Nokia Lumia 920 and 820 to be launched in India on January 15

One of the most anticipated devices to hit Indian shelves in 2013 will be Nokia's Lumia 920. The Lumia 920, along with its smaller sibling, the Lumia 820, will be launched in India around January 15, said our sources in the grey market. They also mentioned that the device may be launched a couple of days late, depending on Nokia. Nevertheless, the devices should be available across the country from January 17.

The Lumia 920 is set to cost between 38,000 and 40,000, while the 820 will be in the 25,000 to 28,000 price bracket. When we reached out to Nokia, the company said that it has not yet made an official statement about the launch of the devices in India. The Lumia 920 is priced in Singapore at SGD 899, which roughly translates to Rs 40,750, whereas the Lumia 820 costs SGD 699, which is approximately Rs 31,700. However, one should not expect the prices to be the same when the handsets come to India—the additional taxes could make the devices cost a bit more.

Coming mid-January

It was revealed earlier this month that the Indian variant of the Lumia 920 is set to support nine 4G bands. This gives it a significant edge over the other big release of the year, the iPhone 5, which supports only five LTE bands. Another place where the Lumia 920 wins out is that it is pentaband WCDMA, as opposed to the iPhone 5 being quadband.

Nokia has a lot depending on the success of these handsets, and has already launched an advertising campaign.

Nokia first took the wraps off its Lumia 920 at the Nokia World 2012 event in New York City. Featuring a polycarbonate body, the Nokia Lumia 920 packs in a Snapdragon S4 processor and a PureView sensor. It also comes with the Blink app, which is the smartphone's Burst mode. The smartphone will feature an LCD display, which is a little better than the HD displays available now.

The Nokia Lumia 920 includes the latest Nokia PureView camera, which the company claims captures five times more light than competing smartphones. It gives bright pictures without flash, even indoors and at night. It also features built-in wireless charging, making it easy to keep the battery topped up throughout the day.
 
The Nokia Lumia 820 offers exchangeable covers in a range of colours. Both phones have the option of wireless charging, a sensitive touchscreen and Nokia ClearBlack display technology. The Lumia handsets come with the full suite of Nokia navigation applications, including Nokia City Lens and Nokia Music, which streams unlimited music directly to the phone.

You can read our hands-on with the Lumia 920 here, and the comparison between its camera and the iPhone 5's camera here.