Lumia 820 & 920: How accurate were the rumors?

Now that the Nokia Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 have been officially announced at Nokia"s press event, we can go back and take a look at which rumors that we saw over the past days have been accurate, and which have missed the mark.

Accurate: Nokia to reveal two Windows Phone 8 devices on September 5th

The Verge accurately claimed that Nokia would release two Windows Phone 8 devices codenamed "Phi" and "Arrow" (Lumia 920 and 820 respectively) at their event today, with a "curved glass display" indeed coming to the Lumia 920. Polycarbonate bodies were also seen in the devices as predicted.

Almost: Nokia Phi to be first Windows Phone 8 device

The blurry photo above does show a prototype Lumia 920 (like below), which did turn out to be the Nokia "Phi" and the first device announced at the event. However the specs listed weren"t entirely accurate: there was NFC and a Qualcomm dual-core Snapdragon S4 chipset, but there was no microSD card slot.

Accurate: Is this Nokia"s first Windows Phone 8 device?

It turns out this is Nokia"s first Windows Phone 8 device, as it is essentially the same as the Nokia Lumia 920 (announced first at the event) although with an old-style Windows flag in place of the new one seen on the final model. The yellow coating also seems to match the most advertised color available for the device.

Inaccurate: Nokia"s RM 820 leaks

WMPowerUser leaked a shot of what appears at first glance to be a Nokia Lumia 920, but look closer and you"ll spot some differences. First up the device isn"t quite as thin as it"s shown here, and the display curves off to the side which is not what"s shown above; the top panel also doesn"t have the ports in the right location, and the name "RM 820" is wrong as it"s actually closer to the 920.

Accurate: Nokia patents reveal Windows Phone 8 device

The image from the patent seems to show the Nokia Lumia 920, with the back profile accurately portraying the camera module on the final device.

Inaccurate: Nokia Arrow image leaks

The above image is supposed to look like the rear of the Nokia Lumia 820, which at the time was only known as the "Arrow". While it does look similar, it doesn"t match the final design of the 820 as the camera and Nokia branding are actually placed horizontally on the final model. It also doesn"t look like the 920, which means this is likely a prototype device.

Almost: Nokia Lumia 820 prototype images

The prototype device that was supposedly the Lumia 820 does look in some ways similar to the final device, but the area at the top of the display that includes the speaker looks more like what is seen on the Lumia 920. We"ll give leeway because this was clearly labelled as a prototype smartphone.

Accurate: Images show off the Lumia 820 and 920

Both images leaked by @evleaks accurately showed off the final design of the Lumia 820 and Lumia 920, with the shots obtained even matching those used on the Nokia website; albeit with lower quality.

Accurate: Another set of Lumia 820/920 shots leak

Both the shots shown off here also match the final designs of the respective devices, and it even shows the new purple color available with the Lumia 820.

Accurate: Lumia 920 to include wireless charging; specs unveiled

The Lumia 920 does indeed include wireless charging as a major feature, and the specs released in this rumor were very accurate. The device does include an 8-megapixel (8.7 MP to be exact) PureView camera that uses image stabilization, the processor is a 1.5 GHz dual-core, 1 GB of RAM is inside, the storage is 32 GB and the screen is a 4.5-inch HD panel.

Accurate: Lumia 820 to feature removable back covers and wireless charging

The Lumia 820 does indeed feature removable back covers, some of which enable wireless charging as the article stated. The specs listed (1.5 GHz dual-core, 1 GB of RAM, microSD card, 8GB on-board) were accurate and the statement that the camera would be "similar to its Lumia 920 counterpart" is true as the camera is 8-megapixels but lacking PureView.

Accurate: More images of the Lumia WP8 devices

As with everything leaked by @evleaks, the last of the image leaks again uses images that Nokia themselves use on their website currently to show off the new Lumia devices.

Inaccurate: Nokia to also announce a Windows 8 tablet

WPDang hinted that a Nokia promotional image showing a Windows 8 tablet device nestled beneath a Windows Phone could mean Nokia would show off a Windows 8 tablet at their event. This didn"t happen, and when asked by Neowin"s own John Callaham, Nokia is "not revealing plans for Windows 8 or Windows RT tablets" despite hinting that they were in the works.

Inaccurate: Windows Phone 8 "Rooms" feature to be shown at event

According to The Verge, Windows Phone 8"s "Rooms" group chat and sharing feature was to be shown off at Nokia"s press event today. While Microsoft"s Joe Belfiore did take to the stage to demo some new features in Windows Phone 8, the Rooms feature wasn"t shown off, with Microsoft instead emphasizing media features like Lenses, screenshotting, the Start Screen and more.

Report a problem with article
Next Article

Hands-on (kind of) with Nokia Lumia 920 and 820

Previous Article

Nokia unveils the Lumia 920