Nokia Lumia 1320 Review

As phablets are becoming more and more common, overlapping the domain with smartphones, the more we are starting to see such devices being released by manufacturers. Nokia, for instance, on the heels of its first phablet the Lumia 1520, has brought into the fray its second mix, the Lumia 1320. The 1320 can be labeled as another Lumia phablet, more catered towards the mid-range, with its features on a somewhat scaled down level as compared to its first phablet.

The Nokia 1320, is targeting the budget purchasers, another thing it has taken from its recent smartphone playbook. As we have seen in recent times, the Lumia devices perform very well on average hardware, we can sense that the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset selection for the Lumia 1320, along with a 5 MP camera, will do very well for the 1320.

Lumia 1320 is just the perfect device to be launched by Nokia immediately after the 1520, since now Nokia has two major players in the segment, with the 1520 targeting those who like the best, and the 1320 for those potential customers who want to experience phablets without compromising too much on their budget.

While unboxing the Nokia Lumia 1320, you will get everything inside the retail box that you need to get started with this phone.

• Nokia Lumia 1320 device
• Charger
• MicroUSB cable connector for charging / data transfer
• Headset

The display on the large sized 6 inch screen stands at 720p in resolution, comprising of 245 pixels per inch. The LCD display has the ClearBlack tech from Nokia, which is actually a set of filters to reduce glare to lessen the reflectivity. The device has Gorilla Glass 3 as the covering for protection, to our surprise – we would have thought the 1520, on the pricier side, to have this, rather than the Gorilla Glass 2 – however, it seems Nokia has done it the other way round. The capacitive sensors on the display have the supersensitive touch tech incorporated, to detect touch through gloves also, always beneficial for chilly locations – this feature is disabled by default to conserve battery, so it has to be enabled first.

The 1320 has the Color Profile available, same as its pricier peer the 1520, and provides sliders to adjust the color temperature and color saturation. The Nokia Glance screen from the 1520 is also present here to control the lock screen visibility, and can control the time and notifications being displayed when the screen is locked. There is a dedicated option for display during charging, and the display colors can even be changed for Night mode.

The screen rotation lock setting is a very useful one (and was sorely being missed by the Windows Phone users), though, only available in Settings, meaning users leaving the open app to toggle the setting this seems to be a common hassle for all settings on Windows Phones, which is a nuisance in its own.

The display spread a bit thin on the device, being at 720p, and is not the best in its segment, lacking in sharpness and crispness as compared to the Note 3 or the 1520, but is still not that bad – in fact, it is fairly legible, and the actual issue raises when there is a graphics-taxing app that is being run on the device. However, the viewing angles are pretty good, and the colors on the device are great as well, with outdoors legibility also not being any issue whatsoever with the device.

The Lumia 1320 is another slab-like device like the 1520, and some other phablets. With the large size comes the issue that the device does not easily fit in the pocket, and the weight, standing at 220g is also heavier than its rivals, not helping the cause either. The same hardware configuration is also present in some other Lumia devices, so Nokia does know what it is doing.

A benefit that Nokia has taken full advantage of, is that while the screen size is better for users, it makes equally large space at the back for utilization – the new 3,400 mAh battery is same as the Lumia 1520 one, and like its peer, takes full advantage of the large battery to keep the device up and running for large periods of time.

The design of the Lumia 1320 also follows in the same footsteps of the Lumia tradition, and is actually almost identical to the Lumia 625. The 1320 has the same replaceable back panel, with the back panel completely covering the back as well as coming up to the sides for a snug fit as well as accentuating the view on the front as a slim frame working as edges. The back cover has a matte finish and thus is fingerprint resistant, but still with enough texture to provide a good grip. However, one of the main reasons of the replaceable back cover, the switching of battery is not present, with the battery encased in the device, and not replaceable by the users.

Other than that, the device has one main difference in design to the 625, which is that the front display of this device does not have the edges gently tapered. The device is of a solid build and is pleasing to use, with a firm grip in hand.

