Nokia Lumia 2520 Review

With the Nokia Lumia 2520, the company competes with the heavyweights in yet another highly lucrative segment of the consumer tech market. It has been announced alongside the Nokia Lumia 1520 phablet and with that company expands its product lineup beyond smartphones. The Nokia Lumia 2520 cannot nag about the lack of attention from both brand loyalists and industry pundits. Well, several years ago Nokia really mucked about in the mobile computing space with its Nokia Booklet 3G which was an under powered notebook like thing running on Windows 7, but this was nothing more than a test in futility. But since then the company has gone through a huge transformation of its own, and now it finally making its presence felt in the competitive tablet market.

The Nokia Lumia 2520 is a serious tablet that is aiming to hit big with the masses. Nokia has used some of the most capable hardware for its tablet that are available in the market. The Lumia 2520 comes with a stunning 10.1 inch IPS LCD display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset, LTE connectivity and of course a 6.7 megapixels camera with Carl Zeiss lens along with the usual host of Nokia’s proprietary apps and services. Let’s see if it has a chance in coming out on top or not.

The package is nothing but a basic retail package that contains following:

• The Nokia Lumia 2520
• Wall Charger
• SIM Removal Tool
• Get Started Guide
• Warranty Information

Here once again, Nokia proves that it is pretty much capable of producing such attractive and visually appealing products that outshine above the ordinary designed tablets out there and this is what gets our attention right from the onset i.e. the design of the Nokia Lumia 2520. The tablet applies the idiosyncratic design hints of Nokia’s smartphone line. The tapered design gives it a much slimmer look than it is actually, since it starts off having a skinny profile from its sides and gradually thickens towards the center of the casing. This design makes it very comfortable to hold and also gives it a consistent streamlined construction.

It weighs about 615 grams that complement it. It is lighter than many Windows RT tablets yet heavier than rival Android tablets and the iPad Air. Coming towards its construction, the tablet uses the same polycarbonate material that gives it a decent amount of sturdiness with its construction. On the other hand, the glossy finish attracts smudges and fingerprints quite easily. However, cyan and black colored versions have a matte finish that allow them to maintain a much cleaner look. Both these finishes have their own attributes, however, it is good to see that the Lumia 2520 comes with this color variety. Though, we have been seen many attractively designed tablets this year, but the Lumia 2520 comes with its own flashy look that unquestionably transpire as being fresh on the scene.

A capacitive start button is present just below the display and a 2 megapixel front facing camera with light sensor and an LED light are just above the display. Moreover, the Lumia 2520 is well equipped with all the usual ports and buttons. A microHDMI port for easy video out functionality and a microUSB 3.0 port are also present on the right side. On the left side, we have 3.5 mm headset port, charging port and not to forget that its dual speakers for stereo support are also located on the bottom left and right edges of the display.

The Nokia Lumia 2520 is armed with such an attractive display that definitely is on par to the competition, and that is what the company required to beat the cutting edge competition. The tablet features a 10.1 inch 1920 x 1080 IPS LCD display with pixel density of 218 ppi. This suggests that the display is quite sharp that delivers very crisp details from all angles. With such a wonderful display, comes an advantage that you do not have to fight over minuscule text with your eyes.

Certain other elements are also incorporated to further complement its beauty such as its potent brightness output, average viewing angles, and a vibrant color reproduction. In terms of color production, the Nokia Lumia 2520 exudes warmer tone which are not very realistic but its iridescence facilitates our eyes to stick on to its glow.

Overall, the display is pretty much good and we can give it a high end reputation except two issues: one, it attracts smudges and fingerprints, therefore you will constantly have to rub it down with a cloth second, when displaying black color, there is subtle bleeding around the edge of the display.

The Nokia Lumia 2520 runs on Windows RT 8.1 which is a relatively new operating system and it is different from both the regular Windows and the Windows Phone OS. Though, this latest version of the ARM based OS is not a major update yet it brings some good changes to the table.

For apps, the Windows RT relies on the Windows Store which means that users cannot install any legacy software. Furthermore, the platform boasts the entire Microsoft Office 2013 package that adds productivity element to the Lumia 2520. It is most useful for the business professionals who constantly need to use the Microsoft Office package for their business needs.

Here are some notable Nokia branded apps that deepen the experience in a meaningful way. We have summarized them below.

Nokia Here Maps: This app is an alternative to Bing Maps and it is quite comforting to see because Bing Maps is not necessarily the most comprehensive maps experience. Nokia Here Maps offers neat 'Collections' features to let you mark your memories on where you have been.

Nokia Storyteller: Now, you can create your own story with the photos and videos recorded with the Nokia Lumia 2520. The app arranges your photos and videos into different stories that give a richer viewing experience.

Nokia Video Director: This app is all about on the go video editing and a fun way to create a polished video on the go.

My Nokia: For all intents and purposes, it’s a hub that offers handy information related to the tablet’s operation.

Nokia Music: This app is for music lovers. It offers the same features as that in its Windows Phone counterpart. It is an alternative music player option with a streaming function just like Pandora.

Nokia Camera: This is not Pro Cam app found in Lumia phones, rather it is a simple camera app with the basic features as the standard Windows RT 8.1 camera app with the exception of touch focus ability.

It is noteworthy to say that the addition of all these Nokia branded apps along with its preloaded Microsoft Office package significantly diversifies its arsenal of software right from the start.

Since the tablet comes with a spacious sized screen, it is most likely that users incline towards using the landscape on-screen keyboard most of the time. This is mainly because of its comforting size. Moreover, typing on the keyboard is very easy and fast. Plus, its speedy response along with the great auto-correct feature are both in line with other keyboard options.

