Best phone for the typical Gen Y person April 18, 2012

Reviewer:  Viet  (Springfield, VA, US) -

I'm not much of a power user when it comes to phones. However, I do use it to somewhat most of its capabilities. Initially starting off with an iphone for its simplicity, I opted for an Android for the more customizability. After using these different mobile OSs, some glaring issues pop out, namely the OSs being on the extremes of simplicity and customizability. For my own personal uses, the Windows Phone OS fits a happy median between the other OSs. With Palm being out of the picture, there are no other major competitors that fill that middle ground.

As for the hardware itself, the phone is sleek and simple. It is bigger than I expected, being larger than any previous phone I've owned. Although its a single core, it performs like a champ and I haven't had any issues with crashes or freezes. From a moderate user's standpoint, the OS and phone is visually appealing while being aesthetically and operationally simple. If you're tired of iphones and androids, take a stroll with a Windows Phone, particularly the Lumia 900 and you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Best Phone I Have Ever Owned April 16, 2012

Reviewer:  James 

Went from a gen one Iphone to a 3g, then to a Samsung Focus, lost the focus at a Mavricks game so i went into the store and lo and behold Nokia of all mother-loving companies has a new smartphone out. Having owned Nokia phones in the past quality of construction is guaranteed (the focus was cheap and plasticky). Picked it up right away (for free i might add) and never had any of the problems others are reporting. Still I applied the software update through zune (actually a really good software suite, another huge surprise) never can be too careful.

Best parts of the phone,
1) Design. I love the way this thing looks, i got the black version but the blue one really pops.
2)Speed. This phone is blazing fast ive never seen internet so fast on a phone before. Every app loads up really fast and youtube works like it never has before for me on a mobile
3) App ecosystem. The best apps are designed for Windows Phone 7 specifically, and when they are it really shows through in the unity of design. USA today app, Flixter, IGN, and IMDB are some of my favorites they look and work great. I finally found pandora on the phone as well, wpPandora works great (though i still hope for official support)
4) Battery life. Thats to be expected with such a fricken huge battery on this thing, my old focus would die after just a few hours of heavy use, don't even get me started on the anemic original 3g iphone. This mamma jamma can go all dang day without needing a wall socket.
5) I was worried if the phone was going to be as well supported as the Iphone, but nokia and MS having come out with a software fix and offering a 100 dollar credit less than a week after the phone launched was the deal sealer for me. If they are willing to admit immediately that there is a problem and then FIX IT a company has my support.(unlike apple and its grip of death B.S.)
But this phone BEFORE the 21st of april and you essentially get it for FREE. Its really the best darn phone I've ever used.

Android users. Stay away, you cant customize anything other than the color of the livetiles and the lock-screen so you will probably hate it. Though honestly i like a more controlled ecosystem than the chaos that is android.

LOVE THIS PHONE! April 9, 2012

Reviewer:  AK 

Quite simply LOVE the phone! Easy to use. Simple set-up. Totally different than any other OS I have ever had before. People hub is very cool and the maps are great. Intuitive and very easy to use!

Best Phone on the Market April 9, 2012

Reviewer:  T. McFadden "Tmac" 

I just picked up one of these phones. I have used Android and Iphones in the past and Windows Phone has the best e-mail, calender integration for outlook. The interface really fast. I highly recommend this phone to everyone.

This is my first Nokia phone and the build quality is awesome.

LOVE the Lumia 900! April 9, 2012

Reviewer:  jbrock31 

Coming from an HTC Trophy on Verizon, i have already had experience with Windows Phone. I love the OS and feel it brings a lot of new ideas to how a smartphone should operate.

The phone is incredibly fast, feels great, and looks incredible. The brightness of the screen in the daylight is the best on any smartphones i've owned by far.

My wife switched from a Droid and has had this phone for about 4 days and she loves it as well. The biggest thing for her is getting use to the Windows Phone OS, as she came from a droid. So far it has been very easy for her, and she hasn't had to ask me too many questions.

If i had to pick a con for this phone, it would be the 8MP camera. It takes great pictures in good lighting, but isn't that great in darker settings. The auto-adjust feature works well, it takes nice pictures, but it isn't the best camera on a smartphone that there is.