The phablet has the three buttons, the Back, Home and Search right below the screen with the microphone near the bottom, and at the top has the VGA snapper the sensors for proximity and light as well as the earpiece. The buttons reside on the right side of the device, with the volume rocker, on to the power key and then the shutter key – all the buttons are actually covered by the back panel, so replacing the back panel will actually change the color of the buttons also, which is something very cool. The left side has no buttons or ports. The 3.5 mm audio jack resides on the top of the 1320, while the bottom of the device has the microUSB port.

At the back is the 5MP snapper with an LED flash near the top, while the speakerphone grill resides near the bottom. Under the back panel resides the large non-replaceable 3,400mAh battery, with the microSIM and microSD slots present on the right side of the camera lens.

The device size of phablets, while providing a rich interface, with a large screen area, does not help too much when it comes to handling these devices, and the majority of users of this device will be using the device with both hands as well, with Microsoft not coming up with a one-hand support as present on the Android based phablets.

The Lumia 1320 has the GDR3 update, which adds a bunch of features to the Lumia device. However, Nokia has tried to follow its generic strategy of keeping its familiarity among devices intact. Of course the increase in the screen size enables additional tiles displayed on screen, but this is not one of the features.

The regular lock screen of Lumia is present on the 1320, with notifications and clock, and on pushing the volume button up or down, the music controls and sound switch options appears, while swiping the screen unlocks it, while clicking the camera button unlocks and opens the camera app directly.

The wallpaper and lock screen displays have been provided with an added level of flexibility, allowing for apps to display statuses and images on the lock screen (one app can have detailed status and up to five apps can display summary status). Users can allow the phone to change the lock screen to put the album art as wallpaper with the music player playing, or any image from Bing or Facebook.

The display on the device is the standard tile grid with a lot of tiles in the Live state – i.e. providing real-time information, like notifications, calendar events, updates, missed calls or messages and such. The apps list is displayed vertically, in an alphabetical list, and the tiles can be rearranged and resized as well. The Pictures tile acts as a slideshow of images as well.

The Windows Phone 8 has the ability to multitask, but not like its competitor, Android allows. The apps that are removed from the foreground get suspended, but the OS takes over and continues their work, like for example, playing music. Also, apps that are required to be awake in background can also stay alive in the background. In essence, both types of multitasking are present, and based on the app type any one can be adopted. Also, we are expecting an improvement in this area in the Windows Phone 8.1 update.

App switching is also simplified holding the Back key displays the open apps, and user can select any other app to switch to it directly. After the GDR3, to kill an app, the user can click on the cross button (‘X’) which appears on the top left corner of every recent app, and though a bit unusual, at least it does provide some control over the recent apps list, rather than entering the app and then having to exit it.

The Windows Phone Store is also a growing market place, trying to catching up to the Apple Store and Google Play. However, it has recently crossed the 200,000 milestone, and states that most of the major apps available are present for Windows Phone 8 as well. Apps made for Windows Phone 8 do not work on older versions, but apps made on older versions can work on the Windows Phone 8.

The store is segmented into applications, games and music (an update tab becomes visible in case any installed app has an update available). All the segments, the applications, games and music are displayed in the similar manner. There is a featured section, where recommend apps are available, then a list of recent releases, and then onwards to the remaining apps. Every app has a short description, user reviews and rating, screenshots and permissions for user review and decision making on whether to download the app or not. Nokia App Recommendations also helps in getting the best app as per the requirement.

Games can be played live as well, via the Games tile option (previously called the Xbox Live). The games are grouped collection wise, and users have the option to view the friends, their achievements and avatars, etc.

Internet Explorer has been the choice browser for Microsoft and this time around is no different – with the large screen of the 1320, the browser has enough room to provide a comfortable display, though we found the 1520 to be better, with its 1080p display rather than this 720p one. As usual, the layout has the URL bar, hidden automatically so as not to cover any screen space, and the extended settings menu can also be used to improve or tailor make the user experience. This menu can be used to set the default search provider, tabbed browsing options, favorites, history, among others. An interesting option is the Share option, using which, in addition to the basic sharing the display can be shared to the TV via the Xbox.

