Nokia Lumia 1320 Hands on Review: Bold, Beautiful And Affordable

| Updated: Wednesday, February 5, 2014, 11:57 [IST]

One of the perceptions that big phones are not efficient should be surgically taken out our minds. Here is a 6-inch phone, the Nokia Lumia 1320, that may bring a new lease of life in the so-called "big screen "entertainment devices category.

The Windows Phone 8 powered Lumia 1320 is very much affordable, but at the same time offers surprisingly great performance. Although there are other 6-inch phones available in India; however, the WP8-based Lumia 1320 could be the best possible attempt to lure Android fanboys.

Nokia Lumia 1320 Hands on Review: Bold, Beautiful And Affordable

The Nokia Lumia 1320 does not have as cool internal specs as its big brother, the Lumia 1520, but for Rs. 24,000, it is certainly have a chance to win mid-range handset market currently dominated by Android brigade.

We spent flat 15 days with the Nokia Lumia 1320, and therefore this detailed review will help to connect with our experience. Read on to find it more.

What's in the box?

Nokia Lumia 1320 (cellular phone)
USB cum charger
Earphones
Quick Start Guide

Nokia Lumia 1320: Design, Build and Display

Practically speaking, a 6-inch phone should be judged based on how comfortable it is to carry on a daily basis. The smooth and rounded corners of Lumia 1320 make it so easy for a person having small hands. You surely cannot challenge its dimensions 164.2 x 85.9 x 9.8m. At 220g, the handset is heavy; however, due to its excellent build quality the phone is a comfort to carry around. It has a unibody design, which is impressive, but on a downside the fitted battery is non-removable. But at the same time, users can remove the rear-back cover to insert the SIM and microSD card slots. Nokia Lumia 1320 is completely made of high quality polycarbonate plastic, hence sometimes we felt that it can be slippery, especially, when using its camera.

Talking more about its exteriors, the phone has been designed in a minimalistic manner. For a change, you will notice a camera key on the extreme down the right hands side. The volume key, power button and a dedicated camera shutter key on the right, the micro-USB cum charging port down on the bottom, and a 3.5mm headphone jack above the phone. Yes, there is a front-facing camera given just above the display.

Also you cannot take your eyes off the three touch enabled buttons (back, home and search) embedded underneath the display. The rear-back cover houses a 5-megapixel camera with an LED Flash, and a loud speaker down close to the bottom.

Adding on, Nokia has done a great job, when it comes to Lumia 1320's 6-inch LCD display. The screen is capable of showing 720p HD resolution instead of Full HD 1080p screen. Many of you would have asked for the high-resolution 1080p FHD screen, but it hardly matters at the end of the day.

The Windows Phone 8 OS now supports display resolution up to 1080p, so it really depends on your choice at the end. Either way, you can opt for the Lumia 1520, which has a lustrous 6-inch Full HD screen, but you need to pay a premium. In this case, you are getting a beautiful 720p HD display with no big compromise as such, barring the Full HD 1080p screen. That's okay.

The visual performance and viewability of a smartphone display is the most important aspect before you finalize the device. While all the displays look great in the dark, but if you increase the ambient lighting, especially outdoors, there are dramatic differences in screen viewability. Thankfully, Nokia has to offer the best possible bright display with its Lumia 1320. Graphics wise, the 6-inch 720p HD display stole our heart.