NOKIA Lumia 1320 Pro Reviews

Big and ungainly, but there's a solid budget smartphone underneath

The camera isn't great, but this is a superb Windows phablet with excellent battery life

With 'okay' performance and a good but not great screen, the Lumia 1320 still offers good value for money. It's certainly not the best handset on the market, but if you want a Windows Phone with a big screen, and you can't or don't want to stretch up to the faster 1520, you won't regret buying the Lumia 1320. The camera is basic and the storage limited, but the battery life is brilliant.

The Nokia Lumia 1320 could be an interesting low-cost phablet, but it would have to be re-engineered for U.S. carriers first.

Taken as a whole, the Nokia Lumia 1320 is a sturdy, nice-looking supersize smartphone that does a good job for the price. Its camera resolution is perhaps its weakest point, but this LTE smartphone takes snaps from its main camera well enough to use and enjoy. While I would recommend it for the Windows Phone fan looking for a more affordable ultralarge phone, I'd also urge buyers to check out the Samsung Galaxy Mega and ZTE Iconic/Boost Max, both Android smartphones. ZTE's phablet is especially compelling because of its 8-megapixel rear camera and $300 price tag, on the US' Boost Mobile at least. A slightly smaller phone, the Max has a screen resolution that might make some images look a bit sharper. Samsung's Galaxy Mega has an even lower resolution and costs $100 more than the 1320, but its Android version is also much more up-to-date than ZTE's 4.1 OS.

We like Windows Phone, and we like Nokia's design and many of its custom apps, but like its more expensive sibling the Lumia 1320 doesn't make the very most of its hardware. Having a huge screen is great for media playback - even at 720p resolution, not 1080p - but whereas it could have given email, messaging, and other apps more room to shine, the UI is just like that of smaller Windows Phones only enlarged.It's a missed opportunity, but perhaps it matters less on the Lumia 1320 than it did on the 1520. Unfortunately, without Nokia's excellent PureView system the camera on the phone is only average, though battery life is great and we like the sturdy build quality. In the end, while size matters, it's also what you do with it that really counts, and we're not sure Windows Phone yet does enough to warrant phablet-scale for every user. Although some groups will find enough to love about the Lumia 1320's screen, Microsoft needs to do a little more to refine its OS to deliver on its half of the bargain. That will undoubtedly come in time, but for now we'd be more tempted by one of Nokia's smaller Lumia devices, particularly those with PureView cameras.

As much as one may try to twist facts, there's no denying – the Nokia Lumia 1320 is a mid-range offering. On a positive note, the 6-inch phablet is sturdily-crafted and has a polished look. It presents well, as the internals are capable enough to provide an adequate user experience without nasty hang times or stutters. Lastly, both battery and call quality, while not top notch for certain, still leave little to desire. On the other hand, this is quite a burdensome device in terms of its weight, even in its category, and the camera sure could use a little push. Again, and as we pointed out already, design elements feel understated and modest, and not in a good way. So how does the 1320 compare to its competition? Pretty well, actually, thanks to its aggressive price tag of about $340. Availability is still scarce, unfortunately, and at this point we're unaware of plans to get the phablet stateside – just Europe and Asia. Put next to other phablets in its price class, like the Alcatel OneTouch Hero, the 1320 manages to hold its own, though it's a shade less impressive overall. But, if you're a WP8 convert and have taken a shine to Nokia products, there's basically nothing else out there for you if you're on a budget.