Review: Nokia Lumia 930

Nokia Lumia 930
Price: Rs 37,900

The Nokia Lumia 930, which is the current flagship Windows Phone handset from Nokia and the first one with Windows Phone 8.1, has been packed to the gills with features expected of a flagship product. This Windows Phone 8.1 handset features a Snapdragon quad-core CPU, Full HD AMOLED display, 20 mp PureView main camera with Zeiss optics, 32 GB of RAM, and 4G capability (useful when 4G will become available). In this review, I will try to give you a fair idea of my usage experience of this handset.

Accessories

The following accessories are provided with the Lumia 930.

1. WH-108 wired handsfree.

2. Power adapter (Output: 5V, 1.5A).

3. Micro-USB cable.

4. Booklet.

Looks and Usability

While the Lumia 930 is available in multiple colours, the one I reviewed is black and I think it probably looks the best, although personal opinions are bound to differ. Nokia has gone with a rather simple boxy design with the 930, which may not appeal to everyone. However, the phone looks premium with an anodised/powder-coated metallic band that goes around its rim over the height and width. The buttons with a gunmetal finish also add to the looks. The corners are slightly rounded. The handset is made of polycarbonate, which is a trend that Nokia has been following since a long time at least for its flagship devices.

 

The matte finish of the polycarbonate at the back will leave some shiny patches over a period of time, which will take a bit away from the phone’s beauty. I must mention here that the back cannot be opened, and hence the battery is not removable.

It sports racing stripes on top and bottom, possibly to signify that it is in the race.

 

The front is dominated by a 5” Full HD AMOLED display protected by Gorilla Glass 3. Nokia’s non-reflective ClearBlack technology serves another purpose here - it gives the screen a thick and rich oily appearance, which really looks opulent. It is almost impossible to see where the screen ends and the bezel begins. The “sculpted glass” as the company puts it, referring to the smooth curved edges of the glass, gives it a natural feel as you run your fingers over it. The scratch-resistant glass is fairly resistant to smudges and dust as well. Capacitive buttons are present at the bottom of the front glass, just below (and not on) the display.

As mentioned earlier, the display is Full HD, meaning that it has 1920x1080 pixels with an astounding 441 PPI pixel density. However, before you get carried away, I must tell you that this would mean very little to most of us as against a HD (720p) display such as the one on the Lumia 730, except for those with the eyes of an eagle. That being said, the screen is gorgeous to look at and the images are sharp and with great colour reproduction.

The display type used on the 930 is not without its negatives, if I may put them that way. The display doesn’t support Glance screen, because of the type of AMOLED being used, which lacks a certain type of display memory, required for the feature to retain the Glance image. Also, there is pixel persistence or streaking observed when scrolling text up or down the screen. This is evident while scrolling through the app list and especially irritating while scrolling through web pages.

The 5” screen makes it difficult to use it with one hand. Although it is still possible to stretch your thumb to achieve one-handed use, you would rather not risk using such an expensive device it that way. Despite the mentioned dimensions and weights and the wireless charging coil within, the device appears surprisingly lighter and smaller and thinner, making it easy to tuck it into your trouser pocket.

The top of the device has a 3.5 mm audio jack, while there is a micro USB port at the bottom. The hinged SIM cover can be opened with finger nails, which I like better than the stabbing clip approach. The 930 accepts nano SIM, although I am not sure why Nokia would do that other than making a lame attempt at grabbing a few prospective iPhone customers to its side. There is enough space for a micro SIM to have been possible in its place.

Its inbuilt storage of 32 GB is usually enough to handle most requirements and the lack of expandable memory will probably not bother you. Microsoft provides 15 GB of free OneDrive storage in case you would like to back up your data. While it is practically usable in the US and Europe as well as most other countries, with the state of internet connection speeds in our country, this proposition is more of a bad joke upon us.

Build Quality

The Lumia 930 sports an excellent build quality. The front is protected by the Gorilla Glass 3, while the back by the polycarbonate material, where the back not being removable, also serves to strengthen the phone. The metallic rim also serves its purpose as a reinforcing frame, providing additional structural strength to the device.

The side buttons, which are the only moving parts on this device, are not tacky although they have a small amount of play.

 

Performance

The Snapdragon 800 chipset comprising the 2.2 GHz quad-core Krait 400 along with the Adreno 330 GPU, combined with the 2 GB of RAM, can easily handle everything that you can throw at it. Most importantly, the UI is fluid with no lag at any point. Of course, it also has no problem playing the most graphically complex games available for this platform. It must be noted, though, that the the lower part of the handset heats up quite a bit during strenuous activity.

For cross-platform comparison, here is the result of Basemark X at medium quality.

