GSMArena Review of the 1520 is up!

[irvin792]

Nokia Lumia 1520 review: Finnish fable - GSMArena.com

 

[vlad0]

Spot on

"Nokia went with color reproduction that is as accurate as possible on the 808 PureView, but then upped the saturation for the Lumia 1020. Having faced lots of negative feedback the Finns decided to revert to their original strategy with the Lumia Black update. And since Lumia 1520 comes with Lumia Black out of the box we were hoping that natural is what we'll get.

As it turned the resolved colors are indeed more natural and closer to the 808 PureView phone, although we did get the occasional off white balance. Luckily, with a viewfinder this big, you can easily see when the automatic white balance is failing and intervene via one of the virtual rings."

I've been saying that since the very first samples.

Also

"Let's move on to the 5MP shots. These photos are the ones you'll be sharing on Facebook or via email. They are also easily the best 5MP photos we've seen outside of the 808 PureView and the Lumia 1020. The noise is almost non-existent at this point and the per-pixel detail is really great."

Again... spot on

Also, based on those observations, I wasn't surprised at the good audio quality.. its obvious that the Snap 800 set up has a very good DSP on board.

 

[5150 Joker]

Good review but lots of trolling in the comments. Also they kept mentioning how Nokia will soon be gone. While MS is taking over the brand, has there been any indication that MS plans to kill the Nokia branding? It would be stupid to do so considering how well known it is.

Sent from my RM-937_apac_hong_kong_222 using Tapatalk

 

[vlad0]

Good review but lots of trolling in the comments. Also they kept mentioning how Nokia will soon be gone. While MS is taking over the brand, has there been any indication that MS plans to kill the Nokia branding? It would be stupid to do so considering how well known it is.

Sent from my RM-937_apac_hong_kong_222 using Tapatalk

They can't use the Nokia brand name on smartphones.

 

[5150 Joker]

They can't use the Nokia brand name on smartphones.

Ok I just read this article: http://techcrunch.com/2013/09/03/no...l-up-to-mobile-devices-again-by-january-2016/ where it states that MS has the rights to the Nokia mobile brand (low end phones) for 10 years but Nokia will be able to start using their own name again by 2015. But Lumia itself should become a Microsoft property so we could inevitably see the same design and quality continue but under the MS Lumia branding which is fine by me.

Microsoft, it has been noted, is buying outright the Lumia and Asha brands

 

[Ftruck90]

Have been thinking about getting the 1520 for a while and have been waiting on this before pulling trigger. I find GSMarenas reviews to be some of the best in the game especially their battery tests. Jesus, what a battery test score it is. My biggest gripe with my 920 was its atrocious battery life, looks like the 1520 well and truly solves that and then some. Hopefully I can get into a Harvey Norman (exclusive retailer for the 1520 here in Australia) in the next few days to give it a look in.

 

[Luminatic]

Thanks for the link, I like GSMArenas tests.
I recently held a 1520 and was surprised how nice it us to hold.

 

[gravage]

"average sunlight legibility"? That's not even close to true.

 

[martan1981#WN]

What I don't understand about their battery tests is how exactly they do the Internet test. For example HTC One scored 10 hours of battery life using it for Internet. But I could never squeeze more than 5 hours onscreen. So how could it lasts for 10 hours? Any ideas?

 

[martan1981#WN]

"average sunlight legibility"? That's not even close to true.

It could be average according to direct measurements. Perceived sunlight legibility could be much higher. Probably the blacks are too bright on the sun, which lowers the overall contrast. But it does not mean, that you can't see whites properly. That's why you should take this test with reserve. Many phones that have excellent readability on direct sunlight scored low there.

 

[snowmutt]

"The Nokia Lumia 1520 is the company's first phablet but we're not saying that to set the scene for a softer verdict. On the contrary, an evolutionary leap for Windows Phone in terms of both hardware and software, the Lumia 1520 is a phablet worth having. No need to heap praise when it's as simple as that."

:excited:

Well said, well put. There were a few things I had issues with, but the review (for the international version, not the AT&T version here in the States) was very good.

 

[mike13ftw]

107 hours battery life . Its insane for a today smartphone. I hoping that my l820 would last so much and nit to charge it twice a day

Sent from my Lumia 820 using Tapatalk

 

[vlad0]

Ok I just read this article: Nokia’s Licensing Its Name To Microsoft, But It’s Free To Keep Building Hardware, And Could Even Dial Up To Mobile Devices Again By January 2016 | TechCrunch where it states that MS has the rights to the Nokia mobile brand (low end phones) for 10 years but Nokia will be able to start using their own name again by 2015. But Lumia itself should become a Microsoft property so we could inevitably see the same design and quality continue but under the MS Lumia branding which is fine by me.

Yes, that's why I specified by saying "smartphones" Hopefully build quality, innovation, and overall design carries over.. there is always a chance of loosing some talent when that kind of transition happens, but I hope that Microsoft can retain most of it...

 

[Ftruck90]

What I don't understand about their battery tests is how exactly they do the Internet test. For example HTC One scored 10 hours of battery life using it for Internet. But I could never squeeze more than 5 hours onscreen. So how could it lasts for 10 hours? Any ideas?

Yeah there are definitely some handsets that get results I don't understand. The iPhone 5 got just under 10 hours but I'd be lucky to get 4. The Lumia 920 's and 1020's around 5 hours is pretty spot on though.

 

[giantenemybird]

Have been thinking about getting the 1520 for a while and have been waiting on this before pulling trigger. I find GSMarenas reviews to be some of the best in the game especially their battery tests. Jesus, what a battery test score it is. My biggest gripe with my 920 was its atrocious battery life, looks like the 1520 well and truly solves that and then some. Hopefully I can get into a Harvey Norman (exclusive retailer for the 1520 here in Australia) in the next few days to give it a look in.

I owned the 1520 for a month. The battery life was fantastic.

 

[MichaelBanning]

I just read the final part and it's really positive which is great. And it wasn't ALL about how big it is and how weak the reviewer is. Shocking to read in that respect.

Sent from my Windows Phone using Tapatalk

 

[maverick786us]

I find GSM arena review to be most trustworthy of all. Looks like phone arena is on payroll of Samsung. In phone arena the review and comparison of Lumia 1520, the call quality is considered at best, average. While GSM Arena stated that "The Nokia Lumia 1520 offered loud and clear in-call sound. Signal reception was problem-free as well." Looks like they used international version of 1520 instead of AT&T version.

Although video recording quality is still a major flaw, which Nokia has to overcome ASAP.

 

[mike13ftw]

All people say that phone arena support apple except you

Sent from my Lumia 820 using Tapatalk

 

[WanderingTraveler]

All people say that phone arena support apple except you

Sent from my Lumia 820 using Tapatalk

Learn to compromise.
Let's just say that PhoneArena is on Samsung's payroll, but can't get rid of their fanboyism for Apple?

 

[taymur]

"Selecting text does take some getting used to. You hold your finger over some text for a second or two and then release. The text area gets highlighted and then you can move the beginning and end cursors to adjust how much text you want to select."

The person who wrote this has no idea how to use the windows phone 8 keyboard. I for sure, never done that.