Blown away... Amazing phone April 9, 2012

Reviewer:  Mead 42 "90sHipHop_com"  (Miami, FL) -

I was weary getting a Windows phone because no one says anything nice but can never tell me why Windows isn't as good as IOS or Android. I decided to take the leap and was truly blown away and have fallen in love with this device. Having switched from the iPhone and no longer being tethered to the horrid iTunes application Windows phone is the platform of the future. Please give me an Air-Play equivalent for X-Box Microsoft.

Talk about Epicness! April 15, 2012

Reviewer:  Jean-Philippe Savard 

I'll start by saying i am a developer who create application for Windows Phone, Android and iOS.

That being said, for that reason, i own Smartphones from all Mobile OS.

Windows Phone is, for me, an incredible joy to use and develop on.

- As a user i find the OS crazily fast, stable and responsive. I am not even talking about the gorgeous and delightful UI/UX here.

- As a developer, i think that the Microsoft development tools are probably among the best, if not the best, and most mature on the market.
- Developing for Windows Phone is pain-free, headaches-free, fast and the Emulator is accurate.
- You can get from 'Visual Studio / Windows Phone SDK Installation' => 'Deployment of first application' in almost no time. C#, XAML, Silverlight and XNA, all is there for your development journey, for both professionals and hobbyist developers.
-Thats another market and potential buyers right there, in your pocket!!!

Concerning the Nokia Lumia 900 device... just... WOW! If you want the best and most delightful experience on Windows Phone, the Lumia's line of devices is the way to go!

Good Job Nokia!

absolutely awesome April 23, 2012

Reviewer:  nick r 

First off let me say that this is my second windows phone with the new windows 7.0 plus.... I just bought 6 months ago the galaxy skyrocket and while I loved the phone I always missed my Samsung focus because i just loved the windows OS. The one thing that stands out to me about this phone is the the screen... Considering that it only has a 400*800 screen resolution and it is the same as the skyrocket this screen just looks so vibrant and at times almost looks like picture is in 3d its amazing !!!!! The polycarbonate shell is amazing the gorilla glass screen really is the best glass on any phone its awesome not to have to worry about spending money on a screen protector and this is the first phone I've owned that I don't want to put a case on cause to me this phone is gorgeous and im actually not worried for once about knicking up the body...why ? Well the color goes right to the core of the casing I have the black cyan wasn't available but I really like the black my job gets dirty so I wanted black plus with the black the screen looks like it's part of the body not like the blue or the shiney white model

Performance wise I've been overly impressed I love the Zune pass I love the web browser, the marketplace keeps growing everyday
So in the end I can tell anyone for a hundred bucks this phone is hands down the best buy you can get... The sheer look of this phone is stunning...all I have to say is remember when the iPhone came out and people bought cause it looked like nothing else out there well here comes Nokia with this amazing looking and performing device with the hands down clearest and loudest phone quality I've had in my experience with smartphones oh yeah and its finally nice to actually get through an entire day with out actually having to charge my phone and I am a heavy user all day with about 4 hours of talk time,texts galore, YouTubeing emails, and web browsing im not sticking this awesomeness on the charger till around 830-9 thank you Nokia !!!!

Perfect Phone April 15, 2012

Reviewer:  Washington 

Easy to Use, Quality product..Not to mention that it catches the eye of everyone that sees you using it. Well done Microsoft and Nokia!

Finally, a Premium WP Hardware April 15, 2012

Reviewer:  Francis Feliciano "Tech Geek"  (Los Angeles, CA) -

So I've gone full circle since my first cell phone, a Nokia 5165. Since then, I've had a Sony Ericsson, Nokia 6070, Motorola V300, Sony Ericsson w200, Nokia E71, the first Google Nexus, Dell Venue Pro, Samsung Focus, HTC Radar, and now back to Nokia with the Lumia 900.

As most people would agree to, Nokia is known for its great hardware. My E71 was elegant and well-built, but it was bogged down by an archaic OS in Symbian, with settings buried in layers upon layers of menu.

