Nokia Lumia 900
Key specs
Critic consensus
“Whether or not the smartphone will bring Nokia back in the major league however is a whole different story. And just like the time when we had the Lumia 800 around for a review, we can't give you a definite answer. One thing is certain though - Nokia is still a long way from the top in this important segment, but they've got their eyes on the stars, and they seem determined to succeed. The Lumia 900 is a nice step in the right direction.”
“Launching a flagship months before a major overhaul of the platform isn't exactly a planning masterstroke. The Nokia Lumia 900 will not get Windows Phone 8 and the news breaking just about when the phone hit the stores is more than just an unfortunate coincidence. The Nokia Lumia 900 comes at the wrong time and it sure looks like the wrong place as well. The global version cannot even dream of the success of its AT&T-branded sibling. Well, all that is sadly true but only from a certain perspective. There're lots of politics and agendas involved. The European (and global) launch doesn't come at the best of times but the AT&T exclusivity had to be honored. The point is, the Lumia 900 is debuting in Europe but it's by no means a newly released device. The phone has had an impressive run - it probably did even better than Nokia and Microsoft expected.”
“The Nokia Lumia 900 is an excellent smartphone, a four-star product to be sure. At $99 with contract (and even less if you nab a sale on Amazon or elsewhere), it's also a tremendous deal. If you want to Facebook without fear, and text without tech support, this easy-to-use smartphone will satisfy. But Windows Phones lack of certain popular apps will prevent Lumia owners from being truly social with their iPhone- and Android-using friends.”
“If you don't need to take cost into account and are a power user looking for the best phone in terms of performance and design, you're probably going to walk on from the Lumia 900 to greener iOS and Android pastures. Not because of the interface subtlety—interface design isn't a problem for smartphone vets, and there's not much they won't be able to figure out by trial and error. Information density can be overlooked, but not as easily. A few fixes in Windows Phone could go a long way to bringing it up to par with iOS and Android in that respect. As of right now, it's still a little too much form over function to beat them at the game they invented.”
Watch before you decide
In Depth
The Nokia Lumia 900 is one of the most anticipated Windows phones and it lives up to its expectations with its sleek design, fast processor, and relatively affordable price point. Design-wise the device is truly eye-catching, albeit a bit portly. It has a unibody structure which makes the backside of the phone smooth and comes in three colors: black, white, and electric blue.
Inside that sleek housing is a 4.3-inch wide AMOLED screen with ClearBlack display technology, Gorilla Glass, and WVGA resolution of 800×480 pixels. The result is rich hues, bright colors, and sharp images. We were impressed.
The brains behind all this beauty is Microsoft’s 7.5 Mango operating system. While not yet wildly popular with developers, Windows Phone is starting to offer a solid collection of apps in its marketplace. We also like the way Windows Phone links e-mail and social network accounts together and offers voice dialing, conference calling, voice search, and task search features.
Powering the phone is a 1.4GHz single-core processor and this, combined with 4G LTE, means web pages load quickly and download/upload times are relatively short. Speaking of short, battery life is pretty weak with LTE and you should plan to recharge daily if planning to stream audio/video. With less demanding usage on 3G, you should be able to expect 7 hours of talk time or 12.5 days of standby.
Perhaps the standout feature on the 900 is its camera. The on-board 8-megapixels with Carl Zeiss optics, dual-LED flash, and autofocus does an excellent job. It performs best outdoors and at close-range, although there is some shutter lag to be experienced which makes it hard to capture fast-moving subjects. Prefer video? No problem. The 900 Lumia has excellent recording quality overall at 720p, shoots 30 frames per second and has smooth playback.
Need to Know: Nokia Lumia 900
1. Solidly built and very attractive unibody design. (The Good)
2. AMOLED screen that displays bright images with rich colors and great contrast. (The Good)
3. A few annoying gaps in the phone’s housing around the SIM card slot. (The Bad)
4. 720p video resolution instead of 1080p HD. (The Bad)
What people actually want to know
When was the Nokia Lumia 900 released?
The Nokia Lumia 900 was released on April 8, 2012.
How long does the battery last on the Nokia Lumia 900?
The Nokia Lumia 900 has a 1,830 mAh battery.
Where can I download the Nokia Lumia 900 manual?
You can view and download the Nokia Lumia 900 manual on our dedicated manual page.
Questions & answers
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