[yaken]

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.

[gaiking]

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.

Any lag issues with swiping and tapping, like other posts have mentioned?

[yaken]

I have not had any issues. There is very little lag if any.

[edwrdcrlo]

Thanks for the review!

[ovrkast]

A very detailed review...thank you! How's the polycarbonate body? Any fine scratches or scuffs on it?

[yaken]

There is no scratching on the back of the phone at all, but there are small scratches on the silver bezel around the camera, a lot of them

[ovrkast]

There is no scratching on the back of the phone at all, but there are small scratches on the silver bezel around the camera, a lot of them

Awesome...thanks for the confirmation. I'm not too concerned with the chrome camera bezel as I am with the body of the phone.

[RiseAgainst94]

This is a fantastic review and really reassuring. Best review I have seen so far. If you have any picture samples that would be really appreciated.

[yaken]

Here some pics are. Hope this works as I am in class and doing this from my iPad.






In the last picture you can see some scratching on the back by the camera.

[RiseAgainst94]

Thanks for the pictures! Really looks beautiful. Wonder if there is a way to cut a screen protector to cover the rings around the camera...I'll try it.

When/If you have some time it'd be great to get some sample photos from the camera of the 900. Good stuff though.

[yaken]

Sure. I can post a few when I get home.

[RiseAgainst94]

Alright, great! I know a lot of people, including myself, are very curious as to how the camera will preform.

[freestaterocker]

Great review! Answered every question I still had about the 900, including whether I could live with the black instead of waiting for the white. Sucks, cuz I hate waiting... :)

[yaken]

Finally got home from school. I snapped some photos in a few different environments. Camera is good, but in limited light settings it is so-so. In low light it looks good, see the empty drink photo. In mid light, in my office, it is ok. Let me know what you think. And if anyone has any questions about the phone just let me know, I am at your disposal.

[krisguy]

I've had my phone for almost a week now, and I concur with the scratches on the camera bezel. Other than that, phone is a champ!

[edwrdcrlo]

Thanks for the pictures. I hope they did the same thing with Lumia 800 where the screen is curved glass and is seamless with the body. Not a big deal, still gorgeous.

[threed61]

An AT&T store employee let me play with his 900 at the store, only thing I didn't care for was the rather sharp edges on the corners. He didn't mention how LTE worked, as we don't have here yet. Everything I used worked well. He even downloaded Drive, so I could see how that worked.

[jmerrey]

Thanks for the pictures. I hope they did the same thing with Lumia 800 where the screen is curved glass and is seamless with the body. Not a big deal, still gorgeous.

They didn't.

[JPDVM2014]

The sample pics look good except for the two mid light pics. There is quite a bit of noise. I like that, even taking a pic of a glass, the flash doesn't completely wash out the pic. I wonder what it looks like when taking pics of people. Did you change any settings or just use default? I'm just curious because it may take better pics if some settings are tweaked. Either way, the pics look way better than my Trophy. Lol.

[yaken]

I was suprised/dissapointed with the quality of the lower lighting pics. Way too much noise

[edwrdcrlo]

They didn't.

Yes, they didn't. That's why I wish they did. But not a big deal, though.

[RiseAgainst94]

The outdoor pictures look very very good to me. The two indoor low light (not the glass one) have a lot of noise w/o flash but that's suspected from a phone camera. The glass and can picture in low light actually looks quite nice. Thank you for the pictures, I really like the results.

[kashk5]

I'm still uncertain as to whether tethering will be available on the Lumia 900. Nokia said that it would be available on launch day for the 900 and 610, and that an update would be sent out for the 800 and 710. Can you confirm as to whether regular LTE customers will have tethering available on the 900 or is it still reserved for those with plans that specifically offer tethering?

[MAERSK]

Is the video quality improved over the Lumia 800? How bout posting a quick vid if possible? Thanks for the review.

[rickerwin]

I'm still uncertain as to whether tethering will be available on the Lumia 900. Nokia said that it would be available on launch day for the 900 and 610, and that an update would be sent out for the 800 and 710. Can you confirm as to whether regular LTE customers will have tethering available on the 900 or is it still reserved for those with plans that specifically offer tethering?

I was in my local AT&T store today and the all the reps were given Lumia 900s this morning to start playing with them before the April 8th release. I asked about tethering and the phone does support it ... for a fee. AT&T will turn on tethering with a 5GB data plan which costs $50/mo prior to any corporate discounts.