Similarly, using the Email app is also very easy. Email app is very useful and its layout is just perfect for a tablet. You can view emails for other accounts as well because the left pane gives an overview of all of your email account.

The Nokia Lumia 2520 is armed with a 6.7MP main camera with a Carl Zeiss lens which is similar to what found in the Nokia Lumia 720 and a 2MP front-facing unit. The camera user interface is pretty simple and easy to use. It has three buttons. One for taking photos, one for videos and one for panoramas. Along with the stock camera app, Nokia has also included its own Nokia Camera which also is a very basic and allows users to switch the ratio of the images between 16:9 and 4:3. Apart from that Touch Focus is the only features that is unique to the Nokia Camera App, otherwise it is the same as that of default camera app.

Photos taken with the Nokia Lumia 2520 are pretty good looking seeing the fact that it sports a higher than normal 6.7 megapixel auto focus camera. Images have average looking details and colors are somewhat more saturated in tone, but on the whole it gives the photo a distinct vibrant look.

You need to stay very still in the areas of low lighting because of its long exposure. The benefit is that shots appear brighter but on the other hand, sometimes appear blurry in tone. Nonetheless, the overall quality is quiet diminished as a result of its flatter details and heavy presence of noise.

Now, comes towards video recording. The Lumia 2520 is capable of recording 1080p videos with a bitrate of 19.6 Mbps and 30fps that deliver pleasant results. Continuous auto focus is also present during recording along with stereo audio. Sound is also recorded in stereo. Quality of videos recorded with Lumia 2520 is pretty much fine but the details might be more faint in tone if compared with image quality. Furthermore, if you want to change the size of your videos, you can choose from 720p, 480p, and 360p, all at 30fps.

Windows RT 8.1 platform finally brings some of the additional basic organizer apps apart from the People and Contact Hubs that we would expect to find on any device. These apps include native Health & Fitness, Food & Drink, Calculator, Alarm, and Sound Recorder apps.

Though, all these apps are very basic and small things but considering that many of them are not available out of the box with the original Surface Pro, we must appreciate that Nokia has included all these apps in the Lumia 2520.

We all know that Windows RT 8.2 comes with many enhancements, and therefore, it is quite gratifying to see some of them in the music player, also called as XBOX Music now. You cannot only access the local content but can also purchase additional songs by using the XBOX Music Hub. XBOX is fully in charge of music and videos. The music and the video player of Windows 8.1 RT are dealt by two distinct apps that are powered by Xbox. Both are pinned to the Start menu once you power up the slate.

Volume output is great and its dual speakers are efficient enough to produce tones that have a commanding presence with minimal distortion and scrunching. Plugging in a pair of headphones doesn't introduce much distortion, but the stereo quality worsens and volume plunges even lower.

Another interesting feature of this tablet is that it supports a wide variety of video codecs out of the box that makes it easier to quickly load videos and play them. Watching videos on the Lumia 2520 is a great experience thanks to its 10.6" 1080p screen. In addition, Xbox Video welcomes you with featured movies and TV shows. Users’ own videos are all present on the left. There is also a search button on the top right side that works for both the user’s content and the one sold in the Xbox store.

The tablet favors the gear from Qualcomm’s camp - a quad-core 2.2GHz Snapdragon 800 SoC featuring the Adreno 330 GPU, coupled with 2GB of RAM. The tablet rarely exhibits any strain with its operation in general, but delivers a somewhat snappy response with many things. Processor intensive operations such as 3D gaming titles will have slower response. Plus, you will experience delayed response when multi-tasking with another app while you have many tabs opened in the web browser.

The Nokia Lumia 2520 comes with two browsers that are preinstalled and other than that the tablet does not offer any other option for now. Internet Explorer 11 handles the web and it comes in two forms: one in the modern looking UI with a touch-centric interface and the other one in the more conventional desktop version.

In terms of connectivity, thanks to its speedy 4G LTE connectivity even the most complex pages with rich multimedia content load pretty fast. This enhance your web experience. Other pleasing experiences include lightning fast page rendering and its buttery navigational control.

The Lumia 2520 is fully equipped with all modern day connectivity features along with 4G LTE connectivity. These options include GPS, Bluetooth 4.0, dual-band 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, NFC, and video out functionality thanks to its microHDMI port.

The Nokia Lumia is delivered with an 8000 mAh battery with an impressive battery life that complements the tablet's productivity credentials quite well. Completely depending upon 4G LTE connectivity, the slate delivers a battery life that we’re contented of getting these days. From a fully charged battery, the tablet is able to pull out a solid day with heavy usage, and this is something that we consider above average.

Nokia has adopted an assertive strategy with its Nokia Lumia 2520 and now we have to see where it goes from here. The Nokia Lumia 2520 should be considered as a high-end thing with all the specifications and offerings that it offers. It surely captures the essence of what it means. The tablet is armed with everything that a company requires to enter in a new territory be it its distinctive and attractive design or its excellent performance.

The Nokia Lumia 2520 definitely has set gold standards for the tablets to aspire to but it would have been much better if the Lumia 2520 ran full-fat Windows 8 and added a kickstand. Windows RT and the limited apps and storage are what that make this great tablet to fall behind. It features an impressive IPS display that is simply fantastic for outdoor reading and brings Windows RT’s vivid colors to life. Apart from that holding the Lumia 2520 in hand is a joy too.

To cut the long story short Nokia Lumia 2520 is one of the most impressive tablet out there when it comes to IPS display, glossy design and its tactile feedback. Other than Windows RT and limited range of apps, the Lumia 2520 is the most versatile and high functioning Windows tablet right now.