Software
It's a standard Windows Phone 8 and you won't find many surprises here. Nokia brings a lot of extras to Windows Phone 8 and in addition you've also got a whole suite of Nokia applications. The OS is easy to use for first-time smartphone buyers, as it offers all the information in an easy to use and digest Live Tiles system – where each of the resizable blocks can cycle through recent updates, media previews, upcoming events, new messages, and other information. If you want to fill the homescreen with a grid of contact shortcuts, you can, or alternatively you can replicate an iOS-style layout with simple app buttons.
The usual Here Maps and Here Drive are present, along with Nokia Music, but all of these apps can be found on all Lumia handsets. The maps app allows you to quickly search for local businesses -- restaurants, bars, shops, hotels etc -- and provides a wealth of information. Click on a result, and it'll show you contact details, directions on how to get there and reviews from previous customers and industry guides, if available. Nokia's Drive app provides turn-by-turn GPS satellite navigation.
On the other hand, Nokia Music offers a compelling alternative to Spotify. Sign-up free and it offers 100 Mix Radio playlists that Nokia updates weekly, picking from a catalog of 22m tracks, the ability to create your own custom playlists triggered from an original “seed” track, and support for a limited number of offline playlists. The Nokia Music+ subscription service – an in-app upgrade – unlocks unlimited offline playback on WiFi connections, and unlimited track-skips.
