Nokia Lumia 925 Has Enhanced PureView Camera and Metal Casing

Nokia has taken the wraps off its latest flagship smartphone, the Nokia Lumia 925, which boasts an enhanced PureView camera and a “unique” metal casing.

Speaking at a launch event in London, Jo Harlow, executive vice president of Nokia Smart Devices claimed “the most innovative smartphone in the world just got better”, expressing her hope that the Lumia 925’s imaging capabilities would provide it with a key differentiator in a crowded market.

She said Nokia had improved its camera technology and software algorithms so that users could take quality photos in all conditions, including low light, with the 8.7 megapixel camera.

PureView camera

The company also showed off the Nokia Smart Camera software, which allows users to take multiple action shots and edit photos from directly within the software, as demonstrated by Harlow playing basketball. Nokia Smart Camera will be made available to all existing Nokia Windows Phone 8 smartphones as part of a firmware update known as Nokia Lumia Amber later this year.

Nokia hopes the metal casing of the Lumia 925 will also set it apart and is the first time that it has been used in a Lumia smartphone. Designer Stefan Pannenbecker explained that the metal casing was indicative of its material-based design approach and a recognition that not all consumers want plastic.

“We realised that some people like metal, and we do too,” said Pannenbecker. The aluminium frame houses the antenna construction and although the handset supports wireless charging, users will require an additional polycarbonate cover to take advantage of the feature.

Other features include a 4.5-inch AMOLED display, Nokia applications as well as 16GB of internal storage and 7GB of free SkyDrive cloud storage. The Nokia Lumia 925 contains a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor and 1GB of RAM.

Nokia innovation

The device will ship in June, with Vodafone, O2 and Three offering versions of the phone.

“This is the one that true Nokia fans have been waiting for. Addressing all of the critical concerns levelled at the Lumia 920, the 925 is lighter, smarter and made of sterner stuff, thanks to its aluminium frame,” said Ernest Doku, telecoms expert at uSwitch. “The marriage of technical expertise in mobile imaging with a gorgeous piece of hardware shows that the Finnish manufacturer still has fire in its belly.

“However, the battle is no longer in just having the flashiest phone. The megapixel wars are over, and consumers are looking for apps and software that make life easier. Windows Phone is slowly gaining traction – largely via the Lumia range and positive word of mouth – but is still a small fraction of the smartphone market.”

Harlow added that the launch of the Lumia 925 was the first in a “summer of announcements” for Nokia, which revealed the Nokia Lumia 928 last week. The Finnish manufacturer will hope that the announcements appease disgruntled shareholders who are growing increasingly disillusioned with its Windows Phone strategy.

CEO Stephen Elop reiterated the firm’s commitment to Windows Phone at the company’s AGM in Helsinki last week, despite investor appeals to consider another operating system, most likely Android, in order to increase its share of the worldwide smartphone market.

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