Nokia Lumia 2520 review

And, just as with the Surface 2, the Lumia 2520 is a joy to use. The tiles, menus and onscreen keyboard of Windows RT 8.1 respond at hyper-speed. Apps launch far quicker than they ever did on the first generation of sluggish RT devices. Even the Office RT apps appear without delay.

The Lumia 2520’s battery life is better than the Surface 2’s, too. In our video-rundown test, with the screen calibrated to 120cd/m[sup]2[/sup] and flight mode enabled, it lasted 12hrs 1min – more than two hours longer than the Surface 2, and almost as good as iPad Air’s 12hrs 55mins.

Even the 6.7-megapixel camera does a decent job, capturing clean, low-noise stills. Video capture was less encouraging, however, with footage appearing smeary and over-compressed.

Software

The Lumia 2520’s biggest issue is that, since it runs Windows RT rather than full Windows, you can’t install proper Windows apps in the same way as you can with devices like the Asus Transformer Book T100. However, that’s mitigated somewhat by the inclusion of Office 2013 RT, which in RT 8.1 has been bolstered by the addition of a desktop version of Outlook, and the steady improvement of the Windows Store.

More and more major titles are appearing as the months go by, with official Facebook and Twitter clients, Dropbox and Evernote all now available. Even when an app isn’t available, the browser is good enough that using the web equivalent isn’t as much of a pain as you’d imagine.

Where the Windows Store continues to fall short is in the availability of those small apps that accompany third-party products and services – printers, routers and NAS appliances, for example. Most companies still develop for iOS and Android first.

To give Nokia its due, it has made an effort to make up for this with a few bonus apps of its own. Nokia Video Director delivers basic video-editing capabilities, Nokia Storyteller creates montages of your photos and video clips. There’s Nokia’s Here Maps, plus its tweaked camera app, which gives you control over advanced features such as ISO sensitivity, white balance, shutter speed and exposure compensation.

Verdict

Despite our reservations over Windows RT, there’s no denying that this is a top-quality piece of hardware. It isn’t the best tablet around, but the Lumia 2520 delivers faster performance and better battery life, with a higher quality display than the Surface 2, and includes 4G as standard. For only £41 more – it looks like a bargain.

What prevents the Nokia tablet from taking the Windows RT top spot is purely the superior flexibility of the Microsoft Surface 2. Its kickstand and the availability of cheaper keyboard options make it – just – the more practical purchase.