact, it has almost identical dimensions to the Galaxy S3  but is approximately 2 millimeters thicker, and we saw no complaints about the S3. Keep in mind that the 920 is made out of much better materials. If the 920 was made by a more favoured brand, a billion and one excuses would have been made, and the weight issue would have been downplayed or barely even mentioned while the review would completely focus on all the innovations that were introduced in this device. Just wait till Apple releases half of the things that are already found on the 920, and watch the reviewers bow down and endlessly praise their brilliance. Remember this last sentence very well, because in a year's time, you'll see it for yourself.

 I'd really appreciate that every device gets its fair review. Praise the (Insert any device here) all you like, but for some self proclaimed journalists to bash the Lumia 920 for ridiculous things - some without any fact checking and giving it bogus scores; I find that completely unacceptable. You love the lightening connector because its so convenient but hate wireless charging? You think no one should buy it because its too damn heavy? 185 grams is too damn heavy? (Yet your iPhone 4S had a case that made it weigh just as much). You didn't see any improvements in low light performance and video stabilisation and think its a gimmick? You think the Nexus 4's camera doesn't come close to the 920's but yet still give them the same score on camera?!?! I can find a lot more by simply reading through some of those reviews. Double standards at their finest.

 If Nokia fails, then no one can dare say it was because they didn't try. They have built a device with a list of innovations bigger than all of their recent competitors' flagships combined. But it seems like these days, no matter what you do, if you have the wrong logo on your device, you will not get the praise you truly deserve. A shame really, because we need devices like the 920 to raise the bar, and to make sure great companies don't rest on laurels.

Please gsmarena, don't disappoint me. 

What I learned from my short hands-on with the Lumia 920

Today, Nokia UAE on facebook posted pictures of their stand in JBR Dubai showing the Lumia 920. So, being the tech geek that I am, I just had to be there and check it out. So what did I learn from this short encounter?

1- The weight is not as much of an issue as some websites are claiming it to be.

Yes, the Lumia 920 is a heavy phone. But the moment you hold it in your hand, it will not bother you. The weight gives the phone a very expensive feel and is distributed evenly on the device. This makes phones like the 808 PureView actually feel heavier when holding. The curved back and sides of the phone also make it fit nicely in the hand, and from my short time holding the device, it actually felt easier to hold than the 900, despite being bigger. ( Curved back to be thanked for that ). I even made my Galaxy S3-carrying cousin hold the phone and use it, and he had no complaints.

2- All the colours looked great.

If you've seen pictures of the phone, you might think some of the colours (yellow and red, I'm looking at you!) are a bit over the top. Not to say that they aren't, but in real life, they look nicer and not as bright as some of the pictures. I can't seem to be able to pick a personal favourite, but I'm going with yellow because its very unique to the Lumia 920. White, red, and black all looked fantastic too. Grey was nowhere to be found, unfortunately.

3-The matte finish has been improved over the Lumia 900.

If you go for black ( or grey, or even cyan if you're on AT&T ), the matte finish feels nicer than the one on the Lumia 900. Its smoother. Not as smooth as the N9, but somewhere in between both. I like it more than both. It's still a fingerprint magnet though, and fingerprints are much more obvious on it than on the glossy colours.

4-Windows Phone 8 flies.

While WP7.5 phones used to cover up the delay with animations, WP8 doesn't need that anymore. You can immediately feel the big difference in speed when opening any application. No more long waits to open some apps.

5-It has a gorgeous screen.

Blacks might not be as black as on AMOLED displays such as the one found on the 900, but the clarity and accuracy of the colours are top notch. The screen is bright, and the text is very crisp. Easily one of the best displays currently out there. PureMotion HD+ looks great in action.

6-Super sensitive display is very real.

For fun, I actually tried using my 808 to scroll on the 920's homescreen. It worked like magic!

7-Optical Image Stabilisation works

I tried shaking the device and moving it as fast as I can ( extremely unrealistic scenario ) and it still beat me. Blur was actually nowhere to be found. Impressive.


Overall, I have nothing but positive things to say about the device. All my expectations on hardware are met and I personally can't wait till my 920 arrives. A lot of issues might arise with day to day usage, but that can only be determined later.

Nokia desperately needed a special phone to fight the competition, and I personally think the 920 is that phone that will help them rise from the ashes. Its beautiful, its innovative, and its different. Thank you Nokia for restoring my excitement in new technology. The phone industry needs players like you.