The Driving Mode can be enabled on the device, once a Bluetooth device is connected, and it keeps only the phone and text notifications on and turns all the remaining off (though the calls and texts notifications can also be set to mute).

Microsoft has ambitions towards businesses, and has therefore allows companies to create a Hub themselves, which can be the central location for employee related information including events, news and other work relevant information. The audio commands are supported, including dictation and messages being read aloud. Still, Microsoft is also working on a new virtual assistant code-named Cortana, expected to be out with the 8.1.

The settings have been segmented into system settings and the application settings. The system settings cover things like color theme, accounts, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, sounds as well as the new screen rotate lock feature, etc. The application settings allow configuration of all the apps that are on the device. It was surprising to find out Microsoft has still not handled the issue of navigating all the way to system settings to manage the settings on the device one would have thought Microsoft would pay closer attention to such things – maybe there is something in the works for Windows Phone 8.1. Also, the tile size is too small for complete notifications to be displayed, and a notification area would have done a great deal to enhance the user experience.

The phone book of the Lumia 1320, labeled the People Hub, is consistent with Lumia releases, providing the same great experience as it has been arrangement of contacts with a tiled search option available is very interesting, and the What’s new, photos, history and albums fetch information regarding the contact from their social media is a regular information source.

Groups allow organizing contacts in an intelligent manner, containing status updates from all contacts in one place, as well as providing access to online photo albums. Rooms meanwhile, is a type of private chat room / social network, and allows group chats, as well as the option to share private calendars, notes, videos and photos. Even users using Windows Phone 7 or iOS devices can join, though they will be limited to only the calendar sharing.

The call log and dialer are standard Lumia issue as available in the 1520 as well, and has clear and loud sound, as well as no signal hassle. However, the speaker came in below average, which is why it will always be better to have vibration and sound turned up when traveling with the device, otherwise there will be missed calls and messages.

The messaging is also similar to the Lumia, with standard as well as thread view available. Threads can include Facebook and Windows Live messages to the SMS threads. All input on the device is done via the generic QWERTY keyboard onscreen, which allows both portrait and landscape modes for user ease. The online tab displays the users that are online at the time, with the most recent conversation being on top. Email management is also standard Lumia, allowing for multiple generic features like tracking conversations, selection of emails, marking read or unread, searching for messages, and other routine activities.

The Data Sense is a data management tool, which keeps track of the data used per app, as well as providing data compression before being sent to browser, something similar to the Opera’s Turbo. The Bing Search app has been improved too – the default search, with classy background images, and the luminous squares, clicking which provides interesting information – has additional options, like song recognition, providing song and artist name, and option to go to music store to buy the record, as well as a camera scanner, which takes a picture of text, applies OCR on it, and translates it to a different selected language.

The Drive navigation suite comes free out of the box with the device, since the device is a higher end Lumia. The coverage is local meaning usage in one country only. The maps are available offline so that constant connectivity is not required. The HERE Drive gives users voice guided navigation, in the language of choice. Viewing different routes, with options like viewing the fastest, economical, and shortest can be selected, as well as the option to select or avoid motorways, tunnels, motor trains etc. Icons are also present to make the route more intuitive. A recent addition allows viewing the traffic conditions in areas and regularly traveled routes as well, though this feature requires connectivity. The Drive allows switching between 2D and 3D, and has color schemes as well. However, the inability to set start point other than the current location, or downloading maps for an entire continent is what we miss.

