The Nokia Lumia 900 has the weight of two big names on its shoulders. It's Nokia's big re-entry into the US market; it's also the flagship Windows Phone Mango in this country. In anticipatory articles, you can hardly find the term "Lumia 900" separated from the word "premium." The phone is as important as the Samsung Galaxy Nexus was to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and as, well, every new iPhone is to iOS.

The phone was recently announced at the two-year contract price of $99, a tag usually applied to new mid-range or old high-end phones (even more recently, AT&T announced the Lumia 900 will be free online for new customers). But the implication is that the low price is meant to attract attention to an OS that has yet to win a significant chunk of the market. It's not a reflection of the handset's quality. Because of this, we largely compare the Lumia 900 to the two flagship phones of the other two major OSes, the iPhone 4S with iOS and the Galaxy Nexus with Android 4.0. The iPhone 4 also makes a brief appearance, since it has the same list price as the Lumia 900.

As our review will show, the new hardware can hold up against both of these more expensive phones, and Nokia's total package deserves to be taken seriously. Still, the OS has some maturing to do compared to the other two platforms. Power users for whom price is less of a factor will find much to admire here, but they still may not be won over when it comes to getting the best handset, period.

Hardware: girl, look at that body

The Lumia 900 has a 4.3-inch 800x480 resolution Clear Black AMOLED display embedded in a unibody polycarbonate shell, rounded on the long sides and squared off at the top and bottom. The polycarbonate body has a velvety, slightly rubbery feel to it, making it easy to hold. Due to the screen margins and casing overhang it feels bigger in hand than you might expect of a 4.3-inch-screened phone. As a point of reference, the Galaxy Nexus measures 67.9 millimeters wide to the Lumia 900's 68.5 millimeters, despite the Galaxy Nexus having a 4.65-inch screen. The Galaxy Nexus is also less than a centimeter longer, meaning the Lumia 900 is hardly any friendlier to a jeans pocket.

The Lumia 900 is not pushing the limits of thinness at 11.5 millimeters, but frankly, that's OK. The pursuit of a thin body at the expense of functionality has lately become a circus we wish manufacturers would stop participating in.

The Lumia 900 has three buttons arranged along its right hand side: a volume rocker, a sleep/power button, and a camera button. A headphone jack, microUSB port, and SIM slot are placed on the top. A single speaker is on the bottom edge, and the standard Windows Phone keys are placed below the screen (back, home, and search).









The placement of the sleep button seemed odd to us during our first hands-on at CES, but our suspicions that it would be easier to press have been confirmed; a button centered on the long edge is easier to press with your left forefinger or right thumb than one on the top edge. However, it does mean those fingers have to find somewhere else to sit while you're using the phone. The buttons have decent tactile feedback and aren't too stiff, though the halfway-press on the camera button used to focus to the lens can be difficult to feel.

The Lumia 900's single speaker is pretty quiet, even at the loudest volume setting. Many phones trade volume for distortion, which the Lumia 900 is likely avoiding by setting the volume limit low, but it can be hard to hear without the volume turned all the way up. As for the other sound components, call quality on the Lumia 900 is perfectly fine. There's no noticeable difference from the iPhone 4S.











The phone also has haptic feedback. It's used very sparingly though, mostly when the three soft keys are pressed. The feel of it is gentle and short, but solid. We looked through the settings and there doesn't seem to be a way to extend the vibrations into more usage cases, such as for the keyboard.

As for storage, the Lumia 900 comes with a flat 16GB—unexpandable, unupgradeable. As apps get bigger and photo libraries expand over the course of the next two years (the standard length of a phone contract), that size limit would start to chafe us.