Nokia Lumia 822 Review

Introduction:

Even though most new Verizon smartphones seem to be of the Android flavor, the carrier recently introduced two Windows Phone 8 devices: the Nokia Lumia 822 ($99.99 on contract) and the HTC Windows Phone 8X ($199.99 on contract). The Lumia 822 is pretty much the same device as the Lumia 820, but repackaged for Verizon, as it retains the 4.3” WVGA ClearBlack AMOLED display, 8MP camera, and general appearance. Still, the Lumia 822 offers all the new features of a Windows Phone 8 device, and has Verizon’s 4G LTE on-board, which makes it quite attractive at this price.

Included in the retail package is the Nokia Lumia 822 smartphone, 1800mAh battery, wall charger with detachable microUSB cable, and user guides.

Design:

Unlike the Nokia Lumia 810 that is boxy in appearance, the Lumia 822 closely resembles the Lumia 820, with gently rounded edges and a sculptured body. We appreciate this, as the Lumia 822 fits comfortably in our hand, yet we could live without the slippery feeling. The device is also a bit on the thick side, coming in at 0.42” deep, and with a weight of almost 5oz, you’ll be sure to notice it in your pocket.



You can compare the Nokia Lumia 822 with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

Besides the display that takes up most of the front of the Lumia 822, there is also a 1.3MP camera above it and a trio of capacitive buttons at the bottom for back, Windows Start, and search. Located on the right edge are physical buttons for the power/lock, volume rocker, and camera shutter – which is something we hardly see any more. Even though the camera shutter key is raised nicely and is easy to find, the power and volume buttons are rather flat and hard to distinguish from the surrounding plastic. On the top of the phone is a 3.5mm headset jack, and on the bottom is the microUSB port. Around on the back houses the 8MP autofocus camera with LED Flash, while removing the battery cover will allow you access to the microSD memory card slot and SIM slot.


Display:

Coming in at only 4.3”, the display on the Nokia Lumia 822 has a WVGA resolution of 480x800 pixels with a pixel density of 217ppi, which is a far cry from the 720x1280 HD resolution screens found on other smartphones. Because of this, some images can have jagged edges, and text isn’t as sharp as it could be, but it isn’t distracting and in no way ruins the experience of the device.

Nokia has used its ClearBlack AMOLED tech for the screen of the Lumia 822, and the result is quite pleasing. The display is very bright, brighter than most other AMOLEDs, and even the color temperature is decent. It's still an AMOLED screen, meaning that it still gravitates towards the “cooler” side, but it is more accurate than what you'll get from other Super AMOLED screens, like the one on the Samsung Galaxy S III.

One interesting feature of the Lumia 822's display is its ability to become super-sensitive. With this option activated, you can easily use your handset even when wearing gloves.

Interface and Functionality:

As with other Windows Phone 8 devices, uniformity is key, and the Nokia Lumia 822 follows closely the Lumia 810, 820 and 920. So keeping with this, there isn’t any new software features on the Lumia 822 that we haven’t seen before. With its flashy and dynamic presentation of the start screen and Live Tiles, that helps make the platform intriguing from the onset, but at the same time we feel it requires some additional tweaking to make it as capable to use over other platforms. Lacking are any type of visual skins, except for being able to change the background color between light and dark, and the ability to choose from 21 accent colors.


The handset’s core organizer apps are no different from any other device running Windows Phone 8. Therefore, for things like the E-Mail app, it follows in form to provide us all the essential basics of getting by.


Typing on the virtual QWERTY keyboard of the Lumia 822 is a satisfying experience. The portrait option is very good, especially considering the aspect ratio of the screen, which makes it a bit wider than the standard 16:9 displays that we have nowadays. As we've said in our other Windows Phone 8 reviews, we aren't really fans of the landscape layout, because it doesn't make full use of all the available screen real estate, as there are some menu keys to the right of the keyboard, and some empty space to its left.


Since this is a Nokia Windows Phone, you get a ton of added programs that you won't get on other WP-powered devices. This includes the Nokia Drive+ navigation app, as well as Nokia Maps, both of which allow you to download the maps you want for offline usage – something that you won't get with other stock map applications. We found the two programs to be very well-made, with intuitive interfaces and good performance. The Nokia Drive+ app, for example, comes with big on-screen buttons that are easy to press, which is very appropriate for use while driving. It's evident that Nokia is offering these apps with the idea that someone might actually use them, and not just as a check-box feature.