Nexus was my first touch-screen phone; it was a premium handset at the time, but I found the Android OS to be less than stable with some apps crashing. Dell Venue Pro had great screen and physical keyboard but it was unstable before the NoDo update - and I bricked it trying to upgrade the micro SD card! Samsung Focus was the best of the first-gen Windows Phones with a great screen and upgradeable micro SD; I bought it unlocked and used it on T-Mobile, but that kept me from getting 3G speed. So I changed my prepaid TMo plan to unlimited 4G and got the HTC Radar with "4G" capability. It is very well-made with its own unibody; I actually like its camera with HTC features (panorama, face detection, burst mode); the drawbacks are the screen with a regular LCD sized at less than 4 inches, and it had only 8gb of storage.

With the Lumia 900, Nokia delivers another great hardware complemented by a great OS in Windows Mango. It is the best phone I have ever owned/used - for now at least. I've been using the Lumia 900 since 4/11/12. Here are the pros and cons:

PROS:
1. Mango OS - simple, intuitive, and stable. Sure, Android is more configurable, but that makes it more complex to the average user, and it is less stable with more applications crashing. I've never owned an iPhone, but I've used it; surely it is simple and buttery smooth, but the UI has gone stale with the static icons. Windows Phone is more dynamic with the live tiles, with less emphasis on apps and more on getting your tasks done by having what apps do separately on other OS get done in one place.

2. Screen - colors are vibrant, blacks are deep black, and easy to view in direct sunlight. It looks awesome indoors! Gorilla glass makes it virtually scratch-proof. 4.3-in screen is just right for Goldilocks - not too big, not too small.
3. Unibody design - it stands out from your typical Android bricks and iPhone glass cases. It's sturdy and elegant at the same time.
4. Nokia Apps - Drive navigation app is well-done, and the fact that it is free and does not use data makes it even better.
5. Battery - before the update, battery lasted for about 8 hrs.; the update fixed that issue, and now I get 24 - 36 hours on average usage (email, internet-browsing, Facebook), and about 12 - 15 hrs. on heavy usage (audio/video streaming). This is even without using the battery saver mode.
6. Call/signal quality - Voice sounds clear, not muffled. Signal has not gone below 3 bars. Wow, it is a phone after all.
7. Find my Phone - Not many people mention this (or maybe are not aware of it), but with any Windows Phone you can locate/ring, disable/lock, or erase your phone online should you lose your phone, or should someone steal it. The website has some kinks, but it does work.
8. Price - an LTE device with all of the above attributes for $50 plus a $100 credit? How can you beat that?

CONS:
1. The micro-SIM tray is flimsy. It should not be a major problem unless you switch SIMs frequently.
2. The Nokia apps are not pre-installed. This does not make sense at all. (The US map [1.8gb] took me half a day to download on Wi-Fi.) The good thing is they are free and of good quality.
3. Only 16gb of built-in storage. Surely it is nice that Skydrive gives you 25gb in cloud storage, but -
4. Skydrive does not let you stream a music/video playlist without a third-party app. You have to play your files one at a time. Hopefully this gets fixed on the next OS update (Apollo).

NEUTRAL:
1. Camera is okay, nothing spectacular. Then again I have never used a smartphone with a life-changing camera, including the iPhone. Waiting for Pureview on WinPhone!
2. Number of apps - Do people really need 500k apps??? I have all the apps I need on Windows Marketplace. Some apps are overpriced, but the prices should go down once there are more apps (which means more competition).
3. I don't mind the lock button in the middle of the right side. I'm getting used to it, and I find that it's easier to unlock/lock the phone with my right thumb than having to lock/unlock it with my index finger if the button were on the top. The location is supposed to make it easier for left-handers.
4. LTE speed on ATT network - The speed obviously depends on where you are. I get usually 3 bars at my apartment (in Culver City, CA), where I get 5-7 mbps on average. With 5 bars (in Westwood/UCLA), I was able to reach 15 mbps (the maximum on the Bandwidth app I am using). The speed should get better with LTE expansion.

The phone is great overall. It's not perfect (no phone is), but it does the job for me and more. Welcome back, Nokia!

I paid $49 for this phone! April 14, 2012

Reviewer:  Luc  (Waltham, MA, United States) -

This phone is a work of art. The hardware is slick and the functionality is excellent. I waited to can my Blackberry for this phone to come out & I'm glad I did. Since we run a Microsoft Exchange shop at work the Lumia 900 becomes our #1 supported corporate phone very soon.