Camera

The 20 mp main (rear) camera is very fast and responsive, so you are unlikely to miss a moment. It focuses well, although not quite as sharp as the Lumia 1020. OIS and the 6-lens Zeiss optics works to get good shots without a tripod. Details are captured rather well outdoors as well as indoors. It does well in low light photography (taking photographs indoors with limited lighting), which I must differentiate from twilight photography (photographing subjects in the twilight, with natural lighting). Despite advertising the BSI image sensor, the images are somewhat grainy in low light and dismal in twilight. The duo-tone flash works for what it is supposed to do, but it can never come even close to a Xenon flash. Before I forget, it is worth mentioning that the camera supports 2x zoom, which is digital, but lossless due to the large image sensor.

The wide-angle front camera is good enough for selfies and adeptly handles video calling via supported chat clients. It might seem underpowered at 1.2 mp, but it can still capture 720p HD videos.

Video shooting works without a glitch even at 1080p. This phone supports recording surround sound audio. Playing back the recorded video in the phone by plugging in a pair of headphones really takes you back to the ambience during the time of recording. With the upcoming Denim update, the camera is slated to get upgraded to support 4K video recording. Of course, it doesn’t matter much as most of us are unlikely to have a 4K screen anytime soon to appreciate the results.

Multimedia

Format supports for audio and video are limited as on any Windows Phone handset. You will need to install third-party video players such as Phantom Player to be able to view unsupported formats. Video playback is good as expected and thankfully, the pixel persistence issue doesn’t appear to spoil the fun here.

The audio playback is good with a respectable maximum volume level. The WH-108 earphones that come with the handset is okay as a handsfree for making and receiving calls, but disappointing when it comes to listening to music. You will have to invest in better earphones, which is a pity when you realize that you have already paid so much for this handset, and Nokia is not even prudent enough to bundle along decent earphones like it used to do with its music-centric handsets a few years ago. If it bundles a free Nokia Music Unlimited subscription with the handset, I wonder what is stopping it from providing decent earphones to listen to that music.

When you use it with a decent set of earphones/headphones, the audio sounds much better. The device supports Dolby Digital Plus, which enhances the listening experience when the source supports such encoding.

Telephony and Internet

The 930 is excellent as a phone. It catches weak signals where many other phones would falter and then hangs on to that weak signal. The call audio quality is very good for the earpiece as well as the speakerphone, and also the microphone, as attested by the person who listened at the other end.

Internet communication is handled via Wi-Fi and mobile internet. Of these, up to 4G mobile internet is supported, wherever it is available. Of course, this is not yet available for mobile handsets in India, so the performance remains to be seen. Similar to its ability to capture and retain weak mobile signals, the Wi-Fi module also sports similar capability as far as the Wi-Fi is concerned, and thus allows you to use it farther from a Wi-Fi hotspot.

Battery Life

While the Lumia 930 sports a 2420 mAh battery, which should do a good job on paper, in real life it doesn’t work that way. The handset just about lasts a day of medium usage before requiring a recharge. If you use internet a lot, you will need to carry along the charger and data cable to ensure that the battery is not dead by the time you embark on your journey home from work.

My Verdict

The Nokia Lumia 930 is a mixed bag when it comes to features and performance. The handset is the most powerful of Windows Phone devices at present and can handle everything perfectly well. It looks good and the screen is gorgeous. It comes with Windows Phone 8.1 along with its bells and whistles. The camera quality is the best its class overall.
There are a few negatives as well, such as the below average battery life, not-so-good low light camera performance, bad quality bundled handsfree, lack of expandable storage, and of course, the rather high price tag.
If you are looking for a competent Windows Phone, you can even go for a Lumia 830, although you will have to settle for an HD LCD display instead, 1 GB RAM, 10 mp camera, a slower CPU, and half as much of onboard storage but with expandable storage. In that case, even the Lumia 730 with almost all the same hardware (except the inferior camera) as the 830 would suffice, and it even sports a superior HD AMOLED display, all for a fraction of the cost.
All said and done, the Nokia Lumia 930 is overall the best Windows Phone handset to come from Nokia. However, I still think it is overpriced for what it offers, which is a generation old hardware as compared to the current crop of premium Android devices. However, we can say the same for the latest iPhone too, can’t we?

Rating:

Features: 4/5
Performance: 4/5
Value for Money: 3/5
Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Pros: Good phone and multimedia performance, Excellent overall camera performance, Application store has most necessary apps, Nokia Music Unlimited subscription.

Cons: Below average battery life, Grainy low light camera performance, Display doesn't support Glance and exhibits pixel persistence, Poor quality handsfree for music, No expandable memory, Heats up after some gaming, Expensive.