Hands on with the Nokia Lumia 928 and Xenon flash quick test

The Nokia Lumia 928 comes to Verizon this week, and I wanted to share some first impressions as I begin my trial of the device. I have the Lumia 920, and a few days ago I wrote about the difference between the two . One of the major differences is the Xenon flash on the 928, but, as you can see in my image gallery, it doesn't appear to have as much of an advantage as I thought, thanks in large part to the solid low-light performance of the Lumia 920.

There isn't anything really that new or unique that would justify anyone moving from AT&T to Verizon just to go from a 920 to a 928. However, it is great to see a high-end Lumia Windows Phone 8 device available for Verizon customers. The 928 takes all that is great about the 920 and makes it just a bit better with the Xenon flash, OLED display, and improved speaker.

We used to see Nokia innovating more with Symbian, and I am a bit disappointed and think it may be held back by the OS . I do give Nokia credit for pushing things as far as possible, though, especially when it comes to software and services.

In looking at the Lumia 928, we find the following specifications:

• Dual-core 1.5GHz processor

• 1GB RAM and 32GB integrated storage

• Windows Phone 8 OS

• 4.5-inch PureMotion HD+ OLED display at 1,280x768 resolution

• 8.7-megapixel PureView camera with Carl Zeiss optics and Xenon flash

• 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera

• 200mAh integrated battery with Qi wireless charging support

• Bluetooth 3.0

• 802.11 a/b/g/n wi-fi and NFC

• Dimensions of 133x68.9x10.1mm and 163 grams

As you can see, the Lumia 928 is a typical Windows Phone device with a couple of advanced features. It is 22 grams lighter than the 920, which was something that several reviewers commented on when the 920 was released. Performance is flawless, but the "Loading..." dialogue is present at times like it is on all Windows Phone devices.

I took a few sample shots with a Nokia N8 with Xenon flash, Nokia Lumia 920, and Nokia Lumia 928 in my gallery in pitch-black conditions. The N8 performed best, but then it was really a toss-up between the Lumia 920 with LED and Lumia 928 with Xenon flash.

This is not a full review of the Lumia 928 by any means, and I plan to take it for a spin for the next couple of weeks. I have been a Windows Phone fan for nearly three years, and want to see if the 928 on Verizon can knock the iPhone 5 out of my hand.

If you have anything specific you want me to check out, feel free to leave a comment or send me a request on Twitter.

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