By any stretch of imagination, the newly announced Nokia Lumia 2520 is a great device. It has a powerful processor (Qualcomm Snapdragon 800), awesome camera (for a tablet), LTE connectivity support and a ton of built-in storage. It will be available in few color options, making sure there’s the Lumia 2520 for different personalities. However, there are few problems standing on the way of Nokia’s success, including:
1. Platform
Although we love Microsoft’s idea to make its operating system work on ARM-based chips, we don’t like the end result. Simply put, Windows RT is still “not there,” and given the choice – I would always get a full-blown Windows 8 tablet over the one running Windows RT.
2. Apps
Related to the first point – Windows RT lacks apps. Big time. Tablet market is currently dominated by Apple’s iPad with Android steadily catching up. But even Android lacks apps compared to the iPad. Windows RT, on the other hand, is not even in the same league. You’ll get the Outlook, though.
3. Price
Unsubsidized Nokia Lumia 2520 will cost $499. The same cash gets you the cheapest iPad Air which comes with an established eco-system and a huge number of apps to choose from, some of which are only available for Apple’s tablet. Nokia is an underdog in the tablet game and its tablet *must* be more affordable than competing products. At least that’s the way I see things…
4. Competition
As I mentioned, 500 bucks gets you the iPad Air, as well as Nexus 10 or some other Android-based device. The tablet market is more competitive than ever and you can buy a decent device for as low as $300. It’s obvious that Nokia is shooting for the high-end of the market with the Lumia 2520 but I’m not sure it has what it takes to be relevant in that space.
But…
The conclusion is that nothing’s wrong with Nokia’s tablet per se. Rather, we have Microsoft to blame for the Windows RT platform. It should be cancelled or integrated in Windows 8. And all that integrated with Windows Phone, so at the end we have a single version of Windows that works across all platforms.
Presuming the Redmond giant manages to make Windows RT and Windows 8 more compatible in the near future — so that we can run Windows 8 apps on the Lumia 2520 — we could be looking at an interesting product. Alas, that’s something we can’t rely on in the near future…