Nokia is trying its hand in the mega-screen smartphone market with its new Nokia Lumia 1520. With a screen that stretches 6 inches diagonally, the Lumia 1520 is Nokia’s first attempt at the “phablet” market that was pioneered by the Samsung Galaxy Note phone.
According to theverge.com:
“The Lumia 1520 is Nokia’s first effort to conquer the big-smartphone world. The 1520 has a massive, 6-inch 1080p display and is the first Nokia device to use Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 800 processor.
“All of that size isn’t for nothing, however, because the 1520 features one of the most beautiful displays on any smartphone. The 6-inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel IPS LCD is bright, crisp, well saturated, and just really nice to look at. Blacks are inky and deep, colors pop with authority, and the vibrant, primary-color-based Windows Phone interface seems to almost leap right off the panel. The screen includes all of Nokia’s exclusive display features, including ClearBlack polarization for great outdoor visibility and super-sensitive touch response that works even through gloves.”
Although the Nokia Lumia boasts a bigger and impressive display for Windows Phone, that’s all the benefits that new users will receive. The Windows Phone platform doesn’t lend itself well to such a large screen, suggesting that bigger isn’t always better.
As also reported by theverge.com:
“When Nokia and Microsoft decided to go big with the Lumia 1520, they indeed did in some respects. The new display is tremendous and the faster processor makes the 1520 the speediest Windows Phone around. But the compromises you have to make for such a large screen aren’t rewarded with a significantly different or better experience than any other Windows Phone. The cumbersome size isn’t comfortable to use on the go or to keep in your pocket, and though the 1520 is nearly as big as a small tablet, it doesn’t offer any of the advantages that tablet software can bring to the table. Windows Phone needs more work to get the most out of such a big screen, and it desperately needs a proper media store to provide content for it.”
The Nokia Lumia will be available from AT&T for $199.99 starting on Nov. 22 in white, black, yellow, or red. However, it seems as though customers who are in the market for a phablet would do better looking for a Samsung Note or the HTC One Max for now.
It should be noted that when Samsung launched the first Galaxy Note phablet it wasn’t a great device, but improved in other generations. Nokia can do the same by improving this concept and making a truly competitive large-screen device.
