Could this be our first look at the last Nokia-branded Windows Phone? If so, it’s going out with a very big bang. The leaked picture is believed to show the Lumia 1520, a smartphone/tablet hybrid previously known under the codename Bandit. Published on the @evleaks Twitter account, the bright yellow device shares many common design elements with previous Lumia phones, so there’s a better than average chance it’s the real thing.
Windows Phone fans may notice the Start screen is looking, well, pretty busy. This is a feature of the upcoming GDR3 Windows Phone update, which brings 1080p resolution support to the OS, allowing more space for your Live Tiles. The Lumia 1520 is rumored to sport a 6-inch, 1080p screen, allowing you to completely fill it with tiles, both large and small.
We may need to get used to the look, because here it loses the simplicity of Windows Phone, one of its primary selling points, and heads over into iOS and Android territory by filling the screen up with little icons. Plus, we’re getting a headache just thinking about them all being, “Live.”
Going back to the Bandit’s tech specs, in addition to the big-screen the phone could have a 20-megapixel camera. This would see it fit in-between the full-on PureView excellence of the Lumia 1020, and the far more normal world of the Lumia 925. As for the processor, the GDR3 update should also introduce quad-core chip support, so it could be a Snapdragon 800.
When will get to see the Lumia 1520’s release? A recent Reuters report indicated the company had scheduled an event in New York for September 26, around the same time as it would normally hold Nokia World. Recent events have made such a big gathering unlikely, so a smaller media event to unveil some new hardware sounds reasonable. Although we’re looking forward to seeing the Lumia 1520, the event itself will be tinged with sadness, as it’s probably going to be the last Nokia phone announced by Nokia itself we’ll see.