Nokia is also providing some other goodies that are exclusive to its own Lumia line, including Nokia Music, App Highlights, and City Lens. And since the Lumia 822 is being sold by Verizon, you also get apps for ESPN, My Verizon Mobile, Univision, and Weather.



Processor and Memory:

No surprises here, as the Nokia Lumia 822 comes packing a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Plus dual-core processor with Adreno 225 GPU. The CPU is clocked at 1.5 GHz, and is complemented by a healthy 1GB of RAM. As you can imagine, this guarantees a very fluid system interface, and we didn’t notice any lag or other kinds of delay while using the handset.

The Lumia 822 also comes with 16GB of internal memory, but Nokia has wisely added a microSD card slot, allowing you to add a memory card of up to 32GB – something that is missing from the HTC Windows Phone 8X, even though it has 16GB of internal memory.

Internet and Connectivity:

Making use of Verizon’s 4G LTE network, data speeds on the Nokia Lumia 822 are quite good. The web browsing experience is an enjoyable one, with Internet Explorer 10 on-board. Not only does it deliver fluid scrolling and pinch-to-zoom, but it also has a wonderful tab implementation and very accurate double-tap zooming.


Not only can the Lumia 822 use Verizon’s CDMA/LTE/EVDO network in the US, but it also features global roaming as it supports GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz and UMTS 850/900/1900/2100MHz. Naturally, the device can also use Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4GHz & 5GHz) connections, and supports Bluetooth 3.0 and NFC.

Camera:

There is nothing inspiring when it comes to the minimalistic camera interface on the Nokia Lumia 822. The only adjustments come to selecting different scene modes, ISO, exposure value, white balance, and aspect ratio.


Even though the Lumia 822 comes equipped with an 8MP autofocus camera with a Carl Zeiss f/2.2 lens, images that we took outside did not impress us, as fine details were lacking and color accuracy was poor – mostly looking “cool” instead of natural. For indoor shots, images had noticeable grain as the light levels decreased, though the dual LED flash does a good job of illuminating a dark environment.


Videos can be recorded at 1080p resolution with 29 frames-per-second, allowing them to be played back relatively smooth. Again, we weren’t impressed by the overall results of the videos, as details were dull and the autofocus can take a while to adjust, but they did look reasonable for a $100 contract phone.

Nokia Lumia 822 Sample Video:



Multimedia:

Going into the picture gallery of the Lumia 822, it follows in form with other Windows Phone 8 device on the market. Aside from being able to view the images in the camera roll, the app also populates albums stored in our Facebook account, and we can use the “Tap & Send” feature to share photos to other NFC-enabled Windows Phones. Video playback also looks good on the ClearBlack AMOLED display, and we didn’t have any issues playing ones up to 1080p resolution.


Nokia Music gives you yet another music store, a gig finder tool, and Mix Radio. The latter allows you to listen to predefined music mixes for free, or even create your own, by choosing up to three artists you want to listen to. What's more, you can even download your mix for offline use, which is a cool service. It's possible to skip songs, but there's a limitation of up to 6 skipped songs per hour.

Call Quality and Battery:

The call quality on the Nokia Lumia 822 is good, not great, as voices sounded a bit digital instead of natural, but one thing we didn’t care for was the “sharpness” of voice tones through the earpiece speaker. It was so apparent that we had to decrease the call volume down to a lower setting in an effort to alleviate this. Signal strength was adequate, as we didn’t drop any calls, but the device was only able to maintain a good 4G LTE connection while outside, as indoors the data would drop down to 3G EVDO.

The included 1800mAh battery is a good performer, as it was able to provide us up to 11 hours of continuous talk time on a full charge, or about 2 days of mixed usage.

Conclusion:

In the world of Windows Phone 8 devices, there isn’t a big selection at the present time, but Nokia is clearly trying to make its presence know. The Lumia 822 is a solid device with good features that complements its $100 on contract price. We like its overall design and comfortable feel, and the 4.3” ClearBlack AMOLED display shows relatevely accurate colors and is bright enough for outside use, even if the resolution isn’t the best we’ve seen. The Windows Phone 8 interface is very polarizing, as you will either love it or hate it, but the Lumia 822 provides a nice implementation of it in a modest priced handset.

Software on reviewed unit:
Windows Phone 8
OS version 8.0.9905.12
Firmware version 1532.2108.1244.0003