The Nokia Lumia 900 review

The Nokia Lumia 900 has the weight of two technology behemoths and Windows Phone fans on its polycarbonate shoulders. Ars sees if the flagship smartphone can do them all proud.

<a href='http://meincmagazine.com/gadgets/reviews/2012/04/the-nokia-lumia-900-review.ars'>Read the whole story</a>

 

[drfisheye]

Take the Calendar app as an example. At launch, swipes between our agenda, day schedule, and so on are horizontal swipes, consistent with navigation in many other apps. When we switch to month view, we have to swipe vertically to see the next or previous month, but there's no visual indicator that this is the case

No. Agenda, Day and Month all swipe vertically.

. The list can't be arranged any other way, meaning if there's an app you use regularly that begins with an unfortunate letter (example: Yelp) and it's not in your top 8 or 16, you'll be doing quite a bit of scrolling to get at it, whether it's on the home screen or in the alphabetized list.

On the home screen, you can put Yelp wherever you want. On the alphabetized list you can tap the '#' and select the first letter of your app. Or you tap the search icon and tap the first letters of your app.

You should also not forget that the big live tiles might be faster to spot visually then regular small icons, and easier to hit. It would be interesting to do an actual speed test of selecting an app between iPhone, Android and WP instead of just assuming that WP will be slower because there are less apps in one view.

 

[drfisheye]

Microsoft recently clarified that the Windows 8 release will include a tutorial, but Windows Phone currently doesn't have any kind of intro.

Or you know, you read the manual. Or the tips on the website, you can access the site with the phone itself.

 

[drfisheye]

Some comments and possible corrections:

1. There is a tutorial for the Windows Phone. It's an app called Help+How-to, and it's baked in as of Mango. Yes, it should start at launch, or default as one of the front 8 tiles, but it is definitely there.

It's not on my handset. Maybe it's different on phones shipping with Mango or something, but I've never even heard of it.

It comes on all the Mango phones. It was also added to my Samsung Focus with the 8107 update, so Americans with older handsets probably haven't seen it yet.

Microsoft has also made it available as a separate download.

The app is just a browser pointing to the help website.

 

[drfisheye]

I am not sure what you mean by not being able to rearrange the app icons, but you can pin and arrange the tiles on the homescreen. The app list is done using jumplist, which I think is very quick. If I want to load Facebook, then I just slide left, click on the letter "a" and then select "f" and then select "facebook". It seems a lot of steps, but I can do each step very quickly, so the total time looking for facebook app is not much. Plus, I also have the facebook app pinned to the homescreen.

I was referring to this bit

"Apps are organized in a second pane to the right of the home screen, where everything you've downloaded and installed is listed alphabetically. The list can't be arranged any other way, meaning if there's an app you use regularly that begins with an unfortunate letter (example: Yelp) and it's not in your top 8 or 16, you'll be doing quite a bit of scrolling to get at it, whether it's on the home screen or in the alphabetized list (though it's worth noting that once you collect enough apps, the OS will add an alphabet of jump buttons to the screen, so you can get to the letter you want quickly)."

Ah, ok, i see my mistake. This bit "and it's not in your top 8 or 16" implies i can Pin the App, but once i get past two screens worth of Icons then i'll either be scrolling for days or using the jump lists..... got it.

I'm still interested in an actual speed test of browsing through the homescreens of iOS, Android and WP. I wonder if the big, colored tiles are easier to spot than smaller icons 4 at a row. Ars should line up their editors and do some real live tests. (Go Peter!)

 

[drfisheye]

I think Engadget's review got it right: given the price point, the 900 should be considered a mid-range phone. And as a midrange phone it is very, very good. Like the 710 is very good as a lower-end phone.

Of course this means the WP fans need to admit that WP doesn't have a real high-end phone yet and that's no easy thing to admit for a fanboy.

It's like admitting that most ultrabooks aren't as good as the Air. But they also are cheaper so they shouldn't be compared directly.

 

[drfisheye]

Microsoft has also made it available as a separate download.

The app is just a browser pointing to the help website.

I don't know if we're talking about something different but the Help + How To on my app list is all self contained. It doesn't open up the browser at all unlike an app like Facebook (which I just keep a pinned browser page on my home screen). It was also on my older Focus post Mango so I'm not sure what's happening with people who say it's not on their phone. It was already on my newer Focus S of course. I agree it should auto start when you first activate the phone because it really is helpful for those who don't get the features as fast as some others.

On my Dutch Lumia 800, I have a "Help + Info" app which is just a browser loading the official help website, but without browser controls. When you click the 'privacy' link at the bottom it loads another MS site in the same panel, making clear that it really is just a website. (Not that it matters to me, it is helpful info anyway.)

 

[drfisheye]

I think Engadget's review got it right: given the price point, the 900 should be considered a mid-range phone. And as a midrange phone it is very, very good. Like the 710 is very good as a lower-end phone.

Of course this means the WP fans need to admit that WP doesn't have a real high-end phone yet and that's no easy thing to admit for a fanboy.

It's like admitting that most ultrabooks aren't as good as the Air. But they also are cheaper so they shouldn't be compared directly.

Exactly! Right now the 900 is being crucified for having interior parts that don't live up to its sexy exterior. But for $100 (free if your new to AT&T) it's a great buy. I would love to see this phone compared to the other Android phones available for $100 on contract.

Well, Verizon has the HTC Rezound for $50 on contract, with a 4.3" screen with a whopping 720p resolution, a 1.5 GHz dual-core CPU, 1GB of RAM, and 32GB of storage (counting a 16GB microSD that can be swapped for a larger one).

That doesn't mean the 900 is a terrible phone, but the claim that its interior parts are equivalent to the best comparably priced Android phones is way off.

That is a good price. It is a temporal promotional price though, normally it sells for 200 or more.