Nokia got off to an early start today, as it announced a variety of new products during its Nokia World conference in Abu Dhabi, with the exciting Lumia 1520 being one of the standout new pieces of hardware at the event. Introduced by Stephen Elop, it’s the first big-screen Nokia Lumia phone, which comes with the new Windows Phone update.
The device was extensively leaked before the event, but it’s great to have all the official details, even though there weren’t many surprises. The screen measures 6-inches and has a 1080p resolution, made possible by the new version of the OS, which means an extra column of Live Tiles can be squeezed onto the home screen. Inside the phone is a quad-core, Snapdragon 800 processor running at 2.2GHz, another first for Windows Phone thanks to the new software version. It’s supported by 2GB of RAM, and the phone has 32GB of internal memory with the option to increase this by 64GB using a microSD card.
On the rear of the device is a new 20-megapixel PureView camera with six-lens Zeiss optics. Nokia has added optical image stabilization and a new Nokia Camera app, which brings features seen in both the Pro Cam and Smart Cam apps from the Lumia 1020 to the phone, plus there’s the usual range of editing tools, filters, and effects. On the front of the phone is a 1.2-megapixel video call camera which can shoot 720p video.
As for the design, the Lumia 1520 shares the familiar Lumia shape and bright colors – a big yellow version was used for the on-stage demos – while the black polycarbonate version will be made using recycled polycarbonate. It’s a big phone, so it’s no surprise to see it weigh 209 grams, challenging the HTC One Max for the honor of being the heaviest smartphone/tablet hybrid out there. At 8.7mm thick, it’s surprisingly slim though. The Lumia 1520 has 4G LTE connectivity, along with NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi, and GPS.
Nokia will be putting the Lumia 1520 on sale before the end of the year, initially in the U.S., UK, Germany, France, Finland, Hong Kong, Singapore, and China. The SIM-free, unlocked price has been set at $750.
