NOKIA'S LUMIA

Nokia's new Lumia hopes to stand out like an Icon

The latest Windows Phone flagship has an impressive 5-inch screen, the ups and audio quality with emphasis on imagery With An on video.

NEW YORK - Of all the hurdles facing new CEO Satya Nadella , Microsoft 's lack of standing in mobile is Perhaps the Most imposing . Windows Phone Remains a distant third in a smartphone operating system battle that's Been a two -team race Among Android and iOS .

There's a glimmer of hope . ACCORDING to fourth- quarter figures Reported by IDC , Windows Phone market share rose nearly 47 % year over year , the best result of any leading contender , though share That Remains mired in the low single digits . Most of the Increase can be Attributed to Nokia , que Microsoft is in the end stages of Acquiring .

What happens to the Nokia brand under Microsoft 's new leadership needs to play out . But the Finnish phone giant That keeps delivering fine phones deserve recognition .

Next in line is the Nokia Lumia Icon That I've been testing, Also known as the Lumia 929. This latest flagship - a Windows Phone exclusive to Verizon Wireless - is not the thinnest or lightest (at 5.86 ounces ) phone around , but it belongs in the high -rent district . The aluminum ring rimming this polycarbonate rectangular slab Helps give the phone a premium feel. It comes in black ( like my unit test ) or white . It arrives Thursday for $ 199 with a two- year agreement.

You can not help but be impressed with the sharp 5 -inch, Gorilla Glass- protected Full HD OLED display , que can be made ​​out in direct sunlight . You can turn on a setting That bolsters the screen 's touch sensitivity , meaning you can interact with it wearing gloves , an act of mercy , Given the deluge of snow here in the Northeast .

Measures up Icon , specs- wise . Inside is a snappy Qualcomm quad -core processor , 2 gigabytes of RAM and 32 GB of storage sealed - with an additional 7 GB of free online storage provided via Microsoft 's SkyDrive (soon to be called OneDrive ) .

CROWN THE CAMERA

Most Notably , Icon camera borrows features from its sibling the Nokia Lumia 1020 , que September the bar high for smartphone photography .

The new phone does not match the 41- megapixel sizzle of the 1020 - Icon is at 20 megapixels - but it does have Carl Zeiss optics and Takes outstanding pictures and videos. After you snap a picture , Nokia condenses the image to a size that's Easier to share , while retaining Also a higher-resolution image . Incidentally , the 5 - inch display is larger than Icon the 4.5 - inch display on the 1020.

In the recent past , Nokia justifiably bragged about the photographic muscle built into its phones . This go-round , there Seems to be a heavier emphasis on video. The device is meant to appeal to the kind of consumer who captures quick videos and posts them to a popular social -media outlet : such as Vine.

A very nice feature lets you shoot video and digital stills holding the phone with one hand , while zooming in or out by swiping up or down with a single finger . (The swipe -to -zoom feature works on selfies , too . ) Optical image stabilization Helps compensate_for_errors the unavoidable jitters with video .

You get a full complement of hand controls (white balance , exposure settings , etc. . ) Inside the Nokia Camera app . Confusingly , there 's a separate Windows camera app , as well . I was quite pleased with the quality of the pictures and Most Of Videos That I took . Not everything I shot Emerged fully in focus - You Might blame the shooter for that - but the vibrant colors Were true to life . After taking a picture, You have the opportunity to reframe the image with a different display size (4:3 , 3:2 , 16:9 , 1:1).

Nokia 's camera software is extremely versatile but a tad overwhelming at first . I was bothered by a slight lag as the camera Focuses before snapping an image , I had to beef With the 1020. Also there's a bit of a delay between the time you press a dedicated camera button and the time the camera app springs to life . Consider These mere quibbles .

GOOD SOUND , GROWING APPS

Nokia significant attention paid to audio. The phone has four microphones That help deliver distortion - free high -quality directional stereo sound , best heard with headphones . In one exercise, I shot video of another phone blaring music, then watched ( and listened to) the video on the Icon . The music Sounded good . Nokia could not do much to block out wind noise During a video I shot walking my dog ​​.

I'm Comfortable with the live tile -based Windows Phone interface , but not everyone will be Recognize . With Windows Phone 8 , you can now display three columns of tiles at once . Windows is progressing on the app front - the platform now has north of 200,000 apps, including some key titles That had Been Missing , : such as Instagram. That still leaves rivals way behind Windows Phone , however.

You do get the Microsoft Office app on Icon , and the good news Is that Nokia supplies its own strong collection of apps, including Maps Here , Here Drive ( turn- by-turn directions ) , Creative Studio ( photo editing ) Cinemagraph ( blends photo and animation) and Nokia MixRadio ( free streaming music) .

Another cool app , called Nokia Beamer , lets you share what 's on your phone screen on a bigger computer screen . To make it work , you go to beam.nokia.com using the browser on the computer you want to display Whose use . With the Icon 's camera , you scan the QR code beam.nokia.com That Appears on the site . From there, you're good to go .

With proper accessories , you can take advantage of wireless charging . I did not run on a formal battery test , but the phone held in the normal use its own , thanks to the hefty battery on board .

Icon is a solid device Easily That I can recommend to Windows Phones fans, Especially Those into photography . But I do not think Icon is enough of an iconic device to get the Android or iPhone devotee to convert to Windows.