Nokia Maps provides details about locations, reviews, and guides as well as photos of locations, and may be the best travel guide when exploring a city. It can pull information from guide sites like Lonely Planet and Qype for locations and landmarks also. It also has walking, public transport, as well as driving navigation. Maps are common with Drive, so maps are not downloaded twice. The Local Scout and City Lens features, added recently to the Maps app in Places are also present and lists shops, restaurants, galleries and others nearby, and has a very cool AR view via camera called LiveSight. The display shows virtual signs near landmarks, which when tapped, display information regarding the place, as well as directions to it.

Microsoft Office is one of the attractions for the device, and is one of the best document viewer / editor in the market. The additional option of integration with SkyDrive is present with the device. Documents can be automatically synchronized between the device and computer via the SkyDrive. The Places tab is the app allows browsing documents on the phone, email, SkyDrive or in Office 365. Editing is pretty simple, and the size of the phablet helps hugely due to the large screen. Even SharePoint collaboration is present for Word and Excel files. However, PowerPoint is present only in a view mode, not editing.

OneNote, is the note taking tool from Office, also available with the 1320. It provides its multi-level list support, adding voice memos and photos to notes, and sending notes through email. The additional options of syncing with Windows Live or SkyDrive, and pinning to the home screen helps, as does the control over adding items to the To-Do list, and marking them as done.

Lumia 1320 allows for the calendar section to display sub-calendars as well (which are basically calendars for every account present, every sub-calendar can be color-coded, this option can be disabled as well if it is becoming a hassle). The calendar can be viewed on an hour-to-hour basis, and a to-do list can also be created, priority set, due date and notes added, and synchronized with the Live account.

Lumia also has some non-Nokia apps that are exclusive to Lumia devices on Windows Phone that come pre-installed with the device. The first of these is Zinio, a reading list based app, which creates reading lists based on user interests and can download items for offline reading as well. The app also has a marketplace for magazines, and also provides subscriptions for annual plans. Another app is the Creative Studio, which allows users to play around with images. The list of features include collage options, the ability to focus on one object and blur the rest of the picture, apply color to one object with the rest of the image changed to monochrome, as well as the generic options like cropping, brightness, rotation, color balancing etc. are also present.

The gallery, dubbed the Photos hub, has the same layout as the 1520, with images in default albums, all the images, people wise, or arranged date wise however, arranging images into albums is not possible. All Facebook friends’ images can be viewed in a separate tab, while the images that have been marked as favorite can be viewed in a different tab also. Images can be shared via Bluetooth, messaging, email, Facebook and SkyDrive.

Nokia is promoting its Mix Radio service, as evident from recent releases of Lumia devices. The service provides free music streaming, with a vast gallery of records and videos. The service is striving to compete with mainstream services like Pandora, and users can enter a list of their favorite artists and a playlist is created automatically. This improves the chances of playlists being closer to user interest, instead of completely automatically generated playlists. If the users do not like the compiled play lists, they can browse artists, and can purchase specific songs as well. There are multiple charts available too, for selection. In addition, the equalizer option, with its large arsenal of presets as well as Dolby Headphones related enhancements, as well as searching artist gigs near users’ locations is also a big plus. The default Windows Phone players are also available, though they can now be found in the Music + Videos hub. This section provides options to view recent history, go to the video or music player, listen to casts, or visit Marketplace. The video player is quite capable, and can support XviD, DivX, MOV, mp4 up to 1080p – however, mkv files with their AC3 codecs are still not playable, and subtitles cannot be viewed. The music player has the same generic display as present in recent Lumia devices like the 1520.

An FM is also present on board, which requires a headset, as that works as the antenna as well. The device has a pretty decent audio quality when on speakers, and this posts quite an improvement over the 1520. However, plugging in headphones reveals the crosstalk, but apart from this the readings remain pretty good.

The Lumia 1320 has a 5MP, 2592x1936 resolution snapper. The UI of the camera is very simple, with the option to switch between camera and recorder as well as the Lens options on the right side, while a back button is on the left side to lead to gallery, though a swipe also works. The settings offer a wide range of options from scenes and effects to the management of white balance, saturation, contrast, ISO and sharpness among others – there is also a Macrio focus mode, but face detection is absent. Also, we noted the 1320 is not the fastest of snappers, taking a couple of seconds before a snap is taken, which is longer than what the options are in the market.

