Sunday, 16 February 2014

Nokia Lumia Icon Review

Depending on how you look at it, the Lumia Icon is either a larger version of the Lumia 928 before it – or a slightly shrunken down size... thumbnail 1 summary

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Depending on how you look at it, the Lumia Icon is either a larger version of the Lumia 928 before it – or a slightly shrunken down size of the Lumia 1520. Compared to other recent Lumias, we can’t say that we’re totally in love with the design here. First and foremost, it has a flatter/boxier characteristic to it, seeing that it’s sporting tapered cuts in the rear casing that are more subdued than ever before.

Although we appreciate the sturdy metallic bezel outlining the handset, which sprinkles on a hint of premium to the overall design, it makes the handset sharp to the touch. In fact, it’s not as comfortable to hold in the hand due to the edges of the bezel digging into our hand. In comparison to the Lumia 1520, the Icon is obviously easier to hold with a single hand due to its smaller size, but then again, those sharp edges combined with its flatter design, doesn’t make it the most ergonomic thing.

Finally, there are only two colors available with this model, matte black and white, which employ the same polycarbonate materials we’ve seen endlessly by now. Frankly speaking, it’s not an iconic design – nor is it daring or cutting edge.

Keeping true to the design language that’s been well established by now, it features the same set of ports and buttons around its trim – these consist of its microUSB port, two-level shutter key, power button, volume controls, 3.5mm headset jack, and SIM slot. A changeup to say the least, unlike previous Lumias that required a SIM removal tool to access the SIM, the Icon’s tray is easily accessed by simply prying the compartment with our fingernail.

Below and above the display, we find the usual trio of capacitive Windows Phone buttons, earpiece, light & proximity sensors, and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. Sorry folks, this one doesn’t feature a microSD card slot.

Both the Lumia 1020 and 1520 are known to be serious camera centric devices, so it doesn’t surprise us that the Icon is in the club as well. Rather, there’s an evolutionary improvement seen with the handset’s 20-megapixel PureView camera, which features ZEISS optics, a wide angle f2.4 aperture lens, optical image stabilization, and dual-LED flash. Whereas the cameras on the aforementioned smartphones jutted out tremendously, the Icon’s entire camera package is flush to the surface – resulting in a uniform back casing.