Nokia Lumia 2520 Hands-On Review

Today is a very special day. Not because Nokia World 2013 is well underway here in Abu Dhabi, but because Nokia has finally stepped into the tablet market. As we reported earlier today when the Nokia Lumia 2520 was announced, this is the first tablet to come from Nokia after years of rumors about the Finnish manufacturer working on one. The tablet has been launched under the Lumia brand and is powered by Windows RT 8.1. Without further ado, let us jump into our Nokia Lumia 2520 hands-on review.

Design:

At first glance, the Nokia Lumia 2520 tablet looks like an enlarged Lumia smartphone. There are undeniable design similarities between the tablet and the smartphone. Nokia has opted for the same unibody construction and polycarbonate material.

During the keynote, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop said that the edges on the Lumia 2520 have been kept thin as most tablet users tend to hold their tablets from the sides and not usually from the middle.

That’s generally true, and you can feel the thin edges when you pick up the tablet. Its feels good in the hand and the unmistakable sturdy construction is immediately evident.

The tablet weighs just 625 grams and measures 267 x 168 x 8.9 millimeters.

Display:

The Lumia 2520 has a 10.1 inch full 1080p HD display, and its superb. The viewing angles are great and brightness is just as impressive. Nokia has innovated in display technology quite a lot and it really shows on the Lumia 2520, they’ve focused particularly on improving visibility under direct sunlight and the Lumia 2520 is a testament to Nokia’s prowess in display technology.

Hardware Specifications:

The tablet is packing a quadcore Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor with 2GB of RAM. That’s enough to put it head to head with Microsoft’s new Surface 2 tablet, which also runs on Windows RT 8.1. The OS is responsive, thanks no doubt to the quadcore processor. Multitasking is a breeze too. At first glance, we don’t see any issues with the tablet’s performance, even when its running the full suite of desktop Office apps. There’s 32GB of internal memory and the ability to expand externally through microSD card, up to 64GB. There’s LTE as well, for blazing fast mobile data. Lumia 2520 has an 8,000 mAh battery which Nokia CEO Stephen Elop says is good for 11 hours, powering the device and its array of connectivity options such as NFC, BT 4.0 LE, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n and A-GPS+GLONASS.

Camera:

High-end Nokia devices have always put imaging front and center, and the company has done the same with its first ever tablet. The Lumia 2520 has a 6.7 megapixel Auto Focus camera with ZEISS optics, f1.9 aperture on the back and a 2 megapixel HD wide-angle camera up front. Accompanying the shooters is the new Nokia Camera app, which brings features from Nokia’s previous Smart cam and Pro cam apps, allowing users to control a number of advanced options when taking a picture.

Pricing/Availability:

The Nokia Lumia 2520 is going to be released in the coming weeks, it will cost $499. Initial release will only take place in selected markets, with more being added in Q1, 2014.