Nokia Lumia 920 has been has been dubbed as one of the biggest smartphone releases of 2012. True, its debut in November 2012 was much less attention-grabbing than the launch of Apple iPhone 5 or Samsung Galaxy S III, but the ensuing popularity of the handset seems to have surprised everybody. The handset flew off the shelves in country after country as soon as it became available, and many customers world wide, from Nokia’s native Finland to China, were left empty handed as retailers ran out of stock, sometimes within hours.

The Lumia 920 is the Nokia’s flagship handset running on Windows Phone 8 operating software. The specs at a glance include:

• Camera: 8.7 megapixels, Nokia PureView
• Screen: 4.5 ” display size
• Storage: 32GB (cannot be expanded)
• Battery runtime: 10.8 hours maximum talk time 3G, 460 hours standby time 3G, 74 hours music playback time

(For full specification, go to Nokia website.)

The handset earned predominantly positive reviews, though some imperfections were noted:

Pros:

• The eye-popping HD screen
• Great Nokia-exclusive apps
• Enjoyable OS
• Colourful design
• Superb camera
• Wireless charging

Cons:

• Too big
• Too heavy
• Gets very warm during load
• Does not gave extra memory card slot
• Less apps than iOS or Android
• Some users reported battery drainage

Nokia Lumia 920 is currently available on a 24-month contract from Vodacom for R399 and from Cell C for R439 per month (please note: we are not comparing apples with apples here; the two packages may differ regarding the amount of free talk minutes, SMSs, data, etc.). We were not able to locate this handset in the MTN, 8ta and Virgin Mobile offer.

There are currently a couple of Lumia 920 units on bidorbuy, with prices about R8000. So, if you want to own this handset without a contract, you may want to wait a few days before starting to browse the bidorbuy Nokia section (we recommend sorting by higher price).