Lumia 640XL Review – Microsoft Refreshes Their Budget Phablet

Big screen! Little Price! The advertising campaign pretty much writes itself. Microsoft has refreshed the hardware and design of their entry level line. Let’s take a look at the Lumia 640XL!

Lumia 640XL Camera Review
Lumia 640XL Speaker Test

Reader Poll: LG G4 vs Lumia 930! UHD Video Showdown!

The LG G4 HANDILY beat the Galaxy S6 in yesterday’s viewer poll. How will LG’s newest shooter compare to the PureView camera on the Lumia 930? Check out the video comparison, then vote below!


Lumia 930 Full Camera Review.
LG G4 Full Camera Review.

Reader Poll: Galaxy S6 vs Lumia 930 – UHD Video Showdown!

Two phones enter! YOU decide which phone leaves!

Watch the video, pitting the Galaxy S6 against the Lumia 930 (Icon) in an Ultra HD showdown, make sure you go fullscreen and bump up the quality, then vote in the poll below!


4K Video Showdown! LG G Flex 2 vs Nokia Lumia 930 (Icon)! You Decide the Best UHD Video!

I could blather on about the pros and cons of each camera, or I could just let each camera speak for itself! I spent a lovely day at the Los Angeles Zoo with the LG G Flex 2 pitting it against my old favorite, the Nokia Lumia 930/Icon.

Which phone shoots the best UHD video? Well that’s up to you!

Shop the LG G Flex 2 on Amazon.
Shop the Nokia Lumia Icon on Amazon.

AT&T Finally Delivers “Denim” Update for the Lumia 1520

With all the noise around the FCC yesterday, you might have missed a long awaited update start pushing out to the king Lumia on AT&T.

Verizon surprised us all in being first to deliver the Lumia Denim firmware update to the Icon, but now it’s Big Blue’s turn to update the monster phablet Lumia 1520.

Windows Phone fans will be happy to play with a new camera app capable of shooting HDR photos and 4K video. Also on board is a new voice activation trigger for the Digital Assistant search app. Saying “Hey Cortana” by your phone will initiate a voice search or command even when your phone’s screen is off.

This update will also replace any AT&T pre-installed software on the phone. If you uninstalled AT&T Navigator or FamilyMap in the past, they’ll return. Thankfully, unlike bloat on Android devices, these apps can still be uninstalled without rooting or jumping through hoops.

It took us a while to get here, but Denim brings a collection of bug fixes and new features to play with, while we wait for Microsoft to deliver Windows 10.

To see if your Lumia has received the update, head to “Settings”, then to “Phone Update”. You can see our 4K video review from the Icon below (and the 1520’s camera performs very similarly).

Review: Microsoft Lumia 435 Dual SIM – The Best Budget Windows Phone?

I think the most exciting area for smartphone growth is the entry level and developing markets. The Lumia team has shown a real talent for providing smartphone solutions which aren’t painful to use at incredibly low price points. The Lumia 435 pushes this idea even further with a dual SIM card edition. Let’s take a look!

4K Smartphone Camera Test: Real-World UHD Samples from the Lumia Icon/930 (Lumia Denim)

It’s ABOUT DAMN TIME a Lumia phone in the USA got the Denim update, but now we can FINALLY take a look at the 4K video quality on the Lumia 930 (Icon)! Here’s the MOST comprehensive review available on the internet!

Note 4 UHD Camera Test.
LG G3 UHD Camera Test.
iPhone 6+ HD Camera Test.

Verizon Surprises Lumia Icon Owners with Denim Update

***UPDATE: We now have a full review of the 4K video quality embedded below!***nokia lumia icon denim update verizon wireless somegadgetguyComing down the pipe this morning, if you happen to own the oft neglected Nokia Lumia Icon, you’re in line for a BIG update.

Jumping the line over all the missed updates and patches, skipping over the Lumia Cyan firmware, VZW will be skipping directly to Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1 with Lumia Denim. Go directly to GO, Collect $200. Fantastic.

In the updates arms race between AT&T and Big Red, Windows Phone users have been left out in the cold of late. The Lumia 1520 phablet still a ways behind it’s international brethren, but now Icon owners have a little something to brag about.

We’ll be tearing into the new Lumia Camera app soon, as we can’t wait to try out the new 2160/30p shooting mode.

lumia denim  camera exposure somegadgetguy

An OTA should be pushing out soon, but if you don’t want to wait (and you don’t mind completely wiping your phone) you can use the Lumia Software Recovery Tool.

You can see our real world benchmark test of the Icon shooting UHD video below!