Nokia Lumia 900

Editor's Review of the Lumia 900

Nokia are desperate to put their financial woes behind them and get back on track in the smartphone race.

The Lumia 900 updates on the Lumia 800's screen size, battery life and camera, and it's making waves in the US courtesy of its low price tag and 4G capability. However, potential UK buyers don't have the same privileges as our descendants across the Atlantic, so do the phone's other features make it worth buying?

Design & Build

The Lumia 900 doesn't deviate from its predecessor when it comes to external appearance, and it doesn't need to, given how the Lumia 800 is one of the more eye-massaging phones out there. The larger 4.3" AMOLED display naturally means a bigger shell. The chassis is lined by a pleasingly-coloured polycarbonate casing, which can be black, white, cyan or magenta.

The ClearBlack technology used on the phone screen makes it quite possibly the most vibrant AMOLED display out there, with great viewing angles and visibility in sunlight. Sadly, the strict limitations of Windows Phone 7.5 mean that the display is limited to 480 x 800px, making it seem utterly dated next to the HTC One X or Galaxy S3.

OS & Interface

The Lumia 900 is, of course, the flagship device for Windows Phone, and features the latest 'Tango' update. While the update is mainly aimed at lower-end phones, it still includes options for Video messaging, sending MMSs to multiple contacts, and the ability to run up to eight background activities.

When Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak says that Windows Phone is the most 'beautiful' OS, you have to take note. Windows Phone is colourful and accessible. Its trademark live tiles look great and you can smoothly slide through them without straining the Lumia's 1.4GHz Snapdragon processor.

A major worry about the current Windows Phone OS however, is that it may not be upgradeable to the highly-anticipated Windows Phone 8. With the extra features that WP8 will support - including more powerful hardware features and easier porting of iOS and Android apps - some may wish to hold out until Nokia release a handset designed to run with the upcoming OS.

Multimedia & Storage

While Microsoft offer very little excitement when it comes to their own apps on the Lumia 900, Nokia have added several high-quality features of their own. Nokia Drive and Nokia Transport provide instant traffic news wherever you want it. Traffic supports bus, train and tube information in 500 cities across 45 countries. Also, Nokia Reading is due out in a matter of weeks, opening users up to a vast collection of e-books and other reading materials.

Nokia are also working hard on getting more developers involved with their phones, as seen in the slightly embarrassing video for the developers' competition they've started in the States. That being said, Windows Marketplace is still far behind Google Play and the App Store when it comes to content.

The 16GB of onboard storage is all well and good, but the fact that it's non-expandable makes it problematic. Are Nokia just adapting to the fact that there's not that much to download on Windows Marketplace anyway? For those looking to use their phone as a media center with music, videos and the like, this just simply isn't enough.

Battery life, connectivity, and the rest

A key flaw of the Lumia 800 was its fragile battery life, and this has been amended with this model. The Lumia 900 houses a 1830mAh battery that grants you nearly 2 days of medium usage; that's 7 hours of raw talk time or 300 hours standby time.

Something that explains why the Lumia 900 has supposedly been selling well in America is the fact that it supports 4G. We here in the UK are deprived of this privilege, so a major incentive for getting the phone is gone.

Conclusion

The Lumia 900 is, in many ways, a charming and accessible smartphone that may particularly appeal to those switching from a feature phone. The OS is very user-friendly and intuitive, the battery lasts a while, and Nokia have thrown in some handy features.

But the OS also has its limitations. No support for a bigger processor, low resolution and a small app store compared to the competition mean that people currently on iOS and Android have no reason to convert.

Maybe if we had 4G and could pick the phone up for £100 it'd be tempting, but as it stands the Lumia 900 is only for those new to the world of smartphones.