My first phone upgrade surprise April 12, 2012

Reviewer:  Donelle S. "Donelle S."  (Enola, PA) -

I was in the mall and decided to stop in the ATT store to see when I was available for an upgrade. I liked my LG Quantum, but I rarely used the physical keyboard and the screen was smaller and darker than I'd like. I was told I could upgrade and was looking for a "middle of the road" option for an upgrade. While the Samsung Note appealed to me because of the use of the stylus, it was just too large to consider holding to my ear. Then I saw the signs for the Lumia and after playing with it for 30 seconds, I was sold.

It might be lame to say, but it *feels* good. I thought it might be too large, but it just feels like a solid piece of electronics and being thinner than the Quantum, the increase in the other dimensions doesn't bother me. The screen is a world above my old phone...not just in size, but color and clarity. It's beautiful.

I could say it's faster, but I really can't tell. My old phone felt just as fast as this one. Maybe starting apps and switching to the camera is faster, but I haven't pulled out a stopwatch. This might sound bad, but it's a good thing.

The Nokia driving apps are nice, but I think visual voicemail is my favorite feature. I might actually listen to my voicemail now!

Anyway, I wasn't really looking for much when I was planning to upgrade, but this phone is pretty, fun to use, and I got it at a steal. I was looking for middle of the road, and this really feels like it's that "flagship" for 100 dollars.

Highly recommend.

Fantastic Phone May 22, 2012

Reviewer:  Matt 

The phone is looks beautiful, feels great in your hands and is easy to use. Different profiles of the same person are easily linked so as to be viewed in one place. The integration of various caladers in one place (including Facebook) is also a great feature. The Gorilla glass is scratch resistant and unbreakable. The screen is also easily viewable in sunlight. The phone is amazingly smooth and incredibly fast. Last but not least, the call quality and reception is great. The speaker is also of very high quality.

The best smartphone device that has worked perfect in all areas. May 15, 2012

Reviewer:  Yamraj 

I have used pretty much all the smartphone OS (Android, IOS, BB, WP7). Many times if not the OS the device had failed to work on several tasks in the past. For example: My Samsung Vibrant would always fail to register for GPS. My iPhone connection would drop and the reception was sometimes so crappy that I had to forget that I was using a phone. Then I used G2X as being the fastest android on its times (Dual core etc). Soon I figured that dual core doesn't matter to run the phone faster. I switched to SGSII to and still the same result. The screen of SGS2 was horrendously over saturated.

I saw Lumia 900 when I was at Best Buy. The phone's UI and hardware was fluid and everything worked as expected. 1 Week later I bought Lumia 900 phone. I was little skeptical of buying any new phones as I was tired of every smartphone tending to slow down over time. Btw, G2X was crazy slow just after few weeks.

I am using this phone as my daily driver and I am so amazed that it has worked in every area . GPS, directions, yelping, emails, sync, social accounts and much more. I just don't have anything to complain about this phone except one thing, Camera. Camera is not as great as I expected from Nokia. I have used Nokia phones before and their camera quality is comparable to Digital Cameras but not this one. I have the purple tint problem on most of the images that I click through this phone. This is specifically for the images taken from the camera. Nothing related to screen display. The fix is to basically click on "Auto-Fix" after you click the picture. This should fix the issue. But hey, I don't use camera every day, so I am fine with it. If I take all the features and camera issue in to consideration, this phone is by far the best device I have used as a smartphone. There are always few minor things that might bother other people but comparing those to other smartphone issues is absolutely nothing. I would give this phone a perfect 5 stars.

Top of the Line and Windows, Too! May 9, 2012

Reviewer:  Patchy Fog 

I recently purchased two Nokia Lumia 900s, and we are completely satisfied with the choice. Using this phone is just like using a Windows OS computer -- your e-mail, photos, and favorite websites are all just a tap away.

I am told by people I call that the phone sound clarity is very adequate (I am understating the case -- I was told it is "perfect" including over the SYNC system in our SUV). We were able to port our phone numbers from our old carrier -- just be sure AT&T has your correct information from your former carrier account. We did have a glitch, but AT&T quickly fixed things. AT&T also solved other problems in a way that was very beneficial to us. I cannot speak too highly of both their tech support and billing employees. They have been superb!

