A phone is not only a necessity in this day and age but also a fashion statement for the discerning and NOKIA has not lost sight of this notion with the introduction of the Nokia Lumia 930 which comes lavished with premium build-materials. This smartphone is pleasing to the eye as to the touch and is power-packed with an impressive hardware sheet as well. However, how does it fare on user experience? Check out the video review and read on to find out.
NOKIA Lumia 930 Video Review
NOKIA Lumia 930 Hardware Specifications
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon™ 800 Quad-Core 2.2 GHz
RAM/ROM: 2GB/32GB (non-expandable)
Display: 5.0″ Full HD (1080×1920) AMOLED Display, Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3
Camera: 20MP, PureView, BSI f/2.4 Auto focus with two-stage capture key (Main), HD 1.2MP wide angle Front Camera
Connectivity: WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, Screen projection
Features: HTC Sense 6, HTC Blinkfeed, HTC Zoe
Networks: LTE network bands: 1, 3, 7, 8, 20/HSDPA 42.2 Mbps
Battery: 2,420 mAh, Wireless charging: Built-in (Qi Standard)
Sculpted to perfection
In our earlier First Impression post, we’ve taken a quick look at the form factor of this monoblock touch beauty but it wouldn’t hurt to continue our little rave as the design is undeniably breathtaking with smooth edges and surface finishes. In light of this, however, one-handed use of the phone proves to be a slight hassle where the user would find themselves doing more than usual finger work due to a rather long body. The back cover is very smooth to the touch and users would have to be extra careful at times as the phone could get a little slippery. With that being said, it’s only at given times and this is not a cause for alarm. A cold touch is evident as well when the user finds themselves in a cold environment (thanks to the aluminum frame of the phone) and the opposite is also true as the phone would become a hot cookie when the battery heats up (very often in fact but we’ll talk about that a little later).
Coupled with a 5” Full HD AMOLED 2.5D Sculpted Glass and Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3 reinforcement, there is absolutely no need for cumbersome screen protectors and one would have the liberty to bask in all of the display’s glory. The Nokia Lumia930’s display resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels with a 441 ppi pixel density makes color reproduction crisp and the user is also given the option to adjust the display’s color profile which we found to be a nifty feature. Viewing angles are far beyond impressive and the addition of the Sunlight Readability setting enables the display to be incredibly legible even under harsh sunlight. Movies playback is a sheer joy on the phone as well. These little display features certainly win the phone some extra brownie points.
Perfect marriage of hardware & software
The Nokia Lumia 930 ships with Windows Phone 8.1 OS onboard and also the Lumia Cyan firmware. This firmware enables unique Lumia features to function at optimum level, namely, its PureView camera and the ability to capture Living Images as well as that nifty Color Profile setting mentioned above. There is also a marked change in display as with the Windows Phone 8.1 OS as users are now able to set any image of choice as the Start background image and there is also an added third row for Live Tiles which enables users to have full control of how they would like to customize their apps on the Start Screen. In addition, the Action Bar at the top is Microsoft’s answer to Android’s long-prevailing drop-down Notifications bar. The update and particularly this feature is necessary for ease-of-use.
Other notable Lumia features are the data-dependent Lumia Beamer which enables a user to project the phone’s screen on another screen as well as the Lumia Storyteller which creates unique video montages from pictures taken according to place and time. In addition, the Lumia Creative Studio is also a comprehensive enough picture editor whenever one desires for a more simple approach in editing stills with acceptable results. With flagship hardware like the Qualcomm Snapdragon™ 800 2.2 GHz CPU and 2GB RAM, the phone outperforms itself and the terms lag and crashes would most probably be a thing of the past with the snappy and feather-like interface.
PureView Camera
Nokia has always been a leader in Camera technology and the Nokia Lumia 930 is no stranger as it is equipped with a 20MP PureView Camera with ZEISS Technology and proves to be a sharp shooter with super fine, top-notch quality images. With the Optical Image Stabilizer and the Manual Focus function embedded in the Nokia Camera app, taking pictures have never been more delightful and Nokia has definitely outdone itself once again in this department.
