Nokia Lumia 920 Review - High Quality But It's Heavy
Both Nokia and Microsoft were once titans in the smartphone world, but the pair have struggled to find favor with consumers, carriers and developers in the iPhone-Android era. Now, the two companies, which have become close partners …
Context & Ripple Effects
The 2011 dispute over comments on an adverse Lumia review showed how much rides on verdicts like this one: the Nokia-Microsoft alliance has staked its smartphone recovery on reviewers anointing a flagship, and the two companies were already described as struggling to win consumers, carriers and developers away from iPhone and Android.
AllThingsD's call on the Lumia 920 splits the difference — high-quality hardware, but heavy — while Microsoft separately confirmed it has identified the cause of random reboots on Windows Phone 8 devices and plans an over-the-air fix in December. A flagship review landing mid-holiday-quarter alongside a platform stability bug puts both halves of the partnership under scrutiny at once.
First-order effects
- The weight criticism gives carriers a concrete reason to steer holiday shoppers toward lighter iPhone and Android handsets, blunting the 920's otherwise strong hardware case at the moment shelf placement matters most.
- Microsoft's promised December over-the-air fix for the Windows Phone 8 rebooting issue becomes the immediate credibility test for the platform the Lumia 920 anchors.
Second-order effects
- Nokia absorbs reputational damage from a software defect it does not fully control — the reboot bug attaches to its flagship regardless of the device's build quality, straining the division of labor inside the alliance.
- Developers and carriers reading Lumia sales this quarter get their clearest signal yet on whether hardware praise can convert into volume, which determines how much third-party app investment Windows Phone attracts next cycle.
Third-order effects
- If strong hardware keeps failing to offset the app gap, pressure builds on the two-company alliance model itself: Apple and Google control hardware, software and ecosystem end to end, and the 920's mixed reception feeds the argument that only deeper integration — or consolidation — can close that gap.
The trend: Flagship reviews are becoming referenda on the Nokia-Microsoft alliance rather than on any single handset, with software polish and app supply — not build quality — deciding whether Windows Phone gains share.