Bear in mind that if you are used to smaller flip phones, for example, the size of this baby takes a little getting used to; however, this slight impracticality is outweighed by all of the things this phone can do.

There are apps for everything under the sun, and many, many are free. We are using GasBuddy, WeatherBug, FastFood Nutrition, and Lotto, to name a few.

Our data package with AT&T gives each of us 3Gig of data per month. We are averaging under 10Meg a day, so we are well on course. When we use a WiFi network, we get unlimited data use and no usage charge against the 3Gig allotment. We may be able to cut back to a 300Meg plan and save on the monthly charges. (If any of this turns out differently over time, I will update this section of my review.)

If you are looking to take the next step in hardware, I am confident that you will be very happy with this choice. The AT&T-Nokia-Microsoft relationship is a good one for us customers!

Great phone May 8, 2012

Reviewer:  Jarkko Kalliokoski 

I'm the owner of Lumia 800, which already would get 4.5 stars from me but then I had chance to use this phone 1 week and I can tell that this is the best mobile phone I have ever used or even tried.
Outlook is awesome, design is marvellous. Phone is working very fast and I like WP OP system.
So this phone is definitely worth a buy.

Nokia and Windows are the BEST smartphone experience on the market today May 7, 2012

Reviewer:  Guy L. Long, Jr. "MyCleverName"  (Florida) -

I love my Lumia 900. The screen pops colors better than any Samsung. It connects to WiFi much faster and steadier than my old iPhone and Android phone. The home screen with live tiles is SO easy and intuitive to navigate. My 84 year old Aunt got the hang of it in minutes. I may have to end up getting her one. This phone is FAST....the ATT 4g speeds are great and the actual phone OS when transitioning from one task to another is fast, fluid and beautiful. It has absolutely no lag. The 16 gigs of storage are more than enough and I can post pictures and comments to Facebook and Twitter faster and easier than any other phone I've ever owned. There are 80,000 apps already and still growing. You also get 7 gigs of personal Cloud Storage via Skydrive and can have the phone automatically upload any pic you take to the cloud so that your phone doesn't have to use memory. Plus, in Skydrive, you can give access to your friends to see your photos in the cloud whenever they want. Very cool.

I love the color (Cyan) and the build feels modern and solid. Everyone who sees it want to play with it and then they want to get one.
The camera is fine for a phone and once you play with the settings and lock them in, you'll love the pictures it takes. Zune is a fantastic and beautiful music player. For only $99 there is no better phone. Android is a mess of viruses and clutter and the iPhone is a nice phone but you have to buy an entire Apple ecosystem to support it. If you are looking for a new experience, a safe experience, a fun experience and a phone that is easy, fun and beautiful then I highly recommend you go into an ATT store and play with this phone. You'll buy one.

Fast! April 27, 2012

Reviewer:  Superman 

My wife has an iphone and my Lumia 900 is soooo much faster. I'm not kidding. You should check it out at a nearby store if you don't believe me. I also like the size of the screen. When I use the iphone, everything seems so much smaller. Another plus is the battery life. It lasts in average a day and half on average. I am getting a lot of "Which phone is that?" because of the sleek design (maybe b/c of the blue color).

Nokia has done well April 16, 2012

Reviewer:  Gestalt 

I have no doubt this phone will last until it's time to upgrade and then some. It feels solid and looks good. I came from using webOS which I still love; iOS and Android weren't my thing, but WP7 makes me happy. If you aren't tied to Google or Apple yet, or if you're unhappy with what you have, I strongly recommend getting this phone.

Best Smartphone Out There April 16, 2012

Reviewer:  CW 

I recently purchased the Nokia Lumia 900 and have only positive things to say about it. It does everything I would want a smartphone to do and it does it all very quickly. I switched from a Blackberry Bold 9000 and the Lumia 900 is in a different league. The windows operating system is the best out there. Its very intuitive and functions seamlessly. I had no problems synching my email accounts. The battery life also seems to be very strong and the phone can easily get through a full day of heavy use. I would recommend this phone to anyone looking for a fast, easy to use smartphone.