After becoming the worst kept secret in tech history, the Lumia 928 has been officially revealed by Nokia. The model is seen as an upgrade to the Lumia 920 and will hit the US on Verizon Wireless from May 16th.
Yes, we’re feeling a little surprised, too. The Finnish company has a press event planned for next Tuesday in London, yet for some reason has picked the Friday afternoon before to officially confirm the phone.
Like the Lumia 920 that came before it, the Lumia 928 will run on Windows Phone 8 and will feature the same excellent PureView rear camera with optical image stabilisation. Nokia has upgraded the flash to a super bright and white Xenon flash module, although other than that the changes appear to be minimal.
The display remains 4.5-inches in size but has been switched to a new OLED panel, which should help with battery life and provide great viewing angles and brightness. There’s also wireless charging and NFC, as with the 920, with Windows Phone 8 and Nokia’s own impressive suite of apps on board.
Verizon Wireless will be stocking the 928 exclusively in the US, offering it for $99 on 2 year deals with a rebate program. As a bonus, a $25 gift card for the Windows Phone Marketplace will also be given out to subscribers.
Design-wise it seems Nokia has slimmed down the Lumia 928 and used more square edges and sides. This seems quite the departure from the design language used in the 920 and other models in that range, but we’re liking it already.
We’re expecting the Lumia 928 to be revealed properly in the UK next Tuesday, with Vodafone UK already down to stock it. Check out Nokia’s first hands-on video below.