Nokia Lumia 900 Preview
If there’s one thing that CES is good for, it helps build up feverish anticipation for the latest consumer gadgets soon to hit the market in the coming year. Many devices stood out during this year’s convention, but few garnered as much critical praise as the Nokia Lumia 900. It’s got the goods required to make it one of the top-selling smart phones of 2012, and can easily do so as AT&T’s network continues to improve. Why is the Nokia Lumia 900 so widely-lauded? Let’s take a look at the relevant information, and you can decide for yourself whether or not the hype is justified.
Hardware and Features
Under the hood, the Lumia 900 boasts a 1.4 GHz Qualcomm CPU, 512 MB of RAM, and 16 GB of on-board storage. It sports front and rear-facing cameras as you’d expect from any phone, as well as a few aesthetic touches that are lacking in other phones on the market at the moment for the same price. One thing that strikes you immediately when seeing the Lumia 900 for the first time is its effortless class. It just looks solid, despite the lack of brushed aluminum. It’s one of the slimmest smartphones phones available on the market, and comes in a distinctive cyan tone that’s tough to forget.
Software, UI, and More
Once released into the wild, the Lumia 900 will be running the excellent Windows Phone 7.5 operating system, one that’s gaining market share and consumers every day. According to MBA Online, Understanding market context is necessary for implementing innovative products. Microsoft understood that a competitive operating system today needed visible icons and informative home screens, and Windows Phone does just that. That alone should give potential buyers a reason to at least give it a shot. Aside from WP7′s technical merits, it’s particularly peppy on the Lumia 900. Microsoft doesn’t really get enough credit for WP7, because it really is a decent operating system. It looks great, and performs even better. It’s a bit of a change of pace from Android or iOS, but it’s well worth making the effort. Mango’s tile-based interface is easily one of the slickest mobile experiences you can get nowadays.
Network and Carriers
Like the Nokia Lumia 710 before it, the 900 will come on AT&T’s still-evolving 4G network. At present, the 4G layout of AT&T’s wireless setup is obviously behind that of Verizon. However, that’s hardly the drawback that many make it out to be. AT&T offers much the same speeds that can be achieved in certain areas on Verizon, though that’s more or less only applicable in urban areas. Elsewhere, you’ll have to rely on Ma Bell’s 3G HSPA+ service to get you through the night. Still, 3G with AT&T can be appreciably better than with other networks, as some field tests will attest.
Final Thoughts
The Nokia Lumia 900 has many things going for it, and none of them are particularly superlative in their own categories. The hardware isn’t dominant, the operating system isn’t Android, and AT&T isn’t really the best 4G network. The Lumia 900 is generating such massive levels of enthusiasm due in large part to its flawless execution. Some times these things happen by design, and other times by happenstance. Regardless, the Lumia 900 running WP7 is one of the most promising phones of 2012. Absent a gigantic solar flare that renders the world’s telecommunications infrastructure useless, it’ll be a hit because it’s one of the best overall phones to come along in a long time.
