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Nokia’s stumbled out of bed and poured itself a cup of ambition this morning with the launch of the Lumia 925 — its new Windows Phone flagship. It sports a 4.5-inch display, an 8.7-megapixel camera and, crucially, a metal chassis.
I went hands-on with the phone ahead of the official launch, so head over to CNET.com to see my full take and check out our live blog of the launch right now.
The metal design is what Nokia hopes will get folks’ blood pumpin’ and traffic jumpin’. It’s a big step for Nokia, moving away from the all-plastic design of the Lumia 920. In my hands-on I found it to be sturdy and more comfortable to hold than the 920 thanks to its slimmer and lighter body. It looks good too, although the back panel is still plastic, so doesn’t have quite the same luxurious feel as the HTC One.
At 4.5 inches, the display is the same size as the 920, and the newly unveiled US-only Lumia 928. It has the same 1,280×768-pixel resolution as well, but it uses OLED rather than LCD technology, which Nokia claims makes it more vivid. It certainly seemed good to me, but I’ll leave my final verdict for the full review.
The 8.7-megapixel camera is again the same as you’ll get on the 920, but Nokia has given it a couple of small tweaks. It uses slightly different optics in the lens, which Nokia claims gives photos better definition. The firmware has been improved too to help reduce image noise in low light. The 920 was already a superb performer in low light, so I’m looking forward to seeing what it can do.
There are some software additions for the camera too. The SmartCam features takes a burst of 10 images at once that you can then edit into an action sequence, change faces in a scene or choose the best image from the bunch to save. We’ve seen these functions already on the Galaxy S4, but the 925 allows you to choose how to edit the images after you’ve taken them, rather than choose a setting to shoot in beforehand.
Elsewhere, the features are pretty much the same as the 920. The Windows Phone 8 software is the same as are the bundled Nokia apps.
The 925 is set to go on sale here in the UK and the rest of Europe from June, with prices tentatively set at €470 (£400) — although expect that to change considerably once VAT and tax has been applied.
What do you think of the 925? Is it all takin’ and no givin’? Or enough to drive you crazy (if you let it)? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below or over on our Facebook page.
