Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Hands-on review: Updated: Nokia Lumia 930

The number of high-end flagship smartphones is quickly increasing and with the Nokia Lumia 930 the latest offering from the Finnish firm the total for 2014 now stands at five.

Replacing the Lumia 925, the Lumia 930 is looking to take on the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S5, Sony Xperia Z2, HTC One M8 and LG G3 this year and it's got some new software to aid it.

Nokia has equipped the Lumia 930 with Windows Phone 8.1, the latest version of the software to come from Microsoft and it'll be one of the very first handsets to ship with the refreshed OS.

It's the first high-end smartphone to arrive with WP 8.1, with only the budget Lumia 630 and Lumia 635 getting in ahead of it - although the latter is yet to make it into stores just yet.

In terms of actually getting you hands on the Nokia Lumia 930, well that's not quite as black and white, as it's been given a rather woolly release date of the end of June/the start of July.

Nokia Lumia 930 review

There is a price, with Nokia confirming $599 (around £360, AU$650) which actually isn't too bad for a flagship handset and that could make it a tempting proposition for those on a restricted budget looking for a top-end phone.

The quoted price is before the inevitable "taxes and subsidies", but even after those additions the Lumia 930 should still undercut its direct competition - I'm seeing early SIM-free prices around the £480 mark in the UK.

A word of warning though, Nokia says the Lumia 930 will begin to roll out "in Europe, Asia, India, Middle East and Latin America – and will continue to rollout throughout the world (except the US) throughout the summer."

Nokia Lumia 930 review

I expect the US won't be left completely in the cold though, with a specific variation likely to arrive for the American market - but I'll have to wait and see.

Back to the handset itself and the Nokia Lumia 930 has been crafted from a single piece of aluminium (like the One M8), although you won't necessarily know it.

That's because Nokia has stuck a sheet of polycarbonate on the rear of the Lumia 930 and while it does allow the handset to stand out from the crowd a little with black, white, orange and green finishes, it does detract slightly from the overall build quality.

Nokia Lumia 930 review

Put it up against the HTC One M8 and the Lumia 930 just doesn't look or feel quite so premium. I'm not saying it's poorly constructed, far from it fact, as it's still a robust and rather attractive device.

Compared to the Galaxy S5 and Xperia Z2 the Lumia 930 easily stands it ground and the sturdy build I've come to expect from Nokia ensures it feels like it's capable of taking a few knocks without smashing into a million pieces.

At 137 x 71 x 9.8mm the Nokia Lumia 930 is a little chunkier than its rivals, but to its credit it's not as tall thanks to some relatively slender bezels.

Nokia Lumia 930 review

This means it still fits in the hand reasonably well and I didn't fear dropping the handset during my hands on time. I would have liked the edges to be a little more rounded as the blocky design isn't as comfortable as the gently sloping M8.

The compact body does means you can't remove the rear cover of the Lumia 930, so there's no option to swap out the battery.

Nokia has also passed on microSD support instead relying on 32GB of internal storage and 7GB of free Microsoft OneDrive cloud space. That should be more than enough for most users, but there's still a strong contingent who like the microSD option, myself included.

Nokia Lumia 930 review

Another space saving tactic on the Lumia 930 is nanoSIM support, with the port located on the top of the handset. Instead of having to fumble around for a SIM tool or paperclip, Nokia has made access to the SIM port a lot easier with a little tab you just pull up.

It's a nice little feature, secure enough to give you peace of mind the SIM card tray won't just fall out of the handset, while also making it really easy for you to access it. I wish more smartphones were like this.

Nokia's other new arrivals, the Lumia 630 and Lumia 635, have also seen the navigation controls moved on screen, but for some reason the Lumia 930 still has them below the display.

Nokia Lumia 930 review

It's a slightly odd move as I much prefer the on-screen offerings on the lower end devices as it makes a better package. That aside, they are still responsive to the touch and allow you to make the most of every last pixel on the 5-inch full HD display.

Down the right side of the Lumia 930 you'll find the now customary trio of physical buttons; volume, power/lock and camera shutter.

The volume and power/lock keys are easy to hit with one handed use, while the camera key is really only used when you're holding the Lumia 930 in landscape.

Nokia Lumia 930 review

Fire up the Nokia Lumia 930 and you'll be greeted by the impressive 1920 x 1080 OLED display which is suitably bright with a high level of colour reproduction.

That screens means the Lumia 930 can go head to head with the 5.1-inch Galaxy S5, 5-inch One M8 and 5.2-inch Xperia Z2, although all of these cannot match the QHD display on the larger 5.5-inch LG G3.

Your first sign that Windows Phone 8.1 is onboard the Lumia 930 is the additional column of live tiles on the homescreen - up from two on Windows Phone 8 to three here.

You can now have three columns of tiles on any Windows Phone 8.1 device, but all bar the 930 allow you to switch between two or three.

For some reason Nokia hasn't deemed it necessary to allow the switch on the Lumia 930. That's not really an issue though as the large screen makes it all manageable.

Nokia Lumia 930 review

A useful addition in Windows Phone 8.1 which I'm very pleased to see is Action Center - aka the Notification Bar.

This lets you see all your latest notifications in one place as well as giving you four customisable quick settings at the top of the screen.

It's a very similar setup to Android and iOS, so if you're thinking of making the transition to Windows Phone the latest iteration is the most welcoming yet.

Nokia Lumia 930 review

Under the hood you're treated to a 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor, a decent offering but slightly behind the times as the new trio of Android flagships all sport the newer 801 chip.

That's not a huge issue as Windows Phone is less power hungry, and with 2GB of RAM also inside I found the Lumia 930 was exceptionally fast and smooth.

I had no trouble moving around the live tiles and scrolling through the application list, and apps opened promptly.


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