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"Nokia Lumia 1520 Review\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWindows Phone Expands\nThe Nokia Lumia 1520 is the first \"phablet\" on Windows Phone, brandishing a 6-inch display with full HD (1,920 x 1,080) resolution. Exclusive to AT&amp;T in the U.S., the smartphone has an excellent camera and performs well, although the improvement to the overall experience isn't worth the tradeoff in portability that comes with the massive display.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPureView Camera\nOne of the best features of the Lumia 1520 is its 20-megapixel camera with optical image stabilization.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCamera UI\nNokia provides two different camera apps, including a basic app and the Nokia Camera, with manual controls along the strip at the top. There's also a dedicated camera shutter along the top when held in landscape mode.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCompared With iPhone 5\nThe 6-inch Lumia 1520 towers over the 4-inch iPhone 5\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLock Screen\nThere are default images for the lock screen (like this one), but Windows Phone also lets you populate the lock screen with updates from Facebook and Twitter -- no \"Home\" needed.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGlossy Finish\nThe Lumia 1520 is available in red, yellow, white or black. The exterior is glossy like previous Lumias, which looks beautiful but makes the phone slightly more slippery than others.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nRight Side\nOn the right you'll find buttons for camera, power and volume.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBottom\nThe microUSB port is on the bottom.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLeft Side\nOn the left you'll find dual SIM card slots.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFolding Case\nThe optional case for the Lumia 1520 folds like an iPad Smart Cover, but it doesn't hold the phone up very well.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCase Closed\nThe cover protects that big screen.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPackaging\nIt's a Nokia phone, all right.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIt's easy to dismiss the Nokia Lumia 1520 as ridiculous. After all, the first Windows Phone phablet didn't settle for an ample, large or even huge screen. It went full-on colossal at a 6 inches diagonal. It just feels bizarre to call this device a smartphone.\nThat's why you really need to avoid thinking of the new Lumia as a phone to appreciate its virtues. There's a reason many users \u2014 especially those in parts of Asia \u2014 are flocking to large-screen smartphones, and it's not because they look incredibly hip holding tiny TVs to their faces. In 2013, a smartphone is your primary window into your entire digital existence, and the larger that window, the more powerful that connection is.\nSee also: 12 Most Clich\u00E9 Photos on Instagram\nThat said, there's a finite limit on how large a device can be and still be considered mobile. For most, the Lumia 1520 will extend beyond that line. It's one of the most un-pocketable phones I've ever used, often slipping out of my pants pocket while I was sitting on a couch.\nWhen I wore jeans, it filled my front pocket completely, pushing against the skin of my leg. And I'm 6 feet, 4 inches tall; I suspect shorter people in tight clothing would find it impossible to sit down with the Lumia 1520 in a pants pocket.\nGiving Phablets a Hand\nEven if you carry the Lumia 1520 around in a handbag, the form factor gets in the way. As with all phablets, operating the device with one hand is a challenge, and Nokia doesn't give you much help in the way of optional shifted keyboards or repositioned buttons (\u00E0 la the Samsung Galaxy Note) to make it any easier.\nOn top of that, the phone is just plain hard to hang on to. Nokia opted for the same glossy finish from previous Lumias for the phone's backside, which looks absolutely gorgeous, but also makes the phone a little slippery. That's okay if you have a confident grip on the device, but the 1520's extreme size often stood in the way of that. I must have fumbled and even dropped it at least a half-dozen times while trying to snap a picture.\n\nTaking photos was a little awkward, partly because Nokia encourages you to take pictures with the dedicated camera shutter button that resides near the spot your index finger would rest when holding the phone in landscape mode. However, if you push down in the wrong place \u2014 and sometimes even at the right one \u2014 your fingers may slip on the glossy-smooth edge, which is curved.\nYou can mitigate the slippage somewhat with Nokia's optional case, which folds over to become a stand, similar to Apple's iPad Smart Covers. The only problem is that it's a horrible design: When folded, the case does an extremely poor job of holding the phone up, and your fingernails will suffer every time you try to pop the phone in and out of it. Avoid.\nPlus-Sized Windows Phone\nNokia made a good choice with the dedicated camera button. The 1520's screen isn't just big; it's also full HD (1,920 x 1,080) resolution. Photos \u2014 especially the ones you take with the phone's 20-megapixel camera \u2014 look stunning on the display. This device was clearly designed to show off media, and it has enough photo-capturing tech on board to qualify for Nokia's PureView label.\nIn addition to all those pixels, the device has a powerful engine to drive them: a 2.2GHz Snapdragon 800 processor with 2GB of RAM. On paper, the Nokia Lumia 1520 is the largest, most powerful smartphone to ever carry the Windows Phone banner.\nIn practice, I felt the hardware delivered the goods, but the software sometimes lagged behind. Windows Phone recently had a big update that introduced support for much of the tech on board the 1520. It definitely got those tent-pole features right, but the details sometimes falter.\nFor starters, I got a persistent error when trying the sync my Mashable Google Apps account. The 1520 told me it didn't have enough memory to fully sync the account, which would lead to delivery delays and the inability to view messages in folders other than the inbox. Since my iPhone 4S, with two-year-old hardware, handles the account with no issues, I find it hard to believe a state-of-the-art phablet would run out of memory doing such a fundamental smartphone task.