Nokia's Lumia 920 has joined the ranks of well-known cosmonauts for the second time. How? Well, the smartphone just went to space and if that wasn't enough, the Lumia 920 survived extreme conditions and a 35,000 meter drop to boot!
CHIP Magazine is well-known for its hardware testing escapades and the folks at its Turkey wing wanted to test a smartphone "on the edge of space," as well as see whether the device would work in extreme conditions. Finnish company Nokia was only too happy to oblige the magazine with its robust Lumia 920 smartphone for the experiment.
For this test, three Lumia 920 smartphones were used. Two were kept inside the special test kit and one outside. The experiment was recorded from the outset to the end on the Lumia 920, as well as a special camera that was mounted inside the kit.
Not only did the Lumia 920s continue recording and were retrieved in mint condition, but they also survived -60 degree temperatures and a 35,000 meter drop.
"This experiment was recorded, from beginning to end. We did the recordings both with the phones and a special camera mounted inside the kit, shooting the Nokia Lumia 920 outside. The smartphones didn't stop recording at any time during the experiment. And when we retrieved the phones, they were still intact, operational and recording," notes the official Nokia Conversations blog post.
A special helium balloon and a strong parachute for re-entry were purchased by the CHIP magazine team to conduct the experiment in Istanbul's windy conditions. To reduce the risk of harsh weather conditions, the team worked closely with the National Meteorological Center and chose a day when chances of harsh winds were less.
So what new things about the Lumia 920 were discovered with this experiment?
"We discovered that even at below -60 degrees, Nokia Lumia 920 operates without any problems. Plus, high humidity caused by the clouds does not affect the phone. What's more, it survived an incredible 35 000 meters drop, which even with a parachute is pretty hard going. So we can confirm that the Lumia 920 really is very tough!" notes the Nokia blog.
Toughness aside, the Lumia 920 is capable of taking pictures or shooting videos if you happen to be walking in space.
"We'd tell you that if you wanted to take photos or shoot videos while walking in space, it seems you can safely use the Nokia Lumia 920. Furthermore, you can use the touch screen with clumsy astronaut gloves. Ideally, in the future, we'd like to take the Nokia Lumia 920 in a Lynx two person suborbital spacecraft, so we can test its space faring features even more," notes the Nokia blog.
To check out the sturdy Lumia 920 in space and survive the fall check out the video below.
