I think we all know that old rhyme. I, for one, have been singing it all week as I’ve been learning and loving my new fire engine red Nokia 920 Windows 8 phone from AT&T that arrived just in time to celebrate Valentine’s Day with me.
I’ve said before how utterly amazing it is that nearly everyone I know is walking around with a palm-sized computer in their pockets, but sometimes it takes a new phone ike the Nokia 920 with all the newest technology to really drive that point home. We’re long past the days of merely making phone calls and marveling about text messaging, we’re at the point now where we are able to do nearly everything you can do on a laptop right on our phones, and let me tell you, I love it.
If you’ve been reading a while, you already know that I’m a Windows gal who has been looking to make the leap to Windows 8, and with this phone I finally got the push I needed. Say what you will about iWhatevers and Google, but as a PC gal, I will happily keep my Windows phone that goes quite well with my Windows PC and access all of my files easily right from my phone or computer, thankyouverymuch.
So, what makes the Nokia 920 different than my Samsung Windows 7 phone? Even at first glance it was clear the answer was *a lot*.
Size Does Matter: The first thing you’ll notice is that the size of the Nokia 920 is much larger than most smartphones, which I immediately liked. Having gone from a Blackberry Bold to a Google phone to my old Samsung, my screen size was progressively getting bigger with each new model and I think I’ve finally topped out at what I think is the largest size that makes sense for my needs. Since I’m online a lot over my phone and needing full screen access, this really does give me huge freedom over even the slightly smaller Samsung that I couldn’t see full frame on.
While I wouldn’t expect the larger screen size to be a deal breaker either way for most users, it actually saves me a ton of time when working on certain sites because I don’t have to scroll over or zoom out with each new page load. It may only be seconds we’re talking about, but when you multiply that by 1,000 page loads, it more than adds up.
Kids Corner: You’ve probably seen all the commercials recently with Jessica Alba and Gwen Stefani talking about the Windows 8 Kids Corner function that locks down the phone and allows your kid to use it safely, without deleting all of your important information. Having been
subjected to a phone with locked contacts for over 2 weeks after my then 8 month old son nicely reprogrammed my phone for me, I am all for anything that protects my data and keeps junior from emailing my boss at midnight with a string of incoherent messages.
While I love the idea of keeping my phone just for me, I’ve often been tempted to hand over my phone during meetings that run long or times when we’re stuck in waiting rooms, but the fear of getting my phone back reprogrammed has always stopped me. With the new Kids Corner, I no longer have to worry about what they are doing to the phone without my constant supervision because everything in their “corner” has already been approved by me and set up just for them. As cool as this is now with really little ones, I feel this feature is only going to get more and more useful as they get older and get even more tech-savvy.
Heavy on the Tech, Please: I honestly thought my Samsung was high tech as late as last week. It turns out there are phones out there that take better pictures than my point-and-shoot camera, stream movies faster than my laptop, can charge wirelessly with an additional accessory, and come with PureMotion HD+ screens with ClearBlack display featuring curved Corning Gorilla Glass 2.0 and sunlight readability enhancement. Yeah, that.
Customized for Me: I don’t know what it is about Windows phones, but from the very first time I touched one, I just “got it”. I personally love the live tile display that shows me which of my dozen emails are filling up, how many calls I missed during the last meeting, which Facebook post is blowing up and where my next appointment is with one quick glance. With the Nokia 920, the live tile display is even more customizable and you can shrink the tiles to ¼ size or you can expand them so you can read your emails and calendar right from the home screen.
Since I can never commit to anything for long, I love that it’s incredibly simple to reorganize my home screen with literally a few clicks. If I’m using an app a ton for just a few days I can bring it above the fold and move apps I haven’t touched in weeks down to the bottom, and then change it all back in a matter of seconds.
Stalk Your Friends, In a Nice Way: If I’m working on a project with a colleague or needing to keep in touch with someone with limited availability, I love that I can actually pin that person’s profile to the home screen on my phone so I can see when they are available to chat and call them with a push of a tile. Their newest messages will display right in their tile along with their picture so I can see at a glance who is on right now and get messages in real time.
While I don’t plan on pinning all my friends to my homescreen, I love that I can pin my husband so the kids are able to call him simply by selecting his picture on my phone. Whereas I might have trained them to recite his number only years ago or sat with them and taught them about how to use the phone’s rolodex, I love that even my 2 year old could call daddy using the live tiles if there was an emergency and we needed help.
Red is the Color of Love: Don’t believe me that a red phone has magical powers? Check out the ratings for all the Nokia 920s on the AT&T site and you will find that even though all colors are very high rated, the red phone has a perfect 5 star rating. The color of love, I tell you. In fact, if you’re looking to surprise your Valentine with a trip to the AT&T store to get one of these awesome red beauties, I have it on good authority you should call ahead to make sure it’s in stock first. Of course, I’m sure you’d love a black or a white version as well, but I’m telling you, there’s just something special about the red.
If you are thinking of getting this awesome phone for Valentine’s Day, you will be happy to note
that AT&T is running a special through the 21st where you can get two phones for the price of one or get the wireless charging accessory free with purchase. We all know how cool accessories are with your brand new phone, so if you go with the second option you can get one of the newest and coolest accessories for free and never be limited by cables again!
To Buy: You can find the Nokia 920 in AT&T stores or you can order online here for $99.99 with 2 year service agreement.
A big thank you to AT&T for sending the Nokia 920 to facilitate this review. As always, all opinions are 100% ours.
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