Nokia WH-920 Purity Monster headset for Nokia Lumia

Whether you're rocking a shiny new Nokia Lumia 900 or a faithful Nokia Lumia 800 an audio-enhancing set of earbuds should by high up your shopping list - could the Nokia WH-920 by Monster be that headset? Read our review to find out.

Nokia NH-930 Purity HD by Monster headset review

We've come to expect quality and style from Nokia's partnership with Monster - the handset manufacter wants these audio accessories to sit comfortably alongside the beautiful Nokia Lumia 800 design, after all.

The Nokia WH-920 Purity headset certainly archieves that. With nice chunky square earpieces and the same tangle-free chord as can be found on the Nokia NH-930 Purity HD headset, there's a distinctly premium feel to these buds.

That's carried through to the extras you get, including a decent quality zip-up carry case and a generous stack of five alternative sets of earpieces. 

When it comes to sound quality, the Nokia WH-920 Purity earphones offer decent all-round performance, but with an emphasis on warm, deep bass. As such they're excellent for certain types of uncomplicated bass-driven music, but we found that high-end detail was lacking. For example, the rumbling bass on James Pants's Every Night was excellently realised through the buds, but the funky guitar work was somewhat washed away.

Compared to the similarly priced and equipped Denon AH-C560R we tested them against, the Nokia WH-920 Purity 'phones simply didn't have the range. This is emphasised when playing airy, detailed, acoustic-filled material like Grizzly Bear's southern Point, which fell a little flat here - at least until the bass kicked in. With electronic music like Kaito's We Are Living Here, the warm bassy sound is more of an advantage.

Still, listening to music is only half the story with the Nokia WH-920 Purity by Monster headset - they also offer full compatibility with the Nokia Lumia range. This includes volume controls that actually work - when we reviewed the headset with a Nokia 700 they didn't -  and the ability to take and receive calls. 

This means that you can answer calls by pressing the centre button on the built-in remote. What's more, press and hold the centre button and you can access the Nokia Lumia with windows Phone voice function, allowing you to make calls without touching your phone. Strangely we found that our Nokia Lumia 800 struggled to pick up what we were saying through the Nokia WH-920 Purity's mic, while our Nokia Lumia 710 heard us loud and clear. Perhaps this was an issue with the Lumia 800 hardware - it has been dropped a fair few times!

In conclusion, then, the Nokia WH-920 Purity by Monster headset doesn't offer the best sound quality for the price range, but it does offer a decent listening experience combined with unmatched Nokia Lumia call compatibility. That makes it pretty unique in our book.