It's common knowledge that Nokia mobile phones are built to last the ages. The brand is known for sturdy products and even the company's Lumia family of Windows Phones have not failed. We've covered numerous stories and reports of Nokia Windows Phones surviving rather severe experiences, but this isn't always the case. How does Nokia test and manufacture modern smartphones that are built to last?
Vodafone also wanted to find out and decided to go straight to Stefan Pannenbecker, head of product design at Nokia. Since Vodafone will be joining other UK mobile operators in stocking the Lumia 925 (check out our review), Pannenbecker lightly focused more on the techniques utilised in the construction of the Nokia Windows Phone, but covered all their mobile phones in general.
We already know that the Lumia 925 sports some metal, a first for a Lumia Windows Phone, but even the polycarbonate shells have proven their worth in gold. So Pannenbecker moved onto testing and how Nokia looks at its manufacturing process.
"It’s pretty shocking, actually, what we do with our products."
It's stated there's an incredible amount of testing methods that put new mobile phones through their paces, ensuring the final result is a reliable product that consumers can rely on. Let's face it - mobile phones are important pieces of equipment and you need to be able to rely on them in times of need or to simply pass the time by.
Stefan jokes that the teams even cover up the phones in sun lotion for days, just to see if the materials react with some of the chemicals in that particular lotion. This saves the product from degrading if it comes into continuous contact with a chemical it does not agree with. UV light tests are another example, checking to see if the resins and colours don't fade in up to two years' worth of sunlight. And yes, there are drop tests.
If you're interested in the full read, be sure to head on over to the Vodafone website. We'll close up here with a funny fact: Nokia actually destroyed the first early prototype of the Lumia 925, as well as the second, a more refined version. That's how the company ensures the mobile phone is "flawlessly executed" by the time it hits the shelves.
Source: Vodafone
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