Nokia Lumia Icon

After the success of the Lumia 1520, Nokia decided to keep the hardware but decrease the phone’s size when it released the Lumia 929. The 929, also known as the Icon, combines the specs of the 1520 with the body of the Lumia 928. Perhaps the biggest complaint about the phone is its lackluster design. Critics found the boxy, blunt shape to be unattractive and were disappointed with the limited color choice of black and white. Despite some qualms with its look, CNET mentions that it offers” some in-palm comfort and a real aluminum rim tries to class up the…polycarbonate backing.” Despite its average size of 5.4 x 2.8 x 0.4 inches it is fairly hefty weighing in at 167.3 grams.

The front surface features a 5-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 1080p. As with other Lumia phones, the 929 features Nokia’s ClearBlack technology and a protective coating of Gorilla Glass for scratch resistance. Critics praise the display as the best feature of the phone as it provides rich color, excellent screen brightness and deep blacks. While the OLED display does lead to oversaturation, The Verge notes, “…it jibes perfectly with the Windows Phone 8 interface.”

For camera enthusiasts, it comes with a 20 megapixel rear-camera and an f/2.4 lens. While not nearly in the same class as the Lumia 1020, critics were still quite pleased with its crisp and detailed picture quality in bright and low light conditions. WP Central adds, “the color and white balance were accurate for most shots…” though they go on to mention that the white balance did struggle with snow.

A 2.2 GHz quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM and 2,420mAh battery keep the phone running. Although Windows 8 phones don’t necessarily need a lot of processing power, reviewers experienced no lag when opening apps or swiping through the menus and describe gameplay in graphics-intensive games as very smooth. Engadget goes so far as to call it “the best performing Windows Phone they’ve used so far.” Besides processing power, the battery life was also a major highlight and Phonescoop clocked it at 12 hours of mixed usage.

Overall, most critics were very impressed with this model and GSM Arena calls it “…the best smartphone to run Microsoft’s mobile OS hands down.”