Below are a few extra camera samples for your viewing pleasure. The Image Editor embedded in the Image Viewer is also very comprehensive and a few edits are below as well. There is also an option to save different image resolutions in the phone and the high resolution camera images which has a larger viewing angle (if the zoom function was used) and are easily accessible in the phone via a File Manager app or if connected to a computer as an external Hard Drive. This a really good feature and definitely takes advantage of the superb camera quality and image processing.
Dolby Technology
The Nokia Lumia 930 boasts a surround sound enhancement on the Audio settings for headphones enabled and also other features such as a Dolby dialog enhancer which is said to improve dialog clarity for movies. A noteworthy feature is the ability of the phone to record audio for videos with Dolby’s new Digital Plus 5.1 technology. This feature shows marked improvements in audio recording quality and also comes with the option to toggle the Directional Stereo and Surround Sound recording ON/OFF and there is also an audio bass filter function which allows users filter out certain frequencies according to the user’s preference. The equalization under the Audio settings is now applied to the phone’s speakers as well which gives the users full control over the phone’s audio settings.
We have also taken the liberty to provide a video recording comparison between the Nokia Lumia 930 with an entry-level phone. Do watch the video with earphones/headphones/2.0 channel audio set-up (at least) to listen to the differences in audio quality.
Battery Life and Call Quality
Battery life on the Nokia Lumia 930 is expected at 17 hours on full charge, however, as mentioned in the First Impression post, this is not the case and a heavy user would be utterly disappointed if he/she expects super performance from the 2,420mAh non-removable battery pack. With all that firepower in a flagship phone, it lacks in this department as medium and heavy users would be fortunate for the battery to last for half a day i.e. 6-10 hours on a single charge. On the flipside, for light users who do occasional web-surfing and toggling mobile data ON/OFF each time and relies heavily on Wi-Fi and who don’t message every other 10 minutes, the phone would work wonders for them. It might even last them a good 18 hours with 30+% left if they would toggle Airplane Mode ON throughout their sleep at night (which was what we did to test out the battery longevity).
Another notable downside is that the battery would overheat significantly in a very short period of time i.e. 30-60 seconds when heavy tasks such as playing games (Asphalt 8: Airborne) are executed. With all these being said, it is understandable why the people behind Nokia decided to go ahead with the said battery cap as this move is to encourage users to take advantage of the wireless charging capability where if one is not utilizing the phone, the device should be resting on the wireless charging dock. Secondly, it is also to maintain the luscious and premium form factor of the flagship smartphone.
Besides that, call quality on the Nokia Lumia 930 is incredible! Nokia has truly upped their game and taken full control of the high compression microphone capabilities in this flagship device. Even calls on Wi-Fi dependent apps such as Skype, LINE and Oovoo are exceptionally clear. I’ve never been more pleased with a phone’s earpiece speaker as with the Nokia Lumia 930, however, the phone’s loudspeaker is located at the back of the phone and this would entail the user to flip the phone face down for maximum sound propagation or rely on sound reflection when the phone is facing up – whichever floats your boat. Overall, the audio quality is rather impressive as Nokia has definitely done their homework in the audio side of things.
The best Windows Phone to date
The Nokia Lumia 930 has been dubbed the best Windows Phone to date and it is no wonder why. With beautiful aesthetics, exceptional software and a reasonable price tag at RM1999, it proves itself to be a force to be reckoned with and rival giants likeSamsung and Apple would definitely get a run for their money. Moreover, with its bold back covers namely, Black, White, Bright Green and Bright Orange (which is the color of our review unit) it is definitely all out on making a statement.
Verdict
Lives up to its name of being the best Windows Phone to date.
The Good
+ Clean-cut design
+ Well-built frame
+ Bright back covers
+ Top-notch display
+ Impressive video and audio enhancements
+ Speedy performance
+ Amazing cell reception and crystal clear call quality
+ More affordable compared to rival giants with similar specs
The Unsatisfactory
– Meagre battery life
– Significant overheating of the battery pack