\n\nI then ran into a problem with Facebook. When I tried to share a photo to the service from my gallery, Facebook didn't appear in the share list. I eventually discovered that, although I'd already downloaded and logged into the app, the gallery wouldn't actually let me share to Facebook without officially adding it as an account in Settings.\nI found this very odd since third-party services like Twitter and Flickr appeared in the list without signing in via settings (Twitter appears twice, confusingly). This quirk is especially frustrating since Microsoft actually builds the Facebook app for Windows Phone \u2014 why wouldn't it make sure the two connect as conveniently as possible? This may seem like a minor issue, but really, who other than a power user is going to think to sign into Facebook twice, in two different places, to fully connect his phone to the service?\nNone of the other annoyances \u2014 like the inability to copy and paste the information in the \"About Phone\" page \u2014 were particularly disastrous, but they're generally indicative of a platform in need of a little more polish.\nAt least Windows Phone has gotten a nice surge of developer interest lately. Now that it's overtaken BlackBerry to become the world's third-place mobile ecosystem, many high-profile apps are flocking to Windows Phone, including Vine, which debuted in the Windows Store last week. Instagram and Path are coming too, although exact dates haven't been announced.\nNonetheless, I still long for the day Windows Phone gets so big that Google can no longer ignore it. As a voracious user of Google's services, I was disappointed to find no official apps for Maps, Gmail, Hangouts and others. There is a Google search app, but it's about as bare-bones as it gets.\nFew of the present apps yet take full advantage of the Lumia 1520's large display. Twitter, for example, simply looks like the regular Windows Phone app, just zoomed. Nothing against zooming \u2014 the text in many apps, such as Evernote, is sharp and easier to skim. Switching to the built-in email app, however, shows what they're lacking, using the increased real estate to fit more messages on the screen.\nImage Improvement\nOne app that definitely does use that screen is the camera. Or should I say apps: Similar to the Lumia 1020, the 1520 provides two different camera apps, a basic one for snapping quick pics and a full-featured Nokia Camera app, complete with manual controls, for really tailoring your shots.\nI question the need for two separate apps, and it's another feature that will steer this device to power users only. The Nokia Cam is pretty great, though \u2014 I particularly like how the controls slide in as virtual dials from the right, sort of like the Samsung Galaxy Camera.\nDuring a quick hop to Atlantic City, I captured various pics under different lighting conditions with the 1520. I was taken aback by the level of detail I could get in good light and even in bad lighting with stationary subjects; I could pick out ridges in a sand castle I shot at night on the beach. \n\n\nNokia Lumia 1520 Sample Photos\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nOutdoor Shot\nTaking on the boardwalk in Atlantic City on a cloudy day, this shot shows how the Lumia 1520 does when set to full auto.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIndoor Shot\nAlso taken in full auto, this indoor shot shows some good color.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nManual Mode\nTaken indoors with 1/200s shutter speed and 2000 ISO.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nOutdoor Dusk\nThis shot was taken at dusk with a shutter speed of 1/7s and ISO of 1000.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNight Shot\nTaken at 1/20s and 320 ISO.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAction Shot\nIn this typical indoor environment, the auto-selected 1/8s shutter speed isn't nearly enough to capture fast action. Luckily, the camera is equipped with manual controls.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nHowever, the 1520 camera didn't do much more about motion blur than any other cell phone camera when I snapped some photos of a party later in the evening. But with the Nokia Camera. I was able to make my own compromises by changing shutter speed and ISO. My shots might have been grainier and dimmer, but at least they weren't fuzzy.\nThe camera's flash helped in low light, but it also occasionally hit people with red eye. Even with the flash, though, you're not immune to motion blur.\nThe Lumia 1520 is also the first phone to include Nokia's Storyteller feature. I really don't understand this app. It appears to be a convenient way to organize photos by date and location (swipe feature: you can swipe through pics with a map in the background), but the name seems to imply something greater. As an actual storytelling feature, I much prefer HTC's auto-generated Zoe videos based on events.\nThe Biggest Lumia\nNokia doubled down on the phablet by cranking the Lumia 1520 to 6 inches. It was a bold move, and that screen really lets its camera abilities shine.\nBut as far as enhancing your overall experience, Nokia's XXL Lumia doesn't make the most out of its extra pixels to make the sacrifice in usability worth the trade. At this point in Windows Phone's evolution, I'd recommend going with a more pocketable smartphone and supplementing it with a small-screen Windows 8.1 tablet like the Acer Iconia W4 if you want to take things to the next level.\nA year from now, things may look different, so I wouldn't count the huge Windows Phone out yet. Once developers start to take full advantage of the larger Lumia's canvas, the phone could evolve from ambitious gadget to a true everything device. Until then, a lot more still separates the Lumia 1520 from a tablet than a couple of consonants.\nThe Lowdown\nWhat's Good\n\nEye-popping full HD screen\nPowerful processor\nVery good camera\n\nWhat's Bad\n\nUnpolished features\nFew Windows Phone apps designed for large displays\nVirtually no Google app support\n\nBottom Line\nThe Nokia Lumia 1520 has an excellent screen and the tech to back it up, but the experience will leave you wanting.\nHave something to add to this story? Share it in the comments. \nImages: Mashable, Nina Frazier Hansen"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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