Skip to main content

Nokia’s Lumia 925 looks beautiful, but we’ve seen it twice already

Nokia Lumia 925Check out our review of Nokia Lumia 925 smart phone.

By now, you’ve probably had a good look at the latest Lumia smartphone’s svelte new design, and been pleased to see it matches its codename (“Catwalk”). We hope you weren’t waiting for much more than a fresh look, though. The Lumia 925 may sound like a completely new phone, but it’s almost exactly the same as Nokia’s other Lumia 92x phones: the Lumia 920 and Lumia 928.

Recommended Videos

Despite release schedules separated by six months, the three phones could have all launched at exactly the same time. They’re nearly identical. Nokia may claim the Lumia 925 has a more advanced camera lens (apparently it has a sixth glass lens for improved daylight performance), but it pretty much has the same 8.7-megapixel sensor as the Lumia 920 and Lumia 928.

Of course, there are subtle differences between all three, for example the Lumia 928 has a xenon flash, the Lumia 920 has 32GB of storage, and the Lumia 925 has that flashy metal design. The elements are there, but they need to be incorporated into one phone, and not three separate models. A Lumia 929 Ultimate, bringing all these features together, with a whole suite of new apps, would feel like a worthwhile upgrade, instead of a series of carrier-specific special editions.

Lumia 925 Smart CameraMore phones doesn’t mean more sales

Lumia 925 Smart CameraLumia 925 Smart CameraOne could argue Nokia is churning out Lumia phones to up its handset sales, but by releasing hardware that is very similar, it’s going to have a tough job to convince those who haven’t gone for a previous model to plump for the new one. (Oh, and for future reference Nokia, a “burst mode app,” no matter how enjoyable it is to use, just doesn’t cut it.) We’ve seen it many times before (BlackBerry tried, unsuccessfully, to make a similar app a talking point about BlackBerry 10) and in reality, it’s just more bloatware that’s only useful in very specific situations.

The Lumia 925‘s design though, looks like a winner, and sees Nokia take on the beautiful metal body shells encasing the HTC One and the Apple iPhone 5, and the glass panel design used by Sony for the Xperia Z. Samsung stands almost alone in its use of plastic throughout its flagship phone. But let’s be honest here, the Lumia 925 has a metal band around its chassis, but it still retains a polycarbonate rear panel. Yes it’s lighter and slimmer, but it’s hardly in the same league as the HTC One’s gorgeous metal unibody.

When comparing the Lumia 925 to the competition this way, it only serves as a reminder how Windows Phone hardware is lagging behind the Android-based competition in the spec sheet war. I mean, as silly as numbers can be, there’s no 1080p screen or quad-core processor here. So, while the Lumia 925’s $600ish price (exact price hasn’t been confirmed) is very competitive when compared to the Galaxy S4, the Xperia Z and the HTC One, it needs to be, as on paper it’s a, “lesser” phone.

Where’s the excitement?

The Lumia 920, Lumia 925, and Lumia 928 run on Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 operating system, and although it’s powerful, useable, and rather attractive, it’s not exciting. This is a problem for Nokia and it’s Lumia 92x family. Because it’s not desirable, we naturally turn to the hardware for excitement. And though it looks good, the 925 is an updated version of a phone we saw last November – almost the same screen, identical processor, less storage, and silly wireless charging case. Nokia is in danger of being ignored by the masses. Again.

When we began to hear about the Lumia 928 and the Lumia 925, we questioned why Nokia would risk alienating its customers by releasing a new version of a six-month old phone, and now we’ve got our answer. It’s because it’s not really new at all. Cool looks aside, if the Lumia 920 didn’t do it for you, then the Lumia 925 and Lumia 928 probably won’t either.

Andy Boxall
Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…
iOS 18.2 just took another step toward its official release
iOS 18 logo on the iPhone 16 Pro

Yet another iOS update is ready, and this one is important. The iOS 18.2 beta 2 update is live, and it's a big deal for a couple of reasons. It's available to more people than the previous beta, and it indicates another step toward iOS 18.2's public launch.

The first version of this beta was only available to people whose phones supported Apple Intelligence, but this latest version works with any phone that can update to iOS 18. Addditionally, iOS 18.2 beta 2 is only available to developer beta testers. There isn't a public beta at the moment, and we have no word on when one might release. Still, it's good to see that more people are included this time around.

Read more
A new update fixes the Snapdragon 8 Elite’s overheating issues — or does it?
The back of the Realme GT 7 Pro.

Since we performance tested the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor in the GT 7 Pro smartphone, Realme has insisted it has a fix coming for what it described as a “software compatibility” problem, which was causing the phone to overheat before it could complete a 20-minute gaming benchmark test.

Today, a software update containing the fix was delivered to our review model, with the promise it would solve the issue. Sure enough, after running the Solar Bay Stress Test — a 20-minute program that emulates gameplay with ray-traced graphics — in the 3DMark benchmark app, the Realme GT 7 Pro did indeed successfully complete it, giving us the performance figures we were missing during our initial comparison with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Still running hot
Realme GT 7 Pro results from the 3DMark Solar Bay Stress Test Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Read more
The best Samsung phones in 2024: our 8 favorite Galaxy handsets
A person holding the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and Galaxy S24+.

Samsung is one of the most recognizable names in modern smartphones. It has a well-deserved reputation for offering an expansive lineup of great phones with something for just about everyone. This means if you're looking for an Android phone, you'll easily find a Samsung model that's worth considering based on your needs and budget. In fact, the number of choices can be a bit overwhelming, but the good news is that we've explored the entire range and highlighted the best Samsung smartphones you can buy in 2024.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus gets the nod for the best overall Samsung phone, and while it's odd it's not the ultra-premium S24 Ultra that takes the prize, that's because Samsung has outdone itself this time around with the Plus model. The big phone has the same power, display, and Galaxy AI features as its larger sibling, with only a few small downsides that are easily balanced out by the $300 price difference. But if this year's Plus doesn't tickle your fancy, we have so many other great Samsung smartphones that one is sure to be perfect for you.

Read more