The different imaging types, like Panorama etc. are added on as lenses, and are present with their own UI. The Panorama, Cinemagraph and Glam Me (for beautifying images) lenses are also pre-loaded.

The Cinemagraph creates images that are at most static, apart from some objects that may be in motion. When the image capturing is done, the lens offers the option of two to three areas in the imaging that can be animated, and on selecting the area, the options of animation tweaking, trimming, and looping become available.

The image quality on the Lumia 1320 is surprisingly good, with one of the most detailed snaps we have seen in the 5 MP category, and have pretty decent colors and contrast. Noise is well under the acceptable range though the white balance is a fine line between perfect and discarded shots.

The camcorder interface is similar to the camera interface, and can capture 1080p videos at 30 fps with 20Mbps, and these videos are very smooth, with extremely good detail, color accuracy and great contrast, however, the dynamic range is not as perfect as we would have liked. The white balance is modifiable, and the continuous auto-focus can be turned on or off. Also, the LED flash which is used for image capture can also be used as video light. However, the audio can only be captured at 96 Kbps and a 44 KHz rate.

The device has GPRS/GSM/EDGE, and quad-band 3G with HSPA at 42 Mbps down and 5.76 Mbps uplink. Additionally, the device has 4G LTE which can go up to 150Mbps down and 50Mbps uplink in locations where it is being offered.

The local connectivity is present in the shape of Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi hotspot, DLNA, and stereo Bluetooth 4.0, which now also allows for file transfers.

A Mass Storage mode allows file transfer to and from computers without any software requirement. Also, files places anywhere on the device are easily pulled in the relevant app, and no specific folders are now required for file storage. The unrecognizable files though, can only be accessed with a computer as Microsoft has not provided any file management application in Windows Phone 8. This is why zip or rar files cannot be displayed, read or emailed, since they cannot be recognized. Files can also be stored on the 7GB SkyDrive cloud space provided.

The Lumia 1320 has a 3,400mAh battery which is more than sufficient for normal usage, covering more than 21 hours of talk time, while just about touching the 11 hour mark for browsing – however, like other devices, the device has the lowest score in video playback, coming in at about 9 hours – however, a 75 hour endurance rated device like the 1320 gives its users every bit of confidence in battery life that it can. This duration is achieved even one hour of web-browsing, one hour of calls, and one hour of video viewing is done on the device – in short, impressive.

The Lumia 1320 will face strict competition and scrutiny from the market when pitted against formidable competition from market, with some key factors listed below:

• Absence of NFC
• Absence of a file manager
• App store has no competition with that of iOS and Android
• Battery cannot be replaced by users
• Screen lock shortcuts are not available

The Lumia 1320 was released on the heels of its highly anticipated and awaited high-end phablet, the Lumia 1520. Nokia may have thought that with the smartphone segment employing the strategy of covering the high-end and mid-range segments simultaneously to a success, it would work in the phablet area too. Also, Nokia has provided a wide range of options with the device providing an improved showing as per the hardware, its exclusive Microsoft Office as the document viewer and editor, as well as the SkyDrive integration system-wide. Not to be forgotten is the Nokia Drive with voice guided navigation.

However, with Nokia 1320 not containing the 1080p screen, nor the PureView camera and some other minor gaps to the 1520, the 1320 requires every bit of its selling power to put up a fight against rivals like the Mega 3, the Ascend Mate and others, which, competing with the specs and size, edge out the 1320 on the basis of lower cost and the latest Android version. Another downer for Nokia is the weight of the device, though we feel not too many users will weigh this as a decisive factor.

In any case, the Nokia 1320 will find its followers, and maybe the 1520 might pull the sales of the device up too, and also, with the growing number of happy Windows Phone users, there might very well be people looking to go for something larger yet still on the economical size.