Nokia Lumia 930 Review

Perhaps the most obvious way Microsoft is changing Nokia is the latest Lumia 930. Several years ago Windows Phone smartphones seemed never going to reach the glory of Android and iOS operating systems. But, the time is different now. The Lumia 930 is the phone that might be the first of Windows Phone family than can compete with the Android flagships. The latest Lumia is bringing the new generation screen, speeded up processor and refreshed version of WP, as also as the improved design. Windows Phone is now more convenient to use, with improved interface and services, so the Lumia 930 is the best WP 8.1 you can buy at this moment. Is it enough to compete with Samsung's, LG's, HTC's and Sony's aces? Let's check it out together.

Nokia Lumia 930 Design

You'll be surprise how good Nokia Lumia 930 is built. The Finish manufacturer is a symbol of good and durable phones, but this time they added one value more. The metal frame is now around the plastic body and it suits very well. This isn't a completely new design language, but it this way it works well. The 930 is offering several back panel colors, so you can choose between different visual styles. No matter what color you choose, you'll get solid build quality and really nice feel in hands. With 137 x 71 x 9.8 mm Lumia 930 isn't particularly thick phone. Contrary, in 2014 we can consider it as a chubby. This is a little drawback, because Lumia 930 pretends to be premium device with high price. This is especially interesting if we know Lumia 930 is using a little down sized 2420 mAh battery. Beside that, the phone is round shaped which additionally complicate nicely holding. Also, the phone is surprisingly heavy. With 167g, it's one of the toughest in this category, which is shame, because Nokia put a lot of improved design things here. It seems Nokia design team focused on the beauty, not the convenience in use. The hard buttons are typically arranged. They are made of metal, just like the frame where they're placed. The power, volume and camera buttons are placed on the right side, while the audio port is on the top of the phone. It doesn’t seem fingers are having any problem reaching them. The back panel isn't going to be removed, so you will not be able to change the battery. As a result you don't have a microSD slot, so the 32GB of internal storage is the limited, but sufficient for the most users.

Nokia Lumia 930 Display

This isn't the first WP device with full HD display. Before the 930 was part of imagination of people from Nokia, the Lumia 1520 already was building its reputation of device with big and classy display. Unlike the 1520, the latest Lumia has smaller display which gives a better quality. On the 5-inch this display offers briliant 441 ppi. Maybe that's not a highest score we even seen, but the quality it produce is simply adorable. Since this is an AMOLED ClearBlack type of display, the deep of black color is fantastic, as also as the contrast. The display panel has black background which contribute energy saving.

Nokia Lumia 930 Specs and Performances

Windows Phone is traditional battery saver. While the Android and iOS devices turned to dual and quad core processors long time ago, Lumia is ready for this step just now. Windows Phone smartphone were quite capable or running very smoothly with single or dual core processors, but Lumia 930 wants to compete with the premium class smartphones. That's the reason why Lumia has got a first quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor. It works at 2.2GHz and provides great performances to this cool Nokia. Comparing to HTC One M8's and Samsung Galaxy S5's latest Snapdragon 801, the 930 uses the last year's Snapdragon 800 processor. The biggest difference is in battery saving, because the latest technology allows more space for work and less for battery draining. Speaking about battery life, the 930 isn't truly saver as we expected. The latest Lumia is using more modest battery than competitors, but it seems that quad-core processor and better screen aren't easy to handle with. It looks like older Lumia 1520 is batter battery holder than new Luma 930, but at least you will get a whole day of combined use.

Nokia Lumia 930 Software

The latest software upgrade is one of the most valuable sides of this phone. The Windows Phone 8.1 offers more customizable options and it brings new notification center, similar to those from Android. Since there are no many WP 8.1 phones at this moment, Lumia 930 is very convenient in its 1st position. Thanks to changes, the background wallpapers are more visible and catchier to the eye. The home page's tiles are better looking and bigger. Basically, there are no dramatic changes comparing to the older versions of Windows Phone. The tiles are resizable, and the number of apps available is growing. Some of the most popular are still missing, but you'll find all you need. The games are still behind the titles aimed to Android and iOS, but at least they are available now.

Nokia Lumia 930 Camera

Nokia Lumia 1020 is still one of the best camera-phones. With PureView technology, Nokia decided where it wants to go. The latest Lumia 930 is using the same sensor, but with 20MP "only". Carl Zeiss optics is still present, so the result should be promising. The camera is snappy, with simply but effective interface. Also it offers a lot of post-editing options. The camera has dedicated shooting button, but t works slightly slower that virtual button. Generally, the camera's speed is adequate to those from the biggest competitors. It's quite unusual to see several camera apps. Beside the basic one, you'll get a few more for different purposes. If you want to use some of them, you will have to import them manually. When you get over that, you will ensure yourself in the good photo quality. By the daylight the photos are simply great. Beside the richness in details, the light sources are adequate and in clear shapes. The macro mode could be little better, because the camera is in doubt which object to focus on, and which to put blurry in the back. When you shoot single object, the effect is much better. The night shooting is solid too, but just be aware LED flash is very strong so it can make more nonliving photos. Just take one step back and the photos will be better.

Nokia Lumia 930 Verdict

Nokia Lumia 930 is probably something we'll be seeing from Microsoft in the day ahead of us. The more customizations and regular great services like Here Maps and Mix Radio are making Windows Phone more desirable option. The navigation is still better than the one from Android, but the Google Maps are still champ when in comes to the data base. Nokia Lumia 930 is great phone. There's no question about it. Starting from beautiful design, via updated software and processor, this Lumia is ready to start battle against Galaxy S5, One M8, iPhone 5S, LG G3 and its brother Lumia 1020. With new Windows Phone version Lumia 930 is quite new player in the game. But, let's face some facts. WP is still behind Android. Nokia Lumia 930 is good options if you plan to enter smartphone world. There's no better way for doing that. This is probably the most complete WP smartphone ever. Photos: nokia.com