A little background information first. I have used pretty much every phone offered by at&t, ranging from Blackberry to iPhone, to a plethora of Android devices. I have also used older WP7 phones like the Focus and Surround. The initial lack of features on the WP7 operating system really turned me off. Simple things I took for granted on my iPhone (able to enter a url while in landscape) were missing from the older builds of WP7. I have not used a WP7 phone since, until I got this Lumia.
The first thing I noticed about it was the overall quality feel of the phone. The phone feels a lot more durable ( if you can call a phone durable) than a lot of other phones I have handled lately. I am using the black Lumia and the overall look and feel of the phone is great. Other phones like the Galaxy S II or Samsung note feel high quality but a bit more fragile than the 900. In looks and appearance: 9/10.
The screen on the device is great. I have had other phones where I could not even read the screen in partial sunlight. This is not the case on the Lumia. In direct sunlight the screen was still clear and VERY readable. The only issue I have with the screen is the fact that it is raised above the bezel of the phone, and if it is dropped face-first that thing is definitely getting hit. Not a huge deal but it would have been nice to at least have the screen flush with the bezel. Screen: 8.5/10
Battery life on the phone is decent. I find myself charging it about every day to day and a half. That being said I am not using it as much as some other smart phones I have owned due to the fact that some of the apps I used on previous phones are not available for the WP7 platform. The battery charges pretty quickly, but still not nearly as good as an iPhone. Nothing too special here, pretty much what you would expect from a smart phone with LTE and a 4.3 inch screen. Battery: 7/10.
The call quality and signal strength is pretty good on the Lumia. There are certain places that I go where my iPhone has little or no signal; the Lumia seems to get a bit better reception. My girlfriend noticed I was on a new phone when I made my first call, she said I sounded a bit clearer. I haven’t dropped a call since I have had the phone, this is an improvement from my iPhone. The strength of the internal speaker is a bit disappointing. Even when at 10 the call volume is just good enough to hear. I prefer to have it loud enough at 7/10 and have some room to make it louder. Some people who may not hear well may complain the speaker is a bit faint. The speaker phone on the other hand is great. Nice and loud, even movies and music play loud enough to show a group a video and not have to compete with background noise. Phone/Speaker: 8/10
The camera on the phone is good, very good. I have used plenty of high end phones but for some reason I have yet to find a camera that competes with an iPhone 4’s 5 mega-pixel, let alone the 4S’ 8 megapixel. The Camera on the Lumia 900 is one of the best I have seen. I don’t know if it is good enough to say it is BETTER than a 4S camera, but I can say that I would use either one and be satisfied with the picture quality. I am a really big fan of physical camera buttons, to many phones don’t have on, or if they do it is not a dedicated button and in a One unique feature I really like about the Lumia is the two-tier button for the camera. Just like most digital cameras if you push lightly on the camera button it focuses, and push again to take the picture. I would give the camera a 9/10.
Overall I was very pleased with the experience the Lumia 900 has provided so far. The phone is very smooth and does everything I need it to do. The only area where it is lacking would be the availability of applications. This isn’t a phone issue, but until mainstream applications such as Pandora become available for WP7 devices the platform as a whole will always have a hard time taking market-share from other mobile operating systems.
The first thing I noticed about it was the overall quality feel of the phone. The phone feels a lot more durable ( if you can call a phone durable) than a lot of other phones I have handled lately. I am using the black Lumia and the overall look and feel of the phone is great. Other phones like the Galaxy S II or Samsung note feel high quality but a bit more fragile than the 900. In looks and appearance: 9/10.
The screen on the device is great. I have had other phones where I could not even read the screen in partial sunlight. This is not the case on the Lumia. In direct sunlight the screen was still clear and VERY readable. The only issue I have with the screen is the fact that it is raised above the bezel of the phone, and if it is dropped face-first that thing is definitely getting hit. Not a huge deal but it would have been nice to at least have the screen flush with the bezel. Screen: 8.5/10
Battery life on the phone is decent. I find myself charging it about every day to day and a half. That being said I am not using it as much as some other smart phones I have owned due to the fact that some of the apps I used on previous phones are not available for the WP7 platform. The battery charges pretty quickly, but still not nearly as good as an iPhone. Nothing too special here, pretty much what you would expect from a smart phone with LTE and a 4.3 inch screen. Battery: 7/10.
The call quality and signal strength is pretty good on the Lumia. There are certain places that I go where my iPhone has little or no signal; the Lumia seems to get a bit better reception. My girlfriend noticed I was on a new phone when I made my first call, she said I sounded a bit clearer. I haven’t dropped a call since I have had the phone, this is an improvement from my iPhone. The strength of the internal speaker is a bit disappointing. Even when at 10 the call volume is just good enough to hear. I prefer to have it loud enough at 7/10 and have some room to make it louder. Some people who may not hear well may complain the speaker is a bit faint. The speaker phone on the other hand is great. Nice and loud, even movies and music play loud enough to show a group a video and not have to compete with background noise. Phone/Speaker: 8/10
The camera on the phone is good, very good. I have used plenty of high end phones but for some reason I have yet to find a camera that competes with an iPhone 4’s 5 mega-pixel, let alone the 4S’ 8 megapixel. The Camera on the Lumia 900 is one of the best I have seen. I don’t know if it is good enough to say it is BETTER than a 4S camera, but I can say that I would use either one and be satisfied with the picture quality. I am a really big fan of physical camera buttons, to many phones don’t have on, or if they do it is not a dedicated button and in a One unique feature I really like about the Lumia is the two-tier button for the camera. Just like most digital cameras if you push lightly on the camera button it focuses, and push again to take the picture. I would give the camera a 9/10.
Overall I was very pleased with the experience the Lumia 900 has provided so far. The phone is very smooth and does everything I need it to do. The only area where it is lacking would be the availability of applications. This isn’t a phone issue, but until mainstream applications such as Pandora become available for WP7 devices the platform as a whole will always have a hard time taking market-share from other mobile operating systems.
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