The Lumia 1520: enormous hardware, troublesome software

The Lumia 1520: enormous hardware, troublesome software

Nov 23rd 2013, 16:50, by Peter Bright

All six inches of the Nokia Lumia 1520.

Lee Hutchinson

Specs at a glance: Nokia Lumia 1520
Screen	1920×1080 6" (368 ppi) IPS touchscreen
OS	Windows Phone 8 Update 3 with Nokia "Black" update
CPU	2.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800
RAM	2GB
GPU	450 Mhz Adreno 330
Storage	16GB (AT&T) or 32GB (everyone else)
Networking	Dual Band 802.11b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0 including Low Energy, GPS, GLONASS
Ports	Micro USB, headphones
Camera	20MP rear camera with OIS, f/2.4 aperture, 1.3MP front camera
Size	162.8mm×85.4mm×8.7mm
Weight	209g
Battery	3400 mAh
Starting price	$99 with a two year contract

So here's the thing about the Lumia 1520. It's huge. Really, absurdly huge. I know it's not the first super-sized smartphone, but it's the first I've ever used in any meaningful capacity and it's just vast. There are apartments in Manhattan that boast less square footage than the Lumia 1520.
The Lumia 1520 represents a number of Windows Phone firsts. It's the first Windows Phone with a 1920×1080 screen. It's the first Windows Phone with a six inch screen. It's the first Windows Phone with a Snapdragon 800 processor, which in turn makes it the first quad core Windows Phone. It is, as far as I can tell, the first Windows Phone with 802.11ac Wi-Fi.
And it's the first Windows Phone that doubles up as a coffee table, or, in a pinch, a spare wing for a 747.