To nicely accompany the announcement of Windows Phone 8.1, Nokia today revealed the Lumia 930 smartphone, a slick new flagship handset that the Finnish company is touting as "the best of Microsoft and Lumia." Discover what all the fuss is about as we run through the features, specs and other key details right after the fold!
Even though most vendors have a fairly obvious flagship device, Nokia likes to keep things fresh, and as such, it could be argued that up until today, the company had three marquee devices in the all-round Lumia 925, phablet Lumia 1520, and the camera-centric Lumia 1020. But today’s announcement of the Lumia 930, as the number implies, is an upgrade upon the former, and judging by the impressive tech specs, a significant one at that.
One thing you’ll immediately notice is that the device is strikingly similar to the Lumia Icon, and given that the Lumia 930 won’t be launching in the US, this is essentially the Lumia Icon for the rest of the world.
Features and Specs
Like most Lumias, the 930 packs an impressive rear-facing shooter, so let’s start with that.
The Lumia 930 offers a 20-megapixel PureView camera with optical image stabilization similar to the main snapper of the Lumia 1520, while the front-facing shooter is a simple 1.2-megapixel affair supportive of wide-angle shots.
The Lumia 930 sports a crisp, 5-inch full HD 1080p panel of 1920 × 1080. This equates to a very healthy 441 ppi, more than competitive with the very best displays on the market. Protected by Gorilla Glass 3, Nokia claims the "near-180 degree viewing angles," which should help make gaming, reading and general usage a reflection-free experience.
The device is kept going through the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor clocked at 2.2 GHz, and although the Sony Xperia Z2, Samsung Galaxy S5 and HTC One (M8) all pack variants of the newer Snapdragon 801, you do feel that the Lumia 930’s SoC should provide more than enough fire-power for the famously slick Windows Phone OS.
The kicker of 2GB RAM should make for a nice smooth experience, and with 32GB of on-board storage, should satisfy the requirements of most power users.
The handset is also equipped with LTE and Bluetooth while the 2420 mAh battery should just about keep things ticking over.
Unsurprisingly, the just-announced Windows Phone 8.1, which offers the likes of Action Center and the Cortana voice assistant, will ship with the device, as well as the likes of OneDrive, Office, HERE Maps and MixRadio.
As ever, you also get a bunch of neat image-related apps from Nokia, including Nokia Camera, Nokia Storyteller, Nokia Creative Studio and Nokia Refocus, so wherever you are, you can shoot and tweak that perfect shot on-the-fly.
The trademark slick polycarbonate finish is evident once again, although the device isn’t so heavily clad in the shiny plastic stuff as many of those before it. In fact, the star of the show is the aluminum frame running right around the entire edge of the device, and with some metallic accents and that aforementioned robustness of the Gorilla Glass shield, the Lumia 930 is both elegant and sturdy.
Nokia is famed for keeping color options as vibrant as possible, and the newly-announced handset is no exception, with bright orange, bright green, black and white available from the get-go.
Price and Release Date
The Nokia Lumia 930 will be available from June for $599 in select markets including Europe, Asia, India, the Middle East and Latin America, before launching worldwide thereafter.
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