Why Nokia made Lumia 925 and 928
Ever since Nokia Lumia 925 came into rumors, many of us been wondering why Nokia wanted to come out with another version of Lumia 920 even if it has better camera. Why not just roll out those features into next flagship device? In this post I am putting up my thoughts about this from what I have heard from different people and lastly from Hans at the Nokia event at UK.
What is different about Lumia 925 and Lumia 928?
It’s a Lumia 920 variant same as Lumia 928 which is a CDMA device for Verizon. Now lets pen down all the major differences and the only differences.
Lumia 925:
- Aluminum + Polycarbonate body
- Pureview Camera
- No In-built Wireless Charging
Lumia 928:
- Infinity Display
- Best Speakers in the Phone
- Xenon Flash which is best when used in low light.
Why did Nokia choose metal body for Lumia 925
Nokia has always been praised for their solid polycarbonate designs for phone. They are stronger and brings more personal feeling when a user holds their hands on the phone. In case of Lumia 925 they chose aluminum which turns out to be because Vodafone wanted their signals to work better with the phone which wasn’t already working that great with polycarbonate body.
So when Nokia choses materials it’s because they look at the functional aspect. Metals work great when it comes to signals and hence they made their way for the edges where antennas are placed and work great with Vodafone’s frequency. Since metal has no role to play on the back of the phone, polycarbonate made its way which also makes sure that there is less of scratches and bent when its metal.
In the Nokia Event Vodafone Executive came on stage to explain this situation where he said the signals are very complex here and when Nokia and Vodafone got together, getting the signal work properly.
PureView Camera
Lumia 925 Camera is made up of 6 lens which not only has improved the low light photography even with no flash magical but even when used in daylight, they are sharper. Lumia 920 set a standard which no other phone could beat and now with Lumia 925, the bar has been raised even higher.
As a matter of fact, I did took a picture with both Lumia 925 and Lumia 920 and the Lumia 920 does not stand even close to what Lumia 925 does with low light imaging. Below is a sample which was taken in darker than normal low light condition. I just have this sample and no more. ( Lumia 920 on left while Lumia 925 on right. Shot with Nokia Pureview 808)
Satisfying Operators Demand around the Globe & The Business Strategy:
Nokia has worked with the most challenging operators Horizon, AT & T, Vodafone, etc. So when operators came out with their own set of data of consumer research they prioritize certain things.
If we carefully take a look at the differences between 920, 925 and 928, it turns out that not only did Nokia took operators demand carefully but they changed specification here and there so none of the phones could be put over the others. As an example Lumia 925 has 16GB of storage when compared to Lumia 920 while the camera of Lumia 925 is far better than Lumia 920 while Lumia 925 has infinity display with the best speaker in the world.
Now If you combine this with operators demand, Nokia has now three assets when it comes to high-end smartphones. Now its up to consumers to decide which Lumia to pickup because every operator is offering a Lumia 920 with variations.
Conclusion:
That said, I think this is the end of Lumia 920 series. Nokia has done a lot when it comes to Imaging and all these phones are great examples of it. It’s the right time for Nokia to push the limits to other aspects as well. Waterproof phones is one such example. While Microsoft has a lot to do when it comes to Windows Phone enhancements, I think Nokia will have to wait till something major rolls out at this build.
