Nokia has 25/20 Vision

It's no secret that Microsoft is trying to implement a full court press regarding the Windows RT operating system by trying to get it on as many tablets and phones as possible. However, up until this point the only company still producing these devices was Microsoft itself. Now Nokia has entered the fray with their Lumia 2520. Microsoft recently purchase Nokia, however, the merger will not be complete until sometime next year, so this still feels, looks like, and operates the way you would expect a Nokia product to.

Let's begin by making the distinction that although somewhat similar, the Lumia 2520 is not a Surface. It is an independent tablet with a few notable differences. One of those differences is the color choices of red, cyan, black, or white which really makes the product stand out from it's competitors visually. If you are willing to spend the extra $150 on a keyboard it will also act as a battery pack extending the life of your device from around 11 hours to 16. A trackpad is also part of the attachment and contains two USB-3 ports making it easy to access your files from an external hard drive. A micro SD slot that can add up to 64GB of storage to the 32GB device is also located on the tablet, along with a micro HDMI output, and one USB-3 port.

Under the hood is a beast of a tablet that allows for a very smooth user experience. A 2.2GHz Quad-core Snapdragon processor with 2GB of RAM makes this 10 inch 1080p tablet zip through just about any task you set forth. The display is truly something to behold as it is not only bright and bold but can be seen clearly at different angright and bold and can be seen clearly in bright sunlight, which has been a problem with smartphones and tablets in the past. The Lumia is also 4gLTE-ready with a Micro Sim slot for expandable memory .

The hardware highlight of this device is the rear facing 6.7 megapixel camera with ZEISS optics, which provides for stunning photographs along with Nokia's one of a kind professional interface that allows for multiple exposure levels within one image, among other features that are not available on any other tablet. The 1080p video looks stunning for any portable device, especially in low light, and the two megapixel front facing camera does an ample job of 720p video.

One of the devices shortcomings is that there are a limited selection of apps populating the Windows Store as compared to the Google Play App Store and the Apple App Store. This means no backwards compatibility with apps that aren't specifically available for Windows RT. You can run Office (albeit just Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or OneNote), but if you need something that can handle a world beyond glorified word processing, you may want to go with a Surface Pro instead. It can handle apps such as Photoshop or any business integration software your company may be using.

In conclusion, if you are looking for a snappy, sharp looking tablet at a price point of $500 (keyboard sold separately) that takes incredible pictures and video, then the Lumia 2520 is your best bet. If on the other hand you are looking to replace your laptop and need all of your normal pc applications at the tip of your fingers you should go with the Surface Pro instead.